Vacation in Taiwan
I am back in Japan now~ Can't believe three weeks flew by just like that. Time does fly when you are having fun.. and being stressed. hehehe... though fun and super yummy-- this trip to Taiwan was certainly a stress-filled one. I'll explain later.
So what did I do over three weeks:
Climbed the Taipei 101~ currently the tallest building in the world! All I can say is... I am such a weakling. I tried training from about a week before by going to the gym, doing squats at home and taking stairs whenever I could. That meant, when I got to Taiwan, I actually took the stairs, every single time, to my sister's place on the 11th floor--up until the day of the climb. Yes, my sister and bro-in-law, and the building guard man thought I was crazy. I finished last... =( out of our group of seven. Four guys and three girls. The fastest one in our group finished in less than 25 minutes... and it took me just over 40 minutes from 1st to 91st floor. I can't believe Wei beat me to the top too.. he didn't even prep for this event... grrr.. but tha's ok-- he's pretty athletic.. and he is a dude.. so I'll let it slide... :p
Too bad I didn't get a certificate that says I've climbed the 101-- but I did get a t-shirt though~~
Would I do it again next year? I think so! It was fun, and after all, it was for a good cause. Unfortunately though, I don't think the charities done enough to promote themselves. I think the sponsoring organizations could have done a lot more to get the word out on domestic violence and child abuse in Taiwan. When we got to the 101, there were lots going on, with people signing up, getting food and drinks, band playing music on stage... but they were really missing two booths to help raise awareness about why we are climbing!! It would have been nice if we found out more about each of the charities...etc. Hopefully, they will do better in the future in terms of raising awareness.
Northern Taiwan Tour~ 宜蘭, 富基漁港, 金山, 野柳, 基隆廟口,美麗華
After being in Taipei for a couple of days, I remember telling my sister how I thought Taipei was much prettier during the night with different lights on the building and along the river. Because during the day time, you see that the river water is no where near clean or clear and the sky drones a dingy shade of gray with many tired buildings showing signs of age and weather. However, for the most part, when you step out of Taipei, it's a totally different story.
I-Lan was absolutely beautiful. I really never thought I would see scenery like that in Taiwan. The air was clear and people actually drove like they've taken driving lessons and are really following the government traffic regulations.
A big THANK YOU to Jeff and Patty (歐吉桑遊台灣) for showing Joe and I all the neat places in I-Lan!
On our 10 month anniversary, Joe was super sweet and planned a trip for us to tour other parts of northern Taiwan. First, we stopped by Fuji-harbor, ate super fresh seafood and enjoyed the scenary there. You can see in the picture there were vendors after vendors selling fresh live seafood. The selection is quite different than those I am accustomed to seeing in Japan and in the States. They definitely had some odd looking crabs and shrimps! We picked some clams and shrimps out and Joe had a fresh Uni. After selecting our 'lunch', we walked 30 seconds over to a nearby restaurant where they prepared whatever you picked for 100NT more per dish. (100NT > $3) Food was great. My fav was definitely the clams. You just can't go wrong with ginger, green onions, garlic and basil. yum yum yum!
Next, we stopped by 朱銘美術館 Juming Art Museum. It was interesting to see the art work made from rock and scrap metal... He is most well known for his Taichi collection I think. Unfortunately, as we were leaving the museum, we realized that we totally missed the "main" art house on the other side of the museum campus. Oopps. I guess... maybe next time?
After the museum, we went for a tour around 金山 Gold Mountain~ the scenary again was beautiful...there was a beach and a bridge where you can walk up and enjoy the view of the water and the mountain. But let's just say only from a distance. Upon closer examination, the beach was littered w/ trash. And... worst of all... you'll never believe what caught my eye. Below the bridge etched in the sand was what looked like a decaying canine... decaying.. because for the most part.. there was no fur on him. Yeah, we left real quick. Joe and I were talking and we just think there is so much potential for Taiwan to be beautiful and have a booming tourism industry from not just within the country... but internationally....but something must be done. Beautification and culture must start right here from home! Be like the Japanese. Take your Trash home to throw away. I'll never look at another "Take Your Trash Home" in Japan in the same way.
Next, we were hoping to have dinner at 野柳 Yeh-liu because it too is by the ocean and is famous for fresh seafood. But when we arrived around 6pm.... there were probably only 5 other tourists and the rest were shop owners. And all the little eateries and shops were closed except for maybe 5 vendors. It was really disappointing. (Later, I found out from my sister that-- it's because we went on a weekday. Weekends are totally different with tour buses and families from all over Taiwan. Heh.. who knew?) We didn't get to go in to see the famous rock formations 'cause the park was already closed, so we ended up walking around by the wave-crashers (see picture) along the side of the parking lot. Wanted to jump out to get closer to the ocean .. but too scary. This scenic point also had the same flaw as 金山~ Trash. I mean, you can't see it from just standing in the parking lot. But if you walk up to the wave-crashers and look down... you'll see trash. Trash allllll along the way. Big bags, little bags... commercial trash from near by resturants (maybe?) and domestic trash--just trash thrown in... and what shocked me the most.. .was there was an actual DESK tossed over. The nerve of someone to truck the desk all the way from home and toss it over. grrrr!! Very upsetting. If a volunteer or government organization came and cleaned this up, do you think people would stop littering?? very sad... there's gotta be something to do to stop the litter bugs!
