Our Trip to Taiwan - Day 5

Tuesday morning we woke up, had breakfast, and then scrambled to repack our suitcases for our upcoming trip. I'm so glad we did this, too, as I found that I'd packed lots of gear for hot weather but none for cold! Not even a single jacket or pair of pants. Whoops! Soon we were packed and Jane was at the hotel to help us find our way through the MRT and onto the train that would take us to Hualien, about a two hour train ride away. Being from a town that has only basic public transportation (we have buses that come by each bus stop every thirty or so minutes as well as a Dial-A-Ride that will pick you up at your front door for a larger fee - it was a sight to see when we got our first cab company and blew my mind when there was enough demand for a second company to come into business) it's always fun to see how big cities move their people around. Since we'd been on the MRT the day before we were pretty familiar with that part of the routine.

First Jane loaded up the MRT cards with enough payment to ensure we got both to the train station and back from it.

Then we hung around the map seeing where we currently were and where we were heading. During our stay we hit the orange, blue, and red lines.

The obligatory "showing off how it works" photo.

I thought it was interesting how we'd go down some escalators, transfer to a different line station, then go up other escalators to get to our platform. There were multiple levels of MRT subway buses as sometimes we'd only go up a bit but down a few flights. Abby LOVED the escalators and would announce "more stairs" anytime we came to one. She was a big girl going up but would need a gentle push or someone to carry her onto the first step when going down.

Here I'm on the ramp going from one hallway to another and able to touch the ceiling! The second hallways ceilings were taller than the first hallways, but instead of gently sloping the ceiling to meet up you just learned to duck!

This is a small view of the underground mall. It literally spans from one station to another and is filled with hundreds of different shops. Everything from 7-11s to fashion clothes to restaurants. Jane mentioned that some people would purposefully get off a stop or two early to be able to hit up the malls before heading home.

Here's where Bestamor's advice to always carry toilet paper or Kleenex in your purse came in handy. This bathroom requires you to grab your toilet paper BEFORE you go into the stalls. My biggest question was what would happen if you found yourself in need of more toilet paper than what you'd brought in? Jane laughed and said you were sorry then. :-) 

This bathroom also had these nifty signs to let you know if the toilet was Chinese or Western style.

Another view of a difference between home and Taiwan. Here the ramp is right beside the stairs and not ADA approved in any way. But they have a ramp so if we'd needed it we'd have made it work!

After hanging out in the mall for a bit (we'd arrived early to make sure we had plenty of time to catch the train without mishap) it was finally time to get on the train. Jane and Tim had worked out a neat trip for us while they were both busy back in Taipei. We'd travel to Hualien, tour the city that evening by ourselves, then be picked up by a tour guide the next morning who would take us for a driving tour (with walking stops) of Taroko National Park to give us a glimpse at what non-city life looked like in Taiwan. At the end of the day we'd take the train back to Taipei and meet up with Jane and Grace Kuo for dinner.

Abby's first trip on a train! She was so excited as she's very much into trains right now.

Mom and Dad on the train in their typical "Mom's excited as can be and Dad's along for the ride" picture. :-)

Abby slept almost the entire train ride which meant she got in a pretty good nap for the day and I got a break to read a bit on my Kindle app. When we arrived at the Parkview Hotel there was a bit of a snafu as Jane had requested two rooms for families but we were given a family room that accommodated two groups. It doesn't sound that different but what it meant was that instead of the two separate rooms with two beds per room (Taiwan hotels seem to have a standard of a double bed and a twin instead of our typical two queens or a king) it was one room with two double beds. I love my parents and all but no way were any of us okay with five people in one hotel room if we could switch to different rooms. With our non-existent Chinese and the limited English of the hotel reservation desk attendants it took a phone call to Jane for translation to sort out the mishap. Then we had to wait around for an hour or so while they quickly cleaned some rooms for us as there were no two rooms next to each other (or even close by each other) that were ready for guests. But shortly our room situation was figured out and we were in our rooms. The first thing we did when we got into our rooms was order room service as we were all starving! It took a bit to get everyone fed as they brought up our food as it was ready, which meant that we had three different trips for food and drinks to be brought to us. A little different but we all munched off of each other's plates to make it work.

