Caitlin with the bridge to Fisherman's Wharf behind herAs you might imagine, my title for this post suggests the order of the events I'm about to share. It's been a fairly busy week!
On Thursday, Caitlin and I took a trip with the Community Services Center to Danshui. Those of you who have been reading this blog since its inception may remember the post titled, "The Danshui Experience." Oh, what a day. I am happy to say that we've come a long way since then. We've found all the right people to ask questions to and all the right guide books to read up on destinations before we arrive. Whenever I sign up for a trip, I call the guide in advance and ask if I am crazy to bring and almost two year old on "such-and-such" trip. I think they secretly want to tell me yes, but always say no and reassure me that there will be plenty of people there to help. And they are always right (even though by the end of the trip I am the one who is confirming that yes, indeed I am a little crazy for dragging this child around the way I do.). But seriously, after the first experience in Danshui, you may wonder why I wanted to go back. Well, for one thing it is November and it is supposed to be much cooler than August. Unfortunately, it was 90 degrees last Thursday. So much for fall weather. Also, going in the morning on a weekday is sure to have less of a crowd than a weekend afternoon. Finally, I hear so many people talk about the history and beauty of Danshui and I didn't get that impression at all, so I needed to see what I missed.
So, Caitlin and I hopped the 280 bus (which she so proudly announces at the top of her lungs throughout our entire bus ride...not that we needed anything else to draw attention to ourselves...blond girl, backpack, stroller and one mommy to carry it all...people here do look at me funny.) to the MRT (train) station which we take to the end of the line. We met up with our group 10 minutes EARLY (this is HUGE for me) and hopped on another bus to Fisherman's Wharf. The wharf boasts a giant, white cable suspension bridge built in 1996 that connects the island of Taiwan to this giant strip of docks, shops, eateries and decks that offer superb views of the sunset. It was a bit of a hazy day and I was there in the morning so all I could see were mountains and the new port being built there. Unfortunately, this bridge is arched and terraced in stairs, so the stroller had to be carried and so did Miss Caitlin. The design crew also forgot to baby proof this bridge. The railing was at least a foot high off the walkway and the the slats were a good body width apart from each other. Very easy for a little one to take a quick hop off the bridge while looking for "bubbles" from the boats and "fishies." I couldn't take a moment to let my eyes find more wonder in the obvious beauty surrounding me. My arms were full, some sweet German couple I didn't know was carrying part of my load and we were baking in the sun. This would be the first moment I decided I was crazy to do this.
After the wharf we hopped back on the bus to Ft. Santo Domingo, the campus of Taiwan's first all girls school and a brief visit to one of the universities in Danshui. All of these places were one on top of the other up on a big, giant hill that overlooks the waterway. It was breathtaking! The gardens were beautiful and the architecture was so pleasantly familiar. This area of Danshui was built up by the Dutch and then the Spanish and finally the British so they used building materials that were familiar to them - bricks! I haven't seen red bricks in a while. In addition to the bricks were giant old trees that provided shade enough to cool us down for a while.
Lastly, we stopped off at some local eateries for ice cream (which, as I've mentioned before, is totally different here than in the US. It's missing the cream, but its not flavored ice.), tea and pastries (which are also quite different here). Let me elaborate on the pastries a bit...the official food critic of Taiwan is at it again! At every street corner I think to myself, my grandfather is just going to love it here. I am convinced it is from him that I inherited my sweet tooth (according to the September issue of "Cooking Light" can indeed inherit a sweet tooth). Pretty much everywhere you look there is a little bakery of some sort. Some of these "bakeries" just make me laugh. They have a big sign out front in Mandarin and then somehow include the word "bake" in English (just so everyone in town will know what this establishment is supposed to be) and then a little display case (often smaller than the sign itself) with perhaps (on a good day) 5 of the same baked good in it. Hardly a bakery in my eyes, but around here you can go ahead and set up a restaurant in your apartment and have a thriving business, so why not? I came to Taiwan thinking I would find myself into the land of omega-3's. Much to my surprise, this country on a caffeine buzz likes a little something sweet to go with their tea. The yummy confections run the gamut of sweet breads to elaborately decorated three layer cream or fruit filled cakes. Most of them are so fun to look at that you just can't imagine eating them! The local place in Danshui had a lot to choose from, but no English. I have no idea what I ate, but it was so good I needed to sit down to enjoy the rest. Something cran or raspberry filling with cheese in a sweet dough. Hmmm...that doesn't sound as good as it tasted. Really, it was good. Paired with the spot of tea they served with it and I was in heaven.
