Fun weekend in Taipei

Two weekends ago (Jan. 19-20) was one of my favorite weekends in Taiwan. Saturday, Kristin, Dino and I went to Yangmingshan national park. Dino and I have been there once before, but it was Kristin's first time : ) We all met at the MRT at 11 a.m. and then took the bus to the park. Once we got there, we took a small shuttle bus farther into the park to the trail head of Mt. Datun. The hike up wasn't too bad; we stopped frequently to take pictures and look at the gorgeous views from above. We were all stunned standing on top of Mt. Datun main peak 1092 meters above sea level. It was breathtaking. Dino has been in Taiwan 3 years and he said, it was the most beautiful view he has seen in Taipei. You could see everything including Taipei 101, Danshui and so many areas of New Taipei City. We all sat down for awhile admiring the view and enjoying our snacks that we brought with us. It was getting late, so we didn't finish the 5.4 km trail, but we did part of it. Once we arrived back into the city we met Lisa, Dino's girlfriend for dinner at Chili's restaurant in Shimin, a very trendy area. We all had a good time chatting for a few hours. It was nice to finally have some western food. I had my first beef hamburger since I've been here; It was so delicious : ) It felt weird eating western food after so long. It was a fun day: good company, beautiful view and sunny weather. 

After a 12 hour day with Kristin and Dino. I woke up very early on Sunday to catch the local train to Gonglio at 8 a.m. Alex, designer from Principal school, invited me to his wife's parents home in Gonglio. Alex picked me up from the train station at 10 a.m. and brought me to a famous temple. After, we drove 20 minutes to his in law's home.  After meeting everyone, Alex took me on a scooter up a mountain to see a stunning view in Gonglio. I was speechless yesterday after seeing the view from Mt. Datun and I was speechless again after seeing this. It's crazy. I would never think Taiwan was as beautiful as it is. Every time I go somewhere in Taiwan, I say "This is my favorite place" and then I go somewhere else and say the same thing. Everywhere I go the views just get better and better. We spent almost two hours walking along the coast and looking around. When we got back to his in law's home there was a nice Taiwanese lunch ready for us with fish, vegetables, soup and rice. All the food was so fresh. We relaxed for awhile and then Linda, Alex's wife, showed me around her parent's home. They live far into Gonglio on a farm. They have their own rice field and animals. After she showed me a bit of the area, I walked around by myself for an hour just taking in the beauty. I couldn't believe someone lives in such a surreal location, it was absolutely beautiful.  Around 4 p.m. we all packed into Alex's car and went to meet Linda's friend from university and her family for dinner. Before we ate, we went to Fulong beach, a very popular beach on the east side of Taipei.  Unfortunately, we got there at 4:45 and since it's the winter months it closed early at 4:30. So, instead we drove up linjiu mountain to a large temple. The sun was just setting, which made the view even more beautiful. The restaurant we ate at was very popular seafood place. Alex had a connection with the restaurant, so he was able to get us a private room. We all ate so much with the 15 different dishes of lobster, snails, crab, fish, vegetables, rice, soup and so much more. Alex's family and their family friend (husband, wife and their 12 year old daughter) were all so pleasant to be around. It was another excellent day.  

Bringing in 2013 with my parents

My parents and I have been counting down the days until their arrival in Taiwan for months. After my parents soaked up the heat and culture for 1 week in Thailand, they flew to Taiwan to visit me. The eight days they were here over New Years went very fast, but then again that usually happens when you're having fun : ) The first three days they were here, I had time off from work for New Years. It also happened to be the coldest days in Taiwan since I've been here. 

The first day they were here I showed them the morning market near my house. My parents loved it especially my dad. He still talks about how much he loved it : ) After we picked up some fruit and lunch from the market, we took a bus to Jiaoxi in Yilan county (the first county on the east coast). It was about a two hour + ride there because of the rain. Once we got there it was already very late and extremely chilly. So, we went right to the hot springs. The hot springs we went to were traditional ones, therefore, men and women bathed separately. The women's hot baths including 7 different pools each with different temperatures ranging from very cold to around 43 Celsius! The men's hot baths only included 2 pools one very cold and one very hot. The hot springs were very relaxing; we all really enjoyed it!  After listening to some music in the square; we headed back to Taipei. 

