Hi,

As our time winds down here in Taiwan, Sarah and I have really been reflecting on the past year. What have we experienced? What have we learned? How can we apply our time here to our life back in GR? It’s always been very entertaining and intriguing to have “honest hour,” with our guests…to listen to what differences they saw and felt while visiting Taiwan. Now, as we prepare to leave Taiwan, it’s our turn to have our “honest hour.” I thought it would be fun to highlight some of the differences and quirks Sarah and I have come to know while living here. I, by no means, want to disrespect anyone or anything, but just want to share some of the cultural differences and how they have affected us.

1. Toilets

The infamous squatty potty. Actually, I just read an article the other day how the Western world is pooping all wrong. The sit down toilets we use to drop the number 2 are not designed for ideal trajectory. How often do you hear people struggling to push it out? That can’t be good on the ol’ b-hole. What’s the answer? The squatty potty! It’s basically a pit in the ground where you crouch down nice and low and let it go. Apparently, the squatting angle is the perfect angle for optimum results. Who knew? However (I know this would make a lot of Dad’s angry), you aren’t able to enjoy your evening newspaper and relax…I think I’ll stick to the Western style. Sarah, on the other hand, loves the squatty potty!

Fun fact: When I was experiencing the squatty for the first time, I was sure I had everything aimed just right. PLOP. I looked behind me and there it was….right BEHIND the hole. CRAAAAP (pun intended).

2. Transportation

It’s been an adjustment not having a car to quick jump into…but it’s been reallllly nice not having to drop $40 a week on filling the tank. No car, no scooter, no bike….although hindsight is always 20/20. A bike would’ve been a great purchase 10 months ago. It’s been the subway and walking. The MRT system in Taipei is absolutely fantastic. Within about 40 minutes you can be anywhere in the city for no more than $1.50. Instead of $40 a week on gas, it’s $40 a month on the MRT card…not too shabby. We also live only one MRT stop from our school, so we walk there and back, 20 minutes each way. Great excuse for some exercise.

3. Trash Day

I love this one. I wish I could embed a video on this blog to show you a live feed, but I haven’t figured out how to do that yet. Anyways, walking home from school one night, Sarah and I happened upon what looked like, a giant gathering outside of all the apartment buildings. All of a sudden we hear Beethoven’s Fur Elise playing over a loud speaker…ice cream truck? Awesome, I would love an ice cream cone! Psych! The garbage truck was blaring classical music while rolling up the street. Now, that’s awesome!

Most people here don’t have a trash service like we do at home, so once a week they bring out their trash to the street and throw it into the Beethoven-playing trash truck. Hey, at the least the song makes trash day a little more enjoyable.

4. 7-11

7-11 just straight up owns over here. From our building alone, we can walk to four different 7-11’s within the same walking distance. There’s literally a 7-11 or Family Mart on every single corner or road. They’re not your average 7-11 either. I know what 7-11 you Grand Rapids people are picturing when I talk about 7-11…yea, that real shabby one on Fulton and Lane…way different! The 7-11’s over here offermuch  more than your Coca-Cola slurpee.You are able to pay every utility bill, buy a gourmet latte, eat lunch, and purchase any type of sporting or entertainment ticket you can imagine. On top of all that, instead of having your recent online purchase sent to your house, you can have it sent to the nearest 7-11 for pick up!

5. Winter Clothing in Summer

Summer months in Taiwan are hot…ridiculously hot. It’s 100 degrees with 100% humidity. For us, the last thing we’d ever think of wearing on a day like this are a coat and a pair of jeans. But when you look around, you see many people wearing sweaters, jeans, coats, hats and a popped umbrella to protect their face.  People here cover up when it’s hot. They avoid the sunrays like the plague. Us Americans could really learn a few lessons from our Taiwanese counterparts. Although I like to get my tan on, you can definitely see the positive affects of staying out of the sun on the middle aged people here. They look so young and their skin is flawless.

6. Scooters vs. Trucks

Scooters are everywhere, and they are not just used to transport people. Scooters are the most convenient mode of transport for people AND things. You will never see a GMC 2500 or a Ford F350 on the road here, but will see a million Yamaha 50cc scooters! It’s amazing what you will see on the back of those units. We’ve seen everything from an extension ladder to a 10 foot high pile of clothes….and the occasional family of five!

Yes, there is a baby hidden in there!

7. Markets vs. Meijer

This difference has been an enjoyable experience for us to get used to. We love walking through our local day market on a Saturday morning. They are so full of life with people searching and bargaining for the best price on star fruit or pig tongue. If you ever get the chance to go to Asia, make sure to visit the local markets. This is where you get a true taste of the everyday life. Other than Costco, there is nothing remotely close to a Meijer. We have a grocery store next to our house, but it is small and expensive. For our staples, we head to the market. Unlike at home where you can easily drop $150 once a week for a weeks worth of food, we tend to spend $5-$10 everyday on what we will eat that day. There’s usually nothing wasted, where at home I could probably count a shelf’s worth of half eaten boxes of snacks. We hope to combine these two very different methods of grocery shopping when we get home. Trust us, we definitely miss Meijer. It makes us smile thinking of being able to buy everything we want in one store!

8. Chinese

This is a no brainer. There are two official languages in Taiwan: Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese. Just about everyone can speak both languages. Taiwanese is generally spoken amongst the older generation, while Mandarin is used by everyone else. I started learning Mandarin as a freshman in college and came to Taiwan my junior year for the first time to study it more in depth. Chinese is a very difficult language to learn and is vastly different from English. First and foremost, there is absolutely no alphabet, rather each character stands for a word. 我 = I, 愛 = love, 你 = you, 我愛你 = I love you. The no alphabet thing makes it very difficult to read and write..especially write. It comes down to root memorization. It’s a constant flipping and flipping of flashcards. They say you need to know about 3,000 characters just to make sense of a newspaper.

The grammar side of things, compared to other languages, is rather easy. Remember when you had to learn the male and female of every word in Spanish? Remember all the conjugations you had to memorize? Chinese has neither of these. In fact, other than adding 了 to a sentence or two, there aren’t even any tenses to learn. The basic structure is as follows: 我們今天晚上想要喝一杯紅茶 We today tonight would like drink one cup black tea. Not too bad!

