Taiwan in Pictures

Hi there!  They say pictures speak a thousand words.  So of course I had to talk about Taiwan with not just my lovely Hemingway-esq prose but my Ansel Adam-esq photography too. ;)  Ok, all cheesy jokes aside, I finally uploaded all the pictures on my computer!  I took some of these photos, and my uncle and cousin took some too.  I will post as many as I find interesting and as this post will allow.  :)  Warning - a lot of good stuff up ahead! 

1) Fun Kids Stuff

Baby Boss - kids get to try different "professions" and earn Baby Bucks

 

Mechanics

Magician - she made her own balloon sword!

Artists

Stylist - K got to style her own Barbie!

Robot Engineers - this one you can't get in unless you made enough Baby Bucks  from your previous "jobs"

K in Her Pizza Chef Gear

Pizza Chefs Hard at Work!

Enjoying the Fruits of Their Labor!

Taipei Children's Recreational Center - It's not very big, with only about 7 rides, each ride costing about USD $0.60.  But there are arcade games, snacks, and a couple of playgrounds too.  The ice cream is imported from Korea and it's extra delicious!  We went on a weekday so there were barely anyone there.  It's like enjoying Disneyland w/o the lines!  It was awesome!

Spinning Tea Cups!

Can you tell the boys were SUPER excited to ride their own motorcycles?!

Swings - didn't move too fast.  But K wasn't able to go on it.

Mini Farris Wheel

Enjoying Korean Ice Cream with Grandma

Even K got to "drive" her own car!

Of course we had to ride Thomas the Train in the Arcade

One of the Playgrounds

Dragon Boat

Merry-Go-Round

Ferris Wheel - supposedly the tallest Ferris Wheel in Taipei?  It was pretty high up, and we had a clear bottom so I was pretty freaked out!

Swimming - on days we don't have any plans, I take the kids swimming at our hotel.  We stayed at the W Hotel

Clay Model Making - on the top floors of most of the department stores, there are instructors that will assist children in making clay models.  It takes about 40 minutes to an hour to make it, and costs less than $15 USD.  It's amazing what they can make with clay!  

The boys trying to choose which clay model to make

2) Food

I apologize I can't recall the name of this restaurant, but it's where my extended family gathered to celebrate my two uncles' birthdays.  This dish that this young lady prepared is consisted of deep fried sweet potatoes, glazed with maple syrup, then dipped in cold water to harden the syrup.  The lady then used a fork to make hair-like strands of maple sugar with a fork.  It's amazing, really, what she did.  Then she made the whole maple sugar thing into some kind of sculpture.  I was beyond impressed.

Hard at Work

The Result - pretty amazing, isn't it?

This here is from the Shabu Shabu restaurant my cousin brought us to.  At the end of our meal, the waitress used the leftover broth and made it into congee (rice porridge).  Oh.My.God.  It was so delicious.  Why doesn't any of the Shabu Shabu restaurants here do that?!

Congee

Shabu Shabu sauces

Taro and Red Bean Dessert

Before we left, I treated my uncle, aunt, and cousin to a meal at our hotel.  The food is so good.  The Peking Duck had all these parings to go with it.  The squash was cooked in chicken stock that's been cooking for 4 hours.  And the pumpkin soup had chicken stock mixed in it with bits of crab meat.  K thoroughly enjoyed every bite of food!

Peking Duck Pairings

Squash with Chicken Stock

Pumpkin Soup - yup, that's a fleck of gold on top!

Tofu Stuffed with Pork

 Fruits - shown here are bell fruit, and dates

 Boba Drink - this one is milk tea sweetened with brown sugar.  Boba, in case you don't know what it is, is tapioca balls.  When cooked right, they are so deliciously chewy and sweetened just right....which is about every single boba drink in Taiwan!

So right before I left, I finally had time to walk around the department store right next to my hotel.  And on the bottom floor it was all restaurants and bakeries.  I wasn't able to take pictures of the food since I had to feed 3 kids, but I got photos of the baked goods.  They are adorable and delicious as well!

