Thursday, July 15
I’ve compiled another list of some more interesting things I have discovered about Taiwan:
• Many light switches are on the outside of rooms.
• The water fountains only give out warm water. Cold water is something that we take for granted in the United States. In fact, most of the water you get here is warm for a few reasons. One is that it’s boiled before it’s served. The second is that the Chinese think that you shouldn’t put anything in your body that’s a different temperature.
• Their wedding photos are crazy! When we visited Joey and when we visited Josh and Paula we saw their wedding photos. They do a top-notch, one-hundred-percent job. The photos are taken in very creative ways and in different places. They have no problem going to the beach or to the mountains to shoot or going to both. In addition, they have whole wardrobes of clothes that you can wear and I guess they do all the makeup and stuff. So each picture is in a different place with different dresses and tuxedos. All the pictures are bound in a huge book. If I remember right the service costs a lot of money, but is good in the long run because they give you one or two really nice pictures every year for the rest of your life. In my opinion this is definitely superior to the way they do it in America!
• Everyone here is very frugal except in one area: a lot of shops leave their AC on and their doors wide open. When we asked Josh about this he said that people do it to be kind to others.
• People look so young here. I’m not sure what causes this. Sometimes I see people in the youth group (remember it’s for college students, too) or at church that I’ll think are 14 or 15 and they’ll turn out to be 21 or 22.
• Women don’t take the man’s last name when they marry here. Each adult keeps their own surname. I’m not sure why they do this, but as a child I like it when my parents both have the same name and it’d be weird for me if they didn’t.
I’ve tried some more interesting food and drinks. Below is a list of some that stuck out:
• Beef noodles – What else can I say besides that they’re delicious! It’s definitely one of my favorite meals here.
• Thousand-year egg – No thanks. It’s what I wish I would’ve said before trying it. The only problem is that it was mixed in with this other egg slice that I was eating. The very fact that it was blackish-brown should’ve tipped me off. But, alas, I didn’t know what it was until after I had eaten it. It tasted like a highly-concentrated egg yolk. Any other description my mind has wiped clean. Thank goodness.
• Green Tea Sprite – You need to try some!! I’m going to think of a way to get this introduced in the United States. Maybe it doesn’t sound so great, but after you taste it you’ll think differently! This is my favorite drink here.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Kenting!
Thursday, July 15
For the past two days our family has been able to experience something that only an extended vacation like this one could allow – a vacation within a vacation. The Lins drove us two hours to Kenting and we spent a good portion of two days enjoying ourselves there. Kenting is a tourist town on the southern tip of Taiwan that’s crawling with people. At night the streets are packed with vendors, traffic, and people strolling the streets. Kenting is famous and infamous at the same time for its beaches; though they are beautiful they are known to be very dangerous. Occasionally a strong riptide will occur and it has claimed some lives over the years. We were therefore very careful when we went to the beach Tuesday night. We stayed for a few hours until there wasn’t much light left to see by. The timing was perfect. Not only did we not have to wear sunscreen, but we were able to witness a beautiful sunset as well.
The place we were staying, the Howard Resort, was a nice four-star hotel in a prime location. The beach and vendor strip were only a few blocks away. So after showers to wash off the sand Wednesday night we went out to eat at a place nearby. The dinner was delicious Tai cuisine. I especially liked the fried rice. It had some kind of shrimp or crab meat in it that added to the flavor. One other thing that stands out was the coconut chicken.
After dinner we walked around and looked at different vendors. We were trying to find a few items, mainly a shot glass and a thimble, as gifts for family and friends. You would not believe how hard it is to find them! We haven’t seen one of either since we’ve been here. We’ll keep trying, though. We’re bound to find them somewhere.
Early in the morning we awoke and got ready to eat breakfast. Downstairs was a dining room with a buffet. The place was pretty much packed. They had many different stations that you could go to and get food. Some foods were western (eggs, bacon, and toast, cereal, or waffles) and some were eastern (passion fruit, rice wraps, different soups). I had a mix and enjoyed it very much.
After breakfast our family split up. Some went back to our room. Some went outside to the pool. I went to the weight room. It felt really nice to exercise because I haven’t since we’ve been here. The hotel had a total of three or four machines and a bunch of free dumbbells so I did my set three times. After finishing I hit the pool to cool off before we had to check out. I didn’t put on any sunscreen and neither did anyone else. That was our big mistake. Pastor Lin got us an extended check out time so we stayed in the pool. Nate swam for a total of two hours and the rest of us for about an hour and a half. Isaac and Elijah are a little sun burnt, but I have it bad and Nate has it worse. We all underestimated the baking power of the Taiwan sun!