Lastly, and most importantly in terms of speaking, are the four tones. Chinese is a tonal language and requires its learners to memorize the tone of each word. Depending on the tone of your word can change the meaning drastically. It can be extremely frustrating when I’m trying to say something, that I think is right, but turns out my tone was wrong and the person has no idea what I’m trying to say. For example, if I were to say “Mom” using the flat tone, that would be correct, but if I said “Mom” in the falling then rising tone, I would be calling her a horse. Need to know your tones!

I love learning Chinese. It’s a difficult but very rewarding language to learn. It’s always fun asking for something at the market in Chinese and getting a response of “you speak Chinese?!” It’s also opened doors to many friendships that I otherwise wouldn’t have made. Sarah has even learned some Chinese! She is able to go to the market by herself and buy the things she needs. I’m so proud of her 🙂

9. Hospitality

Lastly, you can’t beat the hospitality of the people here. Everyone has made us feel so welcome. From our night market family to our friends in Neihu, they have spoiled us beyond words. Whenever we bring guests to the night market or go out to eat with our friends, we are treated to endless amounts of food. They are just so proud of their home and are excited to share their culture with other people. This is something we are looking forward to bringing home to America. Instead of saving that $10 for who knows what, why not share a share a pint of your favorite beer with someone? We are going to miss our friends and their hospitality immensely.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but I hope it gave you a window into the life and culture of Taiwan and its people. What an amazing country to call home for a year!

Kyle and Sarah

Yes. Definitely time for an update. It’s been WAY too long and I apologize. Blogging is a lot more work than I anticipated and it’s so easy to say “Ahh, I’ll just write it next week.” Well it’s been 6 weeks and it’s time. I’ll regret this 6 week lapse in posts a year from now when Sarah and I want to live our time again through the posts. Oh well, it’s my own fault.

Anyways! Time is winding down… It’s scary. It’s just amazing how fast the time has gone. Where did this year go? Amongst delicious food and fantastic experiences, it’s been filled with lots of visitors! We added to that list two weeks ago with Sarah’s younger brother Ben and his girlfriend Jenny. We’ve had just about everyone from our families (sorry Luke!) visit us over the past year and Ben and Jenny didn’t want to miss out. Originally, they weren’t sure if they could make it with the timing of school letting out and their summer jobs, but what the hay? They couldn’t pass up the opportunity to visit one of the most BA countries in the world. So after 32 hours of missing flights, changing airports, and long layovers, they arrived in the hot and humid country of Taiwan. Let the fun begin.

I don’t need to go into detail about the usual itinerary for our visitors…I think I’ve beaten that to death in the previous posts. What we DO like to do with each pack of visitors is to do something unique and different from the rest. We knew Ben and Jenny were coming off a travel high with their recent interim trip to the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, so we had to get them out into the beautiful mountains of Eastern Taiwan in Yilan/Hualien.

Another one of my favorite things to do with the visitors is to get them into a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable…where they feel like a fish out of water. Taipei is easy. Sure, it is much different than the USA, but it is an international city. There are Starbucks and McDonald’s at almost every MRT stop. Pizza Hut and Dominoes are also littered around the city. It’s a culture shock arriving in Taipei, but you really feel that shock once you get out of Taipei, the way of life outside the big city. That is when you feel, “Wow. I am a long ways from home.” That feeling is what is so rewarding when traveling. Experiencing a way of life vastly different from the one you are accustomed to.

We started out the weekend taking the local train to Wai Ao beach in Yilan County. It’s a super quiet coastal “town.” It was super quiet that weekend, almost like a ghost town. Ben and Jenny were a little wide eyed, trying to wrap their heads around their new surroundings. We stayed in a nice little hostel on the coast as our headquarters for exploring the surrounding area.

We arrived early and decided to take a short hike in the mountains as we waited for our room to be prepared. Quick fact: weather in Taiwan can change drastically within minutes. Sunshine one minute, torrential downpour the next. We set out on the hike with sunshine and within minutes…torrential downpour. We were literally soaked to the core. It was a blast..plus, good memories happen when things don’t always go as planned.

The weather stunk the rest of the day. We decided to just bomb around in the ocean with what we were wearing on the mountain. Might as well get it clean while swimming in the sea. We ended the night with a couple brews huddled under an umbrella playing euchre. I was also able to play a few tunes on the hostel’s guitar.

The next day was why we came to Yilan in the first place. Sarah and I had heard about a super remote hike to an enormous waterfall. Can’t beat that! The directions were very obscure and went a little something like, “take a left at the big rock,” or “continue down until you see an acorn.” Haha, maybe not the acorn part, but you get what I mean. We traveled a few hours out of Taipei hoping the waterfall actually existed and that the directions would get us there. Anyone we talked to had never even heard of the waterfall we were trying to find.

The start of the trailhead was actually at one of the most famous waterfall attractions in Jiaoxi, Taiwan. We were really hoping we didn’t get suckered into going all the way there just to climb a million man made steps to see a super touristy attraction. Luckily for us, the directions told us to, “take a left at the big rock, and continue the opposite direction.” Good, we wanted to be as far away from that trap as possible. We continued along the path and we were soon greeted with the jungle. All of a sudden, we were surrounded by nothing but greenery and spectacular views of the mountains surrounding us.

We finally came upon the part Ben and I had been looking forward to…river trekking. The trail stopped at the river and the rest was up to us. Time to get the feet wet and traverse up the river. Our first stop along the river was a small waterfall descending into a little watering hole. We had fun jumping in it from the rocks and cooling off a bit.

We continued our river trek trying not to totally slip and fall and finally came upon Yuimeikang Falls. Wow! It was one of the coolest waterfalls I had ever seen and we could literally stand in it! We were all pretty awestruck. We had no idea what the waterfall would be like, so we were more than overjoyed. It was absolutely amazing and we all agreed it was one of the best hikes we had ever been on. Totally worth the trip!

It was a fun week for all of us. We were never in high school with Ben or Jenny, so we had never had a lot of time with just the two of them. It was a great week of just spending time with each other and truly getting to know them. We spent the week checking out the Taipei 101, touring the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, walking through Dahu Park, cycling along the Neihu riverside, and climbing Tiger Mountain.

Our favorite night of the week was going to one of our favorite restaurants. Sarah and I met some guys at this restaurant a while ago and we have been hanging out with them ever since. They wanted to give us what they call, “a great memory” of Taiwan. We were treated to a table filled to the max with any and every dish you could possibly think of and plenty of Taiwan beer to go around. It was such a fun night introducing Ben and Jenny to the hospitality of the Taiwanese people and of course, introducing them to some of our good friends in Taiwan.

