2 Days in Brussels

H.o.l.y cow! What a whirlwind of a spring break! 10 days, 6 cities, 2 countries, and a lifetime of memories to take home {but seriously, that all I’m taking home other than some crumpled train tickets at the bottom of all my pockets}.

Being a teacher definitely has its perks, one being spring break; and when my students go on vaca, this teacher isn’t going to leave hers behind either! Thanks to the website Scott’s Cheap Flights, I was able to score tickets to Belgium’s capital city Brussels for about half the price that they typically are, and from there the train tickets, hostel stays, and daily planning spun out of control! ;)

I traveled the week post Easter beginning on Good Friday, March 30 and home again on Sunday, April 8...10 glorious days exploring Belgium & France at my own leisurely pace!

Day 1: Brussels
Landed in Brussels airport EARLY Saturday morning and hung around a bit to catch up with my friend Justin and his dad and sister who were stopping in Belgium for a mere 40ish hours. Once we found each other we grabbed a train and headed downtown. They opted for nap time, but I wanted to start getting aquatinted with the city {and by aquainted I mean I needed to find some waffles}. I had booked us a free walking tour for early afternoon but it still left me with about 3 hours to walk around, check out some sights, and get my first waffle!

In 3 hours I managed to check out on foot the Grand Place, St Nicholas & St. Michales churches, GIRL PEE, the galleries of St. Hubert, and of course some taste testing! After their nap I met up with Justin & family for our free Sandeman's Walking Tour {highly recommended throughout Europe} in the Grand Place. Our nearly 3 hour walking tour checked out some of the same areas I had already seen along with the Town Hall, Manneken Pis, The Stock Exchange, The Royal Square, and the comic art scene, and explained exactly what all we were seeing as well as giving us time to sample our 1st Belgian beer....day 1 was shaping up to be pretty great!

Afterwards we grabbed dinner at a tavern our guide had recommended sampling Carbonade, a typical Belgian beef & beer stew. We finished our night off with several more beer tastings, including a trip to Delirium tavern (an overpopulated popular but must-see bar in Brussels) and a night visit to the Grand Place. Goodnight Belgium, I can’t wait to see what other adventures we have in store for each other!

Day 2: Brussels

Happy Easter!

2016 I spent Easter in Taiwan, 2017 I was in Brazil, 2018 I had to make great, so Belgium it was!

Before even leaving the US I had picked out St. Michaels Cathedral in downtown Brussels for Easter mass at 11am. I got there around 10:40 and was a little worried to see a previous mass going on with low attendance and only a few people waiting around for the 11am mass. I figured it just must not be an important part of Easter for the locals to go to mass. 11am hit though and instantly the Church was PACKED with standing room only (and I snagged a spot up front!) The mass was said in French, and in conjunction with the trumpet and organist, the mass was absolutely beautiful! 

After mass I ventured on the metro to go check out a couple of sights outside of the downtown area {truly most of this was doable in one day} including the Porte de Halle (remains of a city wall), Church of Notre-Dame Du Finistere, and the famous Atomium structure. Next up was Parc Elizabeth (this park is a good half a mile long!) along with the beautiful Koekelberg church in the park as well talking my time and walking leisurely soaking in all the sights and sounds Belgium had to offer me!

Around dinner time Justin, his family and I met back up, and with recommendations from a flight attendant, we headed to a local upscale restaurant where I sampled the Carbonade once more and excellent food was had by all!

After dinner we walked around enjoying the lights of the Grand Place with waffles in hand with a good, && very well deserved, night’s sleep just ahead :)

Tokyo Highlights Video

Finally, I'm done with another video! Life keeps trudging on and my blog gets away from me, but I promise that I haven't forgotten {{and that I have even more adventures in store for you coming up!}}

After I finished my first Thailand video I was over the moon excited with how it turned out and just knew that I wanted to work on several others from my year abroad. But, they take time, and life keeps going {see above lol}....ok, no more excuses, without further ado, I present to you, My Tokyo Highlights!

