Lantern Festival

We planned a big day with our Sunday off this week. First we went to Taipei for a Mexican restaurant as that is what Monica wanted to do for her birthday. After some trouble in finding the place, we were there and the food was amazing! I really enjoyed my pina colada and I would gladly go back another time. I had been craving tacos recently since I have been thinking a lot about two of our friends back home (Shawn and Tarisha) and we used to make tacos with them all the time. So the chicken quesadilla was exactly what I needed. It also was nice to get a little day drunk on such a nice day. It made me miss London and going to Barney's on a nice day.

Enjoying our frozen drinks

Next we ventured off to Ping Xi for the Lantern Festival. Took us almost two hours to get there but it was a lot of fun. There were so many people, so crowded but watching so many pretty lanterns float in the air was worth the crowd. It cost just over $3 CAD to buy our own lantern so Rick and I purchased a green one which symbolizes wishing for everything to go well in the coming year. The tradition is to write all of your hopes and dreams on your lantern before you send it off into the sky. It was a lot of fun to write on the lanterns and then we were off to send them up.

Everyone's lanterns went up without a hitch, except for Megan's which burned up. I didn't get any pictures of hers on fire because if you know me, you know that fire terrifies me. So when it started to burst into flames, I ran and hid. So when it came time for Rick and I to light ours, I started to get scared that my hands were getting too hot and I let go too early. But ours ended up going off into the air without bursting into flames. It was so peaceful to watch our lantern float away.

The trip home was far from peaceful. We ran to catch the train and when we saw it was so full, we decided to wait for the next one. Until we learned that the next train wasn't for another hour so we crammed on that train. A thirty minute train ride, being that close to other people, was not my idea of fun. But we all made it home. Regardless of the very packed train ride, it was a really fun day.

Fourth and Final Day in Taipei

ZOO DAY! We went to Taipei Zoo. It was a perfect day for it, the weather wasn't amazing so that meant it wasn't super busy. I have never enjoyed a zoo as much as I did the Taipei Zoo. It was like being in a jungle. All of the animals were so active, it was crazy. Usually when you go to a zoo, the animals look sad and tired so you feel bad for them. These animals were all awake and running around. Before this day, I had never seen a lion, a tiger, or a jaguar moving around but Taipei Zoo changed that for me.

Some of my favourite pictures of the day:

The elephants were swaying at the same pace, putting their trunks up in the air together. It was like being in the Lion King! Made my day.

We were planning on going to the Maokong Gondolas afterwards but we were both so tired, and then I started to feel sick so back to our place we went. We decided to go out for dinner for Valentine's Day as the  day before we just went to a night market. But of course, after dinner we went to the night market for our favourite desserts.

And so ended our four days in Taipei. Until next time..

Day three in Taipei

The sun was shining, we had an amazing breakfast, so we decided to try Taipei 101 again. For those who don't know, Taipei 101 is the third tallest building in the world with the fastest elevator in the world to get you to the top. When we went on this day, only one side of the outer level was open but we decided to go anyway. There was only 70% visibility but it was still so beautiful. We walked around, listened to our audio guides, and learned a lot about Taipei.

After Taipei 101, we decided to go to Longshan Temple. We had planned to go to two other temples near there but after Longshan, we changed our minds. It was beautiful. There were so many people and we kind of felt like we were intruding on their worship. We took a rest and since it was almost 5, we went to check out Shilin Night Market.

Shilin Night Market was insane. We arrived early so I can't imagine how crazy it would have got as time went on. I would've paid to get a map, it was so huge and so confusing. And there were so many people!! You couldn't even move at times to check out what the food stalls were that we were slowly walking by. I definitely need to go back but not during a national holiday I decided. One amazing thing that came out of Shilin Night Market? I tried deep fried condensed milk and I will never go back. I have never tasted something that is so amazing! Someone teach me how to make this and I will love you forever.

So afterwards, we were still hungry and went to the night market right by our place. This time, we knew where our favourite things were and we were in and out of there in no time.

Day two in Taipei

Day two in Taipei started off with a search for breakfast. We didn't want to go to 711 and we almost did, but first we saw the cutest little old woman with a breakfast stall. We decided to try out the pointing and ordering and it worked, and it was also the best thing I have ever had for breakfast in Taiwan. When we are at the dorm, breakfast is usually our least Taiwanese breakfast but this was amazing. We came back for the next three days, every morning for this.

