BBQ

Gary suggested BBQ for dinner one night. I emphatically said yes! with visions of thick slabs of ribs dripping with tangy sauce dancing before my eyes. Instead reality was a brazier in the middle of our table for cooking our own pork, beef, and fish. And rather than thick slabs of meat, we were presented with trays of paper thin meat and veggies, that when consumed made me think I had arrived in heaven.

Wonderful accommodations!

Our journey was to take us all across Taiwan with 'our footprints touching all of this beautiful country.' North to Taipei, along the east coast to the city of Hualien, over the mountains across the exact center of the country to the west coast city of Kenting, to the southern tip, then north to Gary's home city of Tainan. All of this in less than a week!

Connie did an incredible job arranging our accommodations. We stayed in Taiwan's version of bed and breakfasts called 'home stays'. Each night found us in a different home stay in a different city all of them with uniquely breathtaking views.

One night our room was the 4th floor VIP room with a large canopied bed, a patio overlooking the city, and a clawfoot slipper tub. I felt very decadent taking a bath before dinner for no other reason than that I could.

The next night we stayed at an aboriginal village located in a valley surrounded by mountains. The guest houses were fashioned Japanese style with low platform beds, a large stone-floored walk in shower, and our outdoor living room had the most breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains.







We stayed one night in the city of Nantou otherwise known as Little Swiss. Before even knowing the nickname of the city, my thought was it felt very much like one would imagine Switzerland. This is the only place we stayed that had fireplaces in the rooms as this area is high enough in the mountains to actually get snow. Our room had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the valley below.

My favorite location of Kenting is located on the west coast and is a tropical vacation paradise. We stayed in a 'home stay' with gorgeous gardens and koi ponds owned by a British man who originally moved to Taiwan to build boats. Twenty years later, he's married with a couple of kids and owns a 'home stay' and two somewhat westernized restaurants. It was interesting talking with him - he's really living life.

After Kenting, we spent a night in Tainan at Gary's brother's house before taking the high-speed train back to Hsinchu.

Vacation from vacation

We are heading out for a vacation...while we're on vacation. I find this humorous. The next week we will be spending time at the beach, in the mountains, and in southern Taiwan. I'm just along for the ride so I'm not sure what computer access I will have. So much exciting stuff everyday!

Dogs and Porcupines

Jess has two pets. One is a dog named Show Ming. She is a happy dog that likes to go on long walks and has joined me on my morning walks around the lake. Lenny the white porcupine is named for South Dakota Lenny and escaped from his pen our first night here. He hid under the piano for most of the day until near evening he decided to search for food. Last night he was quite active in his cage as I think he was doing his part to prepare for today's party.

There are a lot of dogs in Taiwan both strays and pets and as there seems to be no leash law in effect here, it's hard to tell who's who sometimes. I've seen many people with their dogs in stores and restaurants and also riding on scooters!

Tourist traps are the same everywhere!

Yesterday was a day of more discovering as we took the train to Neiwan south of Taipei. The town used to be the sight of a coal mining town. It is a tourist location now filled with many shops and restaurants. There is a river that runs through the town with a swinging foot bridge and a car bridge available for crossing to the other side. There are also hot springs in Neiwan which we chose not to go to...it's hot enough as it is. Now if we could find cold springs somewhere, I'd be in!

The kids and I walked around the town visiting the different shops. It is your typical tourist town with shops filled with cheap trinkets and t-shirts that say 'grandma and grandpa visited Neiwan and all I got was this lousy t-shirt'. Okay, I didn't see any t-shirts but the cheap trinkets were in abundance.

For lunch we ate at a quiet little restaurant with great food and quick service. Jess and Amingo ordered spicy beef, mapo tofu, and bird's nest fern. The spicy beef is pretty self explanatory. The mapo tofu was a spicy yet sweet dish of tofu and peppers which was my favorite dish to date. The bird's nest fern is a vegetable like spinach that is steamed. Our lunch was served family style with each of us receiving a bowl of rice.

The land of Taiwan is lush and surprisingly mountainous. It reminds me a lot of Jamaica with the flora and fauna and temperature. Every morning I have woken to the sound of birds chattering.

Do you pray?

It was a busy first day with hiking around Lake Placid, attending a three hour rotary meeting, and grocery shopping for dinner. I'm hoping that jet lag is a thing of the past as both Anna and I had a hard time keeping our eyes open at dinner last night. Connie made a wonderful traditional meal of seafood and pork, but we were too tired to really participate.

One interesting conversation that happened last night over dinner was when Gary asked me if I pray...I stumbled my way through this as I am better at listening when it comes to religious conversations than I am at discussing. I told him that our family's tradition was to go around the dinner table and each say what we are thankful for that day. Through my stuttering and stammering I noticed that Jess was trying her hardest to keep from laughing. I wondered what she found to be so funny - maybe my struggle with trying to explain in a way that her father would understand, or maybe the struggle her dad had with following what I was saying. Actually, what she found funny was the fact that her dad had asked if I PLAY. As in play badminton.

What day is it?

Good morning!

Today is Thursday and the only reason I know this is because I asked Amingo. Anna and I left at 4:00am Tuesday morning and arrived in Taipei 10:30pm Wednesday night. You do the math, but I think we travelled for over 30 hours real time.

We flew from Minneapolis to Dallas and had a one hour layover before boarding the plane to Tokyo. The plane was nine seats wide with five seats together in the middle, and our seats were right in the middle of the middle. I was relieved to see two things when getting on the plane. Firstly, each seat had it's own tv monitor for viewing movies, tv shows, flight path and information, etc. Secondly, Anna was sitting next two two nuns. I took this as a good sign!

Thirteen hours later, we landed in Tokyo for a layover before boarding Japan Airlines to Taipei. The plane was a double decker and our seats were on the second level. (A note to Neal...I did not find the pool, but I am positive it was somewhere!)

The only time I was really concerned about our travels was when we landed in Taipei. I wondered if we would be able to find Jess and her family amongst the masses of people waiting for friends and loved ones to arrive. Fortunately, they saw us first! Jess, Amingo, and Gary were there to greet us!

When Jess came to the U.S. she had commented that everyone looked alike to her when she got off the plane in Minneapolis. I laughed as that is what most Americans think of Asian people. Jess tried to explain the differences between the nationalities, and as I scanned the passengers on our flights and in the airports, I tried to notice the slight differences between the dark haired, lightly golden individuals.

Driving about an hour south from Taipei, we finally arrived at our final destination of Hsinchu City. Pandora - now calling herself Connie - greeted us with a large, bright smile. It felt good.

It is hot and humid, but not overly stuffy - comparable to August in Two Harbors. We have walked to the Science Park (more later about this beautiful place) and Connie is out getting breakfast. She asked if we wanted Starbucks or traditional Taiwanese breakfast...hello?!

Anna and Jess are playing the piano and singing from Rent right now. There's so many differences, yet so much the same.