A Few Slower Days

Day Five - Wednesday, March 24
After two days of go, go, go... the kids and I needed some time to re-group near home... so after Tony and I returned from our 2 hour morning bike ride, we sent Dad and Lynne on their way to look at some memorials during the day while we just hung out at home napping, doing laundry and perhaps playing in the park... though it's all a whirlwind now! Of course we couldn't let a whole day go by without some kind of tourist attraction, so that evening we all went over to the Shilin Night Market.

Dad's always good for those sweet little sausages (truth be known, so am I).

Granny Lynne's truly a good granny... she brought her grandkids' shoe sizes out with her to see if she could find shoes to fit... unfortunately the price wasn't right so no shoes... but she managed to find something for everyone on her list at some stage!

After eating our share of street food and touching all sorts of things we didn't buy, we headed home on the MRT for another 'way-past-bedtime' night.

Hunter 'won' this little toy during his time at the arcade in the market... he loved it!!! And as you'd guess, one week later it's already broken and in the bin... well, that's one less thing to pack!

And morning and another late evening were the fifth day!




Day Six - Thursday, March 25
Dad and Lynne spent a big part of the day on their own... looking at shops, drinking coffee, eating cake... basically enjoying a holiday! They even went to a concert that night - "The Seven Last Words of Christ' which my friend Vicky was performing in... what a fun "date night" for them! The rest of us had a nice morning with Stephen and Felicity in the swimming pool... and an evening where they actually went to bed at the 'normal' time!!!
And morning and evening were the sixth day.


Day Seven - Friday, March 26
This day started with our regular healthy breakfast and a trip to the Core Pacific Living Mall for our regularly scheduled tumbling class!!! This was fun for these guys to see part of our 'real' life and Hunter was especially excited to have Tony there to see him do his thing! (more on tumbling class at another time)

Part of our 'regular routine' is a stop at the potty before class starts... Grandad and Granny Lynne took advantage of the moment for a cuddle with Mei Mei.

Here's Hunter and his classmates finishing up for the day by balancing against the wall... it's all pretty fun to watch... and even more fun for them to do!

That's the spirit, Granny Lynne!

After lunch, Hunter, Tony & Dad headed off for a very special afternoon - Hunter's FIRST MOVIE!!! A showing of Thomas and Friends at the Vie Show!!! He especially enjoyed the popcorn and really liked the movie once the previews were over (what kind of theatre plays PG13 previews at a G rated film? Tony had to cover Hunter's eyes during "Clash of the Titans"- that made me angry... I guess next time we take the kids to a movie (whenever that will be?) we'll go a bit late so as to avoid the potential violence, etc.) The kicker was that the movie was in Chinese with Chinese subtitles - so Hunter was fine with it since for all he knows Thomas only speaks Chinese (his dvd is in chinese), Tony was fine because well, his Chinese is good, but Grandad had a heck of a time watching a kid's flick in a foreign language... what good sport!!! Anyway - Hunter loved the overall experience and still tells me about the popcorn everytime we pass the theatre.




Later that evening, we met up with Anna, Sharon, Felicity & Janet at Din Tai Feng - a restaurant 'famous' for its delicious dumplings... with good reason!


We all enjoyed our feast... and since we had enjoyed such a 'local' dinner, we decided to stop for a 'local' dessert - shaved ice with tapioca balls, sweet potato/taro starch balls, green beans (not the stringy kind you're thinking about), fruit and a bit of sweetened condensed milk... very different... but Dad and Lynne were brave enough to try a bit - minus the beans! Of course when Tony and Janet rocked up with frozen yogurt their eyes lit up (as did Helena's) to something a bit more familiar (and sweet!).

After dinner and dessert, we sent the boys home with the kids and Lynne and I headed out on a mini-shopping spree with the girls! Janet knows her way around the shops and Felicity knows her way around a bargain - so we were in good hands! We had a fun time and Lynne especially thought it was such fun going shopping at 10pm - remember, she's from the South Island... it's even slower and quieter down there than Wellington! Boy are we going to miss this city!!!


And morning, afternoon and late night shopping were the seventh day!