What an awesome week! We’ve loved having our families visit us over here. It’s been a blast introducing them to our Taiwanese life and the people in our lives. We will truly miss the people and places over here.

Stay tuned. I promise it won’t be six weeks again.

Kyle and Sarah

 

Hey everyone,

Time for part two of our favorite places in Taipei!

1) 台北 101 Taipei 101

I think you all must know by now that I have a building crush on the Taipei 101. It’s such a beautiful building isn’t it? The Taipei 101 is located in the Xinyi District of Taipei and in 2004 was the tallest building in the world. In 2010, it was surpassed by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Now, it is the sixth tallest building in the world. How many floors do you think it has? You guessed it…101! For those of you who do not know, Taiwan experiences lots and lots earthquakes, ranging from barely feeling them to definitely feeling them. You would think building one of the tallest skyscrapers in Taipei wouldn’t be a great idea, but thanks to the Taipei 101’s 660 ton mass dampener, it can withstand wind gusts up to 135mph and is one of the most stable buildings ever constructed in history. It’s design is similar to that of bamboo, which symbolizes learning and growth. It’s a great example of ancient symbolism and modern technology. Pretty sweet huh?! I love this building. Another cool feature are the lights. The lights on the building are a different color each day.

2) 紅色的蘋果商店 Red Apple Store

This is a local store that Sarah has dubbed “our Target.” It’s a little shop right down the road from our apartment across the street from Bihu Lake. Although it’s a very small store, it packs a punch. You can literally buy anything here…anything from shoes, stationary, and groceries, to fish tanks, chinese yo-yo’s, and beats by Dre. If we are ever in a pickle and need something, Red apple is the place to go. Another great thing about it? It’s cheaper than dirt. I would say it’s a cross between a dollar store, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target. Sarah definitely loves this place.

3) 河畔 The Riverside

We always knew there was a large river flowing through Taipei, but it was hard to tell where it actually flowed. Little did we know that the river flowed right through Neihu (our neighborhood). It’s kind of hidden amongst the highrises of Taipei, but once you reach it, it’s a beautiful place to hang out. All along the river there are bike paths to ride along and countless green areas to play soccer or work on your Taiji. On the weekend, you can see thousands of locals having picnics and kids and adults playing baseball or softball. It also offers a fantastic view of the Xinyi District. We love roaming the parks of the riverside on the weekends.

4) 西門町 Ximending

Ximending is more of a younger/hip part of Taipei. It’s also one of the few areas that is pedestrian only. It’s called the “Harajuku,” “Shinjuku,” or “Shibuya,” of Taipei. For those of you who don’t know, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Shibuya are very famous areas in Tokyo, Japan. Ximending is home to Taiwan’s fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture. You can get a tattoo at the countless open air tattoo parlors, eat at Modern Toilet, or shop at the many jewelry and clothing stores scattered among the walking streets. Although we don’t go here too often, it’s been a favorite amongst our visitors.

5) 忠孝復興／忠孝敦化 Zhongxiao Fuxing/Zhongxiao Dunhua

Another downtown area of Taipei. This area is very convenient for us and one that we visit quite often as it’s right off our MRT line. It’s safe to say that this area reminds people of Times Square in New York. It has lots of buildings with bright neon signs littered across them. We go to this area if we are craving Western food as it’s home to a myriad of bars, cafes, and international restaurants.

6) 國立中正紀念堂 Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

I’ve mentioned this site many times in previous blog posts, because it’s a staple on our itinerary of things to see when we have visitors. This memorial was built in honor of the former President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). A couple things to note: The roof is octogonal, which represents the number eight. Eight is a number associated in Chinese culture with abundance and good fortune. The memorial hall has 89 steps leading to the entrance which represents the age of Chiang Kai-Shek at the time of his death.

On the same grounds as the memorial, there are also the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. These two buildings are stunning examples of Asian architecture, both of which are very impressive to look upon.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed your virtual tour of some of our favorite spots in Taipei. Althought Taiwan is a small country, it really has so many things to see and do. It definitely has been an incredible place to call home for a year 🙂

Kyle and Sarah

Hey!

Time is a flying by. It’s crazy how fast the year is going. So many amazing experiences, sights, and FOOD. For this blog post I thought it’d be fun to give you a glimpse into some of our favorite restaurants over here. The eating life for us in Taiwan is much different than it is at home. Looking back at home life in GR, it’s pretty crazy how much money we spend on groceries and eating out. The culture of food here is quite different. It’s more expensive for us to buy groceries from the local supermarket than it is for us to go out. We tend to eat most of our lunches at home, but go out for a meal every night. If you eat local, you can easily have a hearty meal of rice, tofu, pig blood, stinky tofu, and meat vegetables for just a couple bucks. When you want to “splurge” and go out for a nice meal, it will hardly put you back $20. Here is a glimpse at some of our favorite restaurants in Taipei.

1) Toasteria

This is my all-time favorite restaurant in the whole world. My first time in Taiwan, my roommate Tuukka and I, happened to stumble on this place when we were on a break from class…my life hasn’t been the same since. It’s a mediterranean/grilled cheese sandwich joint. It’s a hipster place and is a local foreigner hangout. My sandwich of choice is the four cheese grilled cheese while Sarah’s is the pesto, goat cheese sandwich. We probably eat at Toasteria two times a month…although I could eat here every single meal!

2) Dumplings

Ah, the delicious steamed dumplings. Our favorite dumpling place was originally at our local 737 night market and it was always jam-packed. Huge lines of people waiting to eat the pork filled steamed dumplings and the hot and sour soup. The stall has now moved into a store front down the street from the night market in order to take on the growing demand for the fantastic dumplings. Ten dumplings for the low cost of $2…can’t beat that. We eat dumplings probably once a week. Soo good.

3) Korean BBQ

We found this restaurant within the first few months of being here while roaming the streets of the  Zhongxiao Dunhua area. This is probably the most “expensive” restaurant we eat at, and is a fan favorite of all our visitors. The meal is composed of two elements. The hot pot and the grill. You start by ordering a soup or broth and choose your favorite vegetables to boil in the hot pot. Next, you order your favorite meats from an enormous selection ranging from lamb and chicken legs to oyster balls and pig intestines. It’s a not your typical sit down and eat-your- plate type of restaurant as the grill and hot pot are directly in front of you on the table. It’s a constant grill, stir, and eat sequence. The best thing about this place? It’s all you can eat and all you can drink for 2 hours for a reasonable price of $15 per person.

