Taiwan 2013

I've been meaning to post this journal of my recent trip to Taiwan. SO, without further ado, here it is...

Day One 

Arrive in Taipei, Drive into the town on the freeway

Park in busy traffic, Paulo almost gets hit crossing the street

Try to put Diego to nap, he fights it

They throw me on a scooter in Taiwan traffic 

Now I'm driving my family of four on the scooter 

No bathtub, just a shower hose we use in the bathroom

3 rooms for 7 people

Kitchen has no oven, just two burners with a propane gas tank attached

Hammered a nail into cement in the bathroom - did the man "handy work" 

Late nap, up all night with boys

Entire family comes over in rounds, they all like Diego's curly hair

We eat all night and drink beer

Day Two

Up at 6:30am - rains all night, literally, I get bit all over by mosquitos

Trying so hard to poop - too much rice

Leave the house by foot at 7:30am, try to explore in the rain to see what's open

Came back at 10am, nothing open, pouring rain

Kill hours watching YouTube with the boys

Try to give Diego a nap, no luck

We go to an arcade place on the 3rd floor of a shopping center - kids get overstimulated

Then we drive to the new sports and recreation center 

Driving through Taipei is a trip

Tons of traffic, it's a surprise there aren't more accidents - Eve then tells me there are always stories about scooters being run over by trucks

Diego is tired, hungry, and irritable - he cries himself to sleep on my shoulder and I carry him around the rec center and park

We drive back in crazy traffic, eat a ton, and then try to go to sleep early since both boys fell asleep in the car

Day Three

Leave house at 8am - Paulo and Diego still adjusting to jet lag, Paulo wakes up at 2am, Diego at 4am

Jump on the scooter in Taiwan rush hour traffic with my family of four, go to subway

We take the subway at 9am, everyone's going to work, I'm in shorts and a hoodie

We transfer to three different trains and eventually get to the zoo - the ride is fine and the boys are having a blast

Diego pees a little bit in his pants, he finishes in a plant on the subway platform

We go to the zoo, come face to face with a huge gorilla (literally) and have fun running around 

Take the subway back, people stare, I don't think they know how to react to us

Get back to our station, take scooter home, Diego falls asleep as we're driving back (on the scooter, sitting between Eve and I)

Eve cooks everyone dinner, we eat and go to sleep

Day Four 

Leave house at 9am and go to a nearby market after we have breakfast at a local street spot

Crazy packed streets, crazy packed market, I buy a t-shirt and some toys for the kids

We're the only Americans in this area of Tai Shan, the boys get stared and pointed at, especially Diego for his curly hair

They blatantly call him a "mixed baby"

We walk back to Jolina's house and scream at all the cockaroaches on the sidewalk (dead and alive)

Jolina's husband Tu Ja Sen takes us to a park where we pet goats and run around 

We go to a DIY pineapple cake making place, but no luck as we have to make a reservation

We go back home, give kids a nap, and oversleep for dinner 

The family wakes us up and we rush out to dinner, but first we make a pit stop for a rush job in buying glasses and contacts (that was funny!)

We eat dinner at the Aunt's house and Eve's family of 20 people overpower Paulo and Diego 

They give the boys a lot of toys but the volume and energy is too much for them and Diego whines that he wants to go home to San Francisco - first time I start to feel bad for staying here for so long

Put them to bed, stay up later and eat some more

Day Five

Wake up at 7am and leave the house early on the scooter and go to the same breakfast place to eat 

They're playing Adventure Time on the TV in Chinese and the boys are happy

We scooter back and stop at an elementary school along the way

The boys play on the school's playground and I look for skate spots

We go back to the house and relax for an hour 

Then we drive back to the elementary school to a basketball court, but can't go in b/c they're spraying for bugs

We drive to another court and play b-ball. It's me against the other two teenage boys. Of course I win, BALL IS LIFE!!!

We play on the exercise equipment and then drive to the Aunt's house for lunch

More food and more toys and then we drive to Bali

Diego sleeps along the way, Paulo doesn't

We get to Bali, thinking it's a beach area, but it's actually a strip of shops and markets where we eat, play and eat more

The boys have a blast and go crazy b/c it's so packed with people and noise

Drive back to Tai Shan, the whole family is there, we eat more, consider a night market, but stay in 

Put the boys to sleep and start again tomorrow 

Day Six

Wake up at 8am

Eat food and then drive to Keelung's Peace Island, look for crabs, splash in the water and play in the sand 

Drive to Keelung to go to the street market where it's super packed

I don't eat as much as yesterday but still fun

Drive back to Tai Shan, get sushi and go to a local park to feed goats again

The park is way more packed and we throw a ball around in the grass

Drive back home, have dinner downstairs and then scooter around to buy new glasses and contacts

Put the kids to bed, we stay up later to plan Monday 

Day Seven

We wake up around 7am, hang out and clean Jolina's house, leave at 10am

We scooter to the metro station and take the train to YuenSen, there's supposed to be a skateboard park here. 

