Tales of Wanderlust: Adventures of Danielle and Kalie in Taiwan

Greetings from Taiwan!

I am having such a wonderful time on the beautiful island of Taiwan and I already feel like I've seen so much in just a few short days! I arrived on Friday evening after about 24 hours of traveling and was pretty exhausted, BUT Danielle picked me up at the airport and it was so wonderful to see her that I forgot all about being tired! I have missed my sweet friend so much and seeing her face was just amazing!

We caught a taxi into the city and Danielle was able to tell him how to get to her apt. in Chinese! I was so impressed! We spent a lot of time talking (we had 3 months to catch up on!) and I saw her really cute apartment and then gave her a suitcase full of gifts that I brought for her. Her family and friends had sent all kinds of goodies and it was so fun to see her face as she got each present. Thanks to everyone who sent something! Believe me, she loved it all!

On Saturday we grabbed breakfast at Starbucks then took a walk around her neighborhood. There are so many people, bikes, cars, crowded streets, alleys, buildings, signs and advertising everywhere that it is very visually stimulating. But it is so neat!

That afternoon we went with some of Danielle's friends from the university to this place called Danshui. It's this beautiful area north of Taipei city that sits right on the Danshui River. There was a mountain across the river with mist all around on the left and then a market on the right. Danielle's friends would go buy food from the street vendors and then bring it to us to try. Here are some examples of things that were offered to us: black eggs, octopus balls, shrimp cookies, watermelon juice, fried mushrooms with cinnamon, tarot root ice cream, candied strawberries (my fav) and oyster pancakes. It was quite an experience! I didn't try it all, but I tried my fair share, and I must admit that Danielle was braver than me. She actually sucked a tiny sea urchin out of a shell and ate it. All in all it was a wonderful day! Her friends are so generous, kind and fun to be around! I was amazed by their English and how much Danielle is already picking up in Chinese! I stuck to my "ni hao" (hello) and "xie xie" (thank you).

Yesterday (Sunday) we went to a jade and flower market in the morning and then met up with my friend Simon, one of my mom's former students, who lives in Taiwan and wanted to take us around the city. First, we had lunch at a Cantanese restaurant Danielle refers to as "Ducks in the Window." Why, you may ask? Because there are literally roasted ducks and chickens hanging in the windows. There's no doubt about what you are eating because they just take it off the stick, chop it up and hand it to you.

Then we went to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial (pictured) and saw changing of the guard and LOTS of boy and girl scouts, Longshun Temple and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Memorial (where they were having a lantern festival! Here's a great quote from one of the lanterns - "Clouds at the riding by fully energy to the New Year!") Simon was a great tour guide because he could tell us the history of the city, the significance of the people, read all of the signs and translate for us! He was so kind to take us around and we had a great time. We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant called "Mos Burger" and then Simon went home. We'll met up again with him next Sunday for lunch along with several of the WT students that live in the area.