4) Beef Noodle Soup Place

This is a new favorite of ours and one that was discovered when the Brower parents and Hannah were visiting. We were wandering our neighborhood looking everywhere for somewhere to eat and we just decided to try it. What a great discovery! It doesn’t have a name but serves some of our favorite beef noodle soup. It’s definitely a hole-in-the-wall as it’s tucked away, basically inside a house. We’ve been eating here at least once a week ever since, and for $2, we are stuffed.

5) 737 Night Market

I’ve talked about this night market numerous times, but it HAS to be included into the list of our favorites places to eat. Terry serves up a mean “Terry’s special,” which is Chinese vegetables, lamb or chicken, with a chili and garlic-induced peanut sauce. His son and daughter-in-law’s stall serves a delicious chicken and rice and Sarah’s favorite sweet tofu. On top of those specials, and if you happen to come on a night when people are generous, you are garuaranteed to try something you have never even heard of. The pigs blood on the other hand…not so good.

6) Yvonne’s Restaurant

It’s not officially called Yvonne’s Restaurant, but we gave it that name because our friend Yvonne introduced us to this great place. It’s become one of our favorites and is usually our Thursday night spot after we finish teaching. It’s located in the Neihu business district, one MRT stop from our apartment and is frequently home to a lot of business people grabbing a meal after work. Each dish is around $3 and we usually order two to four plates to share. We love this restaurant because it has a great atmosphere and it’s fun to order multiple dishes to pass around. The only downfall to this restaurant is the garlic…so, so, so much garlic. Let’s just say when you wake up the next morning, you think you have a garlic clove permanently stuck in your mouth. How about that for morning breath? Oh, it’s also a Heineken bar, so it’s the closest thing to a bar we have around our apartment 🙂 Can’t beat an ice-cold Heineken after an exhausting day of teaching our lovely students 🙂

 

This is just a taste of some of our favorite restaurants. Sarah and I always say we already miss the food here in Taiwan and we haven’t even left yet! The food in Taiwan is so freaking delicious and we are going to miss eating all of it so much when we head home. I guess we just have to eat it up while we can!

Hope you all have a great week!

Kyle and Sarah

 

Yo yo yo! Time for a new blog post. As some of you may or may not know, we’ve been busy with visitors! Sarah’s Mom, Dad, and younger sister came to Taipei to hang out with us and get a window into our lives over here. What a great week it was. Taiwan is a place The Brower’s had never even thought about before and us living here gave them a great excuse to come check it out. I think it’s safe to say that had an amazing, eye opening experience as they lived our life for a few days.

With that being said, Mom Brower kept a daily journal and documented their everyday travels, sights, smells, and tastes. I thought it would be fun to change up this blog post…this post will be excerpts taken from Mom Brower’s journal to give you a different and new point of view of what it was like to be in Taiwan.

So from the eyes of Mom Brower:

Day 1

Slept like babies and ready to see the city! Ready to set out for our first MRT ride to Tea Mountain. Rode the gondola up, up, up to Tea Mountain! The weather was a sunny 90 degrees…beautiful weather! The views on top were beautiful! We enjoyed vanilla milk tea at an outdoor tea garden overlooking Taipei.

After a bathroom break back at the apartment, we were headed to Houshanpi to experience the crazy streets of Taiwan and a hike up to Tiger Mountain. Spectacular views on top of a cliff with no fences! We ended the night strolling through Raohe Night Market and then headed to 737 for steamed dumplings and soup. What an eventful first day!

Day 2

After a smorgasbord of pastries from the local bakery, we headed out to the coastal town of a Danshui. We shopped, embraced new adventures, foods, and people. The first “new taste” was bubble tea! We liked it….but what are those little black balls really? After exploring and walking for hours, Hannah got a little hangry (hungry and angry). We were vey indecisive about where to eat, so we ended up going for “gas station” chicken at 7-11 🙂 We regrouped and headed for new culinary adventures. We sampled fried squid and Taiwanese ice cream cones. The area offered a beautiful view of the water, city, and a little tranquility.

After Danshui we headed to Shilin Night Market and it was BUSY. We got sucked into the crowds as we passed booth after booth of food, clothing, and more food! Well, we did it! We all tried the infamous stinky tofu. Final analysis of the tofu…Some almost threw up and no one needed a repeat…But we were all feeling proud for trying it.

Day 3

He is Risen! Great devotions on this Easter morning. We headed out to their familiar and our unfamiliar surroundings. Bought some baked goods, bubble tea, and slushies from the different day markets. Got some anti-itch cream for Dad…lots of walking 😉 Picked up some fruit and found a table at tranquil Bihu Lake for a nice brunch. Such a gorgeous place in the middle of extreme busyness. Definitely a place that was needed after being surrounded by throngs of people. We then went down to downtown Taipei, the “Michigan Street of Taipei.” High rises, business district, upscale shopping, and many restaurants are all here. We all went to the top of Taipei 101 to take a look of Taipei from up high. Amazing views from the observatories!

Day 4

Sunny and 90! Took MRT to the end of the green line and boarded an extremely crowded bus up to Wulai, Taiwan. Standing room only, hairpin turns….very, very scary ride. Body to body we mosh pitted all the way up the mountain.

Finally, we made it to our destination. What we found was beautiful Xindian River, suspension bridges, and mountains. Absolutely gorgeous! We walked through the old street and sampled meats, fish patties (ew), noodles, bamboo rice, and others. We hiked to a waterfall and took an old logging train back down. We finished the day trip with hot springs along the river…what an experience that was. Lots of older Taiwanese people soaking in what seemed like, “their” pools. We got lots of stares as we were the only 5 Caucasian people around. We were able to jump into the river to cool off and get back into the hot springs. What an awesome day trip! On the way back, we stopped at Kyle and Sarah’s night market and ate fried rice and beef noodle soup…delicious and exhausted.

Day 5

MRT to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial. There we viewed the beautiful temple-like theaters and monuments. We met an English speaking tour guide who singled us out and gave us special spots for viewing the changing of the guards at the memorial. Very similar to the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Very interesting.

We ate at the infamous 3 story KFC for lunch per Hannah and Kyle’s request 🙂

For supper, we roamed the area looking for a good place to eat. Couldn’t find anything everyone agreed on. Finally, stopped at a little night stall and ate a delicious version of beef noodle soup…Yum!