The next day was New Years eve. We took the MRT to Xindian and grabbed a quick bit to eat. From Xindian you can take a 40 minute bus to Wulai, famous for its hot springs and aboriginal culture. Since we went to the hot springs the day before, we decided to walk around the small town and see a few waterfalls. The area was very beautiful and the old street was filled with people. After walking the old street we took the bus back to Xindian; we decided to stop for dinner before heading to Taipei 101 building to see the fireworks. The restaurant we ate at was located right along the river. My dad and I decided to share the two person 5 course meal. We ate soup, salad, meat/chicken kabobs, vegetables and fish. For dessert we had a ice cream lemon drink served with a delicious chocolate cake. It was all very tasty and filling, it was a fun meal to share : ) 

Taipei 101 New Years fireworks are very well known worldwide. It attracts around 800,000 people each year.  We had planned to take the MRT to Taipei city hall station, but had to get off one stop before due to the event at Taipei 101.  We got to Taipei 101 square around 8 p.m. and we had 4 hours until New Years. We walked around for awhile making sure we had the best view of the fireworks. We couldn't get directly in front of Taipei 101 with the huge crowd, so instead we stood near a big screen where we could watch the various performers on the stage.  Where we stood, was a nice boy and his dad from Indonesia.  The boy was 17, but he seemed much older. He spoke very nicely; he was polite and was very knowledgeable.   It was very enjoyable speaking with him as we waited for the fireworks. At 12 midnight, we didn't hear any countdown, instead the 188 seconds of fireworks immediately began. It was impressive fireworks; the fireworks cascaded up and down the Taipei 101 building. It was fun to watch and a great way to bring in the new year. Our way back on the MRT was horrible! There were so many people that we couldn't even get into the MRT station. We had to wait outside with the huge mob of people. There was a lady standing on top of a platform allowing only small amounts of people at a time. Every time she would let the front of the crown enter the doors of the MRT station, people would be pushing each other. It was very dangerous. A few times she would say, if anyone in the crown felt faint or needed to get to the front for any reason we should make a path for them. After two hours, we finally got to the doors and made our way to the train.  It was crazy getting back, but we finally made it home.  The whole event was an experience, but it was surely memorable as we brought in 2013! 

New Years Day - It was raining, so we decided to go to the National palace museum. The museum holds more than 690,000 objects from China, making it the premier holding of Chinese art and culture in the world! Entrance to the museum is free on new years day and four other days throughout the year, so we didn't have to pay anything, which is always nice. We thought since it was a free day we would see a huge crowd, but it wasn't bad because the museum is enormous.  Our favorite part of the museum was the top floor, which had the jade and ivory exhibits. After spending a few hours in the museum, we had dinner at the largest night market in Taipei Shilin. My parents were in aw of how mammoth it was. We ate tapinashi, basically food that is prepared right in front of you on a hot fire for supper.  It was a fun three days off from work; I was very happy to spend it with my parents : ) 

Wednesday - I had to go back to work, but my parents spent a fun filled day in Hualien at Taroko National park on the east coast of Taiwan. They had a wonderful time and thought Taroko was beautiful : ) 

Thursday - My parents came to work with me in the morning. I introduced them to everyone: Uncle Victor (principal), Angela (head of school), co-teachers, Alex, and of course Kristin and Dino. My mom had a ball with the Taiwanese children : ) You could tell she was right in her element. At 9:30, my parents came to watch me teach my first class, which was K3C my favorite ;) I wasn't too nervous, but I could tell my parents were watching me very closely especially my mom. After class my parents wanted to take a picture of me with the students, which I thought was cute. My parents only watched me teach one class as I wanted them to explore Taipei city. They went to Longshan temple, Chiang Kai-Sheik memorial hall, inside Taipei 101, Beitou and met me for dinner in Neihu at Miramar entertainment park where the big ferries wheel is located. 