If you missed any of my posts from Japan, you can check them out here! {Traveling & Day 1} {Day 2 - Shrines} {Tokyo Disnyland} {Fish Market & Harajuku}

Beijing Bell & Drum Towers

Clearly life has gotten the best of me & 4 months have gone by since I landed back in the USA {{HOW HAVE 4 MONTHS GONE BY ALREADY???}} and I'm just now getting around to finishing my last 2 days in Beijing. 

July 12, 2016

Don't get me wrong, there were tons, TONS of things I didn't get to do in Beijing, but many of them were going to require more time than what an exhausted Tracy had remaining on the day we returned from hiking & sleeping on the Wall...so, we took it easy for the afternoon and checked off a couple last minute places within the city limits and enjoyed soaking up my last couple hours of exploring and living in Asia.

When I went to Tokyo, Japan earlier this year it was officially my first time ever traveling alone ALONE to a foreign country without knowing anyone when I stepped off the plane. Japan was country number one, and since I obviously survived, China quickly followed as country number two. Since I was traveling alone I became even more regretful for meeting great friends along the way through my overnight on the Great Wall!  Cameron & John ( from Connecticut) had an early flight the day we returned from the Wall so sadly we had to part ways with them, but Raphael from California, Lauren from the UK, Amy an Englisher living in New Zealand & I hit it off well and since we were all traveling solo, we spent much of the remainder of our times in China traveling and eating together...ok, let's be honest, I really do more eating than anything while I travel! 

This last post on Beijing is going to be more of a picture dump than a lovingly written out 7 page blog post, but I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I loved and treasured my time in China!

The day after our big hike, we awoke around 4:30 am with the sun rising, the birds chirping, and our adrenaline pumping...we were waking up and starting our day on THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA! We were scheduled to begin our decent back the wall around 7:30 that morning, so that left us a good 2-3 hours to pack our things and of course, go for a morning hike. The 6 of us hiked to the end of the wall where the military had put up fencing to block hikers, about 0.5 miles from our campsite, and after  absorbing the last of the views and pinching ourselves one last time to make sure what we were seeing was really true, we packed our bags, loaded our gear onto our backs, and began our climb down. Another 2.5 hours in the van later, along with several MUCH deserved naps, and we were back in Beijing, and the heart of China. 

The 6 of us traded contact info, headed back to our hotels, showered, and were back together before we knew it to spend the afternoon sightseeing around Beijing some more!

{{first stop, the Beijing Bell Tower, built in 1272, this tower was used both for time keeping as well as musical instrument of sorts}}

{{the building was located just south of the forbidden city in the heart of Beijing}}

{{just as Lauren & I got to the tower we heard the bells begin to ring...we began to rush to the top of the tower...needless to say, these steps were NOT a welcome sight after climbing the Wall earlier this morning}}

{{we mad it just in time...to miss the show...luckily we went back up about 30 minutes later with Raphael & Amy and caught the show the 2nd time around}}

{{out of the original 25 drums (1 large & 24 small) only the large one remains and replicas of the smaller ones have been added}}

{{click above for a quick listen to the sounds of the drum tower}}


{{directly across from the drum tower is the Beijing Bell Tower also constructed in 1272 the tower has a huge painted bell at the top}}


{{views from the bell tower...look closely to spot the Forbidden City}}

{{after climbing & touring the 2 towers it was clearly snack time...and these fresh fruit popsicles more than hit the spot!}}

{{well...food...mango popsicle & warm yogurt drink}}

{{and after snack...clearly it's lunch time!...egg rolls && appatizers all around to share}}

{{I'm pretty adventurous when it comes to trying new food...but when you name your restaurant "Wang Pang Zi Donkey Burger" and boast of selling donkey burgers...I just have to laugh and shank my head NO thanks!}}

{{east meets west...asian arches framing a starbucks down the street!}}

{{clearly 3 hours after lunch we are famished again and ready for dinner...we spent the afternoon hunting around for a peking duck restaurant (did you really visit Beijing if you didn't eat peking duck?!) it must have been a legit peking duck restaurant as not a single waitress in the place spoke english, so we had to rely on our 50 some page menu filled with pictures and MY Chinese skills [aka terrible!] to order dinner for the 5 of us...including 1 whole duck}}

{{and when I say whole duck, I mean WHOLE duck...they cut the head off in front of you!}}

