Visitors

We had quite an exciting weekend this weekend. Bob and Jennifer came to visit us so we had the opportunity to show them around. They arrived Friday night and were tired after a long flight and a day in Taipei so we just went to a pub called FM for the evening and then came back to get some sleep. Saturday morning we went to a great American breakfast place in Taichung called The Early Bird and got some excellent breakfast. Afterwards I had to go to work until noon so they just hung around until then.
At noon we all went to Dakeng Scenic Area to do some hiking. The weather was very nice, probably in the mid to high 70's. We climbed partly up but as it turned out Bob and Jennifer both had allergic reactions to something in the air so we had to climb slower the higher we got up. We didn't plan for this and I was worried that we wouldn't get down before it got dark or that we might miss the last bus. Well we made it down by 5:10, and the last bus was supposed to come at 5:25. It did come, but it came going the opposite way and it wouldn't stop and it didn't come back. So there we were, at the bottom of the mountain with almost no one else around, in the darkness, and howling dogs off in the distance. Our next plan was to call our Taiwanese school director and have her call us a cab (since we can't speak Mandarin). Well we got her number from a co-worker, but then my phone started flashing the low battery sign and no one else thought to bring their phone. So that option was out as well. Bob started walking towards a few people off in the distance and was going to try and convince them to call a cab for us. Instead, they motioned for him to get in the van, and he did. Then they stopped near us and I could tell that it was a family so I wasn't really worried that anything bad would go down. We got into the van and they agreed to take us to Taichung City, although they didn't speak English really so most of it was done through broken English/Mandarin and pantomime.
The van ride was very interesting and pleasant. The mother kept trying to have a conversation with me but she didn't speak English. I gave her my map and as we drove through Taichung she would point out the various tourist sites we came across. We also randomly stopped to take a picture of a streetlight. At first I thought they were pulling over to have us get out, but oddly enough they just wanted a picture of the streetlight. Afterwards, they turned on some music and the father started singing to it, and then the mother started watching a LCD built into the dash with the song lyrics so she could sing along as well. I was thinking we should maybe pay them for gas and the ride, but then I thought it may be rude because they are trying to do us a favor. So I decided against it. But when we did stop Carolyn tried to give them money but they refused 3 times, so she gave up also.
They dropped us off right in front of Sogo Department Store near our house and we were exhausted so we rested for it a bit. After our brief rest we went to find some food on a popular restaurant street called Gung-Yi. We ended up at an awesome hot pot restaurant (a hot pot restaurant has a large pot filled with broth in the middle and a fire underneath it, and they give you raw food and you put it into the pot to cook it yourself). We chose two different broths, one spicy and one rather bland (the spicy one tasted like Mexican food and Christmas), and we got beef, mutton, vegetables, and noodles. The food was very very tasty and it only came out to about $8 US a person. Then we went and got Cold Stone to finish the night, which is very expensive and in my opinion not worth it.
On Sunday we decided to go to Sun Moon Lake. We got up very early and stopped at McDonald's to get some breakfast, and then we went to the bus depot to catch the 9am bus to Sun Moon Lake. The ride itself is 2 hours and rather boring. We made it to Sun Moon Lake around 11am and the weather was perfect. It was probably in the mid 70's with blue skies and a nice breeze. We caught the around the lake bus right away and got off at Wenwu temple. I liked this temple much better this time because when it's sunny the temple looks a lot more colorful. Last time we went it was very polluted out so the colors of the temple weren't as dramatic. We took a lot of photos here and Bob and I got some hot dogs on a stick, which weren't bad but I wasn't a huge fan of the cinnamon and other various spices sweet sauce.
We caught the around the lake bus again and this time rode it to Syuezyang Temple (my favorite of the 3). It was again very peaceful and quiet. We looked around and took some pictures, and then we climbed up to see Cihen Pagoda again. Jennifer was having allergy-breathing problems again so she waited at the bottom for us while we walked up. Bob also had allergy issues so we had to take the walk up slowly. The pagoda was very nice and secluded, although a group of teenagers came up behind us so they kind of detracted from the solitude (each one of them had to ring the gong at the top, and there were like 15 of them). Bob also rang the gong at the top and had one of these teenagers take a picture of him doing it. After checking out the pagoda and surrounding area we walked back down, got Jennifer, and walked the path to the last temple. This last temple as I mentioned before is really nondescript so we stayed for a few minutes and then caught the bus back to Shuishe village.
We ate a late lunch in Shuishe pier at a touristy restaurant. The food was really not good and it was very expensive. I stopped at 7-11 to get a snack for the ride home because the meal left me unsatisfied. We waited around a bit for the bus back to Taichung. It came at 5:30pm and it was definitely a bumpy, shaky, fast ride. I thought the bus was going to fall apart. We kept hitting potholes at super-fast speeds and it would bounce people into the air. But somehow the bus stayed together and I am happy for that.
When we got back we checked out Sogo and Bob bought a souvenir. We then went to a Japanese Steakhouse because Bob wanted to go somewhere Japanese since he wasn't going to go to Tokyo like he planned. We went to The Rock, a steakhouse we've been to before. This time I ordered steak without sauce and it was much better. We got Ice Monster afterwards to top off the unhealthy meal. We then returned to our apartment because they had to get up early Monday for their flight.
As it turns out they were bumped from their return flight so they stayed the evening yesterday in Taipei. I haven't heard from them today so hopefully they made it on the return flight this afternoon (Tuesday).