Truly, the most exciting part of the trip was all the fun people I met. Turns out the tour guide happens to live one lane away from us-even saw me on the bus stop, but didn't realize I was going on the trip. Her name is Michelle and she is a potter and glass designer/maker (not sure the proper name for a glass artist). She is also a certified tour guide through the Taiwan travel bureau. She's a wealth of information and fun! Another person on the trip recognized Caitlin and I, but couldn't place us. Soon we realized that we're neighbors! She lives one building over from us. Rita and her family are expats from Italy. I HAVE AN ITALIAN NEIGHBOR!!! Yay! What a great island this is!
While we were at the bakery, Rita overheard me declare my love for tea and invited Caitlin and I for tea at her house that afternoon. I was soo excited! We rode the train and bus home together and then parted ways to wash up and drop off our gear from our travels. I had 45 minutes to shower myself, bathe Caitlin (we were beyond gross) and get us redressed. Time was extremely tight, but who thinks twice when invited to a tea party? The moment we stepped into Rita's home, I realized I should have had my head examined. Rita and her family have lived all over the world. Her boys are 19 and 14. Her babyproofing days are long past her. Me and my "destruct-a-ton entered Rita's apartment that was decorated with beautiful animal skin rugs, leather couches, glass coffee tables, treasures and trinkets from all their travels. Caitlin was like a bull in a china shop. It took mere seconds before Caitlin's busy little body was everywhere examining everything and I couldn't get to her fast enough because my legs and butt were so sore (from riding the horse the day before). Oh, she was so excited to explore all of these things! In her wake was spilled milk (for the tea), an attacked sugar bowl, a slimed up portion of pastry that was then returned to the serving dish, after which she proceeded to leave sticky finger prints all over the glass coffee table. It was a banner moment. Rita kept telling me to relax, but HOLY COW was this a bad idea! By some act of God, we managed to leave without breaking anything and luckily Rita's cleaning lady was coming the next day so I didn't feel so bad about all the finger prints and crumbs.
I continued to apologize for the wreckage the next morning when Caitlin and I met Rita and Michelle (the tour guide) to go on a "walk" in an area that "is like a driveway" where we could purchase some locally grown produce. All the words in quotes are quoted from Michelle. Rita and I show up in casual clothes. Rita in flip flops and I in sneakers. Michelle is in some serious workout clothing and sneakers. She asked us if we had water...clearly Michelle knew where she was going, we did not. We took off just a few feet from De Xing East Road (the road in which we live) and were face to face with one of the most vertical streets I've ever laid eyes on. I knew that there were mountains behind our apartment, but I didn't realize they were that close! Apparently we were about to climb up part of Yanmingshan, one of the tallest peaks in Taiwan. Yanmingshan is not one mountain in particular, but a string of mountainous land that is a national park. It took two of us to push Caitlin's stroller up this hill. It felt like someone took my 25 pound baby and replaced her with a zillion tons of lead. I looked over at Michelle, (who was helping me push the stroller), and said, "I thought this was going to be like a driveway!?" She laughed and said, "It is like a driveway. It is just as wide as a driveway, (which I couldn't argue with her, it was) and it is paved like a driveway." Ooooo, bonus. Really, would the rough gravel have made this trek any more difficult? Seriously, I was DYING. Sweat, thirst, burning muscles, the whole nine yards. I always thought I was in pretty decent shape until I pushed a lead weight up a mountain.
It was totally worth the work out. When we got to the top of the path we could see all of our village, Tianmu. It was also a few degrees cooler. We saw lemons, mangoes, bananas, pineapples, cabbage, lettuce, persimmons, peach orchards, pears, dragon fruit-you name it, it was growing up there. All sorts of neat, terraced little farms with farmers decked out in those cute Chinese hats that sell their produce to all who can make the trip. It was glorious.
We arrived home very hot, hungry and tired. We both showered, ate and went to bed. I honestly didn't think I could move my muscles anymore.
