Buddha Memorial Center

 This past weekend we decided to go with a tour group to see what it was like. It was pretty cheap, only 600 NT per person, and all we had to do was show up. No planning, which sometimes is more exhausting than any other part of traveling in a foreign country. We left at 7am and headed to a toothpaste factory! Kind of silly I know but it was only one of many stops we would make :)

 They had a fish pond in this factory. It was pretty neat and we even got some free samples of tooth paste. We might have enough toothpaste to last us the next 6 months! Although the flavors are a little odd, Honey and Lemon.

 They also had several wood tea serving tables in the lobby, they are so beautiful! As you can see this one was a detailed fish carving.

The table below has a Happy Buddha carved into it.

 We didn't spend much time at the tooth paste factory, maybe one hour.  Now it is time to move on. We are going to a temple and then to old town in Tainan.

We didn't take any picture of the Taoist temple in Tainan because it was more like an office building. We got to observe and participate in a ceremony. But we aren't allowed to talk about it so I won't say anything else in case the spirits are listening to me (or reading what I type).  The only picture we took in old town, Tainan was Justin eating some coffin bread! We have been to this area of Tainan before and you can see those pictures in an earlier blog http://timmonsmitchell.blogspot.tw/2012/11/weekend-in-tainan.html  

 After Tainan we headed to The Buddha Memorial Center in Kaohsiung City. The Buddha Memorial Center was the reason we picked this tour. The center is famous because it houses one of the tooth relics of Gautama Buddha, the founder of the Buddhist faith.The Center has only been open for about a year so it is very new and a huge attraction. Pictures were not allowed in the temple so I will tell you what we saw. There was a jade Buddha temple as well as a gold Buddha temple. There was a ton of history of Buddha. We were allowed to take photos inside the welcome center, behind us in the picture below, and on the grounds of the facility. 

 It was very windy our hair is kind of crazy! Got to love the wind in Taiwan because there is lots of it :)

 This is not our entire group but of course it is the best looking ones.

Right inside the welcome center there is a STARBUCKS COFFEE! You can see Justin and Noah didn't waste any time heading in there! Thank you Buddha!

 And if Starbucks wasn't enough there is also a 7-eleven!