A Breath of Fresh Air....

As April quickly approached, Luke and I (but especially me) were eagerly looking forward to my college roommate's upcoming visit to Taiwan. We felt pretty honored that Rebecca would choose Taiwan for her Spring Break '09 (she's a teacher in the states). Knowing that she was coming a long way, we wanted to show her a good time so we spent a good amount of time planning and plotting her trip.

Here's the hero of this blog, getting ready to set out with her "Royalty." Trust me, I became well- aquainted and an accomplice to many of The Royalty's antics on this trip.
Finally, the days counted down to zero and she landed safe and sound in Taipei at 6 AM after a 14 hour flight and experiencing her first Taiwanese meal on the flight...rice soup. Mmmmm...welcome to Taiwan, there will definitely be more of that! Rebecca, brave and adventurous soul that she is, made her way from the airport to the High Speed Rail and then to the Hsinchu station where her first scooter ride of many awaited her.

That day, Rebes spent the time walking around Jubei while we were at work and later that night was introduced to her first love here in Taiwan...milk tea.
Luke and I decided to take the following Monday and Tuesday off so that we would have four days to go on a trip and show Rebecca some of the island.

The next morning, we headed out to the southern city of Kaohsiung where our gracious friends, Nate and Khyra, offered to let us crash at their place that night. Our first stop was Lotus Lake. Luke and I had been there before but it's one of the best places to see temples (which are a must-see in Taiwan). Here are a few pictures from there.
Later that night, we decided to venture over to Chijhen Island where we had never been before. The ferry ride across the harbor was a pretty steep $15 NT. Chijhen was cool, with a night market and a beach. Rebecca and I bought some earrings and Rebes got a good survey of the food choices at said markets. After that, we met up with Nate and Khyra, had some Mexican food (mmmmm....) and called it a night.

We had planned on heading down to Kenting (the beach at the southern tip of the island) the next morning but learned that the biggest music festival of the year in Taiwan was still going on and it would just be absolutely crazy. We decided to stay in Kaohsiung one more day. We had a leisurely day, tripling on the scooter, shopping and seeing more of the sights, including the Love River, the harbor and downtown.
A quick side note...Luke lived in Kaohsiung fourteen years ago and at that time you were not allowed to smoke near the Love River because it would light on fire if any sparks came near it. These pictures are a great example of the strides that Taiwan is making. The river is now beautiful and a lovely place to hang out. Go Taiwan!!

The next morning we caught a taxi for the ride down to Kenting as we figured it would be mostly cleared out by then. This taxi ride turned out to be one of the most treacherous of all our lifetimes. 160 km/h in a 40 km/h? Almost hitting a motorcyclist? Driving on the shoulder? Driving on the wrong side of the road? Who does that? Insane taxi drivers in Taiwan...that's who. Here is The Royalty as they are praying for their lives.
All that to say, we made it to Kenting in record time, found a hotel and were on the beach in no time.
It was beautiful....for about 3 hours. Then, the wind and the rain came. Unfortunately, it was like this for the rest of the day. We woke up the next morning, hoping it would be better but sadly, it was not. So, we decided that 3 hours on the beach was better than none (especially with Rebes getting pretty sunburned...it's that tropical sun) and headed back up to Jubei/Hsinchu.

We suited up for the drive to Hsinchu as it was raining up north as well. Here is Rebes, looking very Taiwanese. Our apartment guard just happened to come around the corner and got caught in the picture, like a deer in headlights.
We wanted to take Rebecca on one of our favorite past times in Hsinchu...shopping! We introduced Rebes to Hi-Mart, Rainbow and all that is in and around "the circle." Here are some pictures. One of the most entertaining things about shopping here, is indeed the shirts. Rebecca took some pictures of some real gems which is probably what we should have been doing in all our time here.
Yes, those are couple shirts and people definitely wear them here. Luke and are so getting some before we head back to the states.
Just in case you're wondering if you read that right...It says, "Hopes and Fears, Merry Christmas from John and Yoko."P.S. This is a guy's shirt and it says, "World looks crazy because of because of because of FASHION."

Here's a picture of one of our favorite signs in the Hi-Mart.The next day, it was time for Luke and me to return to work so we sent Rebecca on a day trip to Yingge, the pottery town where she did some shopping and picked up some gifts for back home.

All of a sudden, it was time for Rebes to head back safe and sound to the states. Her week here flew by. It was great having her here because it reminded Luke and me that we still have a lot of Taiwan to see and we need to take advantage of the time we have left here. The winter has been pretty long and dreary and we haven't wanted to go out and have been in a bit of a rut as far as getting out and experiencing things. Rebes' visit inspired us to get out the guide book and keep going, every weekend if possible. The spring and summer are looking bright!!!

And....just to end this post with some culture....Here are Luke, Rebecca and I engaging in a very Taiwanese past-time...Print Club.