'Wild' weekend in Taipei...

So we were off to Taipei last weekend, as the grand finale to mom's visit to Taiwan and incidentally part of the plan was to visit some good Chinese friends in Taipei that we have know for a few good years...We were whisked away on the coolest...well actually it was hotter than hell...weekend to see a part of Taipei we had never experienced before...Wow! What a beautiful place Taiwan is! We drove up to Taipei and booked into one of our favourite group of hotels...just one we had not been to before in an unknown area but we were confident that they were pretty much the same standard. From there we went to the National Palace Museum, we had previously gone there before the renovations...etc..Very cool Museum...Mom loved it...We loved it.

Peggy and Vincent picked us up from the Museum and that was it until Monday...they commandeered our weekend...We didn't mind...they were very gracious and took us to the most stunning places. We zoomed up Yangmingshan first, via a route known well by locals. The view was fantastic...Taipei is massive and very beautiful. It started raining but Vincent just continued up the mountain to some hiking trail he used to frequent as a student...I'm thinking 'there is no way we're going to walk in this downpour' but by the time we got there the downpour had passed and we went off into the hills doing the healthy nature walk thing. I later told Heather that if I hadn't been exercising and doing yoga I would probably have died on the slippery slopes down to a waterfall that apparently ended up being a squirt of water splashing over a rock. We never made it down...at the beginning of my journey had taken off my shoes since I was slipping all over the place and was carrying Dylan who had fallen asleep and would not be roused....We went down down a trail to a waterfall...thinking short walk...everyone told us 15 minutes....45 minutes later and up and down a steep and slippery stone pathway with Dylan wheezing from the humidity and we decided to call it quits...what followed next was a test of determination and parental love as we climbed back to the base camp...drenched in sweat...carrying a 15-16 kg squirming toddler up a mountain path ain't no joke...Crazy thing is we still had a great time and enjoyed the scenic and peaceful Yangmingshan with its deafening buzz of cicadas and rain forest...anyone looking for a sound track for a horror movie should record the disturbing cacophony of these grotesque bugs from Yangmingshan...they won't disappoint. Vincent took us back to the hotel, we were most grateful to catch a shower before going to 'Cha for tea' one of our favourite restaurants here in Taiwan...



Near the hotel Vincent suddenly quips in what must of been the classic Chinese way of modestly informing you of something to be wary of...first Peggy says Vincent has a hotel near his home that we can use next time...we say thanks Peggy...then Vincent says..I paraphrase....'Ahh...nice Japanese restaurants in the area that your hotel is in'...find something good to say about the area and then drop the mind bomb...and then adds without a moments hesitation.....'...yes many Japanese come here to get girls...'...end of conversation. I'm thinking...'oh'. In our hotel room we found conformation of this little factoid so succinctly dropped into our evening revelings...the most bizarre 'chair' I've seen in my life resembling the kind of chair found in a gynaecologist's examination room...only this one vibrated baby!...made watching CNN a little more interesting having my 'gluteus maximus' massaged while I contemplated the state of the world....still a cool hotel though...breakfast included and what a breakfast...I suppose all those Japanese guys need some nourishment after a wild evening plunging against the amazing vibrating contraption of a chair....(smirk)...My mother-in-law thought the chair awfully funny and took a snap of it for friends back home...

Above: Splashing about at Paiwanshan beach

Above: Beautiful coastlines and blue skies...

Anyway...next day we were off to Yeliou...We drove along an amazing coastline that left we knowing why the Portuguese called it a beautiful island so many years ago....We stopped at a beach called Paiwanshan, to see the Taiwanese at play on the beach...interesting...the ocean was beautiful and I splashed with Dylan for a while...Then off again to Yeliou...Wonderful little place with bizarre rock formations from erosion of sand and sea...actually alien like in appearance....Our friends called it 'tofu rock'...there is one rock that looks like the Queen's head in profile. We had some fresh seafood there...the best clams I've ever tasted! We went back after a wonderful but very, very hot time out n the rocks. Our evening was spent in the wonderful Shinlin night market....We do so appreciate and like our Friends Peggy and Vincent...hoping they come visit us sometime here in Taichung...

It was a sad and tearful farewell at the airport on Monday...It was nice to have her visiting us...We all miss her dearly and I'm sure she misses us and this beautiful Island.