HK: Days 13-16

Wow. Really dropped the ball on this one... Can you tell I've gotten lazy? Also no internet for 3 days = awful.

I've grouped days 13-16 together is that we spent them in Taiwan. I think my cousin Kelvin really over-hyped it... We did not have as much fun he normally does.

We were invited by my aunt (on Mom's side) to join her. My aunt's older sister lives in Taiwan, so we had a place to stay. Of course we agree to free accommodations, not knowing that her apartment is way old and not kept very well. I refused to take pictures of it, but believe what I said because even my Mom agreed. And that's saying something.

Basically there were no set plans, my family pretty much tagged along as my aunt and her sister went all around Taipei buying stuff for my aunt's coworkers. Where's the fun in that??? We took the metro, took buses, taxis, and walked til we could not move anymore.

The one thing keeping me from going insane was the fact that I got to see my housemate Maggie every day. She acted as tour guide, navigator and translator. And also got bossed around by my aunt and her sister. Bless her soul. She was such a good sport.

So Day 1 in Taiwan:

Guess which is mine.

Touched down in Taipei and it was pouring. Great start. From the airport, we took a very long bus til we got to the mall and had lunch. I called up Maggie and she met up with us later at 101, the largest building and shopping mall in Taipei (I think). Firstly we can't afford anything there, so we left and wandered around in the rain. Maggie brought us to this place to have bubble tea. I ordered a Large mango smoothie. It was WAY bigger than a Large back in Canada.

Anyways... After bubble tea, we wandered yet again in the rain til it was dinner time. We ate at a very famous restaurant with a very good reputation. It was ranked one of the top ten restaurants of the world in 1993. Impressive huh?? Really good food, and really good service. Overall, great experience.

Got home, and passed out in bedding that smelled like moth balls. Ew.

Day 2:

Took another long bus ride to find some hot springs. Almost left without dipping our feet in a spring until we passed by a random who pointed us to the river and where he had built his own little structure with hot spring water. It was sweet. The water is actually scalding (but very comfortable after a while). So we chilled there for a bit.

That's pretty much the most exciting thing of the day. I will spare you the frustrations we experience.


Day 3:
My last day with Maggie :(

Met up with her after lunch. She took us to have some mango ice dessert, then to see the memorial built for the first president of Taiwan. We're not history buffs, just an excuse to sit in some A/C. But it was pretty much like the Lincoln Memorial, but for the president of Taiwan.
Had Peking duck dinner with Maggie's Mom and sister. So nice of them to treat us to dinner.

That's about it.

When we got back to HK, my uncle had bought a cake in light of our return and to also remind us that no matter what's happened to us, we're still a family. Heart warming sentiment that we all shared.
Oh oh! After that we watched a home video from 1991 of me as a baby. I was CUUUUTE to say the least. Not biased at all.
Ask my Mom.