                            

After breakfast, we took the MRT to the National Taiwan Museum. Admission was only 20NT (less than one Canadian dollar), and we spent a lot of time there. It was really interesting to learn so much about Taiwan that I had never known before. We walked around 228 Peace Park afterwards as it is right behind the museum. Our next plan was to go to the Presidential Building but the only times they allow entry are from 9AM-12PM so we headed to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

2-28 Peace Park

Feeding a squirrel at 2-28 Peace Park

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

It was so beautiful. And massive. There were so many people there but it really didn't feel like it as there was so much open space. Afterwards we decided to go to Taipei 101 to see if the outer deck was open and we could go outside. Once we got there, the outside level wasn't open due to the weather so we headed back to our place.

Our host from Air BnB had told us about another night market that was near by so we followed her instructions and got on the bus. I'm not sure of the name of it (I will look it up) but it was a lot of fun. I am told that some of the stalls there have been there for almost 100 years. Plus there was this guy with the really cool umbrella...

Day one in Taipei

So let's all pretend I wasn't the worst blogger in the world and I wrote about this trip as it happened okay.. okay good!

So we made the journey from Taoyuan City to Taipei, we got to sit most of the way, and bringing my new small suitcase was definitely a good idea rather than bringing a backpack! On our flights to Taiwan, I was constantly jealous at every airport of the people who brought a small suitcase as their carry-on so I decided to join them.

Finally we arrive at our place we booked through Air BnB and we loved it. Our host was awesome and it was pretty much exactly like a hotel. Much to our surprise, and pleasure, we found out there was a huge night market very close to where we are staying. Since we didn't arrive till later, our first night we stayed close to our place and just visited the night market. Which we would continue to do almost every night of our stay haha

The start of our journey

Pretty excited to be in Taipei, even if he was sick

Raohe St. Night Market

My new favourite dessert

Hi ho hi ho

It's off to Taipei we go! Just waiting on Rick to return and we are heading out! We have big plans for our five days and four nights in Taipei, can't wait! The weather is supposed to be okay too so that is a definite plus! However my poor little Rickie is feeling a little sickie! (see what I did there!) Regardless, we will make the best of our time in Taipei!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

Chinese New Year's Eve

What started out as just another day turned into a pretty fun night for us. First, I tried out riding a scooter for the first time. We borrowed Monica's keys for the week while they were away so I could practice and it went really well! It is only a 50cc (so it is a smaller scooter) but I had fun. I feel like I was building it up so big in my head and then when I actually tried it out, it wasn't as big of a deal as I thought. It also helped that as I was leaving the parking lot where I practiced, an old Taiwanese man shot his fist in the air with a big smile on his face.

After that, Rick decided to head out on his own on Sam's scooter to perfect his skills. He had already tried out different scooters a few times and wanted to ride a little bit more on his own before he tried with me on the back of the scooter. He had an amazing time and he loved how free he felt to be on a scooter. It really does open up so much more of Taiwan. He checked out Tiger Head Mountain on his own and loved every minute of it.

At night, we decided to take it easy and play our new Drinking Jenga that we had just bought the other day. Darren was playing with us when we started to hear fireworks, more and more frequently. We decided it'd be a great idea to go on the roof to watch them only to find that Gloria had locked the doors on the roof for the holiday. To the streets we went. 

We walked down to the park and ended up in the middle of a firework war zone. It was so surreal and unlike back home. There were different groups of people setting off their own personal fireworks and these fireworks were similar but also so much better than the kind of fireworks we can buy back home. It reminded me of when I was a kid back home and my dad would light fireworks in our backyard. The only difference was that my dad would light the firework and run away quickly to ensure he wasn't going to get hit. While the Taiwanese like to light the firework and either casually stand beside the display or walk away at a snail's pace. They seem to not be concerned whatsoever with getting hit by a firework. We hung out in the park for over an hour. As some families would run out of their firework displays, more would arrive and start their own. 

P.S. A big thank you to Monica and Sam for letting us borrow their scooters while they are away!

Until next time!

Vacation!

It is the first day of vacation! We had a couple weeks there of a busy schedule due to all the subs we got from people being on vacation. And now we are on vacation!

We've got big plans for our first day of vacation!! Totally kidding. We're doing nothing. Probably going to research some things to do in Taipei while we're there. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

I'm actually super excited to go to Taipei because I'm told that everyone in Taiwan usually goes South for Chinese New Year so Taipei will be super slow. As in no lines, no big crowds, etc. I cannot wait!