Day 6

Today we visited the pandas and the other animals at the Taipei Zoo. As Tea Mountain is at the same MRT stop, we decided to ride the gondola up for a second round. Sampled some black and Oolong tea at a tea house. For dinner we went to one of Kyle and Sarah’s favorites…Korean BBQ for a 2 hour dinner. We LOVED this meal. All you can eat and drink! It was here that Kyle sparked the thought provoking conversation of “biggest surprises, best/worst, and what can we learn from this experience?” Honest conversation over a great meal.

Day 7

Took a hike to Dahu Park that was “just around the corner.” Everything was always “just around the corner” here in Taipei. Lots of good walking! Viewed the nature, greenery and the waterfall. While the kids were working, we went to Miramar, another upscale shopping area, to ride the giant Ferris wheel. For dinner, we headed to Kyle’s all time favorite restaurant, Toasteria. Delicious sandwiches. Exhausted after another great day.

Day 8

Wufenpu shopping! Consisted of thousands of street booths with inexpensive clothing for sale. Couldn’t believe the narrow alleys with all the scooters and dogs 🙂 shopped the morning away! At night, we headed to Kyle and Sarah’s night market. This was our true window into their lives for the past 8 months. It was here we met their “family.” Being an observer, it was clear that there was a bond between our children and the night market family. Despite our obvious language barrier, they would bring us different foods and drinks to cheer with. We were glad Kyle could interpret and dialogue for us 🙂 They noticed I liked tea, so they brought over tea after tea and even gave us lessons on the tea culture in Taiwan. Kyle and Hannah took a crazy scooter ride home from the locals to end the night. SO MUCH TEA 🙂 I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about this night. No words to describe how God had blessed our children by providing them with people to sit with, learn from, and just bond with. Proof that with a language barrier, a smile is universal 🙂

Day 9

This morning we observed Teacher Kyle and Teacher Sarah’s school! Played some games and had an Easter egg hunt with Sarah’s class. We walked through some markets on the way home and ate some pastries. We headed back to Miramar so the boys and Hannah could hit some golf balls at the city driving range.

At night, we went to Ximending to eat at Modern Toilet…Hannah’s pick. We ate some familiar pasta and poop ice cream 🙂 Lots of rain, lots of people, and lots of umbrellas!

Day 10

Last day in Taiwan 😦 Today we went to the 737 day market to shop for some souvenirs. We walked around the day market and looked at the different fruit and clothes stands. For lunch, we enjoyed a local “box lunch.” After packing back at the apartment, we went back down to the Taipei 101 area to soak it in one last time. We ate at the Taipei 101 mall and had a delicious mango shaved ice for dessert!

Closing thoughts from the Brower family.

“Goodbye Taiwan. You have allowed us to embrace your culture, amazed us with your crowded streets and busy markets. We have been impressed with the refreshing bubble tea, multiple bakeries, and tried many of your “interesting” foods. We have ridden your MRT and dodged the thousands of scooters. We have been in awe of the beautiful mountains and waterfalls. You have made our world smaller as we came to realize that, despite the differences, you love and treat your families just like us. We all appreciate our new understanding of people, and although the language is a barrier, we realize more than ever, that a smile is universal.”

I hope you enjoyed the different view of Taipei from Mom Brower. We had a fantastic week showing them around Taiwan. We are so thankful they were able to experience this amazing country with us for the week.

Until next time!

Kyle and Sarah

Hey everyone,

Sounds like Spring has arrived back in the mitten…That’s awesome! However, I am a little jealous of my fellow motorcyclers getting their bikes out of winter storage. Hope you are all enjoying the warmer weather and getting outside!

Nothing too huge going on over here for us. We’re just enjoying Spring time as well. Can’t beat long walks and sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather.

As I don’t have much to write about this time, I thought I’d outline some of our favorite spots in Taipei. So far I’ve only written about our life and what we do with our weeks…I think it’ll be fun to give you a deeper look at some of our favorite places in Taipei.

1) 士林夜市 Shilin Night Market

Shilin night market is about a 40-50 minute MRT ride from our apartment, but is one of our favorite night markets in Taipei. Not only is it one of our favorites but it is the largest and most popular night market in Taipei. We’ve been there on week nights and weekends and it’s amazing how different the experience can be. On week nights, the streets tend to be mellow and you are able to stroll the countless lanes browsing the knick-knacks without much problem. Now, take Saturday night. The second you alight the MRT, you’re hit in the face with just an insane amount of people. Rather than walking the lanes looking at the latest Korean sweaters, you are now shuffling your feet trying to stay upright. Ever been in a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert? Yup, that’s what it’s like.

Sarah and I like crowds. We love the energy on a Saturday night at Shilin. Once you make your way through the main road, it does open up for some breathing room. Once it does, you can truly enjoy the night market and it’s various fashion and souvenir shops to the stinky tofu and almond juice stands. It’s a shopping haven if you’re into the latest and greatest Asian styles. It’s also a snackie and food lovers paradise. You name it, you can probably find it at Shilin night market.

2) 美麗華百樂園 Miramar

This may sound lame and I know I’ll get some crap from Nate Adema, but Sarah and I like to go to the mall. I actually like going to malls wherever we travel because they’re great places to people watch. For some reason I enjoy walking through the food courts and browsing the books at ESLITE bookstore. What do everyday people eat? What are they reading?  It’s interesting.

Miramar is an entertainment park and mall three stops via the MRT from our place. Other than UNIQLO, the only department store I can find clothing that fits me, we don’t really shop. We go to Miramar to see a movie, or go to Carrefour (similar to Sam’s Club), or for our weekly sushi fix. There’s really nothing terribly special about Miramar, it’s just a really nice place to chill and get a bite to eat. Oh, there’s also a giant Ferris wheel to ride, too!

3) 碧湖公園 Bihu Lake

Ahhh good ol’ Bihu Lake. Sarah’s all-time favorite place in Taipei. Without Bihu Lake, I don’t think Sarah would’ve survived. This lake is only a 5 minute walk from our place and it’s a place of tranquility and peace. Sarah runs or walks around this lake at least 6 days a week and I usually join her before school during the week for a couple laps. I think you can call it her ‘happy place.’ It’s not a large lake as it’s only about one mile around, but it’s always full of Mom’s pushing their babies or the elderly getting their exercise in.  We’ve sat on the shores of this lake many nights just soaking in the peacefulness and enjoying the stars that are so easily missed in Taipei. Bihu lake is probably not in any tour books, let alone a hot spot for a vacation to Taipei, but it’s definitely been a highlight for us. We will miss this place.

