A Few Other Taiwan Things

(July 2014, Gaoxiong, Taiwan)

Our last Taiwan stop was a city called Gaoxiong. It is in the south western part of the island. We met up here with a couple of Jonathan's friends. The first day in the city, I stayed home with Peter while Jonathan and Beccah did some exploring. We have learned in life that sometimes it is better to let Peter take a break and miss something than have him keep going...because then you still miss something because you are trying to wrangle a screaming child in a public area and have no way to avoid judging eyes and the only thing you can think is, why for the love did I not just sit this one out? Anyway, so we stayed home, slept some, ate and just had some quiet time. Beccah and Jonathan went out with Jonathan's friends, Raphael, and Helen. They went out to a beach area and brought back these pictures.

Boardwalk?

Jonathan and Beccah

Helen, Raphael, Jonathan and Beccah

Lovely pier with city in the background

We stayed in a hostel named Millaa Millaa. The first night we got there, we learned we would be sharing a room with a guy, instead of having the private room with a full bed for Jonathan, Peter and I. There were 2 sets of bunk beds and one of the walls was a curtain. Remember in my last post when I said that Peter is just now sleeping though the night on a regular basis? I was really worried for this first night, I knew Peter would wake up a couple times at least, and I didn't know how this guy was going to react to that. Jonathan did a great job helping Peter sleep that night, and although he woke up a couple times and fussed, the guy either didn't mind, or was super polite. But, since the beds were bunks, and the guy had the bottom one already, Jonathan and I took the top ones, and Peter slept up top in a small little bed with Jonathan. Mmmmm snugly. Peter did have lots of fun exploring the bunks.

Jonathan and Peter up top

Bunk bed boys

Peter's face...haha. Not impressed.

After the first night, Jonathan, Peter and I moved into a private room, and slept much better. Beccah switched rooms and roomed with a group of girls and our bunk mate got new mates for the other nights. I bet he slept better too. We talked with him later, he was from Malaysia and was in Taiwan studying cooking. Neat.

Beccah, Jonathan, Peter and Robin at Millaa Millaa guesthouse

 The two people who ran Millaa Millaa were in love with Peter. They took pictures of him, and the above photo as well as the last 3 are on their facebook page. They also had a great camera, so I stole their pictures because they were clearer than mine were.

Peter on the bottom bunk...with Asian looking eyes

Cute Peter boy

Also, this guesthouse loved cat head pillows and lots of their guests had photos with the cat head in front of their face, so they had a cat head. So, naturally, our last picture there is our cat head picture. 

Cat head family

Good times in Taiwan.

Food We Ate

It's time to write a quick post on some of the foods we ate while traveling. This is by no means comprehensive, because then it would be pages long, and I probably don't have pictures of the most delicious things we ate, because sometimes when you are eating a delicious thing you don't stop to take a picture of it. But, here is an idea of what we ate for about a month...we ate similarly in China. 

One night in Japan, I think it was our first night in Tokyo, we wandered the streets looking at the menus and pictures of food until we found a place that looked good. We got some noodles, rice and dumplings...the usual. They even brought Peter an adorable rabbit bowl and utensils. Peter could have cared less about his cute kid things, but he devoured his noodles.

Jonathan's noodles and Peter's bowl.

Noodles with cabbage and carrots- pretty delicious. 

Tragically Beccah ended up ordering cold noodles with meat and cold vegetables. The were straight from the fridge and rather salty. She reordered and got some dumplings on round 2. There were many times we wished we spoke/read Japanese in Japan, this was one of those times.

Robin and Beccah with all our empty dishes...kidding, some of those were Jonathan's.

Peter sucking the noodles down.