When Pastor Lin finished checking out at 12:30 we headed to the hotel basement to play some pool, Ping-Pong, and arcade games. They have a lot of neat stuff down there. By the time we were finished we were all pretty starved for lunch so we went to KFC and got it to go. To get to our picnic place we had to drive past the southern-most point in Taiwan. A lighthouse marks the spot. Soon after passing the lighthouse we drove up a small mountain to our final destination. From that mountain you could see both the Pacific Ocean and the Taiwan Strait. The view was breathtaking. Off on the Pacific side of the mountain was a steep drop down to the beach below. That was where we set up our picnic and took pictures.
Pastor Lin took my dad and Isaac home when we were finished eating. The rest of us went to an underground water park. I was so happy that it was indoors because I didn’t want to aggravate my sunburn any further! I enjoyed the time we spent there. They had a few really nice slides and a toilet-bowl. There was also a wave pool and a lazy river. About six o’clock (two or three hours later) we called it quits and headed home. It was an awesome two days of fun and relaxation!
For the past two days our family has been able to experience something that only an extended vacation like this one could allow – a vacation within a vacation. The Lins drove us two hours to Kenting and we spent a good portion of two days enjoying ourselves there. Kenting is a tourist town on the southern tip of Taiwan that’s crawling with people. At night the streets are packed with vendors, traffic, and people strolling the streets. Kenting is famous and infamous at the same time for its beaches; though they are beautiful they are known to be very dangerous. Occasionally a strong riptide will occur and it has claimed some lives over the years. We were therefore very careful when we went to the beach Tuesday night. We stayed for a few hours until there wasn’t much light left to see by. The timing was perfect. Not only did we not have to wear sunscreen, but we were able to witness a beautiful sunset as well.
The place we were staying, the Howard Resort, was a nice four-star hotel in a prime location. The beach and vendor strip were only a few blocks away. So after showers to wash off the sand Wednesday night we went out to eat at a place nearby. The dinner was delicious Tai cuisine. I especially liked the fried rice. It had some kind of shrimp or crab meat in it that added to the flavor. One other thing that stands out was the coconut chicken.
After dinner we walked around and looked at different vendors. We were trying to find a few items, mainly a shot glass and a thimble, as gifts for family and friends. You would not believe how hard it is to find them! We haven’t seen one of either since we’ve been here. We’ll keep trying, though. We’re bound to find them somewhere.
Early in the morning we awoke and got ready to eat breakfast. Downstairs was a dining room with a buffet. The place was pretty much packed. They had many different stations that you could go to and get food. Some foods were western (eggs, bacon, and toast, cereal, or waffles) and some were eastern (passion fruit, rice wraps, different soups). I had a mix and enjoyed it very much.
After breakfast our family split up. Some went back to our room. Some went outside to the pool. I went to the weight room. It felt really nice to exercise because I haven’t since we’ve been here. The hotel had a total of three or four machines and a bunch of free dumbbells so I did my set three times. After finishing I hit the pool to cool off before we had to check out. I didn’t put on any sunscreen and neither did anyone else. That was our big mistake. Pastor Lin got us an extended check out time so we stayed in the pool. Nate swam for a total of two hours and the rest of us for about an hour and a half. Isaac and Elijah are a little sun burnt, but I have it bad and Nate has it worse. We all underestimated the baking power of the Taiwan sun!
When Pastor Lin finished checking out at 12:30 we headed to the hotel basement to play some pool, Ping-Pong, and arcade games. They have a lot of neat stuff down there. By the time we were finished we were all pretty starved for lunch so we went to KFC and got it to go. To get to our picnic place we had to drive past the southern-most point in Taiwan. A lighthouse marks the spot. Soon after passing the lighthouse we drove up a small mountain to our final destination. From that mountain you could see both the Pacific Ocean and the Taiwan Strait. The view was breathtaking. Off on the Pacific side of the mountain was a steep drop down to the beach below. That was where we set up our picnic and took pictures.
Pastor Lin took my dad and Isaac home when we were finished eating. The rest of us went to an underground water park. I was so happy that it was indoors because I didn’t want to aggravate my sunburn any further! I enjoyed the time we spent there. They had a few really nice slides and a toilet-bowl. There was also a wave pool and a lazy river. About six o’clock (two or three hours later) we called it quits and headed home. It was an awesome two days of fun and relaxation!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)