Gloria Banquet

During the day on Sunday, everyone relaxed after going out the night before to celebrate Zach's birthday. I spent the majority of my day reading and watching Big Love. Big Love is an amazing show which I just recently started watching and I can't stop. After we all relaxed all day, it was chaos with everyone trying to get ready in time for the banquet. Gloria apparently has this banquet every year before Chinese New Year to thank all the teachers for their hard work.

We made it just in time to get raffle tickets and to get the last seats at a table. Apparently if you were late, you wouldn't get a raffle ticket and too many people showed up so they had to open up another room with four lonely tables in it who were watching our room on a video feed. I was glad to be in the big room.

The Banquet was a lot of fun. I was so nervous about the food because I had heard horror stories about previous years but I was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of it and it just kept coming. They held a raffle for probably over 25 prizes and Rick was one of the winners!! 1000NT for a big department store that is in downtown Taoyuan, we're gonna go check it out during our break for CNY. We decided not to go to the after party that all the teachers were going to at a bar downtown called Monster. I was way too tired from Zach's birthday the night before.

I don't understand how I used to go out two, or sometimes even three, nights in a row. It is way too tiring. Maybe this means I'm getting old, or just boring. Either way, I like my sleep and I like waking up at a decent time so I don't waste my day away. I can't decide if that is old or boring. Maybe I'm just growing up.

Chicken soup anyone?

The love of my life:

Friday and Saturday

Friday had a lot of firsts for us. We were invited to a Taiwanese barbecue by Danielle; a woman she met through her Chinese teacher invited her and all her friends to a barbecue at her home. I, originally, couldn't go because it started at 12 and I was subbing at 1:30 but when I finished subbing, I had a call from Rick saying that it had just started and they were wrong about the time. So I headed over to meet them at the barbecue. There was so much food and it was very different from a barbecue back home. What was also different from back home was the fact that these people invited us over at all. They went out and bought all this food just to have some foreigners over, it was beyond nice. I had to leave early cause I was subbing again at 5 (and I hadn't completely finished my lesson plan yet) and when I went to leave, I did something that was so not the norm for Taiwanese culture. The woman put her hand out for me to shake, and I went in for the Italian hug and shake hands thing. I was mortified, I got out of there so fast and I couldn't stop thinking, "why the hell did I do that?!?!"

I arrive back at the dorm and they gave me another sub for the same night, at 7:10 at a school that is about a 15-20 minute walk away. I finished at Tung-An at 6:40 and ran to Da-Yeh; made it just in time. And I'm glad I did because the money was worth it.

Today was our first real working Saturday. I started at 10:40 this morning at one of the further schools and I didn't finish until 4:00. The interesting part of my day was the Chatroom they had given me from 3:00-4:00. A chatroom is run by the foreign teacher alone, there were around 20 students, all at different levels, and the topic I was given was games. I think it went okay. It was hard at times to ensure that they were understanding me and they kept breaking out in Chinese but I think at least some of them had fun. Here's hoping it went well.

Tonight we are going out for Zach's birthday for pizza and wings. I haven't had pizza since we arrived here so I'm pretty excited.

Side note: I think, almost, everyone back home forgot that we teach all day on Saturdays haha I had three messages from three different people waiting for me when I got home, sorry friends!

Being Observed

Since yesterday was Thursday (and I assume you are all faithful blog readers), you know that we both had our regular classes yesterday! I decided to walk to Wu-Ling again as it was nice out and I hate forking over the 200NT for a cab. On the way there, I called Rick to see how he was doing before his class and he told me that he was being observed today. He was so nervous as she was observing his class that isn't at great as his other one so he was changing his entire lesson plan.

I have yet to be observed but apparently a woman sits in the back of the room and takes down notes based on what you did during class. When you first start out at Gloria, you have to be observed a few times so they know what kind of teacher you are. I find it interesting because I always wonder if they are asking our co-teacher about us etc. Rick telling me that he was being observed made ME nervous because I was scared that I would be as well. Of course I didn't tell him that at the time but his observation went amazing!

She was observing a kindergarten class and she had mostly nothing but nice things to say about Rick as a teacher. She said his presence is perfect for the kindergarten class room, his rapport with his students was great, and his lesson plan was well-done. So excited and proud of Rick! And so glad it wasn't me :)

Pad Thai for dinner and then we were off to bed!