A different day, a different city. I think this was a meal we had in Puli, Taiwan. We had gone to church and the guesthouse owner picked us up from church. We asked her to recommend a place to eat and she took us to a good restaurant. She left after dropping us off. Upon entering the restaurant, we learned that there was an hour long wait. People would have died if we waited that hour. So, instead, we left and wandered some streets until we found a place that looked acceptable. It was delicious. And, added bonus, Peter fell asleep in my arms within 5 minutes of getting food. It made it a little awkward to eat, but way easier than a lively running toddler. After eating, we got a taxi home, because my arms would have broken trying to carry sleeping baby home. Also, we weren't sure where we were at that point, so taxi was a better plan than walking. 

Jonathan's egg burrito of sorts. 

Can you tell he's about to crash?

Robin's rice, chicken and veggie bowl.

Beccah's noodles

Train food! This was on a Taiwan train ride, I believe. At this point in our traveling, we were done with 7-11 sandwiches and fruit for the trains, and we found some little boxed lunches. I forget their name (and Jonathan's sleeping, or I'd ask him), but Jonathan said he had eaten them a number of times and they aren't the most delicious meal ever, but they aren't bad. He was right. It was a little box with rice, overdone broccoli, meat strips and tea boiled eggs (hard boiled eggs, but instead of just water, they are cooked in tea, which gives them a slight flavor). Overall, it was a pretty good meal. Peter loved the rice, like always, and would eat as much egg as you gave him. It wasn't delicious, but it was a nice change.

Train food

While we were in Japan, I knew we had to get sushi at least once. We had it on the day we got lost coming back from Minji Shrine, and it was heavenly. The flavors were perfect, and each bite was a beautiful balance of everything good. So one of the nights we were in Tokyo, we asked for a good sushi place and were led to a place that looked pretty good. We had squirmy baby with us, and a menu that only had the names of the sushi, but not what was in them. So, we took a chance and started off with two rolls, not entirely sure what would be in them. When the sushi arrived, we both ate one piece and nearly died. Turns out, they had so kindly put wasabi IN the sushi rolls. So each bite cleared your sinuses out really well, and I almost had tears leaking out my eyes. It literally took our breath away. We gave Peter a piece before we knew what was up, and either his had no wasabi in it, or he has the strongest tolerance for that flavor of anyone I know. He gobbled it up and wanted more, but we were hesitant, we didn't want him to die on the second piece. You can't explain to a small child, "Just breathe slowly, the burning will go away soon." We ordered sushi that was raw fish on top of rice to go, because when you are in Japan, you have to try it even if it seems scary, but this time were sure to tell them, no wasabi. We also stopped by the 7-11 on the way home for some yogurt and sandwiches in case the sushi part two was a bust. I cannot honestly say I was impressed with this. None of the fish had any real flavor to it, and I wasn't totally keen on the texture. But, we tried it, and no one died, so, I guess it's a win. I still like sushi, and I'll still eat it again, just not at that restaurant.

Our take home fish. Jonathan and I each had a bite of each one.

Last food story. We stayed at the LDS temple housing our last night or two in Tokyo. When we went in to get settled, we found two amazing things. Number One, and not pictured, was a food vending machine, but not just candy, chips and granola bars. It vended meals- hot dogs, fried rice, french fries and chicken strips. Beccah and Jonathan were like kids in a candy shop. I don't think I'd seen them more excited about any other food we'd come across during our entire trip. The meals came out in a small box, similar to our train food boxes, and you had to microwave them to heat them. Jonathan was a touch disappointed with this. I think he wanted it ready to go when it came out. The food was mediocre, but I think the novelty of the machine made up for its taste. The second thing was a root beer vending machine. Root Beer is hard to find in Asia. It could be found at international markets, for a price, but never at regular grocery stores. It was a pretty exciting find. So, Jonathan's first meal at the temple housing was a hot dog and root beer. To say we were ready to be back in America at this point would be an understatement. We loved the food we ate (most of the time), while we traveled, but I wanted nothing more than a home cooked meal that I knew what to expect when I bit into it.

Robin and Asian A&W.