On Sunday Matt, Caitlin and I met our friend (Matt's assistant) Kirsten at the National Palace Museum. The National Palace Museum is an absolute "must see" according to every printed document on Taiwan and everyone you talk to. The museum is a place of great pride for the Taiwanese people. It is the home of literally zillions of artifacts from China when the Chinese were fleeing the mainland and built into a mountain to protect them. There are too many treasures to display at once, so the exhibits are constantly rotating. The highlight right now is the calligraphy display. These scrolls date back over 1,000 years ago. The interesting part of this is not the actual calligraphy itself (because few people can actually read it), but the fact that the Chinese had a working written language.
After a few hours in the museum, we headed out for traditional Chinese dinner at a nearby restaurant called the "Silk Palace." Wow! This restaurant is probably the only one that I've been to in Taiwan that had both ambiance and delicious food. With the help of Kirsten, we had a delicious dinner. It wasn't traditional in fashion because that would have been too much food for the 3 of us, but it was sooo good! Mmmmm...so what did we have? Well, we started with beef & rice noodles, barbecue pork, marinated asparagus, eggplant with crab claw casserole and of course, dessert. Caitlin and I had Swedish ice cream that was TO DIE FOR, Kirsten had mango flan and Matt had these crazy mashed red beans in fried dough covered in sesame seeds. Weird, but tasty. I could go into more detail with the food, but the tastes were so different that I don't have good comparisons to help portray them to you. You just need to come visit and see for yourself!
After dinner we made our way to the bus to head home. The buses only stop at their designated stops if they think someone is going to get on. So, you need to wave a bus down just like you would a cab. The bus we needed to get on barely stopped so we had to run to catch it. Caitlin though this was VERY funny! As we stumbled onto the bus the drives said, "Welcome to Taiwan" in English. We laughed and got into some seats before he took off again. Part way through the trip the driver encountered a traffic jam right at the intersection he needed to make a turn at. Since it is rather difficult to make a timely detour, he yelled out "SHIT!" at the sight of it all. This struck me sooo funny! I couldn't stop laughing. Here we are in a land where we understand so little of what is being said around us and all of a sudden we hear a word we can understand and what does that word happen to be? Shit! I guess frustration expressions are universal!
So that should get y'all up to date for a little while. Ciao!
On Thursday, Caitlin and I took a trip with the Community Services Center to Danshui. Those of you who have been reading this blog since its inception may remember the post titled, "The Danshui Experience." Oh, what a day. I am happy to say that we've come a long way since then. We've found all the right people to ask questions to and all the right guide books to read up on destinations before we arrive. Whenever I sign up for a trip, I call the guide in advance and ask if I am crazy to bring and almost two year old on "such-and-such" trip. I think they secretly want to tell me yes, but always say no and reassure me that there will be plenty of people there to help. And they are always right (even though by the end of the trip I am the one who is confirming that yes, indeed I am a little crazy for dragging this child around the way I do.). But seriously, after the first experience in Danshui, you may wonder why I wanted to go back. Well, for one thing it is November and it is supposed to be much cooler than August. Unfortunately, it was 90 degrees last Thursday. So much for fall weather. Also, going in the morning on a weekday is sure to have less of a crowd than a weekend afternoon. Finally, I hear so many people talk about the history and beauty of Danshui and I didn't get that impression at all, so I needed to see what I missed.
So, Caitlin and I hopped the 280 bus (which she so proudly announces at the top of her lungs throughout our entire bus ride...not that we needed anything else to draw attention to ourselves...blond girl, backpack, stroller and one mommy to carry it all...people here do look at me funny.) to the MRT (train) station which we take to the end of the line. We met up with our group 10 minutes EARLY (this is HUGE for me) and hopped on another bus to Fisherman's Wharf. The wharf boasts a giant, white cable suspension bridge built in 1996 that connects the island of Taiwan to this giant strip of docks, shops, eateries and decks that offer superb views of the sunset. It was a bit of a hazy day and I was there in the morning so all I could see were mountains and the new port being built there. Unfortunately, this bridge is arched and terraced in stairs, so the stroller had to be carried and so did Miss Caitlin. The design crew also forgot to baby proof this bridge. The railing was at least a foot high off the walkway and the the slats were a good body width apart from each other. Very easy for a little one to take a quick hop off the bridge while looking for "bubbles" from the boats and "fishies." I couldn't take a moment to let my eyes find more wonder in the obvious beauty surrounding me. My arms were full, some sweet German couple I didn't know was carrying part of my load and we were baking in the sun. This would be the first moment I decided I was crazy to do this.
