Friendly Faces

Soon after our trip to Vietnam, Adam and I were visited by two friendly faces from home-- his dad, Pat, and sister, Laura. Along with suffering from jet-lag and inability to read or speak Chinese, the pair successfully navigated Hsinchu, checking out the museums and temples and even finding their own dinner while Adam and I were at work.

During Pat and Laura's first weekend in Taiwan the four of us jumped on the high speed rail and zipped to Kaohsiung, where we then climbed into a cab and arrived at our hotel in Kenting sometime after midnight. Kenting is at roughly the same latitude as Hawaii, so we were greeted in the morning to the sights, sounds, and sun of a beach paradise less than five hours from our home in Hsinchu.

We were lucky enough to stay at the Kenting Youth Activity Hostel, which is built in the style of a Fujianese fishing village and located on a secluded peninsula a short walk from downtown Kenting. To make the walk even shorter, we rented scooters for the weekend and spent Saturday exploring the whole south-east side of the point. We even took a short but picturesque trek to the southernmost point in Taiwan. Riding a scooter along the coast in the sun was relaxing and rejuvenating, and even proved to be tasty when we stopped at a roadside stand selling baked yams that had spent untold hours caramelizing in their own skins in a huge clay oven. Otherwise the food was the only disappointment of the trip, since we were forced to choose between various tourist traps attempting to cook anything but Taiwanese food. The culinary experience left something to be desired and made us quite grateful for the food we'd left behind.

On Sunday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and rode to a nearby bay, where we'd arranged to take surfing lessons for the morning. Although the surf was "all blown out," to quote our ex-pat instructor, we had a great time getting smashed into the coral and smacked by our boards. We even managed to stand up and ride a few waves in. By the time our three hour lesson was over, though, Adam, Laura, and I were done being victimized by the ocean and were happy to call it a day.

After long, hot, showers and a big lunch, Pat continued the scooter-tour around the west side of the point and the kids went off in search of a hike. Although it took us a while to find one, we were eventually rewarded with a beautiful and mildly challenging hike at the Sheding nature park that offered us amazing views of the entire south-eastern side of the peninsula. Next, we took advantage of the location of the hostel and poked around Frog Rock, which was right next to the activity center's buildings. We all re-grouped for dinner and then cruised the night-market that appears on the main street of Kenting. The next morning, after taking in one last glimpse of the ocean, we begrudgingly got back into a taxi and set off for the HSR station. It was hard for Adam and I to get back into the rhythm of work that week after such a change of pace, but the trip was great for recharging our batteries.

Tuesday through Thursday Laura and Pat visited Alishan National Forest, which is a park located among multiple mountains and is accessible by either bus or one of the only narrow-gauge trains left in the world. Although the train wasn't an option on their way up, Pat went back down the mountain on Wednesday just for the opportunity to experience the unique railroad and Laura explored the trails that snaked up the mountains. They even woke up early enough to see a mountain-top sunrise over Taiwan.

Always on the move, that Friday we dragged the suitcases to the bus-stop after Adam and I finished work. We checked into our hotel in Taipei and Adam, Pat, and I explored a small night-market nearby and indulged in some of Taipei's famous "xiao-chi" (little eats). The next day we went straight to Taipei 101, but were met with unfortunately fast-moving clouds that suddenly appeared between the time we entered the building and the time we reached the observation-deck ticket counter. With a predicted visibility of zero, we decided our time and money could be better spent and set off in search of a Sushi Express so Pat and Laura could sample some of our favorite fast food. Next we walked through the 2-28 Peace Park and on to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial (recently renamed the National Democracy Memorial Hall). After that we took a subway ride to Longshan Temple, probably one of the most famous temples in Taiwan because of it's size, location, and beautiful waterfalls and koi-fish in the front.

Before dinner we made a brief stop at the hotel to grab jackets and a cup of coffee and Adam was surprised with a birthday cake from the Hotel, a delicious treat that we saved for after dinner. That night Pat treated us to an authentic German meal in honor of Adam's birthday, an odd choice for their last meal in Taiwan, but a wonderful a change for Adam and me. Once we were back in the hotel, we stretched the visit out as long as possible by staying up and chatting while Pat and Laura packed, gleaning the last few bits of news from home. Even though their taxi whisked them to the airport early in the morning, Adam and I made sure to get up and see them off, knowing that they would be the last friendly faces from home we would see for a while.