We arrive and find out the park has been torn down, bummer

So we walk to the closest market and have lunch with shaved ice

Walk back to the train station and Diego falls asleep, I put him on a bench in the park and catch up on the journal as Eve and Paulo explore the park

Diego and I loose Eve and Paulo for a little bit, we feel ditched and spend 20 minutes looking for them (Diego pees in his pants, doesn't make it to the bathroom)

We all find each other, spend the next hour trying to decide what to do

As we're thinking/walking, it starts to rain and we run for cover

We decide to head back and when we arrive to TszingSuong, TaiShung it's sprinkling rain

We get on our scooter in traffic and then it starts to really rain as we're halfway home

Tons of traffic, the road is wet, and we almost get hit by a bus, seriously

We eat curry, give the boys a bath, and put them to bed early (7pm)

We stay up later with Jolina's sister who cooks us a ton of food, plan the next day and then I plung the toilet Paulo clogged with his diarrhea

Day Eight

Wake up at 7:30am, leave to eat breakfast at the place in Tai Shan next to the market

We're rushed out of eating to drive with Eve's aunt and uncle to JoFein

They pick us up at 9am and we're on our way, being driven by Eve's 84-year-old uncle

Dude drives on the wrong side of the street, comes to a complete stop on the freeway, tries to pass big rigs on the mountain, and generally swerves all over the road

I fear that we're not going to make it alive

We drive to a beach place called Fu Long to check some crazy sandcastles and play in the water

Eat lunch and then drive in the rain to  JoFein

We arrive at the hotel, check in, and walk up the "spirited away" mountains to a night market where we eat rice and noodles

Get back to the hotel, the aunt and uncle say goodbye and we go upstairs

Finally able to take a real shower and we all go to bed early

Day Nine

Wake up at 7am, go downstairs and have breakfast at 8:30am

Leave hotel at 10amish, walk down narrow, winding road to bus stop

Two busses pass us before we realize we have to flag them down

Finally board a bus to Jinwashu and go to an ecological park that was a former gold mining area

Walk around, have lunch, Paulo falls down and scrapes his knee 

We go to the police station looking for a band aid and the cop totally cleans his cut (although I think his hands were dirtier than the cut!)

Take the bus to the train station, but miss the train and have to wait for an hour for the next one. 

Eat dumplings and buy the boys generic power ranger shirts

Hop on the train, take it to multiple stops: cat land, lantern/crazy bridge stop, and firefly land

Eventually head back at 7:30pm

Arrive at train station and then take the bus back up the mountain to our hotel

Take showers, put boys to bed, reflect on the longest day I've had in a while

Eve goes downstairs to eat her dinner alone

Day Ten

Wake up at 8am go downstairs and eat breakfast

Leave for the tourist strip of Jo Fein and walk around and buy stuff 

Snack all day and then walk back to hotel to get our luggage and take a bus to Keelung

Get to Keelung, check into our hotel which looks like a sex hotel in a little run down area

Then we walk to the night market and eat a lot of food and play games

Walk back to hotel and give kids bath, put them to sleep and we pass out too

Day Eleven

Wake up at 8am, the hotel serves us breakfast and coffee and then they drive us to the park

We walk around the park, climb up on top of a giant shrine, ride bumper cars/bikes and then play at the playground

Eat dumplings at a local spot, have shave ice next door, and walk to the train station

Take the train to downtown Banchoi and catch a cab back to Tai Shan

We get back to Jolina's house and have dinner downstairs at Hong Fong's house

We give the kids a bath, put them to sleep and then Jolina's takes us to a night market just Eve and I, we eat a ton of food

Get back to the house at midnight, eat more 

Day Twelve

Wake up at 7:30am, keep the boys in the room in the morning and watch YouTube videos

It rained all night, literally

Around 9am, take the boys to the outside on the front patio and have them play with their toys, it's still raining

We don't do anything b/c of the rain until 1pm when we take a cab to the Taipei Science Center

We play there until it closes at 6pm and then Hong Fong picks us up and drives us home

We have dinner at Hong Fong's house and the boys play there all night and get all sweaty

Give boys bath and put them to bed at 9pm

Then Eve and I take the scooter to get some dessert cakes and we stay up late planning the last week