Day 23: Chiang Kai Shek Memorial, Confucius & Boa’an Temples, Su Ho Paper Museum and Dinner with my family

Today we visited the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. The Memorial Hall was built to commemorate the Nationalist leader and longtime president of the Republic of China. The building is white marble and is surrounded by several gardens and the National Concert Hall and Theater where world-famous performers come here to perform and play.  Although Chiang's aura is now somewhat fading in today's Taiwan, the building's massive size and beautiful architecture still amazes. 

The changing of the guard

The great bronze statue of Chiang Kai Shek inside is as ostentatious as the outside building.

Bronze statue of Chiang Kai Shek

Inside the memorial, we stopped at the museum that displays the history of the Kuomintang (KMT), much of Chiang's offical writings and decrees, and some of his clothing and furniture.  It also displayed some correspondence between Chiang and Sun Yat Sen - it was interesting to see and track Chiang's historical rise to power and the struggles he endured against both Mao and the Japanese.

After the CKS Memorial, it was on to the Confucius Temple - yay Confucius! I am a big Confucius fan :) Confucius is considered to be the greatest of all educators and scholars in Chinese history.  On our way to the temple, we found these cute little guys - they are the "three wise monkeys" representing the proverbial phrase "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

See no evil

Speak no evil

Hear no evil

The Confucius Temple was as beautiful and ornate as the other temples we have visited - but this one holds a special place because one of the temple's biggest days of the year is Confucius' birthday on September 28th, which is also celebrated as Teacher's Day in Taiwan.  This is a big day with events beginning at 6 AM - Confucius' spirit is remembered with parades and feasts. Wendy tells me it is a big deal in the schools too, in which students always bring their teachers gifts :)

The Inner Wall of Supreme Knowledge

Confucianism is still alive and well in Taiwan - students visit the temple before big exams to pray and ask that they pass all their tests.  Furthermore, Confucianism is instilled in the culture - respect, education, and filial piety are cornerstones of Taiwanese culture.  



Confucius Temple

We walked across the street to Boa'an Temple, which is 200 years old and features many dragon carvings.

And then it was on to the Paper Museum - what a busy day! I learned all about the history, materials, and process of making paper. We also had a chance to partake in a paper-making class and make our own paper. It was a fun experience.

Learning how to make paper

Making my own paper

Almond Ice

On our way back from the museum, we stopped for one of the best desserts I have ever had - and even better yet, it was almond flavored. I love almond flavored anything! This is a Taiwanese specialty. It looks like a big pile of mashed potatoes with butter! 

Our day ended with a feast at Shanghai Story Restaurant. Jacki and Kelly joined me and my family for a spectacular evening of some of the best Taiwanese food I've had yet. I also had the chance to see some of my uncles (my mom's brothers), I have not seen in 25 years! My big aunt (my mom's sister) and cousins were there too.  The picture below is with some of my cousins and my aunt and uncle.

Dinner with my family

Day 22: Taipei 101 and Shida Night Market

I've been waiting to visit Taipei 101 for weeks, so today was an exciting day! Taipei 101 is currently the second tallest building in the world - second only to Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which opened in 2010. Taipei 101 stands 101 stories tall and was completed in 2004.

Taipei 101 in the background - 101 stories tall!



The building displays many elements of traditional Chinese architecture and much of it is symbolic, reprenting pagodas and bamboos and The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each. In Chinese-speaking cultures the number eight is associated with prosperity and good fortune.

We took a trip up to the 89th floor of the building to the indoor observatory. The elevator holds the World Record for the fastest elevator, it takes you to the 89th-floor observatory in only 37 seconds! My ears popped on the way up and when I got there, I felt pretty woosy and disoriented. I quickly got a hold of myself because the views fromt the observation deck were awesome! My pictures do not do it justice.

The views from the top were incredible! Everything looks so tiny



Another one of our stops that day included the Hello Kitty Sweet shop. They love their Hello Kitty here too and even built a store and bakery for it. Although we didn't eat here, I grabbed a quick shot outside. Jacki #1 and I contemplated coming back with Hello Kitty iPhone cases, but decided we didn't like it that much!



That night, Jacki and I met my mom up for a walk over to the Shida Night Market.  We had some udon noodle soup and a few snacks.  Shida is famous for it's street food and clothing vendors - you can see some of the Taiwanese fashion (both good and bad!) by stopping to look at the stores in Shida.

We discovered one of our now favorite Taiwanese snacks on the way to Shida.  We saw a long line of customoers waiting for Taiwanese pan-fried pancakes filled with onion and turnips.  As Jacki always says, "a long line means it's gotta be good."