{{and it was SO worth it! peking duck is served in what I called duck tacos. You are given a super thin wrapper that resemble tortillas that is made from wheat, roasted duck, green onions & cucumber spears along with a fermented soybean sauce to dip your meat in. You roll everything up into the tiniest taco you ever did see and enjoy 1, 2, 3...ok, WAY too many of them!}}

Beautiful Beijing & The Forbidden City

Saturday, June 9 - Sunday, June 10

Remember several months ago when Tina and I boarded a plane headed for Thailand and I was all but peeing my pants with excitement?!?! Yeah, I wasn't quite as excited {most likely just because I'm not sure that's physically possible to be more excited} but I was pretty darn close...I was heading to China!

The Great Wall has always been such an intriguing landmark to me, but so out of reach from Northwest Ohio that I never wanted to dream too big {{lesson learned!}}

My last day in Taiwan was Saturday, July 9 and I was so full of mixed emotions as Clement and Director Chen drove me to the airport; heartbroken to be leaving a country I had fallen in love with, excited to be seeing my friends and family so soon, nervous about traveling through China alone, tired from lack of sleep...truly...everything was hitting me at once. We said our goodbyes and as they drove away it finally hit me and the tears began to fall...my wonderful, amazing, and life-changing year of teaching in Taiwan was over. Lucky for me though, a quick 3 hour nap landed me in the heart of Beijing at Beijing Capital Airport...China here we go!

I hopped on the Airport Express line connecting to the subway and headed downtown towards my hostel, Saga Youth Hostel {PS-if you're heading to Beijing anytime soon I HIGHLY recommend this hostel!}. I arrived around 7pm and after situating myself in my bunk, I met several of the guys in my dorm room and after talking for a bit we decided to head out together for dinner. Marcus, from Germany, suggested a large night market about 20 walking minutes away, so we headed out. One of the many things I love about traveling alone and staying in hostels is meeting so many people along the way and the discussions that come along with these new-found friendships. We enjoyed our evening at the market sampling some dumplings, meet skewers, sugar coated cherry tomatoes, and ending our scorching hot evening with delicious mango ice cream!

Waking up Sunday morning I hit the ground running early on, I only had 6 days in Beijing and I had to make the most of it! After grabbing some street-food breakfast meal I hopped on the subway headed for Tiananmen Square & the Forbidden City {only 2 subway stops from my hostel!} to begin my day.

Walking out of the subway station I found myself standing right in the middle of Tiananmen Square and was in awe both at the size of the square as well as the sheer amount of people {and umbrellas for the sun!} that were covering the square. I walked around the square for a while before I found the underpass leading to the entrance gates of the Forbidden City. Now I paid attention in history class {more or less..} and I knew the Forbidden City was big and all, but oh my gosh...it was HUGE! The 950+ building cover around 180 acres of land and while you are walking from one building to the next, you look out and the layout gives the impression that the Forbidden City (the palace from 1412 - 1920) goes on for forever.

When entering the city I decided to purchase the GPS audio guide they were offering and was so glad I did! Other than being an amazing map (no place in China that I went to had maps for people!) it kept track of where you were with a blinking red light, and upon approaching an important area or building would begin telling you about the location until you moved on. By using the guide I was not only able to keep track of where in the palace museum I was, but also what else there was to see ahead of me (aka, tons!) The architecture of the palace buildings reminded me a lot of many of the temples in Taiwan, both in structure as well as color choices. Although we were not permitted to enter many of the buildings, many of them were set up with furniture and artifacts from the emperors and it was neat to see the period pieces from a culture so different from my own! After 4+ hours of walking {99% of which was outside} in temperatures reaching the high 90's, I decided that I could only see so much of the palace in one day and headed back to my hostel to cool down for a bit.

After a quick cool down and power nap {never underestimate the power of an afternoon power-nap!} I headed back out for the evening towards the Temple of Heaven. Though not entirely far from my hostel, by the time I got there they had stopped selling tickets to enter inside the temple, so I opted to buy a ticket to simply walk the gardens around this iconic 200-year-old temple. Although I was bummed I couldn't go inside the temple {haha you know how I love my temples!} the gardens around it were beautiful and I loved getting a glimpse at the evey day life of many Chinese people. There were small groups of people covering virtually every flat space of the gardens playing cards and mahjong, men and women alike; it was quite fun to see!