After the wharf we hopped back on the bus to Ft. Santo Domingo, the campus of Taiwan's first all girls school and a brief visit to one of the universities in Danshui. All of these places were one on top of the other up on a big, giant hill that overlooks the waterway. It was breathtaking! The gardens were beautiful and the architecture was so pleasantly familiar. This area of Danshui was built up by the Dutch and then the Spanish and finally the British so they used building materials that were familiar to them - bricks! I haven't seen red bricks in a while. In addition to the bricks were giant old trees that provided shade enough to cool us down for a while.
Lastly, we stopped off at some local eateries for ice cream (which, as I've mentioned before, is totally different here than in the US. It's missing the cream, but its not flavored ice.), tea and pastries (which are also quite different here). Let me elaborate on the pastries a bit...the official food critic of Taiwan is at it again! At every street corner I think to myself, my grandfather is just going to love it here. I am convinced it is from him that I inherited my sweet tooth (according to the September issue of "Cooking Light" can indeed inherit a sweet tooth). Pretty much everywhere you look there is a little bakery of some sort. Some of these "bakeries" just make me laugh. They have a big sign out front in Mandarin and then somehow include the word "bake" in English (just so everyone in town will know what this establishment is supposed to be) and then a little display case (often smaller than the sign itself) with perhaps (on a good day) 5 of the same baked good in it. Hardly a bakery in my eyes, but around here you can go ahead and set up a restaurant in your apartment and have a thriving business, so why not? I came to Taiwan thinking I would find myself into the land of omega-3's. Much to my surprise, this country on a caffeine buzz likes a little something sweet to go with their tea. The yummy confections run the gamut of sweet breads to elaborately decorated three layer cream or fruit filled cakes. Most of them are so fun to look at that you just can't imagine eating them! The local place in Danshui had a lot to choose from, but no English. I have no idea what I ate, but it was so good I needed to sit down to enjoy the rest. Something cran or raspberry filling with cheese in a sweet dough. Hmmm...that doesn't sound as good as it tasted. Really, it was good. Paired with the spot of tea they served with it and I was in heaven.
Truly, the most exciting part of the trip was all the fun people I met. Turns out the tour guide happens to live one lane away from us-even saw me on the bus stop, but didn't realize I was going on the trip. Her name is Michelle and she is a potter and glass designer/maker (not sure the proper name for a glass artist). She is also a certified tour guide through the Taiwan travel bureau. She's a wealth of information and fun! Another person on the trip recognized Caitlin and I, but couldn't place us. Soon we realized that we're neighbors! She lives one building over from us. Rita and her family are expats from Italy. I HAVE AN ITALIAN NEIGHBOR!!! Yay! What a great island this is!
While we were at the bakery, Rita overheard me declare my love for tea and invited Caitlin and I for tea at her house that afternoon. I was soo excited! We rode the train and bus home together and then parted ways to wash up and drop off our gear from our travels. I had 45 minutes to shower myself, bathe Caitlin (we were beyond gross) and get us redressed. Time was extremely tight, but who thinks twice when invited to a tea party? The moment we stepped into Rita's home, I realized I should have had my head examined. Rita and her family have lived all over the world. Her boys are 19 and 14. Her babyproofing days are long past her. Me and my "destruct-a-ton entered Rita's apartment that was decorated with beautiful animal skin rugs, leather couches, glass coffee tables, treasures and trinkets from all their travels. Caitlin was like a bull in a china shop. It took mere seconds before Caitlin's busy little body was everywhere examining everything and I couldn't get to her fast enough because my legs and butt were so sore (from riding the horse the day before). Oh, she was so excited to explore all of these things! In her wake was spilled milk (for the tea), an attacked sugar bowl, a slimed up portion of pastry that was then returned to the serving dish, after which she proceeded to leave sticky finger prints all over the glass coffee table. It was a banner moment. Rita kept telling me to relax, but HOLY COW was this a bad idea! By some act of God, we managed to leave without breaking anything and luckily Rita's cleaning lady was coming the next day so I didn't feel so bad about all the finger prints and crumbs.
