Taiwan Days 8 & 9

Day 8

On our last full day, we wanted to get more street food since we hadn't really had any at all. Our first stop was 西門町 (XiMen Ding), which was a terrible idea because there were smokers EVERYWHERE and it was crazy crowded. It was not baby friendly, at all. We pretty much decided to leave almost immediately, but not before getting some snacks.

Mandatory tea drinks:

KFC 蛋撻:

People watching while we waited for our fried chicken and green beans:

西門町tired us out so after our snacks, we went to rest in a breastfeeding room at the MRT station. J fell asleep while Mars and I played quietly. When we were ready to go, we decided to head over to 公館 (GongGuan or National Taiwan University) for more street snacks. We got a 掛包 (See pic below!) and a Sababa Pita (which was NOT AT ALL like I remember, this one was not tasty) and picnicked on the grass at the University where I studied back in 2006. 

Overall, it was a pretty laid-back day. On our way home, we got pineapple cakes and that was about it. My mom cooked a big dinner for us at home and my uncle and his family came over to join us.

Day 9

This was our last morning in Taipei so we had to eat all of our favorite breakfast foods. We went to two different places and I got a 油條 (Chinese donut) and a breakfast sandwich. Shortly after, we headed to the airport-bus station and said goodbye to my mom and aunt.

At the airport, we had such a pleasant experience. We asked the man at the check-in counter if we could have bulkhead seats and immediately, he was like, "Sure, no problem", and switched seats for us. He didn't give us the, "Hmm, I'm not sure, you have to ask at the gate" like at SFO, so that was nice. While waiting in the really long security line, a guard came up and told us that people traveling with babies can go to the special line...aka, no line at all! We walked right through a smaller security room where no one else was getting checked. Then, proceeded to wait in a special line for travelers with infants to get stamped out for immigration. By then, we had to change Mars' diaper so we headed into the diaper changing room where they had free diapers, warm wipes, filtered water, sofas, and cribs. Afterwards, we went to the children's play area where the ground was padded and there was a jungle gym for Mars to crawl around. Soon, we got hungry, so we had lunch at a restaurant where we got to sit on couches and Mars got to play next to the window and look at airplanes. When it was time to board the plane, we were told to get into the priority line again, AND a fellow passenger and crew member even waved us down because Mars had dropped his C3PO toy. It was probably the best airport experience ever.

Taiwan Day 7: 大安區 & 東區 & Dinner with Friends

Day 7

The next day was my sister and Arden's last morning in Taipei so we went over to my dad's house with them so that he could drive them to the airport. Afterwards, it was just me, J, and Mars, which was a nice change of pace because we got to just wander around with no concrete plans. 

They have these single serve double shots at 7-11 now, which I found amusing. This one is a B52 which is Kahlua and Irish cream:

Yam flavored Koala Yummies!

And my childhood favorite:

Then, we took the MRT over to my old apartment and felt all kinds of nostalgia:

My old door!

I used to live here!!

Then, we had another snack at Family Mart and walked down 敦化南路 (DunHua Street) to Muji, then Paul's for a light lunch:

These are my favorite Belgian waffles (yes, I like them more than the ones in Brussels). I still think about them to this day.

Finally, we made it to Eslite, which is a giant bookstore that's open 24 hours. This is where J and I went on our third night of meeting, where we browsed and chatted until 4am. We also walked past this place, so we just had to take a picture (hint: it's where it all began!)

Here, we have e181 in the background (a bar we used to frequent when J would visit me):

Then, I got my hair washed and we bought a selfie stick.

Ok, so another reason why I LOVE Taipei is because it is EXTREMELY breastfeeding and mommy friendly. Every MRT station has a breastfeeding room, and if they don't, they'll let you use the employee break room. So here we are taking a much needed break before we head out to 永康街 (YongKang Street) for dinner.

And... this is how I drink my Yakult...

Taiwan Day 6: Elephant Mountain and a Wedding

Day 6

On this day, we decided to leave the house early to go for a hike at 象山 (Elephant Mountain). When I lived in Taipei a few years ago, the MRT (subway) was still under construction and adding new stations and lines. When we visited this time, all the new lines were open, and 象山 and Taipei 101 were new stops that I had never been to. Right when you come out of the 象山 station, you get this amazing view of the 101. 

From the station, we walked through a park and up a hill to get to the steps of Elephant Mountain.

My mom and Arden:

Freshly squeezed orange juice:

The temple at the bottom on the mountain:

The 象山親山步道 (Elephant Mountain Hiking Trail) consists of really steep stairs that are uneven and quite tiring. But almost to the top, you get this gorgeous view of the Taipei 101, so it's totally worth it.