Once I left the gardens, and after grabbing a snack at a local bakery since I was STARVING!, I headed off in the direction of the local silk market. The hostel had posters of recommended sights in Beijing and little bits of info about each one and after noticing the market was open late (many things closed between 4 & 6) I figured it might be a fun way to spend my first evening in China! Getting to the silk market was a breeze and I quickly located a small restaurant with an ever  instant waiter and figured I'd give it a try...I mean where else can you get a "fast food", duck sandwich for dinner!!! I enjoyed my sandwich along with the free fries and nuggets they brought me out later as well! :)

Walking just a couple feet from the duck restaurant I found myself in the midst of the silk market. This 8 story building is filling with vendors trying their hardest to sell you anything and everything under the sun. Every two feet had someone shouting "hey pretty lady" or "do you need a..." and "I give you good price". I just had to laugh....things we never see in America! I browsed the isles for a while before buying my brother a Beijing soccer jersey and told myself I'd be back again when I had a little more sleep on my hands! Back to the hostel I went and after a little online research for the rest of my Beijing stay...I quickly crashed...midnight comes all too soon when you're traveling!

Tokyo Take 3 – Fish Market & Harajuku

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Oooh buddy! The last month of my life has been a whirlwind of emotions, travels, and turning my life upside down, but hopefully I can get everything up to date on here {fortunately for me, my adventures rarely stop…unfortunately for my blog, my adventures rarely stop!}

Day 3 in Tokyo I told myself I’d take it a little easier, I had been go, go, go for far too long and my body was finally screaming at me to take a break! After going to bed at a somewhat decent time the night before I woke up somewhat early in hopes of making it to Tokyo’s morning fish market. From what I have read this is the largest fish market in the world! The daily market begins around 4-5 am with the most popular tuna auctions, but they only let a limited amount of visitors in to see the auctions each morning and it is recommended to line up for tickets by 3am. I thought it would be cool to see, but at 3am, my pillow is also really awesome! So needless to say I didn’t see the tuna auction, but I was at the market by 9:30am and was able to stroll through the outdoor fish markets and other vendor stalls, which was really fun to see in its own respect as well!

If there was a type of fresh fish or seafood that you were craving, the Tsukiji fish market had it…guaranteed! Also if sushi at 9am is your thing…the various stands squeezed between the fish stalls had you taken care of in that regard as well! The options were terrific, the people watching was amazing, and the smells were quite questionable, but overall, I loved this unique market. As I was starting to head out my stomach took over and decided it needed food like 2 hours ago, I wasn’t so keen on fish at 10am, but wasn’t sure what else to try. I spotted a lady stirring a large pot and figured I’d try what was inside…that’s when she pointed behind me and I saw a line at least 15 people deep waiting to eat at her stand {she literally had 5 chairs at her stand and people were eating elbow to elbow!} I figured it had to be good and hoped in line, still having NO idea what she was selling. I watched what people ahead of me were buying and when it was my turn did my signature “1 please” and sure enough, I always get 1 of the “house specialties”! It was a braised pork over rice and tasted pretty close to what I’m assuming Heaven tastes like if God decided to give it a flavor!

After the market I walked in the direction of a famous park in Tokyo, but instantly decided to not pay to go inside when the rain sprinkles turned into a light drizzle, so onwards and upwards! One of the last place I really wanted to check out was in an area called Shibuya. Many of the sites that I read about Tokyo on recommend this area and I figured it was worth a visit! Getting out of the subway station there is a 5 way intersection immediately in front of you, and this intersection is unreal. I have NEVER seen such a busy intersection in my life! As soon as the cars get a red light there are people coming and going from literally every direction filling the entire area in the blink of an eye. I just stood through several red lights watching everyone around me before I actually crossed the street!

I walked around this area for a bit picking up a couple of souvenirs along the way and stopping at a local curry joint for a late lunch before running into a pair of traveling girls {one from Australia & the other Germany} who had only met the day before as well. We stopped for some desert & drinks and enjoyed each other’s company for the afternoon until we parted ways.