I continued to apologize for the wreckage the next morning when Caitlin and I met Rita and Michelle (the tour guide) to go on a "walk" in an area that "is like a driveway" where we could purchase some locally grown produce. All the words in quotes are quoted from Michelle. Rita and I show up in casual clothes. Rita in flip flops and I in sneakers. Michelle is in some serious workout clothing and sneakers. She asked us if we had water...clearly Michelle knew where she was going, we did not. We took off just a few feet from De Xing East Road (the road in which we live) and were face to face with one of the most vertical streets I've ever laid eyes on. I knew that there were mountains behind our apartment, but I didn't realize they were that close! Apparently we were about to climb up part of Yanmingshan, one of the tallest peaks in Taiwan. Yanmingshan is not one mountain in particular, but a string of mountainous land that is a national park. It took two of us to push Caitlin's stroller up this hill. It felt like someone took my 25 pound baby and replaced her with a zillion tons of lead. I looked over at Michelle, (who was helping me push the stroller), and said, "I thought this was going to be like a driveway!?" She laughed and said, "It is like a driveway. It is just as wide as a driveway, (which I couldn't argue with her, it was) and it is paved like a driveway." Ooooo, bonus. Really, would the rough gravel have made this trek any more difficult? Seriously, I was DYING. Sweat, thirst, burning muscles, the whole nine yards. I always thought I was in pretty decent shape until I pushed a lead weight up a mountain.
It was totally worth the work out. When we got to the top of the path we could see all of our village, Tianmu. It was also a few degrees cooler. We saw lemons, mangoes, bananas, pineapples, cabbage, lettuce, persimmons, peach orchards, pears, dragon fruit-you name it, it was growing up there. All sorts of neat, terraced little farms with farmers decked out in those cute Chinese hats that sell their produce to all who can make the trip. It was glorious.
We arrived home very hot, hungry and tired. We both showered, ate and went to bed. I honestly didn't think I could move my muscles anymore.
On Sunday Matt, Caitlin and I met our friend (Matt's assistant) Kirsten at the National Palace Museum. The National Palace Museum is an absolute "must see" according to every printed document on Taiwan and everyone you talk to. The museum is a place of great pride for the Taiwanese people. It is the home of literally zillions of artifacts from China when the Chinese were fleeing the mainland and built into a mountain to protect them. There are too many treasures to display at once, so the exhibits are constantly rotating. The highlight right now is the calligraphy display. These scrolls date back over 1,000 years ago. The interesting part of this is not the actual calligraphy itself (because few people can actually read it), but the fact that the Chinese had a working written language.
After a few hours in the museum, we headed out for traditional Chinese dinner at a nearby restaurant called the "Silk Palace." Wow! This restaurant is probably the only one that I've been to in Taiwan that had both ambiance and delicious food. With the help of Kirsten, we had a delicious dinner. It wasn't traditional in fashion because that would have been too much food for the 3 of us, but it was sooo good! Mmmmm...so what did we have? Well, we started with beef & rice noodles, barbecue pork, marinated asparagus, eggplant with crab claw casserole and of course, dessert. Caitlin and I had Swedish ice cream that was TO DIE FOR, Kirsten had mango flan and Matt had these crazy mashed red beans in fried dough covered in sesame seeds. Weird, but tasty. I could go into more detail with the food, but the tastes were so different that I don't have good comparisons to help portray them to you. You just need to come visit and see for yourself!
After dinner we made our way to the bus to head home. The buses only stop at their designated stops if they think someone is going to get on. So, you need to wave a bus down just like you would a cab. The bus we needed to get on barely stopped so we had to run to catch it. Caitlin though this was VERY funny! As we stumbled onto the bus the drives said, "Welcome to Taiwan" in English. We laughed and got into some seats before he took off again. Part way through the trip the driver encountered a traffic jam right at the intersection he needed to make a turn at. Since it is rather difficult to make a timely detour, he yelled out "SHIT!" at the sight of it all. This struck me sooo funny! I couldn't stop laughing. Here we are in a land where we understand so little of what is being said around us and all of a sudden we hear a word we can understand and what does that word happen to be? Shit! I guess frustration expressions are universal!
So that should get y'all up to date for a little while. Ciao!
1 comment:
Tara - Wonderful reading from start to finish. It even had some humorous stories of your adventures something you will never forget!!!! Someday when you are back at home in NC and you sit and read all about the events that took place, you will be overwhelmed that you accomplished all of the things you actually did and survived it all.
Love,
Gram xo
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