Since we didn't get dinner, we stopped by 基隆廟口夜市~ Night market full of vendors selling all sorts of stuff from food, to clothing, to air freshner to battery-free hand-operated flash lights. "Just press 5 times!"-- and let there be light! 
--- in the picture to the left... look carefully and you'll be able to see what one vendor is offering on the dinner menu. 
On our way back to home, we stopped by Miramar Entertainment Park美麗華百樂園. It's a pretty neat little place. When we got there, there was a live concert going on and it seemed like a shopping plaza -- not sure.. cause it was fairly late. We did however, get to ride on the ferris wheel. Second largest ferris wheel in Taiwan at 70 meters tall. (Odaiba's is 115 meters tall.) The ride went by fairly quickly-- just under 15 minutes. Compared to the one in Odaiba, I like the Miramar ferris wheel much better for a couple of reasons. First, the seating arrangement. The interior of the Miramar ferris wheel allows up to maybe 6 people to sit face to face, three on each side, while the Odaiba seating follows the curve of the vehicle, so essentially, it's a circular bench on the inside. At max capacity on the Miramar, seating and leg room are still quite ample, while the Odaiba one gets quite cramped. Second, on the Miramar ferris wheel, the view in the vehicle is from the bench up, while the Odaiba one is probably waist up-- so you see much less on the Odaiba ferris wheel.
Before we took off~ we challenged the basketball arcade game. I've gotta say I did pretty darn well.. Well, not well enough to pass level two, you need 150 points or more, but hey! 120-something ain't so bad either~ considering I am farther than you all from the hoop and I've never really played basketball... except in maybe--- junior high P.E. ?
Anyway, all in all~ it was still a beautiful lazy day out. We were blessed with good weather, great food and most of all... excellent company! hehehe 
Thanks Hun!
Family Time~
First off, I would like to give a big THANKS to my dear sister Susanna~ for putting up with me for three weeks. She had my room all set up for me when I got there =) So sweet! She even did my laundry for three weeks. Shoooot.. Hehehhehe THANKS!!
Is my neice cute or what? She has just entered her Terrible-Two year~ and honestly, despite all the cuteness... she is quite a handfull! All I can say is ... good luck to my sis and bro-in-law~ i shudder at the thought of having my own kids...
Got back to Taiwan, just in time for my sister's 29th b-day. We celebrated in 淡水 with my aunt's family. Her cake was an absolute classic. We were able to get a discount off of the cake because of the little "typo". My sister asked the cake shop to rewrite it, but the lady said the "chef" left for the day. Ooook... last I checked, you did not need a "chef" to do chocolate writing. Anyway-- at 淡水 we also picked up these cute little figurines on rocks. You get to pick your own figurines according to which ever Chinese zodia sign you are. We made one for my parents in the States with five figurines and my sister made one for her little family of three too. Absolutely adorable! The lady kept saying... yeah, when you have a kid, remember to come back and we'll add the little one on for you! Yeah. Uh huh.
The last picture in this series is from our visit to the Bee Museum in 雲林~ It was pretty interesting, since the owner of the place turned out to be friends of my aunt and uncle. I picked up some Lychee Honey and Honey Vinegar. Yum Yum Yum!
Wedding Photos~ a Big Congratulations to my best friend Lil and her fiance Avery
~ They came back to Taiwan from the States and took care of the entire photo process in Three days!! Absolutely amazing. We went in together to pick out outfits on Monday, took a couple hours, but wasn't too bad-- cause Lily is decisive like that :p (I am sure it would take me at least twice as long.. if not longer to decide on which outfits I want.. whahhaa ). Tuesday, day two-- the two love birds started at 8am and finished at 10pm-- w/ only food and travel breaks in between. Absolute wow. Wednesday. day three-- we met up at 3:30p and didn't leave the studio till about 8:30p. Yes.. it took that long because.. we had to go from 411 photos ---> all the way down to 50. It was tough I tell ya! But--- It was worth it cause I think the photos turned out absolutely beautiful! Here are a couple of my favorites:
Food!!
So after I got back to Japan and showed up to my Japanese class the day after---my dear friend Jean said to me, "The food in Taiwan is THAT GOOD, eh?!"
haha.. yes. so I gained a few pounds... and it shows. I really really tried controlling myself.. but it was way hard. Cause that's how Taiwanese people work. Everytime you want to do something, or meet up with someone... it's always at a restaurant or a cafe somewhere. Or... you meet else where first... and then eat. It's always food food food. But I am not complaining. Food in Taiwan is awesome--whether it's at the night market or in a 5-star setting. And it doesn't really matter what cuisine it is either~ it's usually always yuummy ^_^
Didn't start taking food pics till later on during the trip. But here are a few pixs to tempt your taste buds.
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Stress I said... yeah, it was definitely tough to juggle schedules between friends and family. Very Very Tough I tell ya. Next time... it will be a covert operation. No one will know .... I'll secretly fly in... get my 'fix' and leave... undetected :p hehehhe
it's taking forever to do >_<"
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