Taiwanese fried pancake



Day 21: Jade Market and Yangkang St

My mom met me up today for a trip to the Jade Market with Jacki and Kelly. The Jade Market is only open on the weekends and is a must-see for anyone looking for some jade pieces or jewelry.  Jade comes in all kinds of styles - high, medium, and low pricing. You really have to know what you're looking for to make sure it's legitimate. I really enjoyed perusing the hundreds of stalls and looking at all the jade.

My mom turned on her bargaining skills and was able to get us some great bargains. When coming to places such as this - heckling is a must, although I'm not accustomed to this style of shopping, my mom helped us out tremendously, especially communicating with the sellers.

  

Vendors at the Holiday Jade Market

With my new jade purchase - beautiful purple jade

Here's a pretty hilarious picture of Jacki - one of the vendors tried to convince her to try on a bracelet, but it appeared that it wouldn't go over her hand.  He pulled out a plastic bag to help  her put it on - the look on her face is priceless!

After our day of shopping, we headed over to a famous noodle shop on Yangkang Street and had a delicious dinner. The specialty there was Taiwanese beef noodles, and although I don't eat meat, the dandan noodles with peanut sauce was delicious. 

Noodles from the original beef noodle shop

Day 20: Yingge Ceramics and W Hotel

We packed up our things today and said goodbye to our host families from Yong Ping. We would be transfering to our hotel for the last and final week of our trip.  After loading our things on the shuttle bus, we headed to Yingge for a look around the Ceramics Museum and a stroll down the old streets of Yingge. 

Ceramics Museum

Some amazing pottery is created in Yingge - this is a little town south of Taipei city that produces several kinds of ceramics and has many pottery shops and stalls.  I was able to find a beautiful vase with purple flowers at the Ceramics Museum and a tea set from the old streets of Yingge. I can't wait to display them in my house.

Yingge Street - I love the cobblestone streets lined with trees

That night, we checked into our hotel, met up with our friend Wu, had dinner with her aunt and uncle and then she took us for a little night out on the town at the W Taipei!

W Taipei

We we able to get a great spot by the pool with amazing views of the city. The lights surrounding the pool were so pretty.  

Day 19: Yangmingshan Mountain, Beitou Hot Springs, & a Fun Night Out -- Today was a very very good day!

We were accompanied by Jackey #3 and Carol (two of our favs) to Yangmingshan National Park. The park was a great place to spend a few hours.  One of the park's main geological sites is a now extinct volcano - here, the strong smell of sulfur fills the air and you can see gases rising through a large barren scar on the side of the mountain. 

Yangmingshan is the perfect city getaway because it is surrounded by majestic mountains, bamboo forests, hot springs and many walking trails. People come here for hiking, birdwatching, and to look at the diverse flora and fauna.

Beautiful views of the mountains in the background

Group shot after a hike on the trails

After we worked up an appetite we headed over to Shilin District for lunch at Cha for Tea.  The food was amazing.  Most of the food at Cha for Tea is infused with green tea.  We had tempura green tea leaves, green tea noodles, green tea bubble tea, green tea dumplings, and green tea cheesecake.

Tempura Green Tea Leaves

Sipping on our bubble teas - I cannot get enough of these!

Green Tea Noodles

Green tea dumplings

Next on the list was Beitou Hot Springs and Thermal Valley - one of my favorite stops so far! Beitou is one of Taiwan's oldest resort areas, because of it's many hot springs. Travelers come here for soaking in the area's sulphurous waters.  The waters have been known to be excellent for one's skin - maybe that's why the Taiwanese have such great skin?!

On a side note - most Taiwanese protect themselves from the sun like no other! They would rather walk outside in long pants and long sleeve shirts in 95 degree/90% humidity weather than get sun on their skin.  They carry umbrellas everwhere to keep themselves shaded as well.

The hot spring seen below in Thermal Valley reaches tempertures of 200 degrees farenheit! You definitely wouldn't want to fall in there. You can see the steam rolling off the water below. Due to the smell of sulphur and the constant rising of steam, the Beitou valley has the appearance of a witch's cauldron, and so the Aboriginal inhabitants of the area named it paktaaw, meaning witch.

A nature lover's paradise

We had a chance to stop at one of the hot springs, where we soaked our tired feet. Although the water was hot, it did feel very soothing. Hot springs are also known for their healing abilities and can be very good for sore muscles or aches and pains.


Taking a soak



A view from the top of the hot spring resort area

With Jim and Carol

That evening we had a fun-filled night out after dinner. Jackey #3 and Carol took us to a place on Yongkang St where we had a few spirits and laughs and reminisced about our new memories from the trip.

Walking to the MRT (Taiwan's Metro) after a night out

Our night out with Jackey and Carol was a classic night to remember.  I'm very fortunate to be on a trip with so many great and fun-loving people. I'm so excited for my new frienships I've made on this trip!