Kenting,Ken Ting, Kending....

Sometimes the same places are spelled differently,but it's pronounced 'ken ding'.Travelling there during Chinese New Year was crazy-the traffic was crawling.We stopped for lunch at a very nice restaurant with Nick's parents,then continued on our way to Kenting. We would still be travelling there had we not been driven by The Transporter(Nick). Weaving in and out,driving on the scooter lane,on the road allowance outside the scooter lane, really really fast, we eventually made it to the resort of Kenting.Hot weather, lots of restaurants and tons of market stalls, we ate at a Mexican restaurant that made a great margarita(maybe even better than yours,Maxine,but I wouldn't know because I've never tasted yours,have I?) We stayed at a bed and breakfast over a fruit smoothie stall. They brought up a plate of their fresh fruit each day,lovely, and it was charming- In the morning we got up and went to the beach.You rent chairs and a big beach umbrella and spend the day.The sun was warm, and a girl from 7-Eleven went around taking orders for beer.Coronas on the beach,ahhh. I stayed pretty much in the shade,but the boys were determined to get a show-off sunburn,tan. They stayed in the sun quite a bit too long, and now they are RED.They both went to bed after dinnerand I went out on the town, shopping,on my own. The sights and sounds sre undescribable-fish and stinky tofu(horrible)and fruit and every kind of seafood. People frying up unidentified foods, and selling all manner of kitsch. I saw a young guy at a t-shirt stand selling a marijuana tshirt to a grandmaother-Bob says neither of them would have known what it was since marijuana isn't here. I saw the only road mishap I've seen since I came here.2 people sooo mad at each other and a policeman standing by looking helpless.You don't see accidents often-the traffics a mess, but people look out. Today we got up early and cought an over-crowded old bus to Kaoshiung and then had lunch and ran for the high=speed train to Taipei(Actaully Banciou-I spell that wrong!)That's where Bob lives.Tonight we go out with his friends to a shrimp place,then we'll help Francis hang the paintings in his new deli-restaurant that's opening.Tomorrow night I come home!Can't wait to see you all, but not the snow.

kiaohshung

Just a quick post,

Yesterday we went to Lotus lake. We went on a ferry, it was beautiful. We had fresh seafood for supper at a cramped, but good restaurant Bob used to go to a lot.We spent time with some of his friends at the restaurant and a pub. After supper we went for some soft Pretzels at a place called "Aunty Anne's" at Love River, and then for shaved ice with fruit and ice cream at the #1 fruit-ice place in Taiwan. That was so good... Today we are going to Kenting and hitting up the beach! Gotta run, our ride is waiting. Update soon.

Xian Nien Quia Le

Happy New Year!Year of the ox. We were invited over to Bobs friend Little Bob(Our Bob is big Bob)s house. His girlfriend is from here, and her mom made us all a New Year feast-absolutely the best chinese food Ive ever had.Lots of toasts to the New Year, played a drinking dice game(when in Rome...) The table must be absolutely full of food the whole time-we ate and ate.There was sweet and sour pork, hot and spicy soup with congealed pork blood,noodles, vegetables Ive never had,seafood-shrimp dishes,calamari, pork hocks,etc,etc. Some things you just eat and its best not to know what they are until after. It was all very tasty,so very tasty. We didnt play majong which was just as well after the dice drinking game because youd need to have your wits about you. We got home after 1am and then Bob and I went out on his balcony to see if we could see some fireworks, and had a really good heart-to-heart talk until 3am. He really is doing very well, Im quite proud of him. He has a job he loves, really wonderful friends, and is living in a city thats interesting and very safe.I actually feel safer here than in Saskatoon!Not a drinking (except on New Years)or high theft culture. I really like it here, but I miss you guys a lot.Give the babies a kiss for me,Erin and Heather. Sarah, you dont need to worry about Matt, hes in a good place and in good hands

Happy Birthday to Me

Since I am across the int'l date line, I figure I get two birthdays,like Ray. Let's start with last night, though, on my birthday eve.We went out for supper to a round table restaurant with 3 of Bob's friends-Francis,Devlin and little Bob(he's smaller than our Bob) Good food, good beer, and great visiting. Does Bob ever have nice friends! After dinner we went to Francis' restaurant(La Rouge) which was just closing for the night, and played a board game.I think it was called Cathedral and was fun, but I only came in 2nd.At 1 a.m. we taxied home and I had a good sleep. This morning we had eggs benedict at La Rouge(Thanks Francis) and went to tour Taipei 101, tallest tower in the world, until the one in Dubai opens! Also fastest elevator in the world(600plus mph) which leaves your stomach somewhere other than where it was when you started. The view was spectacular! Then we met Chris and Nevada and their sweet daughter Gemma for a wonderful birthday supper at Din Tai Fung, New York Times named it one of the top ten restaurants in the world. Absolutely amazing dumplings-noodle dough packets filled with pork, or shrimp,or whatever,and some broth in it as well. You pierce the dumpling and drink the broth and then dip the dumpling in a soy sauce-ginger-vinegar mixture. The staff came out and sang Happy Birthday for me and brought me a dumpling with red bean paste in it.Hmm. Not a big fan of the dessert with bean paste. But we smiled and gave them an A for effort. After supper we went to Chocoholic, a restaurant that specialises in different kinds of hot chocolates, ganaches, and truffles.I had hazelnut hot chocolate. Amazing! I took a picture of the display case for you,Adam. THEN, Nevada took me to a salon, where for $10. cdn they put you on a massaging table-chair thing and shampoo and massage your hair.Then they blow-dry it and style it.Bliss! Thanks,Nevada.Then we went to Chris and Nevadas and played Apples to Apples-a card game. And so another action-packed and fun day. I feel grateful and spoiled, and my hair looks really,really good! Tomorrow we go to Little Bob's for Chinese New Year's Eve and his girlfriend's Taiwanese family will be there, and cooking. But that's another blog for another day. Thanks for the comments- they keep me going on this blog. Pictures so far are just on facebook, but we'll get them up here somehow eventually. Kim and Brenda, I will try the ice with fruit thing-Bob was telling me about it.

