We flew from San Franciso to South Korea, and then to Taiwan. At the Incheon Airport, we had a layover of about five hours. So we took our time to eat pho and to make origami silk squares at the cultural center.
When we arrived at the Taoyuan Airport, the Chou's were waiting for us and ready to drive us to their home. On Day 2 of the Taiwan Island Trip, we ate a breakfast of meat cakes and fish soup with Vincent and Jean Chou.
Then their whole family of 8 tooks in their minivan for a drive-by tour of Tsinghua University and TSMC. Then we toured the National Palace Museum, including an audio tour. Next, we enjoyed lunch at the museum restaurant.
They drove us to the Taipei Temple Patron Housing. On Day 3, we attended the Taipei Temple. Jean and Vincent Chou joined us at the Temple. We also met President Carl Liang and Brother Fu'an Tsai.
Afterwards, we were surprised to see the Pascual family outside the temple waiting for us. After lunch, they took us to Bali, which was on the opposite side of the Tamsui River from Tamsui. Bali was filled with street stores and amusement arcade stops. It poured rain, so we were all soaked.
They drove us to my aunt's house in Nangang. On Day 4, we met with our old friend, Ouyang Hsuan, and her family at Xisong Park. It was great to see them after 20 years.
My aunt took us a buffet with my other aunt and uncle and their spouses. It was a great reunion to see my mother's siblings again.
On Day 5, we rode the subway to attend the Tamshui Ward. There, Megan reunited with her missionary companion, Eon Huang, and Li-Fang met her friend, Lin Meizhi.
Afterwards, we road the subway to the Taipei English Ward to meet the Pascual's. There we also met Michael Hsiung and his uncle.
We rode the subway back to my aunt's house, and she took us to the train station. We rode the train to Yilan. Upon arriving at our Airbnb, we spent the rest of the night at the nearby night market. We ate to our heart’s content. On Day 6, we rode the train to Su Ao. There we walked around the Cold Springs, but it was not open yet.
Next, we rode the bus to see the Ching Shui Beach. After returning to Ilan, we rode the train to Hualien. On Day 7, our tourguide was a Brother Zhenbang Chen. He drove us around to many spots, spun stories, and took photos for us. He even pointed our drawings on the cliff walls and asked us what the pictures resemble. He is the only tourguide to take a panoramic photo of the sky, which looked like the outline of Taiwan. The places we visited included Swallow Grotto, Indian chief head cliff, Elephant Rock, Tian Xiang, Tunnel of Nine Turns Trail, Li-Fang’s classmate's restaurant, The Archway of Taroko, Shakadang (Mysterious Valley) Park, the Eternal Spring (Changchun) Temple Trail, Qingshui Cliff, Qixingtan Seaside Park.
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