4) 七三七夜市 737 Night Market

Another local favorite of ours and a place I’ve mentioned numerous time in previous posts. We like to call this ‘our night market.’ It’s about a 15 minute walk from our apartment and very near to Bihu Lake. Unlike Shilin with it’s numerous lanes and stalls, 737 night market is roughly one street with mostly food stalls lining the street. We tend to eat here 2 or 3 times a week. If you have read some of our previous posts, we have come to know and love a few of the cooks and regulars at this night market. Terry, our all-time favorite cook and his wife, Lily, along with their family have taken us in like their own. We love going to 737 and playing with their children and grabbing a bubble milk tea from our buddy, Eddy. Whether you want to sample the pepper fried ‘snackers,’ or fried pigs blood on a stick, or the less adventurous fried rice, it’s a great place to get to know the Taiwanese people and their endless hospitality. Side note on the hospitality…be prepared to eat some very interesting dishes! You never know what will be brought over next. Guess that’s the fun of it 🙂

5) 貓空 Maokong

Maokong is located at the very end of the brown line on the MRT. This mountain/area used to be the biggest tea growing area in Taipei. Now Maokong is a popular place to soak in the tea drinking culture and get great views while you’re at it. There are many footpaths and trails in and around Maokong, but we love to take the gondola. For $1.50 one way, you are given a fantastic 20-30 minute ride up the mountain. You cannot beat the views of Taipei from the Gondola. If you’re lucky and have time to wait in line, you can even ride the glass bottom gondola to the top.

At the top, you can mosey along the road trails and taste Taiwanese sausage and sit down overlooking a panorama of Taipei sipping a hot or cold glass of some of the best tea you will taste in your life. If you’re into a relaxing, cultural experience Maokong is an excellent place.

6) 信義區 Xinyi District

As much as I enjoy the outdoors and hiking the various trails around Taipei, I’m just captivated by foreign cities. Yes, you can experience the wildlife and the beautiful natural landscapes in foreign places, but the cities are just full of life. If I could pick one place to spend my time, it would be downtown Xinyi. I love it down there. It’s home to my other love, the Taipei 101 (more on the Taipei 101 later), and so many other awesome things. Xinyi is the trend-setting, modern and most cosmopolitan area in Taipei. I love this area at night as the lights charge the city into a vibrant place. Opposite of the night markets where you’re never quite sure what you’re going to eat, Xinyi is home to world famous restaurants and eateries. Although we can hardly afford some of these places, there are a few restaurants that make perfect date nights. We love walking the brightly lit pedestrian areas catching a chinese yo-yo show, watching the different street performers, or listening to soon-to-be pop stars of Taiwan. It’s a hopping place always full of activity.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Part I of our favorite places in Taipei. These are definitely going to be a few spot we’re going to miss when we go home. Taipei is an amazing city with so much to offer for every kind of taste. We’re having such a great time immersing ourselves into Taipei.

Happy Spring!

Kyle and Sarah

 

 

Hello world. I think it’s time for a blog post! It’s been a couple weeks…my bad.

Well we are back to the grind here in Taipei. We had an amazing month traveling but now it’s back to reality. Sarah and I are both teaching our same classes from last semester, although each class has gone up a level. Each class has gained a kid or two, which is always nice as it gives each class a new flavor. We’re having fun teaching our kids to play battleship, “Simon says” AKA “Teacher says,” and drawing my little first grader’s all-time favorite movie character….Elsa. Sharon is usually quite the handful and is constantly pushing my buttons, but when she saw that I was drawing Elsa….her face lit up and a HUGE smile glowed across her face. Can’t beat that.

It’s been nice to just get back into a routine. We were in a nasty funk before we went home of staying up really late and waking up really late. We were feeling like bumps on a log and we weren’t getting anything accomplished. Now that we’re back, we’ve made it a point to get to bed at a decent time and wake up on time…can you say “We’re getting older?” WOW. I’ve got a rekindled vengeance to really hit my Chinese studies hard, while Sarah continues to explore Taipei by foot. We make it a point to try a new restaurant every week, and also hang up the ENO hammock at Bihu Lake to chill.

Most importantly, we’ve been spending time in our Bible. We’ve decided to read through the Bible together as we both, shamefully, have never truly read it from cover to cover. Already, as we make our way through it, we have gained and learned so much that we are able to apply to our lives here in Taipei. We are excited to continue reading and growing in our faith together.

Late February and early March is an insane time to be in Taiwan. Let’s just say it sounds like the city is blowing up from all the fireworks and firecrackers going off literally 24 hours a day. It’s Chinese New Year!!! Chinese New Year is by far the largest and most important festival celebrated by the Chinese people around the globe. Shops and tourist attractions usually shut down for the first couple days of the new year and people spend their time visiting family and join in on the celebrations. If you ask our students what their favorite part of the Chinese New Year is, they would say the “紅包” or “red envelope.” The red envelopes symbolize good luck and are supposed to ward off evil spirits, but most importantly for the kids, they are usually filled with a stack of money! The red envelopes are usually given to the kids by their families and are put into a savings account. Luckily for my student, Julian, he was pretty pumped when his Mom let him buy a PS3!

One of the largest festivals in Taiwan during the Chinese New Year is the Pingxi Lantern Festival. Tradition has it that the sky lanterns were invented to deliver military information from beacon tower to beacon tower during times of war. Now, the sky lanterns are released into the air as prayers to the ancestors for the coming year. The lanterns reflect the hopes and dreams of the people as they slowly float into the sky. During this time of year, the tiny town of Pingxi is overwhelmed with visitors strolling the old street lanes munching on famous garlic Taiwanese sausage, and scribbling their wishes and goals on the countless lanterns. Sarah and I also joined in on the festivities and bought ourselves a red lantern and wrote our dreams and wishes on it and launched it into the sky.

Nightfall. It truly is a spectacle to behold once in your lifetime. The dreams and wishes have been written, and the sky lanterns are ready to be lit and float off into the sky. At last, just over the tips of the trees, we were able to experience hundreds upon hundreds of lanterns rising into the night sky. It was magnificent! The lanterns slowly dispersed and the whole sky was glowing with different colors. It was beautiful and such a great way to soak in the Chinese culture.

