Kenting

After take a rest in the hotel we were off to do many things!! The first thing we did was to go ride these little boats. It was alot of fun and I was surprised by how much power they had for being so little.

This is Sylvia being towed into the dock after she almost beached her boat on the shore driving around to fast ><.

Here is some bubble milk tea it should be the national drink of Taiwan because you can find it almost anywhere. It is very good and you get use to eating the pearls. I like the tiny pearls over the normal size ones. The only bad thing about this drink is that it is super sweet and has alot of calories I need to start drinking it with half sugar.

Looking at this picture I miss the blue skies in Kenting. Right now we just had a typhoon go through Taiwan and it has been raining for, what feels like days. Yet Taiwan's natural beauty is still stunning for me.

We got to this part of the beach riding a jeep. We rode the in the back standing up and drove over sand duns which was very dangerous but very exciting.

Here we got back from our jeep tour and our driver drove very fast through a bunch of water and got everyone very wet.

We went go cart racing also. Some how we picked the best time for all our activity because we never had to wait in line, which is rare in Taiwan!!

It wouldn't be a night in Taiwan without going to a night market to eat something before going to sleep.

This night market was very crowded and it was on the side of the road so there were cars driving very close to where everyone was walking so you had to be careful.

The next morning we woke up to checkout of our little hut and go to eat some breakfast. I was told this use to be a old town surrounded by a wall. This is the south gate.

Typical Taiwanese breakfast : D.

For this activity we got to ride 4-wheelers out in the country. With no training and no helmet we were given the 4-wheelers and had fun riding up mountains and going down.

Our guide wanted to show off to the girls.

Our last activity was to go horse back riding. A very relaxing way to end the day.

Amusement Park!

Today I had the chance to go with Sylvia's school to a amusement park. We had to take care of 4 or 5 high school girls as we made our way to the park. We woke up early and went to the school at 7am. The school had charted a bus to take us to Taizhong to where the amusement park was at. It was a very rainy day since a Typhoon is coming towards Taiwan. The drive was not very long and we were all excited to get to the park.

At the park, I was surprised by how empty the park was. I am use to going anywhere in Taiwan for it being crowded. It must be because of the Typhoon that everyone has stayed at home. I saw many restaurants like this one that tried to copy vintage Americana. There was even a restaurant where they sold American handburgers and the waitress was dressed in a cute cowgirl outfit, but it turns out this was a Japanese restaurant. haha!

Walking around the park most of the students were dying to ride the log flume and get super wet even though it was raining. We made our way to eat our lunch which was a lunch box with has rice, meat and other vegetables.

This is a cactus garden. I don't know much about cactus but I didn't know cactus could live in such a humid place like Taiwan.

There were many cute things around the walk way. I guess their purpose was for people to pose with them and take pictures, so we did.

As you can see its raining constantly as we walk around. Everyone had their umbrellas out. I would think with all this rain they would close down the park but not here they kept it raining all day.

We rode this ride I'm not sure what this is called. But we wore out raincoats so we would not get wet. The lines were very short but the way the lines are made I can tell that these park must get very crowded.

Something I have never seen before but though was very cool was this "full body dryer". It does what you think it would do, its a huge dryer and for 100NT you can dry yourself.

The kids really wanted to ride the pirate ship so we got on it. It was a very fun ride and you can see the whole park from the top swing.

I am not sure if I can take pictures while riding the ride...but I did.

The pond next to the ride was full of fish.

Another ride we rode was this one, yet again I don't know the name. Its just a swing that spins you around.

This ride is NOT called The Sonic Circle!! This ride is the Himalaya almost the same one that they have in the Lee County fair back home!

Its the Himalaya!!!!!

This ride almost made me throw up! It goes completely upside down ><.
After we rode this ride we went to ride the log flume but I left my camera in Sylvia's book bag so I could not take any more pictures. Basically we re-rode every ride again. Poor Sylvia rode the teacup ride and threw up. After riding and riding we sat down to rest. We ate some french fries, chicken nuggets, and Taiwanese sausage with garlic. Who would have though that eating raw garlic with sausage would taste very good. We left the park at around 6pm we all had a blast and on the bus ride back I feel asleep till we got back into Taoyuan. I had a great time and was very surprised by how well behaved Sylvia's students are.

Driving to Kenting

Today Sylvia, me, and her three friends are going to drive to Kenting. I am very excited but feel very sleepy since we got back so late from the night market last night and woke up at around 8 am. The drive to Kenting would take a couple of hours and I was looking forward to seeing the ocean which I heard was a beautiful blue color. Where I am from I am use to the ocean being colored a more greenish-blue color.

Before we got going we ate some breakfast together. I love eating Taiwanese hamburgers. Most of them have eggs and a kind of pinkish sauce that is very good with the egg and chicken. And of course you can't eat a complete meal in Taiwan with out milk tea.

I always love looking at the temples scattered all over Taiwan. If I get the chance I like to walk inside of the temple and smelling the incents and look at the beautiful sculptures and paintings. This is a temple we drove by on the way to Kenting. On the side of the road we saw pieces that go inside temples set out for people to buy I suppose.

The drive to Kenting was beautiful! I love the mountains so much. I can't believe that they are so close to the ocean. The scenery in Taiwan is just breath taking. The pictures do not do it justice.

About 1 hour away from Kenting you can already see the ocean. This picture was taken behind a Family Mart. I find it very strange that no one is at this beach. It is empty just sand and ocean. I guess there will be more people when we get to Kenting.

We stopped to eat a snack on the way. This place was full of people waiting in line. You take a number and wait for it to be called. They sell 包子 which is a type of dumpling filled with many different fillings.

I had my bao zi filled with sausage and meat. It taste very good and was well worth the wait.

This is Sylvia and I after finishing our meal. It was very hot outside but the fan outside sprayed water so it felt comfortable.

These are Sylvia's three friends that came with us to Kenting. Ah Sao, Xiao Chao, and Uh Ge.

We are almost to Kenting!! We made a stop to eat a meal before getting to our hotel.

Raw fish with washabi is always tasty! I was worried to eat raw fish because I though I would get sick but I have long put that worry behind me.

This is a tofu dish. It taste very good the sauce makes the tofu taste like beef in a way. But the texture of tofu is a bit weird since its almost like eating a sponge.

We ate snails also!! They tasted alright but they were not my most favorite thing I have ever eaten in Taiwan.

I have no idea how to explain what this is. Its a bit chewy and the sauce made it very good.

The green vegetables are very good I love eating them. They are common in many meals in Taiwan. The white stuff did not taste good for me.

This is like sushi where the outside has been fried. I really enjoyed eating this.

This is out hotel. Its more like a little house. It looks very cute and is actually very cozy inside.

Sylvia took a picture of me sleeping since I was super tired from the drive.