(All photos above shot on Fuji Superia 200 film)

Afterwards, we had lunch at the Taipei 101 food court and headed home so that we could get ready for our friends' wedding. At the wedding, we were reunited with all our old Taipei friends and it really made me miss living here. And here are some phone photos:

Taiwan Day 5: Slowing Down

Day 5

I think we were all feeling a bit tired from rushing around and trying to do as much as possible in the past few days, so on this day (New Year's Day!), we kept it low key and didn't try to cram in a bunch of activities. 

We stayed close to home and went shopping at Miramar.

And later that night we had dinner with my uncle and his family near 101, and we got Laduree macarons.

That's all.

Taiwan Days 3 & 4

Day 3
I don't have many interesting pictures from this day, but I do have a funny story. The morning started out with some leg cramps because I fell asleep in a sitting position while nursing the night before. We went out anyway because we had lunch reservations at 欣葉 (Shin Yeh Japanese Buffet) with my dad and his brothers. My leg felt  ok, but gradually got worse after lunch while we were heading over to 士林 (ShiLin night market area) to search for these bags we've been seeing around the city.

After shopping around, we decided to stop by 肥前屋 for dinner (Hizen-Ya, best unagi rice in the city), and by this time I was limping and could only walk very slowly. After dinner, I could barely walk. My leg felt all nerve-y every time I tried to move it, so to make our commute easier, we took a taxi to the MRT line that our house was on to avoid transfers. However, even at the MRT station, I could not walk.

Then, J spotted a wheelchair and we asked the service desk if we could use it. Turns out, they are SUPER accommodating to people with needs over in Taipei (more on this and breastfeeding in a later post). A guy wheeled me to the MRT train where a lady was waiting for me. She made room for me on the very crowded train and when it was time to get off, another man was waiting at my destination to push me to the exit closest to our house. Everyone was so helpful, and it was the biggest relief ever! My crazy leg! Then, J helped me limp home slowly while my sister carried Mars, and we stayed home for the rest of the night.

The End!

Day 4
New Year's Eve started out with lunch at 永康街 (YongKang Street) where they have famous beef noodle soup restaurants. I'm used to going to this one called 永康牛肉麵 (Beef Noodle Master), so that's where I took my family.

By the way, Mars HATES the MRT. I dunno why!? I love it!

Side dishes at lunch:

Half-tendon, half-beef noodle soup:

After lunch, we headed over to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. I love going here because when I was little, we took family portraits here, so it's super nostalgic to me. I was extra excited to take some photos of our family now, and some photos of Arden with Mars.

It was a really beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun crawling around. Mars especially enjoyed it because he was starting to get sick of being carried around in the Ergo all day, everyday.

I love this picture of them on the grass! Good thing we snapped it, because right after, a guard came up to us and told us to stay off the grass...

Arden had a lot of fun feeding the fish. It was super cute when she said, "Let's come back here again, I like it here".

Afterwards, we went to 師大 (ShiDa night market area) to get me some glasses and contacts ($40US for new prescription glasses, no exam needed!). Then, we headed over to 科技大樓 (Technology Building area), which is the closest MRT station to where I used to live! We picked up some 肉圓 (BaWan) and stinky tofu soup togo and headed home.

It was New Year's Eve, but we were way too tired to even stay up for the amazing Taipei 101 fireworks on TV. I think we were all in bed by 10pm. It's ok though, we got to see them multiple times on other people's cell phones.

Taiwan Day 2: Hualien

Day 2

On our second day back, we took an entire day trip down to 花蓮 (Hualien), the town my parents are from, and the town where we used to visit our grandparents in when we were younger. I spent a lot of my childhood here and I haven't been back since visiting my late grandfather in 2009. 

The train ride was around 3 hours and Mars slept most of the way:

The first thing we did when we got there was eat a home-cooked lunch at my great aunt's house. This meal pretty much sums up my childhood meals perfectly. The fried fish is the same fish my paternal grandfather used to buy and it was cooked in the same way as well. The garlic sprouts sauce is also a specialty that we'd always have when eating with my dad's side of the family. And of course, putting newspaper down on the table is something that we'd always do as well. This wasn't the entire meal, I dunno why I didn't snap a photo after all the dishes were on the table:

After lunch, the adults (aka my mom, sister, and grandaunt) chatted while the kids (J, Arden, Mars, and I) took a walk outside.

Later, we all went for a walk into to town, but not before stopping by my grandparents' old neighborhood.

And here I am in front of the gates of my old pre-school! It looks like a castle (you can see it in the background)!

Then, we decided to stop by my grandparents' house, which was recently sold to the neighboring egg processing company. It was really sad to see them doing renovations to it, and pretty much tearing everything out to build an office. From the front, we could see empty shells of where we used to sit in the living room to watch tv, or the dining room where my grandma kept her sewing machine.

After this, we walked toward the "downtown" area, stopping by at the houses of different relatives to say hi (this town is really tiny). While downtown, we ate some fried pork noodles and shopped around. Then it was time to head back to Taipei on the train and we didn't get home until around 11pm.