It’s the year of the Ram or Goat (can be translated a few different ways). On the last day of the Chinese New Year, Sarah and I, along with the whole city of Taipei, went to Yuanshan Park to look at the bizarrely decorated park. The park is decorated according to whichever zodiac sign is for the new year. As I said, it is the year of the Ram. The park is a showcase for not only the Ram, but historic legends, fairy-tale characters, and party animals all lit up with christmas lights. The centerpiece for this year’s festival was a 40 foot tall goat on a mountaintop, but my favorite was the giant robot!

I can just see it…next Christmas…a huge, lit up robot in the middle of my front yard as a part of my Christmas light display! What do you think Sarah?!

We ended the week with a great night out with great friends. For all you manbun haters, I got a haircut.

Until next time.

Kyle and Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

Wow. What a crazy awesome past 3 weeks. Last time I wrote we were just getting back to Taipei from Cambodia and preparing to head out the next day for Grand Rapids. Can’t believe how fast the time flew by as I sit on my couch in Taipei.

Grand Rapids. We missed you. When we signed up for teaching English in Taiwan we knew we we would be coming back to Michigan for a very special occasion. My best friend Jord was getting married to the girl of his dreams, Jodi….and I was one of the best men. Definitely couldn’t miss that! We celebrated the night away and couldn’t be more happy for them!

We were excited to go home. The day we left to go back to the USA was almost exactly the halfway point of our year abroad. We were super pumped to see our families and catch up with our friends. It was an incredibly busy 2 weeks. There was rarely a moment that wasn’t filled with meeting someone for a coffee or dinner, but it was rejuvenating. Ahhh….a home cooked meal, communicating in English, chips n’ cheese, Marshalls (Sarah), tap water, Meijer, and Marge’s donuts. What a great couple weeks spent seeing the people we’ve missed and eating the food we’ve craved!

I’ve been fascinated with Japan ever since I heard stories from my friend Marcus, wiki’d the crap out of every city in Japan, and “caught them all” in my all time favorite gameboy game, Pokemon. I had been dying to get to the epitome of this awesomeness. Tokyo. I had been calling Delta Airlines daily for 2 weeks trying to figure out how we could stop in Tokyo on the way back to Taipei without paying a fortune…it just wasn’t happening. I had tried and tried and there was nothing else I could have done at that point.

Then… we landed in Tokyo Narita International Airport for our 1 hour layover in Tokyo on our way back to Taipei.

“Let’s just see what they say, Sarah!!” I said to Sarah as we were hustling to our next gate. “You never know. Maybe they can just pull our bags and we can walk out the doors.”

So that’s exactly what we did. Delta pulled some strings, got our bags, and cancelled the last leg of our trip back….and it was 7pm….after a 14 hour flight….with absolutely no idea what to do or where to go. On top of that, we didn’t have the appropriate shoes or our camera along… got to love a last minute trip to Tokyo 🙂

We are constantly reminded that Asia is such a diverse continent and no two places are even remotely the same. I know all of you Asia N00bs think that China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan are all pretty much the same, am I right? Wrong! I thought the same thing…and going to Japan proved us wrong yet again. I had never experienced a city so magnificently huge and brilliantly neoned out as the hyper charged capital of Japan. From the window of the airplane, Tokyo looked like any other city, but once we delved further, we came to realize Tokyo was unique. Tokyo was ridiculous in every way possible. We freaking loved it.

The moment we arrived in Ikebukuro, Tokyo via the sleek N’EX express train, we knew it was going to be a memorable week. Tokyo felt different. We felt like ants in a concrete jungle that was actually eerily quiet for being the second largest city in the world. It took us a minute to figure out why it was so quiet….no scooters! We had been so accustomed to the perpetual buzz and roar of the countless scooters in Taipei. It was weird! We stayed one night in Ikebukuro only because we had no idea where to go. Turned out, Ikebukuro is the second busiest subway station in the world and houses many walking streets. We ditched out packs and immediately searched out a sushi joint. We ate sushi on a daily basis and it was absolutely deeeelicious.

We moved on from Ikebukuro to probably the most famous district in Tokyo, Shinjuku. We rented a tiny apartment 15 minutes walk from the center of Shinjuku as our headquarters. During the days we munched on Japanese crepes while strolling through Takeshita street in the Cosplay (costume play) haven of Harajuku, and admired ancient Japan at the Shinto Shrine of Meiji, Asakusa, and the Kan’ei-ji pagoda.

As you probably know by now, I LOVE the in-your-face, city lights of an Asian city. I thought we had it good living in Taipei as far as lights go, but Taipei has nothing on Shinjuku. It was visual overload. Massive buildings with scrolling LED screens, neon infused sings, and 5 stories high TV’s littered every single building. Every corner there were psychedelic signs displaying advertisements for the tastiest ramen or billboards urging you to try snagging an anime stuffed character at the arcade. I can’t describe it. You truly need to see it to believe it!

A trip to Tokyo is not complete without a trip to the anime/manga crazed district of Akihabara. Neither of us are into reading anime or collect action figures displaying strange and sometimes inappropriate gestures, but we are interested in feeling out of place and experiencing new things. Akihabara just bleeds SEGA, Sailormoon, Dragonball Z, and every other anime material that my very, very inexperienced anime cultured-self could tell you. It was bizarre, but in a new experience kind of way. We thoroughly enjoyed soaking up this element of the Japanese culture.

If you haven’t already booked your flight to Tokyo to see the city lights, here are our last pictures of the sensational lights at Shibuya and it’s famous crosswalk.

We are now back in Taipei anticipating the start of our second semester. We were concerned that going back home to the USA would bring back feelings of comfort and make it hard to leave, but we have grown to love Taiwan. Don’t worry Moms, we definitely love being home but we are excited to finish out the year strong. Being home was the refreshment we needed to come back to Taipei and accomplish our goals. With all that being said, Happy Chinese New Year! Let the year of the Ram begin!

Kyle and Sarah

Hello from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport! Not to rub it in or anything but today is a comfortable 60 degrees, while yesterday we were sitting at the pool in Siem Reap, Cambodia in 90 degree weather! We’ll soak it up before we hit the freezingness of Grand Rapids, MI tomorrow.