Another Great Day in Taipei

Day Eight - Saturday, March 27

Tony and I took advantage of our built in babysitters and went on a bike ride 'together' with our bike buddies. It was my first time out with the crew and as it was a gorgeous day I really enjoyed myself. Of course it was much nicer for me because I only went out for two hours (around 40+km) whereas Tony continued on for another 100km!!! (Needless to say we spent much of the day without him around and he spent much of the day wishing he was anywhere but on his bike.) When I returned home, I made us a breakfast of blueberry pancakes - Lynne's first ever taste of these delicious delights! And because it was a beaut of a day I suggested Dad & Lynne to make it up the 101!!!

They had a good time up on the observation floor checking out the city from the bird's eye view... but I forgot to tell them to take the guided tour... oh well, they enjoyed their stop to the cafe up there.

While Grandad and Granny Lynne were up the 101 (and dad was still working his way back home by bike) we went out to enjoy the beauty of the day at the sandpit... and it was a gorgeous day.

Later in the day we had a babysitter come look after the kids so we could go out on the town with Dad &Lynne... we took them to our favorite local restaurant for a delicious meal... the ambiance leaves much to be desired but the food is very good! Next we stopped at yet another Starbucks for a cuppa before the main event....

the Main Event being the cultural performance at the Taipei Eye!!!

I love the Lion Dance... who doesn't?!? These guys are strong, cheeky and had us on the edge of our seats throughout their whole 'climb' up the cloud mountain!

During the intermission we had a chance to meet some fish...

This section of the performance is the traditional squealy, squeaky you think of when you think of Chinese Opera... good thing it is the shortest part of the evening. At least the costumes were amazing and I'm sure if I understood Chinese Opera I would've been able to appreciate the talent behind the shrill.

But this part... wow... everyone can appreciate a bit of flying acrobatics... look at the height these 'sea turtles' get...

We all enjoyed the show and our time together... thanks Dad and Lynne for being so willing to try everything!

Where In The World Are We Again???

Day Nine - Sunday, March 28

We woke up this morning and took a drive... it didn't take too long but we ended up...

at 'Xiao Ren Guo' (Window on China) where Tony sat on the lawn of the White House...

 

Xiao Ren Guo is an 'amusement park' of sorts out near our other favorite theme park from last year. It's got miniature (25:1 scaled) landmarks from all over the world for people to have a peek at and be photographed with. For only 600$NT you can pretty much see the world!!!

And being an amusement park of sorts there were rides...

Hunter got to experience many of his favorite modes of transportation in one day - boats, trains, cars, horses, planes...

This was his first independent mission... well, he was supposed to just be a passenger in the back seat with this kid, but the kid didn't know how to tell him no... so Hunter got to go two rounds without baba or mama in the car with him and you can tell by his smile he was fine with that!!! I watched along the sidelines as my 3-year old drove away thinking he's really not a toddler anymore... he's definitely a little boy!

 

At least I've got my little girl for a bit longer...

Grandad and Granny Lynne were good sports waiting and watching and enjoying the beauty of the day.

They could tell their friends they made a stop in China too...

Tony's got a photo almost just like this at the real Forbidden City... minus the kids of course.

We could've been anywhere in the world on this day, but we were happy to be here in Taipei, Taiwan with each other!!!

After our big adventure we stopped at one of our old favorite restaurants near our old apartment for one last authentic meal together... we ate till we were stuffed and made it home in time to put the kids to bed and sort out the laundry... What a great last full day!

Day Ten - Monday, March 29

Well, Tony headed back to work, Dad & Lynne headed off to the airport and the kids and I were back into our regular routine - a trip to the doctor for a vaccination!!! What a way to go... We really enjoyed our time with Dad and Lynne... what a bunch of special memories at the tail end of our time in this special place!!! Thanks you two for spending this time with us! We'll see you back in NZ!!!

Recreational Companionship

On Saturday, March 13, Tony & I participated in our first duathlon in Taiwan (my first ever)... and let me tell you, though it was not super long (33.5km total) - it was a test of endurance! Since that 10k run in December, I had wanted to try something else... Tony convinced me to try adding a cycling component. Alright - I'll give it a shot! So I trained on the stationary bike downstairs - then thankfully we were able to use a friend's bike for the race (which I rode twice the week before - the first time in the rain, the second uphill). Thankfully when we signed up for the event I had no idea what the course would be like - otherwise I would have chickened out from the beginning... but by the time we discovered the bike portion included 12 kilometers UPHILL - it was too late! I was committed! I was determined! I was strangely out of my mind with adrenelin!!!!