Friday - I took a day off from work, only day all semester, so I could have a three day weekend with my parents. We spent the three days in southern Taiwan. Early Friday morning, we got all our stuff together and headed to the car rental shore. The 3 1/2 hour drive to Tainan was easy and beautiful.  We had a little difficult time finding our hotel at first, but lucky my mom spotted the road our hotel was on. We put our stuff in our room and decided to take a taxi into the old part of the town. Tainan, regarded as the oldest city in Taiwan, has many famous foods, temples, and historical buildings. The old part of the city was so small that everything close around 5-5:30. Unfortunately, that meant we didn't see as much as we would of liked.  The one thing we went into was the Anping Fort, first and oldest fort in Taiwan. Since everything was closed after we saw the fort, we walked around the area. We saw many merchant houses build in the 19th century including one that belonged to Japanese Salt Industry. We also saw the memorial hall for Chu Jiouying, creator of Chinese Calligraphy! It was nice to learn about the trading of salt because on Saturday we went to a salt mountain and saw many salt fields.

Saturday - We drove along the southwest coast scenic area. We saw many temples along the way including one that was ginormous. 

Our first touristy spot was the Taiwan's salt museum. Taiwan's only museum solely devoted to its salt prodcution. There we climbed the highest salt mountain in Taiwan and got a view of the extremely flat land.  

From there we made our way to Jingzaijiao tile-paved salt fields, oldest salt fields still existing in Taiwan.  We learned about the salt production, which we all thought was very interesting. Crystal salt is made by pouring seawater into the salt pans, which is then evaporated by the sun.  The tile, almost looks like a mosaic, prevents the dirt from sticking to the salt.  

Along the southwest coast lies Taijiang national park. Within the park are many migratory birds including the black-faced spoonbills.  Our next stop, we were able to see through a telescope the black faced spoonbills. My mom had said, "this is something someone sees on national geographic" It was very neat to see the spoonbills with our own eyes as they one of the endangered species of the world. As we watched the sun going down, we know we had to leave the park behind and head to our next destination Kaohsiung city, second largest city in Taiwan.  

Sunday - After arriving very late last night into Kaohsiung, we did a little exploring in the city on Sunday morning before we made our way north. Right near Kaohsiung zoo lies a mountain in which we drove up.  As we were driving along looking at the beautiful coast on our left, we saw moneys! We stopped to snap a few pictures, but didn't get out of our car as we were a bit afraid after our encounter in Japan. (A man almost got bit as he was taking pictures of the monkeys).  The monkeys didn't seem bothered by all the tourist gathered around because people casually fed them. 

A bit out of the city center was lotus lake.  A beautiful lake with many temples and pagodas.  

After a few hours of sightseeing in Kaohsiung city, we made our way to Pingtung county and then to Maolin scenic area. The drive was absolutely stunning and Maolin was gorgeous. We were loosing day light and tried to make it to Mt. Yushan (tallest mountain in Taiwan, half the size of Everest), but unfortunately didn't make it there. Instead, we stopped the car as the sunset was setting and ate dinner before making the 3 1/2 hour drive back to Taipei.  

It was hard saying goodbye to my parents early Monday morning, but good things always come to an end. We had a fun filled week together, and we will always remember this time together.  I'm so glad they were able to visit me and see my life in Taiwan. I know, they had a fabulous time and were blown away with everything I have accomplished in Taiwan and how beautiful the country is. 

Rainy Season

Winters back home are very cold. For three or more months were bundled up with hats and gloves, and wearing a heavy winter coat.  Snow covers the ground and trees and you will see people shoveling their drive ways. In Taiwan, winter is nothing like Minnesota. November, December and January is the rainy season here. This past year, the middle of November to middle of December, it rained non stop in Taiwan. I've never witnessed rain for an entire month straight! It never stopped! I would wake up in the morning and watch the rain fall from the sky. Throughout the day it rained and the whole evening it rained. The cycle would start all over again, never clearing up for even just a day. The mornings were hard to get out of bed. It was dark, rainy and cold. You didn't want to do much on weekends as it was unpleasant to go out. The middle of December, the rain finally let up and I was outside in a blink of an eye. The first sunny day, I took a day trip to Yangmingshan national park. 