Abby helping bring the suitcases into the hotel room. My big helper!

All the Taiwanese hotel rooms that we stayed in had this contraption for turning on electricity. Your key (an actual metal key!) had a plastic stick attached to it. When you got to your room you placed the plastic stick in a whole in the wall which activated that rooms electricity. When you left and took your key (taking the stick out of the wall) all electricity was turned off. A neat way to be green! We did circumvent the system a time or two as we needed our phones and Abby's DVD player to charge while we weren't in the room, but overall this oddity worked out okay for us.

Once our tummies were full it came time to decide what to see. After a few minutes of conversation we all decided that a relaxing night off was in the cards. While we would have liked to see the sites of Hualien we decided that our driving tour the next day would give us enough of a glimpse to be satisfying. The hotel had large grounds to walk around on, there was an outdoor play area for Abby, and inside the club house there was another play area and an indoor pool (which was actually four pools with various designations - a lap swim pool, a kid's play area pool (with two slides, a dump bucket, and a sprinkler), a massage pool with a rock-walk path for massaging your feet, and a hot tub large enough to be classified as a pool).

Abby showing Daddy how to walk across the bouncy bridge at the outside playground.

A family picture (minus mom, the camera woman) in front of the man made waterfall that was on the hotel grounds. Abby had a blast splashing the water!

These trees "walk"! New roots grow on the side of the tree that's in longer periods of sunlight and the tree roots that are in shade too long begin to die. This means that over time the trees "move" from their original location to get closer to sunny spots.

Mom and Dad in a pretty spot on the grounds. That's not our hotel in the background, though, ours is directly to the right out of sight.

Playing around in the indoor playground.

Even Mom's getting in on the action!

After touring the grounds we decided it was time for a swim. I had Nate take Abby into the changing room to get her changed into her suit since he came down to the clubhouse with his swimsuit already on. When I joined the two of them in the pool I thought Abby's suit looked a little funny, but it wasn't until she turned around that I realized what had happened. Nate had put her suit on backwards! Her little boobies were sticking out the front and she had a perma-wedgie in the back! We got a good giggle out of this one. :-)

Look at that tushie!

The hotel required that everyone wear swim camps while in the pool (no idea why). Nate was a rebel but we ladies obeyed the rules. Mom thought it would be a cute picture and she was right

After swimming we met back up with Dad, who had taken an afternoon rest, and headed down to the dining area for dinner. It was buffet style with a pretty good mix of Western and Chinese foods. At this point in our trip (about half-way) we were starting to miss some of our American staples (pasta, steak, burgers, etc) so we were happy to see things like potato casseroles, baked fish, and fresh salad fixings. Mom did have a bit of a surprise, though, as she saw a sign on the juice bar that said Apple Vinegar. Figuring that there was a slight translation issue and it was really Apple Juice she grabbed a glass and took a big gulp. Nope. They were serious when they said apple vinegar! Mom had a couple good coughs and gags before gulping down a glassful of water. After that she stuck to pineapple juice. :-) Another funny was that Mom tried to order a Rum and Pineapple mixed drink (something we've had no problems ordering before in the U.S.). We tried simply stating our request, having Nate's translation app translate the request, and pointing to the words on the menu before the waitress grabbed the bartender and brought him over. He also gave a couple questioning looks as he repeated back our order to us. When he brought over our drinks we understood the confusion! He brought us a nice glass of pineapple juice and then a second glass with a shot of rum. They didn't understand that we wanted them put together! We didn't even think that a mixed drink of that sort might be an oddity for them. Our bad. :-) We also brought up more confusion as we kept asking for more and more ice. We originally got one tiny pitcher and when we asked for a second you could almost see them thinking "You have a full one already, why do you need a second?" But they were very gracious in bringing us a second one so we could fill up our glasses with the amount of ice we were used to. I wonder at times why we Americans use so much ice when other countries use so little? One of life's idiosyncrasies I guess.

At the end of the meal we went back to our rooms, chatted for a bit, then called it an early night. We were all excited for the tour we'd be taking the next morning and wanted to make sure that we weren't late for our guide. Next up.....marble rivers, extremely narrow roads, a serious temple climb, and breathtaking views!