Finding...

Today the sunshine was back! And with it came our desire to get OUT and see TAIWAN again for goodness sake! After feeling melancholy for a bit yesterday, I determined to find more, do more, see more and eat more of everything I would miss back in Utah, and today was the perfect day for it.

Tired before we begin. This is in the walk TO the museum. AND we're in the shade. Wimps!

We first hit the National Palace Museum. This place is enormous! It holds the treasure stolen/rescued from the Forbidden City in Beijing. Museums with nothing but ancient artifacts can be taxing on little people, so we promised to move fast and hit only the interesting stuff.

I think our renewed energy to be up and out hit everyone and the place was as packed as I had ever seen it. Maybe full of tourists similarly pent up during the typhoon for 4 days? Despite the crowds, it was a decent place to be because the sunshine brought a return of the heat and it was as hot and muggy out as it has ever been on our whole trip.

Anyway, we loved the ceramics and jade in our brief dash around the 3-story main building. We left wanting to see ceramics in the making, learn more about identifying characteristics of the dynasties, learn more about Muslim/China interactions, among other things. After dashing, we found a NICE and yummy sit-down restaurant for a late lunch. The curry was Thai style! Mmm-boy!

We are ambiance-starved! It seems we take a picture of anywhere we eat that has any sense of it! Oooh, paper place mats and water before we eat! Wow!

These were croissant dough grilled in sugar and filled with custard!
Yes, as good as they sound!

We left about 3:30 and Q continued home while Rachel and I hauled all the kids to a department store. I thought it would be a mall.... Oh well. More air-conditioned comfort! And amazing treats in the food court on the 7th floor! Everything else was too pricey to catch our serious buying attention.

From here we trekked to the Shilin night market - Taiwan's largest and most famous. We knew we would get there early and planned to eat before things started up. BUT after walking through the sights and smells of the basement food court, we decided we WEREN'T hungry enough to justify dinner and returned topside for two orders of bing!

This strawberry shaved ice is as good or better than it looks!

Then we caught a very early version of the night market. Some places were not open yet, but the smaller crowds suited our tired pace and small people better. Rachel scored some gifts, clothes, and souvenirs, but I couldn't bring myself with 5 people in tow to dig, to haggle, to translate, to find the right sizes, or to pause to pull out money. I think what I will do is take each kid on a date to the night market so we can move more quickly and focus on fewer interests. Mine included! Oh, I saw so many clothing items I'm drooling over! I hope I get the wardrobe overhaul I'm needing!

Arthur DID get a fishy game that he had played at Sophia's house and loved. It was there, the price was right, and not surprisingly after it was purchased, he contentedly held it in his lap and was as sweet a boy as he has ever been for the rest of the market and the longish journey home. Hallelujah! We left the market still not especially hungry and I told the kids we could just head home and have papaya milk and p.b. and j. for dinner. They took the offer and we were on our way by 6:45.

Eloise conversing with the natives.

On the train ride home, Eloise engaged the people around her (as usual), impressed them with her VERY limited Chinese, and made a contact for the missionaries of the woman in this picture next to her. Taiwan loves my kids, and they love Taiwan!

So, it may cost a bit more moula to insert all the wonder Taiwan has to offer! But it was a wonderful day finding and remembering that we are HERE and this is, by far, the coolest thing our family has done, EVER!