Yangmingshan national park, located in the north, is one of the eight national parks in Taiwan. It's the only national park in Taiwan that has volcanic geography and hot springs! It's right in Taipei making it very convenient to get to. Near the park entrance was the information center. I usually don't stop there as I like to discover places on my own. But, that day I decided to stop in. I've been wanting to go to Yangmingshan national park even before I arrived in Taiwan. For that reason, I wanted to get a map to see all the possible hiking trails and places to explore as I plan to come back several times while living in Taipei. There was a man at the information counter that stopped me and asked, "Where I was from?" Him and I talked for awhile.  Before I left, I asked him what do you recommend.. He said, "Come with me.." He walked me out the front door and in the middle of the parking lot pointed to a road. He said, "Follow that road, that is what I recommend". Little did I know, I was climbing the highest peak in Yangmingshan nation park, mt. Qixing! 

The first half of the trail consist of lush trees and uphill steps. I couldn't see much of the view until about an hour when all of a sudden it opened up and the peak was within eye sight! It was unbelievable gorgeous. I couldn't believe my own eyes. Right then, it became extremely windy and cold. I had to quickly put on my raincoat (lucky I brought it) and started climbing to the top. The view from the main peak, 1120m, was breathtaking! It was hard to stay up there for long as the combination of wind and cold were making my eyes tear up. Instead of turning back, which many people do, I decided to continue the trail for another 1 1/2 km. I'm very glad I did as the scenery was much different than the first half. Rather than the lush trees the land was filled with rock and sulfur. You could smell the sulfur as you were climbing down the steps.  I must say, I enjoyed the second half of the trail much better than the first half. The total length of the trail was 5.7 km, which took about 3 1/2 hours. By the time I reached the trail head, the sun was about to set. The beautiful sunset was a perfect end to my hike.    

Sick is no fun, thankfully, there are many hot springs in Taiwan :]

For the past month, ever since I fainted, I haven't felt well.  Right now, I'm just getting over a cold/cough.  Thankfully on Thanksgiving day, I'm actually feeling better for once.  I can't recall a time that I've been sick for a month straight.. It's crazy what a new environment and climate can do to a person's body.  Other foreigners told me, your bound to get sick.  They all told me they got sick very badly when they first got here.  But, I kept thinking no that won't happen to me; I've always been so healthy. 

So, for the past month I've been taking it pretty easy.  When I first got my cold, my whole body just ached.  I thought to myself, this might be the perfect time to check out the hot springs nearby.  So, two weekends ago on Saturday afternoon, I took the MRT to Beitou hot springs.  The hot springs in Beitou are the most popular in northern Taiwan.  The area of Beitou both the facilities and manmade attraction were established during the Japanese occupation.  Before heading into the outdoor public baths, I stopped to look at the hot spring museum right beside it.  There were many tourist looking at the historical bathhouse as it's one of the largest Japanese-style wooden buildings in Taiwan.  Looking at the Japanese style building and hot spring bath facilities in the museum, I was reminded of the ones I saw in Japan with my family.  : ) It brought back the memories of when we went into the hot springs 'nude' in Japan. 

The entrance fee to the hot springs was very cheap.  It was 40 NT, which is less than $1.50!  There were a total of 6 different soaking baths: 2 cold, 2 hot, and 2 extremely hot baths.  I was very surprised when I first saw the baths.  My first reaction was, it wasn't as beautiful as the ones I went to in Japan.  After soaking in the water for awhile and talking to some of the people there, I began to really enjoy the hot baths.  Sadly, an hour later, a whistle blows and everyone had to get out of the water and leave the baths to allow the next group to come in.  The baths are organized in a time schedule.  There are 2 1/2 hour incriminates of time allocated to each group.  If you want to stay longer, you could pay an additional 20 NT, but you still had to get out for cleaning purposes.  It's recommended not to stay longer than an hour, so I decided to leave and come back another time.  It was very nice!  For free you can check out the stream that also has the spring water. How many times do you feel a hot stream! 

After, I walked a few minutes up the road to Thermal Valley, one of the sources supplying the area's hot springs.  I read on a sign that thermal valley contains green sulfur; this type of water can be found in two places n the world, Taiwan @ Beitou and Japan! Many people were taking pictures and looking at the hot sulfur rising from the ground.  The water temperature ranges from 80-100 Celsius.  I'm glad I stopped to look, it was very cool! 