Kaoshuing Airport

Through our last month of traveling we got to be in 7 different airports, and I just wanted to do a quick shout out to the Kaoshuing Airport in all its glory. It was by far one of the coolest airports I've been in. Also, it wasn't huge, so it was easy to navigate and didn't take long for us to get to our gate. It was a fun airport. They had designed with a purpose, things were lit up and colorful and we loved it. 

The colors of the lights changed.

Walking to our gate under shooting stars

Super cool lighting to change things up

We got to our gate and were greeted by all these butterflies.

Amazing mural with a great circle window that looked out on the tarmac.

The kid play area wasn't the coolest, but they did have these little mushrooms and big foam blocks that thoroughly captivated this little man. 

There was also a butterfly garden with plants, statues of butterflies and little fact sheets. Peter really enjoyed walking on the gravel path and trying to pick up gravel before I caught him and made him put it on the ground.

I don't know what this was for, but it was neat!

Peter, mid blink, but Jonathan looks good!

We also had a good time playing the "use all my change because you can't exchange coins and I don't want to get back to America with pockets full of foreign change" game. Turns out it is hard to find something to buy in an airport when you only have a few dollars worth of coins. We looked at some postcards and stickers, turning things over to look at the price to see if it was low enough. We finally settled on a chocolate cheesecake at a small deli, it was completely worth the search.

This was a really nice airport to have to wait in for our plan. The employees were really helpful, the airport was clean and it was so pretty. I'd fly through here again...maybe next time we go to Taiwan.

Bananas and Missionaries

After our fancy lunch with HP, we went with him to a mountain town know for its bananas. It was a small town, and staying with the norm in Gaoxiong, super hot. We walked down the main street and looked in some shops. Then, we saw two white guys ride past us on bikes with white shirts and black pants. We yelled, "Hey Elders!" and sure enough, they turned around and we were right. They were two missionaries from our church. We chatted with them for a bit and then they were off to meet with someone. We stopped and got some cold drinks to keep hydrated and attempt to cool down some. We saw another set of missionaries from afar later in that town. 

We continued to walk and we found a small banana museum. They had different displays set up about bananas and the town. We learned about the different types of bananas and found an interactive display. They had 2 baskets that were weighed down to be like the baskets of bananas workers would carry on the plantations. You could try to lift them.  Jonathan went first. 

Bend with your knees, not your back!

He could be a banana farmer.

HP took a turn, and had success!

Then it was Beccah's turn. We corrected her stance...

Success! 

Banana farmers would love these guys. I can see it now, we'll move to Taiwan and become the best banana farmers ever. Peter would love to live on a banana farm. He already eats a banana a day, so he'd fit in great!

The next room had a school set up to be like an old school. When we walked in, HP said that it looked exactly like his old school, the desks were the same, the layout was the same, and even the picture above the chalkboard. 

Teaching in Taiwan with my super attentive pupils.

After the little museum, we walked back toward the town center and got a banana ice dessert. It was nice and refreshing. HP bought us a banana cake to eat later. Then we headed home, dropped Peter and I at the house so little man could take a nap while the others grabbed some dinner from a little shop we'd eaten at the night before. We had some great rice and noodles and called it a night!

HP Liu and Jonathan Nelson outside our guesthouse.

It was a busy hot day, but we had a good time, ate some great food and saw some neat places. Taiwan is fantastic!

Fancy Shmancy Lunch in Gaoxiong

We had one last friend to meet up with in Gaoxiong, Taiwan before heading off to Japan. This was a guy Jonathan knew in Taipei who is a member of the LDS church. His name is HP Liu and he works as a military doctor. He wanted to take us out to lunch and then go up to a little city not far from Gaoxiong. 

We met up with him and went to lunch at a really fancy place. It was one of those places that I would not normally have brought Peter to, a place where the chairs are nicer than the chairs at my house and a place that takes your breath away when you look at the price in the menu. I think HP noticed our faces when we were looking at the menu and he told us not to worry about the prices, he was getting the tab. He ordered for us. It was a meal that had about 5 courses and about half way though, I found myself wishing I had paced myself a little bit better to make it all the way though lunch. 