So Cambodia…this was always a Southeast Asian country that never really caught my attention. I never had a huge urge to visit, even though my brother, Jordy and Alec Green told me it was an amazing place. Cambodia is definitely on the Southeast Asian backpacker trail, although not as popular as the fan favorites of Thailand and Vietnam. I have to say Cambodia blew both Sarah and me away. From the second we hopped on that tuk-tuk, the main mode of transport, in the dusty capital of Phnom Penh, we knew this was going to be a trip for the books.

Through the poverty, the Cambodian people were happy and genuine. I think that is what made the trip so wonderful. The begging was present, but we never thought we were getting totally ripped off. We felt the Cambodian people were honest, genuine people…which can be rare.

We spent our time in Phnom Penh touring the brilliant Royal Palace along the riverside, perfecting our haggling skills at the stuffy Russian Market, and learning about the brutality of the Khmer Rouge in the 1970’s and 1980’s.

The Killing Fields. What a humbling experience for us. This alone gave us a whole new perspective on Cambodia as a whole. Every person we passed on the street, in one way or another, has been affected by the Khmer Rouge. The population of Cambodia before the takeover of the Khmer Rouge was roughly 8 million people. The Khmer Rouge was in power for 4 years, during which, 2-3 million people were brutally murdered and thrown into pits. That’s 1 in 4 people who were killed, only 35 years ago. The Killing Fields are now a museum for Cambodians and foreigners alike to join together to learn and pay respect to the millions of people who lost their lives in this horrific genocide.

After Phnom Penh we made the 7 hour, bumpy bus ride to the Northern city of Siem Reap. Let’s just say that “bumpy,” was an understatement. The “road,” to Siem Reap was hardly a road. To put it lightly, it was an insane bus ride. The traffic in Cambodia is ridiculous and there are literally no road signs and virtually no road rules. Buses take charge because they are the biggest and if you’re in the way…well you’re screwed. We breathed a sigh of relief when we got off the bus in Siem Reap, home to the world famous, Angkor Wat. This was the reason we originally wanted to go to Cambodia. Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world and it is absolutely breathtaking. We hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day and woke up at the buttcrack of dawn to see the infamous sunrise over Angkor Wat.

The Angkor temples were built in the 11th century and were considered to be pioneering for the times in architecture and detail. It was simply magnificent. The sheer size and detail that went into these temples, and specifically Angkor Wat, was just mind-blowing. We spent the day climbing the steps of the temples and really trying to grasp the architecture of such amazing workmanship. Again, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

 

Our last few days were spent lounging at the pool and enjoying the night markets of Siem Reap. This country is about as cheap as it gets. You can never go wrong with a 50 cent draught of the local Angkor brew, 1 hour full body massage for $3, or a snake on a stick 🙂

We’re officially on our way home. We are super excited to see our families and friends back home and devour a plate of the Dungeon’s chips n’ cheese 🙂 See you soon!

Kyle and Sarah

Hello readers!

It’s time for a new post. Time is just flying by over here. We just wrapped up our first semester of teaching and are officially on our Chinese New Year break. YAY! It’s going to be so nice to have some time off of school to travel and make our way back to good ol’ GR for a couple of weeks.

So tomorrow, my brother and sister head home after two weeks in Thailand and two weeks with us in Taipei. It’s been a blast showing them around Taipei! Jordy and Brittni had two full weeks here so we were able to add a few more places to see on our “visitors itinerary.”

One of Jordy’s top things to do in Taiwan was to get out to the mountains and waterfalls outside of Taipei. I’ve said it before, but Taiwan really has some amazing natural wonders to see. It’s a hikers paradise and there are countless trails to explore. Jordy wanted to checkout three waterfalls known as the Sandiaoling waterfalls near Pingxi. We hopped on the train to the tiny town of Sandiaoling and caught the trailhead. It was a great hike. It wasn’t insanely strenuous but had some areas that kept it interesting. There were a few rope climbs, branch ladders, and slippery trails that kept us on our feet. The three waterfalls were amazing and we were even able to climb along a cave to get behind one of them. We ended the day in the small town of Pingxi which is home to the world famous lantern festival. As Chinese New Year is right around the corner, the town was full of people writing their wishes and goals on the large lanterns and letting them fly off into the sky. Perfect way to spend the day.

Have you ever seen Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover: Taipei? If you haven’t, you should watch it. Anyways, Anthony visited some very far-out restaurants that Jordy and Brittni wanted to visit. The first restaurant wasn’t as far-out as the second, but the theme of the first restaurant was school buses. The restaurant served traditional Taiwanese food, but we got to sit and eat in old school buses.

The second restaurant was strange. Brittni had been wanting to go this restaurant ever since she heard of it. Modern Toilet….a restaurant dedicated to toilets and poop. You also got to pick..the traditional toilet bowl or the Taiwanese style squatty potty. I went for chicken curry in the traditional toilet bowl, while we all ate our poop desert served in squatty potties!

Our last discovery came yesterday. One of the top things to do in Taipei is climb Elephant Mountain to get a jaw-dropping panorama of Taipei. It’s a must-see, but it’s always stuffed with people. It’s hard to get a good view without someone’s head or a tripod blocking the view. We decided to try and find the trail to Tiger Mountain. The trail started at a beautiful Chinese temple and climbed upwards along the Tiger Mountain crest. The trail opened up to an absolutely stunning panorama of Taipei. Best thing about it? Not a soul was there. Now, yesterday was sunny and 70 degrees on a Saturday…you couldn’t ask for a more perfect day to hike and get a view of the 101. It was early so we kept on hiking along the trail and it eventually ended at Elephant Mountain. Just as we thought, it was packed. We promptly turned around and headed back to the Tiger Mountain view point. We were able to watch the sunset and see the city lights come to life all by ourselves!

The rest of the week was spent showing them our favorite spots such as the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Shilin night market, and of our course introducing them to our family at the Neihu night market. It’s so hard to just eat and leave at our night market, especially on the weekends. All of our buddies are hanging out and who wouldn’t want to meet the blonde haired foreigners? We ended that night with the Taiwanese guys inviting us out for KTV, or karaoke. Oh boy. KTV has been on my bucket list since we arrived in Taiwan, but I knew it could get rowdy. We sang our hearts out until 5am with the local Taiwanese guys and it was so much fun 🙂

It was a great few weeks having my brother and sister here. We really get to spend quality time with our families when they visit and we’re very thankful for these opportunities. Luckily for Sarah and me, we’ll be home soon! We take off for Cambodia for a few days, then we’re homeward bound. Looking forward to the next few weeks!

Kyle and Sarah