Just this last Sunday, I invited Kristin to go on a day trip with me to Jinguashi and Jiufen.  All week the forecast said, it was suppose to rain the whole day, but the night before I saw the forecast change to sunny day on Sunday.  My plan was to visit the geological park in Jinguashi and climb tea pot mountain, but the weather prevented us from doing so as it rained the entire day! Thank you forecast for making a wrong predicting.  The rain put a little damper on our trip, but we still managed to make the most out of the rainy day.  

We took the local train from Taipei to Ruifang (about an hour) and from there took a bus to Jinguashi (about 25 minutes).  The area of Jinguashi is amazing!!! You can see the sea and the mountains in one shot.  It's absolutely stunning area. I would have to say this is my new favorite destination, and it's so close to where I live. Besides, the great view, the area of Jinguashi is famous for gold-mining.  We spent the afternoon walking around the gold ecological park and looking at the numerous attractions including the gold refining building (originally a guesthouse when Taiwan was a Japanese colony), Crown Prince Chalet residence and the variety of exhibitions.  We even took a special tour of Benshal No. 5 tunnel to get a closer look at gold mining in Jinguashi.  After the tour, we climbed up a bit of stairs to see Jinguashi Shinto Shrine, as we were climbing up, we saw to the left of us tea pot mountain.  It actually looked like a tea pot : )  I'm hoping to come back and climb it!  On our way out of the park, we decided to stop and take a tour of the Japanese-style residence.  It was once a dormitory for high level Japanese company employees and now is turned into a display area for visitors to see how they lived.  The building is one of the few remaining in Taiwan and has become a popular location for filming movies as many people love the Japanese old style architecture.  Kristin, is big into history and saw on the tourist map there was a POW memorial.  We started walking towards it (actually we never made it there), but we came across Cyuanji temple that has the big bronze warrior statue.   You can see this statue from far away, so it was cool seeing it up close.  We took the bus back in the direction of Ruifang train station to Jiufen old street.  The bus ride back wasn't as beautiful as the way there with the thick gray clouds and the heavy rain.  Kristin and I enjoyed a nice dinner together in the cute old street of Jiufen that overlooked the sea and mountains.  We walked along the old street looking at the shops until it was time to catch the train back to Taipei.  It was a nice day and the views make me want to come back on a sunny day : )  

It's been three months since I've moved to Taiwan, crazy to think it's already been that long.  Just a few days ago, on my half day, I got my Taiwan bank account set up.  It took a bit of time to open my account since I had to wait for my ARC to arrive.  I feel so official now : )  After I opened up my account, I decided to climb a mountain near Yongning station.  The hike was steeper than I expected.  It was very well paved path and light poles alighted the way.  I started the climb around 4 p.m., so by the time I came down the sun had already set.  It was cool to see both the day and night view of the city from up above.  I remember before coming to Taiwan I wanted to do a lot of hiking. So far, I haven't done as much as I wanted to, but I'm hoping to do more. It's so easy to get to the mountains as they are all around Taipei. When else will I get such easy access to so many great mountains : ) 

~I am thankful for.. my family, my few close friends, the countless people I have met who have helped shape me, my home in America, my health, food and water, my job in Taiwan, my co-teachers, all the great experiences and traveling I have been fortunate to have, my education, Bradley University, the few jobs I have had, and my computer that I spend hours on ;)   

Couch Surfing: Bike Riding Events

I went to my first couch surfing event!  It was a great experience : )  The guy that organized the ride has biked around the world.  He's started about 10 years ago and has biked all through the Middle East and Asia; he is really incredible.  There were about 20 people at the event both foreigners and Taiwanese of all ages. There was one Taiwanese lady who was in her 60s, she was in great shape!  There was also a guy from Pakistan.  He was on a two week business trip and had the weekends off to enjoy the city. Another guy, who I had the pleasure of talking with during the ride started his own company in Taiwan.  Originally from Canada, he and his co-founder came with the idea of "making the ordinary, out of the ordinary." Take a look www.mohzy.com/world/en The ride was 20 kms total, 4 of which were up a steep hill overlooking Taipei 101 building.  The hill, known as Elephant mountain, goes through the biggest cemetery in Taiwan.  Most people call this path the cemetery walk.  We made a circle, starting at Gongguan MRT station, up the hill and down past Taipei zoo and along the river route and then back to Gongguan.  It was a nice easy ride with views of south Taipei.  Afterwards, most of us stayed and ate at an outdoor mexican restaurant outside Taipei water park.  It was fun chatted with the group, sharing our cultures and stories.  The couch surfing community is a great way to met so many diverse people from all over the world while sharing and learning from one another.   