The last place on my personal Tokyo list, and about the last my poor body could handle!, was to check out the geek/anime culture in the Harajuku District. Holy moly, was this area weird! Lol I loved it! There were people dressed up quite eccentrically, shops selling clothing that I never knew existed, and just overall “creatures” that you might have to look long and hard to find in the mid-west of the USA! But, here they were, all together, and all for my personal people watching enjoyment!

After Harakuju I went back to my hostel for a short nap (7pm naps are a thing…right?!) And then per the suggestion of the girls I had met earlier in the day, found an Okonomi restaurant near where I was staying. I was told it’s a traditional Japanese food and some people call it a Japanese pancake…I had nothing else, and boy was I in for a surprise! I ordered a pork Okonomi as it looked like that was a popular option and was then quickly worried when they turned a burner on on my table and presented me with a bowl of white mush, cabbage, a raw egg, and raw meat….ummm, is this my meal?! After a minute or two I caught a waitress’s eye, pointed at the slimy, raw bowl of food in front of me and shrugged my shoulders, she quickly caught on and came over to make my food for me! She mixed everything together into a questionable looking paste and tossed it on the griddle in a thick pancake like form. Later I went to check if I should flip it and another waitress quickly slapped my hand away! Haha…they have this covered now. Eventually my food was ready and as I am eating it yet another waitress comes over and takes it from it and starts covering it with a number of sauces from the table (I had been trying a new one with each bite!) and then hands me my food back. It may not have been the most flavorful food in my life, but the experience still makes me chuckle!

I went back to the red-light district for a bit to take in some more of its craziness, and then called my last night in Tokyo a wrap.

Wednesday, before flying home I packed my bags, grabbed some pork & rice for breakfast and headed back to Harakuju only to find that the shops weren’t open yet. I took that as my clue and headed to the train station, airport bound, and ready for one last week of teaching in Taiwan.

Tokyo Shrines & Day 2

Day 2 in Japan started out just a tad later than expected! Between being 1 hour ahead of Japan and having just finished touring mason around for 2 weeks I was pooped and no alarm was going to get me out of bed as early as intended! {now in my defense though I was up, dressed and grabbing breakfast by 9am!} 

I'm not sure what a typical Japanese breakfast consists of, but when I woke up Monday morning I was starving and walked in the first place that was open with a decent amount of customers inside. Now, Japan LOVES vending machines, and many of the restaurants are no different. In this one you walk in and use a small machine to select and pay for your order, afterwards you sit down and hand your receipt to a waitress who uses it to order your food from the kitchen and then bring it to you. Odd for me, but benefits for them is they don't need many staff working and the menus are in multiple languages! I decided on a fried pork loin and rice as it looked like a common dish others were eating! 

After breakfast I began walking and stumbled upon a small shrine with several torii gates leading to it. Of course I had to stop and investigate for a bit before continuing on my way! Again today I skipped the JR trains as much as possible and often found myself stepping into intriguing shops and markets along the way!

Finally I was almost to my destination when I realized that directly across the street was the famous Ameyoko shopping street. I stopped on by with no intentions of buying anything really and made it a whole 5 feet before  I stumbled upon a used kimono shop (umm hello Tracy paradise!) and couldn't possibly resist buying myself a beautiful blue & purple kimono! I excitedly took my purchase and continued on taking in the sights and sounds (and let's be honest some snacks as well) before heading back in my original direction of Ueno Park. Sadly, in my opinion, the park was nothing extraordinary, maybe if you were wanting to check out the several museums they had there it might have been more eventful, but nonetheless I took a stroll through the park, checked out a shrine and a Hiroshima Memorial before heading back out.  

My next stop, and quite a hike later!, was the Seno-ji Temple and goodness was it beautiful! The shrine itself was huge compared to the others I had seen in Tokyo and it also had a pagoda near it and an archway at the entrance with one of the biggest paper lanterns I have ever seen! Much like the shrine yesterday, you cannot enter the main portion of this temple, but rather bow & clap your hands several times before tossing several coins into a trough and sending your prayers to the gods. This area was definitely a tourist attraction as there were hundreds of people scattered about, but between the gorgeous views and prime people watching opportunities, I was as happy as could be!!