Donuts

Cakes

Macarons

3) Shopping

Street Shopping - there are so many street shopping in Taiwan, and street shopping is super inexpensive.  My mother got K a few dresses, with each costing $3.00 USD each!  But of course, it depends what you buy.  :)  I don't think little girls' clothes are made out of anything other than your basic cotton.

This particular picture was taken at one of the many underground street shopping places

As you can see, my mom is pretty happy.  :)  She is releasing her inner shopaholic!  I wrote about shopping with my cousin at slightly more expensive places.  But sorry I can't provide you with pictures!  I was too busy releasing my inner shopaholic!  ;)

Department stores - well, I'll be honest with you.  I had no interest in shopping in department stores at first.  My reasoning is, well, we have department stores here in the States.  Why do I need to shop at the stores there?  Well, I was wrong.  The stuff there in the department stores are not like the ones here.  Most stuff are imported from Korea or Japan, and of course there are stuff made in Taiwan and China.  I guess because it's a different culture?  But stuff there are just...different.  More delicate, I guess.  The only picture I have is a picture of my cousin with the munchkins.  This was after our Shabu dinner, with the restaurant located on the top floor of an especially expensive department store, with Hermes and Chanel and all kinds of other luxury goods stores.

4) Clubbing

I can't tell you which clubs I visited...but everything is seriously within walking distance from my hotel.  My cousin and I took the taxi, and we arrive within 5 minutes.  They're all in one building, one club to another.  It was so much fun.  If you're not into dancing, you can start by relaxing at the lounge upstairs.  Then work your way down...club hopping.  My cousin knew all the ins and outs.  She got us to sit at the VIP seats, we hung out with Taiwanese celebrities and club owners alike.  Let me tell you, I totally had fun, if you know what I mean!  It brings me back to our pre-children days, when my hubby and I would hang out with our friends on the weekends.  ;)

5) Anniversary Pictures

And here they are!  I only posted a few because my hubby is camera shy.  :)  Like I said, the Taiwanese are well-known for this.  It literally took a village to get these photos done.  When I booked the package, I had to select the photographer I wanted.  Then the day after we arrived, I had to choose my outfit and get fitted (they alter the dresses for you the day you try them on).   Then the next day we arrive at the studio for makeup and hair at 7am, and the actual photo shoot took an entire day.  We didn't finish until about 7pm.  We got the family portraits done early because, well, those of you with kids know this.  Kids don't do well with professional photo sessions.  So after the kids did their part, my uncle, aunt, and mom took them out for food and to a local park.  Then two days after the shoot, we had to look through and choose our pictures.  A week later, looking through and checking the re-touched photos.  All in all, the whole process took about 2 weeks, and cost about USD $2,000.  This is considered super inexpensive!  When my hubby and I got our engagement pictures done 10 years ago, at a similar studio but here in the States, it cost us around USD $8,000.  With my Taiwanese package, we got a huge acrylic cover bounded album with 36 retouched pictures, 1 framed 30" picture, 2 framed desktop 8x10 pictures, 2 smaller albums for each of our mothers, and a CD.  BTW, these pictures were taken at the studio called Sophia Ritz.  The daughter of the former Taiwanese president got her engagement photos done here as well.

I love this one because this person shown here is such a fantastic creation!  Ha!  I'm so not like this in person!  ;)

 And that's it for now!  I have so many other pictures saved on another disk, but we can't find the camera that it's sitting in.  :P  But hopefully you got a more thorough look into what Taiwan can offer.  We came for our anniversary pictures but wanted to make sure the kids had fun too.  We achieved both missions with satisfaction.  We all left Taiwan a few pounds heavier, a little less stressed, our wallets a little lighter (ha!), and came back to the US very, very jet-lagged.  But we're happy!  I'm actually going through my day-to-day routine with less stress and more focus.  And I'm more in touch with my family in Taiwan.  I'd say this was a spring break well-spent.  I hope, through my writing and pictures of Taiwan, I have inspired you to put Taiwan in your future travel plans.  It really is a fun place to visit, with something for everyone.  :)  Maybe I'll see you on our next visit there!  ;)

Xoxo,

Lin