Another day,another14adventures

Traveling with two young men has its perks.They think of the zaniest things to do. We went to a winery today, and to the beach,and to the night market,and we played a board game outside at our hotel,all topped off by going back to the beach after dark and setting off lots of fireworks. Of course they asked the vendor for the loudest firework they had and the vendor went to the back of the stall and handed them one marked 'Extremely dangerous'. The boys were thrilled with this,and off we went. Great fun.The downside of traveling with them is that I have to work hard to keep up!Tomorrow we return our scooters to the rental place and get on a train headed back to Taipei,so goodbye Marshall Hotel!

Hualien

Arrived here by scooter(I'm still a little scary) and booked into the Marshal Hotel last night.Then we took a cab(Yay!) to a Ko-Ri-Ya barbecue. You sit at a table with a small barbecue'pit' set into it and a hotpot set into another hole, then you choose the items you want to put in your hotpot, and you let it cook. Then you get a lot of plates of thinly sliced meats,poultry and seafood items, as well as kimchi(fermented cabbage with sauce,garlic and hot chili seeds) and you barbecue them on your little grill. Some unidentifiable items,and a truly nasty-tasting fish that looked like a smelt, but wasn't. Bob got a horrible expression on his face and had to spit it into his napkin, so I was proud of myself that I just said "I don't really like this fish" even though I REALLY wanted to spit it into my napkin too! The rest of the meal was sooo good, or else at least very interesting,and it's a very sociable way to have a meal out. I wondered if we would be stared at here,but a couple people have just said that I look very young to be Bob's Mom. It's really true!Today we head to the cean coast. We can see the ocean from our hotel window. By the way,I haven't had a bad cup of coffee since we arrived in Taiwan.

We had quite the meal last night at our hotel. It was a nice(fancy) place and they had a buffet. I tried a bit of everything (my policy) even though we couldn't identify some items. It was good,but we decided that one should probably  not bother trying steak here. Not known for their beef production, I don't think. The thing I didn't try was a clear jellied dessert with little black things in it that looked almost like poppy seeds,but not quite. I thought"Hmmm,if you sprayed whipped cream all over it it probably would have won the Hickey jello contest."I wanted to take pictures of the food for you,Adam.You would have liked the presentation, but our cameras were charging. Our hotel has a spa and pool and games room. The bowling alley was fun,even though I lost.Matt and Bob played an arcade  game where you were a samurai(or something) and had to battle other samurais with a sword,the hilt of which you held in your hand and swung around in the air. They were wishing Johnny was there.They also had a scooter-racer area for kids,etc.

I'm feeling well and enjoying travelling.Matt LOVES it here and is a great traveller-he's learning as many phrases as he can. When we scooter,Bob goes in front and Matt goes behind me,so I feel well-watched over!

I think the scooter rental people were panicking pretty good when they saw me attempt to drive off, but pretty soon I was able to settle down and really enjoy the experience. I even sang a couple of choruses of the Beachboys song 'Go Granny Go' at the top of my lungs while driving up the winding roads up the Toroko Gorge, marble mountains and exotic vegetation and through tunnels and stopping to take pictures of gorgeous shrines. We are in Hualien staying at a hotel that is frankly way too nice for the likes of us! I'll get Matt to put some pictures and video up here. Also the video from yesterday. Hope it works this time. 

You better Chang Kai check yoself before you Chang Kai Wreck yoself!

We made it here safely! Bob met us at the airport with beers, too. This morning we visited Longshan temple and Chang Kai Shek memorial hall, where there was an enormous gate, two massive buildings with theatres and a memorial for KMT founder, Chang Kai Shek. Very massive, very beautiful!

Okay,this is Judy talking. I love it here and I dont miss the snow or the snowblower at work. Tomorrow is my scooter day. We head out to the east coast by train. Stay tuned.....Love,Judy and Matt(and Bob)

(Having trouble loading our first video. We will try again tomorrow.)

Taiwan Travels

WooHoo!!! Only a few sleeps til our trip to Taiwan. Matt and I are so excited that we can hardly stand it. I'll try to post regularly on this blog, and I'm going to get Tom to show me how to post photos. I have a request from Mark at work to post a picture of me riding a scooter. He was smirking just a little when he said it.Hmmmm.