 

The following Sunday, I went on my second couch surfing event, but it didn't go so well.. I fainted before we even began our ride.

Sunday, October 21st 

I woke up early, made myself a nice balanced breakfast and made perfect timing on the MRT.  I spotted the CS right away, the guy with the bike kinda gave it away ;) I introduced myself to a German girl, Finland guy and a Taiwanese.  We all began talking and getting to know each other.  The rest of the group were sitting by some benches, which we didn't see at first.  It was great to see many familiar faces from last weekend.  The people who didn't have bikes all went to rent ones.  When we got back the group had doubled in size.  We all were talking like usual.  I was standing talking to a guy I had met last weekend, originally from Africa who later moved to Australia and now has been teaching in Taiwan for almost 20 years. All of a sudden, things began to get blurry around me and in the middle of a sentence I quickly went to my bike to grab my water bottle, thinking it would help.  I drank my water and about 30 seconds later, I said to myself I think I need to sit down.  I sat down on the bench and apologize to this girl because there really wasn't any room on the bench, but I needed to sit down.  I told her I think I'm going to faint.  She said, I wasn't looking too good and to continue drinking water.  Not even a minute later, she is like yeah your not looking good.  The guy next to her said, she needs to lie down.  As he was having me lie down, I just fainted.  

I could hear the group of CS around me say, open your eyes.  But, all I wanted to do was lay their for awhile. They grabbed someone working at the train station and asked me if they should get an ambulance, but I just said to them, no I'm fine.  The sweet girl from Germany told me my face had turned purple.  We all agreed I shouldn't ride today and instead take it easy. I returned my bike with the help of the nice guy from Africa.  I was bummed I couldn't go on the ride.  But, it's better to be safe than push it even more.  So, instead I decided to at least enough the day around Xindian, where I was, and explore the area.  

As I was walking across the bridge, not to long after I left the CS group, I ran into a girl I had met through Torin (the guy I stayed with when I first arrived in Taiwan), another Hess teacher.  She was with two guys.  I hadn't seen her for awhile, so it was really nice to catch up with her.  They invited me to explore the area with them and I gladly said yes.  There was a nice trail at the other end of the bridge.  Even though I should be taking it easy, I decided to join them on a hike.  Initially, we didn't know where it was going to lead us or how intense it was going to be.  We ended up climbing up many stairs to a summit in which you could see the whole city even Taipei 101. It was stellar!  

Later that night, we were walking through the market and stopped to grab something to eat at a middle eastern vendor. A few people in back of the line called my name, it was the CS!  They had finished their bike trip and were also getting something to eat at the same vendor.  I had told them I stayed around the area and ended up going on a hike.  They were really scared for me, I tried to tell them I felt okay.  Once we got our food, we all took it back by the waterside and sat and chatted for awhile.  It was relaxing. 

That night I took a nice shower and went to bed early to recover from my day.  I woke up on Monday feeling well.  But, later that afternoon I began to get dizzy and had to take it easy.  I spoke with my co-teachers and they said I could sit down and teach my classes.  I decided to go to the hospital right after school to find out what the deal was.  It's better to be safe than sorry especially because I fainted and that never happened before.  So, immediately when I got back, I took the MRT to Far Eastern Hospital.  It was unfortunate that the clinic wasn't open that evening so I had to go to the  ER if I wanted to be seen today.  I wanted to take care of the issue that day, so I just decided to pay the extra money (basically triple in price since I still didn't have my medical card) and go to the ER.  After speaking with a doctor, we agreed I would take a blood test and have an EKG test.  I waited for over a hour for the doctor to give me my results.  He said everything was good, my blood test and my EKG.  He gave me some medicine for dizziness and said I had motion sickness.  I kept telling him I don't think it's motion sickness... But, that's what he think it is.  He said he's seen many people like me before.  