Uncle Richard & Auntie Marlin slept over at our place so they could wake up to spend the day with the kids... and it was the 'whole day' starting at 6am with Hunter up and raring to go!! Thankfully all went well and Tony & I enjoyed a day of recreational companionship.

When we arrived, there was a bit of a mix-up with the numbers/registrations and a bunch of people on the team ended up with wrong numbers... which led to wrong placings/rankings, etc... oh well, good thing there were no real medals involved (though we all got medals for participating... and there I thought those guys coming down the hill were the top placers and I was totally late)!!!

It was a 9k run... with nice form, Tony finished it in good time - 0:45:43

and me... well, I wasn't the last of the bunch at 1:00:43 - a bit slower than the 10k pace, but heck... I felt good.

Despite leg cramps and that ridiculously steep hill climb, Tony did pretty well on the bike and actually came in 14th (out of 83) in his age division - but that was unofficial because the number mix-up gave his time to our buddy WuKong... oh well, he felt okay about it!

The bike ride was about 11km on a flat section... then those blasted 12km UPHILL... my goodness, from the first 10 minutes of the hill climb I was ready to give up... but I told myself I would not walk my bike... so I didn't... oh wow!!! So many times I just wanted to give up... it was one of the hardest things I've done in a long time (at least I had drugs in labor), BUT... when it was finally over... I felt so good and so relieved and so crazy hungry!!! I'll tell you this much, cycling is good for my prayer life!

Tone Tone is one of the crew who Tony goes riding with on Saturdays... she's a steady one!!!

Of course these pictures come on the flat so it looks like the ride was a piece of cake... I wish they had a shot of us from behind going up, up, up, up, up....

FLASH

So the race ended at the top of a hill... actually a temple at the top of a 90 degree driveway (only slight exaggeration)... where we got to rest, eat, rest, eat... our car and gear were down the hill... so most of us rested for longer while a few went back. While we were chilling out I noticed something very interesting in the giant life-sized poster backboard of the stage... Do you see who I see???? Oh yeah... it's LIVI!!! I felt so strangely proud to see my dear friend in 'real' life again!!!

So as exhausted as I was... we're now seriously looking at buying a bike for me... this will be a familiar sight in our bedroom for the next few months.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Happy Year of the Tiger!!! One of my favorite parts of the Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival that starts on the 15th day of the lunar new year. For the past three years the city's main festival has been held around the corner at the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, so we've been able to get over to see the displays - multiple times!!! I took the kids on opening night while Tony was still in Japan... perhaps it was the wrong decision! The kids are now totally afraid of fireworks, pyrotechnics of any kind and loud sounds and of course the official 'lighting' of the main lantern brings with it much fanfare and all the aforementioned things!!! There I was in a sea of local people with my daughter clutching my neck screaming in my ear and my son standing on his stroller seat squeezing my leg while tears streamed down his face... ZAO GAO!?!? As soon as it was over, I high-tailed it out of there to take them to see some mellower displays in front of City Hall... and as it was getting late, I thought we'd seen enough for one night and we headed home. Just as we got to the otherside of City Hall, there was a major fireworks display out the top of the building - it was loud and directly over our heads!!! The kids started screaming and trying to escape from their seats so I ran as fast as my weary legs could carry me to the Eslite building and got right into the elevator to the basement so they couldn't hear or see any of it!!! My goodness - I did not realize how freaked out they would be!!! We eventually made it home and they eventually went to sleep!!! I don't know how they'll go for the 4th of July!?!?

I knew if there were no fireworks the kids would be keen to see the lanterns, so one night when Tony returned we rode the kids on the bikes over to have a look. They still held on pretty tightly when the big tiger started rotating... but we kept them distracted with the other lanterns...

Hunter of course is still watching out for the big lantern and the fireworks in the distance...

They eventually got over their fears and enjoyed playing with their dinosaur lanterns that Tony assembled for them.

The Flora Expo is the main theme for this year so the animated flowers were out and about - a little strange, but the kids liked them.

Then on Saturday, we rode bikes to see the Lanterns again in the daylight... I think this helped!

And... it was Hunter's first ride outside our neighborhood, along big streets with cars, and he did it!!! He was great - and he was just so proud of himself he was beaming!!! I couldn't help but feel a bit of mixed emotion though as I watched my little boy riding his big boy bike by himself - I was also so proud of him, but realized he is not a baby or a toddler anymore... they really do grow up fast!!!