The last city on our trip was Taipei, Taiwan. I was so excited to see how Cooper would do with speaking Chinese in the "real world". It was really fun to watch.
After landing, we went through customs with our e-visas. I accidentally mistyped Cooper's passport number, and they sent us back to fix it before going through the agent's booth. When we got back to the area to fix it, the woman there looked over at us and Cooper started telling her in Chinese that he needed to fix his visa.
She started walking him through the steps, but they got caught on a webpage not loading. Cooper started to explain something to her, again in Chinese, where I heard him say "mom" at one point. The lady looked over at me, chuckling, and gave me a thumbs up. After they got it figured out and the number fixed, I asked Cooper what they were talking about. He told me that when the webpage didn't load, he told her that his mom monitors what websites he is and isn't allowed to go to. She thought I was doing a good job at being a safe mom. LOL
Doesn't this metro ticket package have gorgeous design details!
Again, Gemini did not disappoint. The exact location of our hotel had a metro stop steps out the front door. This made for an easy transport to and from the airport. We were only in the city for about 48 hours.
The rooms was small and narrow. There were only 3 full-bed occupancy options. Which wasn't the worst since we had a total of 6 people, and so Cooper stayed with grandma and grandpa while Aria stayed in Ben and my room. The room was split into two areas. First, where you entered with a toilet room, a shower room, and a sink in the breezeway. The problem was that the shower room was floor to ceiling glass windows. There was a curtain to draw across the room, but that still left the door and entry completely exposed to whoever was in the shower. Since we had split the kids up, we also were sometimes sharing keys. It made for a strange setup to be sure.
Perhaps it is worth mentioning that every toilet, save one squaty potty in a train station, came with a bedet. As our hotels progressed, they also got more extravagant until the last hotel, where it eas motion sensored to lift the lid. As well as heat up the seat. The selection of spray options was also extensive!
After lunch, a little walk and a late-afternoon rest in our rooms, we headed out to the Raohe night market. It was a thing you see in movies with the hustle and bustle of stalls frying, grilling, and scooping up delicious food.
The himidity and constant hydrating at drink vending stands did wonders for our skin!!
Teipei 101 Observation deck & Shopping Experience
The next morning we set out on to the Taipei 101 skyscraper.
After the 101 we took a short metro ride to see the Taipei temple. It was a Monday so it was closed.
It was remarkable to see the volume of people that use the metro with every train that comes. Like Japan, the metro was very clean and quiet.
Night market, night 2. New things we tried: Fuzhou Pepper Buns, grilled squid, juiced watermelon, and chicken feet.
The favorite sweet treat, whenever it was available, candied fruit (or an occasional vegetable). Sweet strawberries covered with a thin candy shell of sugar was a delightful, refreshing street food snack throughout both Japan and Taiwan.
This trip... "imagine spending 24/7 with your wife, 2 kids and parents. It was phenominal!" - Ben
A beautiful experience was had by all. Relaxing, entertaining, delightful, peace filled time spent with each other.