I'm thinking it might of been a combination of heat exhaustion (it was a really hot day on Sunday) and altitude sickness.  The next few days I wasn't feeling the greatest.  In the morning, I would be fine and towards the afternoon and evening, I just become dizzy : ) I took some of the medicine he gave me for two days and by Thursday I felt a lot better.  I'm not sure what it was, but I hope that doesn't happen again!   

 

 

Double Tenth Day

Wednesday, October, 10th is Taiwan's independence day.  Teachers don't have to work because it's a national holiday.  It's actually the only holiday all semester other than new years that teachers get off at Principal school!  Since it was a day off, Kristin and I decided to do something on this special day -- so we joined in the festivities.  We heard the day before there would be a Parade starting in the morning, but no one know what time it started.  We even looked online, but couldn't find a time.  We decided to meet at 9:30 a.m. hoping to catch the parade.  We arrived at the Presidential building, where supposedly the parade started.  There were many security guards everywhere and they had roped off a large perimeter around the Presidential building, so no one could get through.  The security guards told us (and a nice family we had met while searching where we could watch the parade) we had to take the MRT to the other side at Sai Ka Shek memorial hall.  So, we got on the MRT, took the train 1 stop and got off.  When we got there, we found out it too was roped off and we couldn't get through either.  The officer told us we had to go around, but we already did.  We decided to not chase the parade all day.  And, just try to watch from afar.  A few minutes later, we heard helicopters.  We looked above and saw 5 helicopters in a straight line.  The first and last helicopter had a Taiwan flag hanging down.  It was quite cool.  We were disappointed we couldn't see any of the parade after waking up early on our day off, but at least we tried to participate in the holiday cheer.  

Kristin and I spent a nice afternoon together.  We first walked around Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall since we were already there.  I hadn't see it yet, so I really wanted to take a look.  Chiang Kai Shek, 'is a famous monument, landmark and tourist attraction erected in memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, former President of the Republic of China.' The buildings and ground were beautiful!! I would have to say it's one of my favorite spots in Taipei.  Since it was double tenth day, there was a small market to buy little trinkets and different foods.  Kristin said, there were many more people here today than usual, which made sense since many people had the day off from work.   

Afterwards, we took the MRT to Danshui, a really nice area many tourist enjoy, located right on the river. Right near the train station, was a popular street that had cute shops and many food vender's including German ice cream!  At the end of the long strip, a few minutes by foot was a fort.  Kristin, a history major was very much in love with this.  We both learned some things about Taiwan's history in this old fort, San Domingo.  'The fort was first built in 1628 by the Spanish when they occupied the north of Taiwan.  Over the years, Fort Santo Domingo was owned by different nationals including Dutch, British, and Taiwanese.  It was rebuilt by the Dutch in 1644, and was used as consolation office by the British.  The property was not handed over to the Taiwanese government until 1980!  

One of the biggest draws to Danshui is the beautiful sunsets over the river on lovers bridge. In fact, you can see the lovers bridge on many postcards throughout Taiwan. We took the bus, not far from the fort to fisherman's wharf. Kristin and I sat and talked waiting for the sunset.. We waited and waited.. And, never saw the sunset!  It was too cloudy :(  We walked along the bridge and stopped at a few shops.  We both agreed fisherman's wharf is beautiful at night compared to the day.  At night, you can see the changing colors of the bridge.  It's quite lovely, especially when the bridge changes to red-- very romantic.   

Each year the government puts on a big firework show on double tenth day located in a different part of Taiwan every year.  Sadly, this year it was in Miaoli, located about two hours by car on the west side of Taiwan. So, we weren't able to see any firework show.  Instead, we decided to take the MRT to Shilin night market, the biggest night market in Taiwan.  We ate dinner and enjoyed a few hours of looking at the many shops!!  It was fun!  

We had a fun day despite not being able to celebrate much in the festivities. 