Before leaving the area, they had several stations to retrieve your fortune. You chose a metal tin (think a heavy Pringles can!) and shook it around until a small numbered stick came out the single hole in the tin. You then matched your number up with a drawer that provided your fortune. I'm supposed to lose something, be late, catch a disease and I don't know what all else! Luckily there were instructions to tie your unlucky fortunes to a pole and not take them with you...I happily obliged! 

Next on my list, and what I had been catching glimpses of all day through the trees, was the Tokyo Sky Tree. The Sly Tree is the tallest structure in Tokyo standing at 2,080 feet high and is primarily used as a broadcasting tower though there is also a restaurant and observation deck inside as well. The first observation that I stopped at is a little over halfway up the tower and includes stunning views of the city below, including a section with a glass floor allowing you to see the ground some 1,000 feet below you! Unfortunately it was just cloudy enough the day I went that I wasn't able to see Mount Fuji {motivation to visit Japan again!}

After the sky tree I stopped at CoCo CurryHouse for dinner after a recommendation from a friend before heading back to the hostel and crashing hard for a late afternoon nap!

After my lovely power nap I decided to explore the Shinjuku area near my hostel, only to discover that the largest red light district in Tokyo was a short 10 minute walk from my hostel! {lesson learned} needless to say I was able to walk around and people watch for several hours before it was time to head in for the night in preparation for Tokyo day 3!

4 Days in Tokyo!

I did it! It's been on my bucket list for so long and although I was nervous, I'm so glad I am able to say "I did it once, I can do it again!"

For about forever now I have wanted nothing more than to travel solo. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love traveling around with my friends {and it's still my preference in many instances} but I just wanted to know, for myself, that I could travel alone. Sure my mom stuck me on a plane by myself when I was 9, but I was going to visit family. Yes I've flown across the states alone, but it was always to visit friends. And yes I flew here to Taiwan alone and knowing no one when I got here, but I had people who were expecting me, a job lined up, and assistance along the way.

I wanted to hop on a plane solo and fly to another country knowing no one and having no agenda other than to explore and eat my way through the new cuisine. I wanted to have to depend on myself, to determine solutions to my own problems, and meet people along the way. I wanted to challenge myself...and thank you Tokyo for doing all this and more!

 ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  ---  

A month or so ago when I realized that Vanilla Air was offering round trip tickets from Taipei to Tokyo starting at 3,500分 {about $109 USD} I knew it was a deal too good to pass up! I juggled some dates around before realizing that after my 6th graders graduate I would have several days without class; so, I put in a request with my schools, booked my tickets, and put on my best pair of dancing shoes and did my self a little happy dance!

I booked my ticket so that my plane leaving to Japan coincided with Mason's plane leaving back to NYC so that when I took him to the airport I went packed and ready to go as well. 

Saturday, June 18

I landed in Tokyo late Saturday night (June 18) and after making my way through customs & security found myself a lovely vending machine to purchase a SIM card for my phone & another machine to change my USD that I brought with me to JPY {the USD to Japanese Yen conversion rate is currently at $1 USD to 109¥} before venturing into what may have been one of the most confusing public transit systems in the world I have ever experienced!

Sadly the SIM card didn’t work right away, so once arriving to the train station I had to rely on the help of 2 drunk European guys to help my find my hostel {such is life haha}. Needless to say it was late and I was tired, so I found my bed, grabbed a quick dinner at the convenient store across the street and crashed HARD for the night!

Sunday, June 19

I’ll be honest, my planning before going to Tokyo was at a minimum and I was more than happy to see what each day would bring. {I know many people that plan out every detail of their trips, but if something goes awry or you don’t get everything in, they dwell on that for the rest of their vacation, thus ruining the magic of the moment! By having no plans, everything turns out much better than “planned”!}

First up for the day was visiting the Meiji Shrine in the Shibuya District. This is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the deceased Emperor Meiji, the first emperor of modern day Japan. The shrine itself is located within a park of sorts with many walking paths winding through a small wooded area. There were several different entrance/exit points around the shrine grounds that were all marked with an arch of sorts {called a torii arch} over its path. Walking further into the entrances, you were also presented with a small fountain of water and several bamboo ladles in which you were to cleanse your hands, arms, and mouth before entering into the shrine.

