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!

New Years 4 day weekend!

Wow! We had a wonderful 4 day weekend so much to do and see. We started off on Saturday with wonderful weather. Justin and I rode our bicycles to the market and picked up lots of fresh fruit. The fruit in Taiwan is delicious, I just can't eat enough.  We were invited to go to dinner with a friend, Adrian. We met him at the school so we took some pictures with the awesome dragon heads.

Then we were off to dinner! We ate at a Thai restaurant, it was very good. Very similar to our Thai restaurants in Fayetteville.

Then Adrian took us to his grandfathers Chinese medicine shop. This was very cool!!! Noah and Just got to play with all of the equipment and even taste a few medicines.

Here Noah is behind the counter playing doctor. Every one of the drawers behind him is full of Chinese medicines.

Now it is time for all three of us to be checked by the professional! Guess what....We are all healthy!

On Sunday we made plans to go to an Taiwan aboriginal theme park. Wouldn't you know it that when we woke up Sunday morning it was raining and very cold :( We decided to go anyway.  We had a blast at the park. Turns out that many people stayed away because of the weather so it was perfect for us! We didn't have to wait in line for anything. 

Noah is finally big enough to ride a roller coaster with out me, thank goodness! Him and several of his friends went for a ride. It was crazy, round and round up and down inside and out.... Not for me!

Look at those silly monkeys!

Time for a group dance with strangers... Yea lots of fun.

I bet you can't figure out what Noah thinks is so funny!

This was a crazy ride. It took you way up into the sky and then let you free fall down!  All three of us went on this one!

Way up into the clouds...ready...set...FALL! 

After the park went to see another temple...They are so beautiful. I just can't see enough of them. Each one is different.

Now to have dinner with the group delicious!

We did get some rest on Monday! We spent the entire day inside and I think Justin slept most of it. We got up in time to do some fireworks! Happy New Year to everyone!