Sometimes it's the journey getting there that means the most

Early Saturday morning, August 22nd, I met Kristin at Banqio train station to head south to Kenting. Kenting is located at the southern most tip of Taiwan.  The train ride was almost 5 hours.  However, there is no train or even bus that goes directly from Taipei to Kenting.  So, we took the train to the largest city near Kenting, Kaohsiung; the second largest city in Taiwan. Kaohsiung is located on the west side of the island.  The train ride was very nice and relaxing.  I enjoyed a nice conversation with Kristin, however, the train ride was nothing compared to the weekend before to Hualian.  The west side is filled with cities and buildings while the east is filled with mountains and greenery, my personal favorite.  The train made stops along the way, one of them being Taichung.  We coordinated train times with Amanda, Kristin's friend from back in Canada, so she got on the train in Taichung, where she lives and works. 

Once we made it to Kaohsiung we took a taxi to Kenting.  Kristin, had been to Kenting many times before so she knew the taxi was the best route to take.  We had trouble finding an inexpensive shared taxi, so we took the Kaohsiung MRT to the main station.  There we found a shared taxi for 400 NT each.  We shared the taxi with a young girl about 30 years old and an older lady with an elderly woman.  I sat next to the older lady and found out she is from the Philippines and has been working here for 5 years.  There is no work in the Philippines, so she had to leave her two kids behind and look elsewhere.  Many foreigners (such as Filipino's) come to Taiwan to help the elders with every day tasks; it's about the only job they are able to get here.  It's very hard on parents when they can't provide for their family and have to leave their own children behind.  The lady told me she only sees her kids once a year!  She and I talked the whole two hours to Kenting; she was an incredible lady.  She made my day!  I tried to keep eye contact with her, but it was hard not looking out the window, everything was so tropical.  The trees, fruit plants, change in climate; it was fabulous!  

We arrived at Kenting around 3 p.m. !  Kristin, Amanda and I were all hungry so we had a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant.  I had a beef burrito; It was the nicest and most expensive meal I have eaten since I've got here! Kenting is considered a touristy area, so there were many western restaurants, but all were rather pricey.  Afterwards, we rented scooters.  Kristin and Amanda taught me how to ride a scooter!!  It took me a couple of tries to feel like I could ride to the beach where the group we were meeting was at.  The group took the overnight bus from Taipei to Kaohsiung (1 a.m. to 6 a.m.) and then renting scooters, and rode three hours to Kenting.  Kristin didn't want to ride that far, so I decided to go with her and Amanda on Saturday by Train.  The group, about 20 of them, were all very nice.  They all have been in Taiwan for a year or so, some even 4 years or more.  

That evening we enjoyed drinks on the beach and chilled; all the beaches in Kenting are so beautiful. Late into the night, most of us took a dip in the ocean.  As we moved through the dark water we could see hundreds of tiny star-like bioluminescent plankton! We were all so mesmerized by the tiny glowing dots every time we would move. It was a spectacular sight, something I will remember for a very long time.  That night we all passed out on the beach.. and wake up very early the next morning.

Sunday, we all separated.  Most of the group went back early, the rest stayed for a few hours and enjoyed the sun.  It was a very hot day!  Kristin and I rode scooters along the coast to the very south tip of Taiwan.  As we looked to the left we could see the east and to the right we could see the west.  It was very cool!  We took some awesome pictures, very pretty scenery. Afterwards, we had some breakfast/lunch and rented snorkels.  We went to two coral reef locations that were right next to each other.  The reefs were great!  We saw some excellent coral and many beautiful fish.  I got a little sea sick unfortunately, but I was still able to enjoy the reefs.  It was about 3 p.m. and we decided to return both our snorkels and scooters and head back to Taipei.  We managed to get a shared taxi for 350 NT and then decided to take the bus back (530 NT) instead of the train.

It was a great weekend!  I loved the south!  It was so tropical and extremely different than the other parts of Taiwan especially Taipei.  We spent a big chunk traveling as Kenting is so far away, the farthest you can go from Taipei.  But, we still managed to enjoy the area and have a fun weekend.  Sometimes it's the journey getting there that means the most.  ..riding the train along the coast, meeting the Filipino lady, taking a cab through the farmland, and learning to ride a scooter.. =)