The shrine itself, as well as the others I saw in Tokyo along with their temples, are much different than the temples that I have come so accustomed to here in Taiwan. One of the big differences I noticed between the two almost instantly was that the shrines in Japan did not let you enter into the shrine itself, but rather pray from the outside. Another obvious difference to me was that instead of offering incense while they pray like in Taiwan, shrine goers were asked to toss several coins into a trough like piece and clap and bow several times before sending their prayers to the gods {I love watching and learning how the different religions worship!}

Just my luck I stumbled upon a wedding ceremony going on at the temple as well and had to stick around long enough to snoop around and get some good pictures! There was also a separate building for parents taking their babies to be offered to the church/baptized/christened (ok I don’t know what it’s called there, but you get the jist! Lol). Afterwards I walked 10 minutes or so through the wooded paths and came to the Miji Shrine Gardens. It was pretty, there was an old tea house there and it was manicured nicely with many flowers and a large pond. I think much of the appeal of this garden though was that it was green space in the midst of Tokyo! ;)

Although Tokyo is HUGE I tried to plan my day worth of sights within a common area. This not only made the day easier, but it allowed me to often walk from place to place {I did A LOT of walking these few days!}. I wasn’t trying to avoid the subway or its tolls, though that was a nice benefit, but rather by walking I found myself in many shops and alleys that I would have missed if I had taken the subway everywhere in Tokyo. With that being said I spent some time checking out various shops around the area before walking into a Ramen shop {think real ramen noodles that are now known as a “college staple” in America!} and ordering myself a bowl of Ramen soup and pork for a late lunch. 

After lunch I headed back to my hostel for a power nap, some A/C, and to grab my things….I was DISNEY BOUND!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Dragon Boat Festival}

Sometimes I have people tell me after reading my blog that "there are tons of festivals in Taiwan". In reality though, I'm not sure they have any more major festivals than what most western countries have holidays.

Largest Holidays Celebrated in Taiwan:

(Click each link below to learn more about the holiday)

- Chinese New Year
- Lantern Festival
- Tomb Sweeping Day
- Dragon Boat Festival
- Ghost Festival
- Moon Festival
- Double Ten Day

Lucky for me out of this list of popular holidays and festivals in Taiwan there is only one on the list that I have missed to date and it's coming up on June 9th! Have no fear Taiwan...I will witness all of your holidays yet! You may have read my post earlier in the week about my training for dragon boat festival. Needless to say the boat racing is only one piece of this national holiday. Not having any idea what this holiday is about exactly, I put one of my co-workers to the test to find out for myself why we really weren't having school!

Dragon Boat festival is celebrate each year on the 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar (read more about their calendar HERE) falling on June 9 in the year 2016. The story around this holiday states that there was a famous poet by the name Qu-Yuan who was loved by many. When Qu-Yuan discovered that the emperor Zhou was going to be overthrown by the Qing, Qu-Yuan couldn't handle the news and threw himself into the river. Upon hearing this news emperor Zhou sent his men out on boats (presumably shaped like dragons?) to go and retrieve Qu-Yuan's body...Is this story true; I have no idea...is this the story Taiwanese like to tell surrounding this holiday; yes!

Other fun parts of this holiday {aside from the most popular activity of the races} include eating a type of glutenous rice dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves and filled with pork, small shrimp, nuts, or mushrooms called zhongzhi {think about a Chinese version of a small tamale but exchange everything corn for rice!} Also, children wear and are given small sachets (little bags) around their necks filled with fragrances and participate in egg standing (standing an egg on its end at 12 noon) as well as spending time with their families.

{1. Zhongzhi waiting to be sold and enjoyed 2. Desert Zhongzhi made by students at school 3. Zhongzhi for dinner after rowing practice 4. The desert Zhongzhi unwrapped; lime & green tea!}

Jiufen Old Street - Take 1

Saturday, April 16, 2016

I profusely apologize for anyone who has to deal with me on a regular basis and has ever complained about my endless stream of energy {ok, I guess I apologize, but I'm still not willing to change!} Several weeks ago I began asking around as to what my friends were doing for the weekend and I received unanimous answers from all of them "I'm tired, I think I'm just going to stay home and sleep". What is this word sleep they talk about? I'm still not 100% sure, but I sure don't like the sound of it! :P

Solo adventure, here I come!

