Bus Ride

Howdy everyone, another weekend has come and gone but this time we were planning on having a relaxing weekend at home. We had some stuff to get caught up on around the house and Justin needed to rest after a very busy week at work. He had to give 600 oral tests to his students and he was observed by the MOE (Ministry of Education).

On Saturday it was a rainy day and even though the temperature was in the 70's it felt cooler so we stayed home watching movies and reading. On Sunday it was sunny and in the 80's so we decided to go to shopping in Nantou City for some blankets. It is getting cooler at night and we just aren't ready for that. It was our first time to ride the bus to Nantou because we usually go North to Cauton but we were up for a new adventure. We did all of our shopping and headed for the bus. We asked the bus attendant which bus to get on to go home to Zongxing, he showed us and we boarded.

Once the bus left the bus lot it only took about 2 minutes to realize we were on the wrong bus!

So before we got to far Justin got up to ask the bus driver... he said we were on the correct bus. So we are on the wrong bus going the wrong way into the rural mountain towns but the even the bus driver thinks we are headed the correct way. So we get to the town where he thinks we need to get off but there is no way we are getting off there! It doesn't even have a 7-11. Then a light goes off in the bus drivers mind and he realizes what we already knew... We are on the wrong bus!!!

The bus driver was kind and we ended up having to ride the entire loop, 1 hour, and go back to where we started. Then we got on the correct bus and we were home in about 15 minutes. Even when we are not looking for an adventure we seem to find one here in Taiwan.

Now for some good news. We found a movie theater in Nantou! We went to see the new 007 and we will go back on the 14th of December to watch The Hobbit! It is pretty neat because you can pay for one ticket and watch movies all day long! Next time we will go early so we can watch two or three. The theater was decent...bigger than the Fiesta Square Theaters. The eating and drinking rules are definitely different from home. People were bringing in entire meals to eat and drink. Kind of crazy but good. Next time we will bring our food and set up camp for the day :)

Weekend in Tainan !Caution: there are snake photos in this blog!

Good afternoon friends and family,

This weekend we took a trip to Tainan, Taiwan (I added a map so you can see where we have been visiting.).  We went to stay with a very sweet family for the weekend. A friend of ours works for this family and we had met their young son, Sean, once before. We were going to Tainan for Sean's sports day at his school but when we arrived in Tainan on Friday night it started raining and didn't stop until Sunday morning. So with sports day canceled we headed to a department store. There department stores are like our malls on steroids! It is anywhere from 5 to 15 stories tall. Each level is a different department with women's taking up the most space :) at least two levels. We went to a Starbucks and tried there Christmas blend, Toffee Nut Latte, it reminded me of home. We didn't take many pictures this day because I didn't think anyone would want to follow us around the book store and shopping. After lunch we decided to head to a reptile museum to see what they had to offer. Well let me tell you that I was quite frightened. The first display was a plastic Rubbermaid tub with wire on top. When I looked in we see lots of Taiwan cobras.... Then an older man comes over takes off the lid and starts to pick them up. They are hissing and a couple of them struck at him, but none of them made contact. I was so scared I was ready to leave. I thought that the rest of this place might not be safe but it was ok after that. They had many snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles. They even had a Copper head and Timber rattler but what they specialized in were the large snakes. They had so many Burmese and Reticulated pythons as well as one bird, one lion, two or three tigers and some primates. Overall I would say this was a pretty good place but I think some of the monkeys needed medical attention. Other than that everything looked happy and healthy.

 This is a king cobra...I would have fainted if he started to get this beast out.

After our reptile outing we headed off to dinner. Justin ate so much I thought he might explode. He had all of the sea food he could want. Sean's older brother, Bob, was an equally big eater but he can't eat shrimp so Justin had more shrimp than he could finish. I think he really enjoyed himself. ;)

The next day we headed out for breakfast. The lovely girl in the photo with Noah is Tina. She is Sean's older sister. She is a very sweet girl. She was home from college for the weekend.

 Breakfast of champions  Noah had McDonalds pancakes while the rest of us ate a traditional Taiwanese breakfast of fried noodle and egg. Mine was better than Noah's!

  The thing in the spoon is from a soup that we were served. It looks like a kind of nut but tastes more like a potato. I do not think it is either of them so I can't really tell you what it was. Tasted good though.

 It is early still and it is going to be a cloudy day. See the man on the bicycle? He doesn't stop to wait for traffic. Most people here, cars included, do not stop. Going the wrong way is acceptable also.

 Yes, Brad, this is my second cup of Starbucks this weekend!  This one is a vanilla latte!

 Justin loves the trees here!

 Behind me is, Bob and his girlfriend Matilda, They are such a nice family. I hope we get to see them again.

 Noah and Sean playing rock, paper, scissors while they wait for the adults to get ready on our outing  We are headed to an old fort the first one built in Taiwan  Tainan is Taiwan's oldest city so we are going to visit some old buildings and forts today.

Left to right starting in the back row. Tina (she is Sean's private English teacher), Me, Tina (Sean's sister), Sue (Sean's mom), Bob (Sean's brother). Front row Sean (cutie in the green shirt), Matilda (Bob's girlfriend) and of course the Arkansas boy in the awesome shirt is Noah! Justin is taking the picture.

 Justin was able to get in this group photo!

 Banyan tree roots! 

 Watching the boys feed the fish.

 Time to eat again!

 Goose eggs... Yes they bought those for us. They are big enough for two or three people.

 Shopping for fun goods.

 This cute little guy came out of his booth just to say hi and take a picture. 

 Now we sit down to eat. They bought me three meals! I know I am a little heavy but why would I need three meals? You would think the skinnier you are the more they would feed you not the other way around. I just ate a little from every dish.

 Time to do some clay pottery. 

 Now they have to decorate it. It will take three weeks to get them back. 

Check out how many scooters there are! They are everywhere.

It is still pretty warm in Nantou most days it is in the 80's and the evenings are in the upper 60's and lower 70's.  Although most of the Taiwanese feel like it is in the 20's.

Here is a map so you can see where we are and were we go when we travel.