We started with bread, which was delicious. We had a great soup, a sea food platter, salad, a ribs and roast dish, and dessert. When they brought the sea food platter out, things got interesting. It was full of big shrimp, complete with legs and eyes, as well as lots of oysters and clams. Shrimp, I can handle. I don't like pulling the legs and head off, but Jonathan does that and we both eat them. They were pretty delicious. I am a fan of shrimp, so that was great!

We gave Peter a shrimp to try out. He played with it for a moment and then threw it.
We'll try again when he's older.

Then, there were the mussels. None of us, including HP, had ever tried an oyster or clam before. I've had clams in clam chowder, but that is very different than eating the little beast from its shell, all goopy and squishy. The boys both tried one without any fuss and then informed me that I too must try one. I was not so keen with that idea. Jonathan said, "Put some sauce on it, then it's not bad." That's not a super comforting thing to hear. I almost chickened out, but I figured, when am I going to be in Taiwan again and have a chance to eat one of these...maybe never. So, here goes nothing!

Bottoms up!

It wasn't awful, but I have no desire to eat one again. It didn't taste bad, but the texture is not something that food should be. Other than that, the lunch was absolutely great! The ribs were like heaven. Crazy tender, and delicious. And dessert, although my stomach could barley hold any more food at that point, was fantastic. We had a fun time at lunch, taking turns with little Peter who would always rather run and play than sit and eat. We all had plenty to eat and had fun talking.

Peter lounging in his fancy chair.

Beach Day! Gaoxiong, Taiwan

The beach is one of Jonathan's favorite places. And, as before mentioned, Gaoxiong is beastly hot. Hot as in, walk outside and your face starts melting off, hot. Hot as in, you have never had so much sweat pour out of your body in such a small period of time so early in the morning, hot. So, extreme heat plus someone's favorite place to go means the beach is a great decision. The beach was at the same place as the splash pad in the last post. We went to the beach and splash pad with Jonathan's friend Vic Song (a guy Jonathan baptized in his first area on his mission).

Peter loved the beach! He had a blast digging in the sand. He learned pretty quickly that he could use his fingers to make marks in the sand. The sand was really dark at this beach, which meant that Peter could get delightfully dirty. 

Jonathan and Vic in the water. The beach was perfect for kids. The waves weren't too big and the water was beautifully warm. 

Peter and Robin making marks in the sand.

Nothing like burying the baby in the sand! He loved it and just let us pile more and more sand around him. We're still working on smiling for pictures.

The beach crew- Vic Song, Peter, Beccah, Robin and Jonathan Nelson.

This beach was very different from the beach we went to north of Taipei. This beach had darker sand and no canopy places to sit under. It was also less crowded and people were more spread out. But, just like the other beach, there were more people attired in normal everyday clothes than there were people in bathing suits. Even in the water, there would be people with pants and shirts on. Lighter skin is seen as more beautiful than dark skin, so they keep their skin covered (in general) much more than Americans do. It's strange to see such a difference at the beaches. In America you see many bikini clad women laying out trying to get darker. You see people who don't wear any sun protection, "I don't want any sunscreen, I'm trying to get tan!" But in Asia, just the opposite. Jump in the water with you long sleeved shirt and pants, and don't let the sun damage your skin. I wonder how skin cancer compares between the two groups of people.

Anyway, enough of that, here's a cute baby with a puffer fish!

Peter with the blue fish!

It was so beautiful there! Just look at those trees!

Vic Song and Peter Nelson

Vic Song, Peter and Jonathan Nelson at the beach! 

Peter loves sand and the beach!

The day at the beach was great! We loved spending time with Vic, playing in the sand and the water and seeing more of beautiful Taiwan. After the beach and splash pad, we walked back to where we needed to catch the ferry and stopped by some small shops along the way. We bought a couple of things to bring back home and it was fun to have some slow time to walk around and just enjoy the day.