I've made a bit of a "to-do list" of things to do before I head back home for the summer, and one of the easier things to cross off this list was to visit Jiufen Old Street in New Taipei City {yes my posts are a bit out of order! You can read about my 2nd trip there with my mom HERE} Since Jiufen isn't terribly far from my house, I decided I'd head out early in the morning and make a long day trip out of it.

First stop of the morning was to make my way to Taipei where the bus to Jiufen left. While waiting on my bus though, what do you know, I meet a fellow American traveler (no shame in checking out someone's phone that they are using to see what language they have it set to!) who had just finished up a teaching gig in Japan and was traveling through Taiwan before heading home. I ask where he's heading {first he gives me a name of who knows what before he shows me the correct name on his map lol} and what-do-ya-know, he was heading to Jiufen...travel buddy acquired!

1. Small alley way 2. Paper lanterns lining the streets 3. Tea shop display 4. Tea house at dusk

The bus to Jiufen was an hour-ish {to be honest, I slept, so who knows!} and when we hopped off the bus we were met with the most incredible mountain views! Throughout the day Alan and I perused the streets graciously accepting free food samples, picking up "necessary" souvenirs, and taking in the sights and sounds that Jiufen has to offer. At one point Alan decided he wanted to stay put for a bit while I wanted to check out the waterfall, so we exchanged contact info and went our separate ways {needless to say thanks to the lovely public transportation in Taiwan some days...I did NOT make it to the waterfall this day!}

The famous tea house in the heart of Jiufen

As the sun began to set in the sky Alan and I met back up and decided to stay for sunset to see what else the area had to offer us. All I've got to say is that the more I travel, the more I'm positive that God is an artist. Holy moly guys it was beautiful! The sunset, the silhouettes of the old Japanese style buildings, the glow of the red paper lanterns...it was breath taking and so worth the wait if you find yourself on the steps of Jiufen Old Street someday yourself!

Extraordinary views!

Tuesday's Taiwan-ism {Cram Schools}

Cram schools, also known in Chinese as Buxibans [pronounced Bu-she-ban] are EVERYWHERE in Taiwan (and from what I head in China as well). Likewise, they apparently spread throughout much of Asia but go by different names within each country.

Regardless of where they are or what you call them though, their purpose remains the same...they are school after school.

In the United States is is typical for students, if both their parents are working 1st shift, to attend sports, day care centers, babysitters, or other after school care providers until one or both of their parents are available to pick them up for the evening. Traditionally though, even families who utilize these services, have their children home between 4 and 6pm so they are able to enjoy a family meal together, work on homework, and spend the evening with their children.

In Taiwan though, when that final bell rings for children to be dismissed from school, we have quite a different site than the typical yellow school bus or mom's carpool lane that we might be used to seeing in many American schools. At 3:50 when children are dismissed from the public schools, many of the children are picked up by a teacher from their buxiban and the groups of children are led to one of the dozens of buxibans that are scattered around each town here in Taiwan to begin their second round of school for the day.

Buxibans often are based around teaching math, Chinese, or English, but especially in larger cities, a parent can find a buxiban specializing in nearly any subject under the sun. Though younger children may only stay at a buxiban until 5 or 6 in the evening {for a total of 10.5 hours of schooling a day} many high pressure parents of high schoolers have their students enrolled in 1, 2, or 3 different buxibans until 10 or 11 o'clock at night! {That's up to 16 hours of schooling a day...everyday!}...and we wonder why many of the students in Asian countries are so more advanced than many of our students!

As the students age, their time spent in the buxiban also tends to increase. In families where it is expected that the children will go to great university and become doctors and engineers, the students may also attend buxibans or other remedial classes on Saturdays and Sundays to ensure that they are focusing all of their time and energy on becoming the absolute best student they can be...and then some!

Near me two of the larger schools, having multiple branches each, are American Eagle Institute and Giraffe English School, but there are countless smaller "ma & pa" cram schools as well. This notion of a school after school is still something I try to wrap my head around here in Taiwan, but good or bad, it's here to stay in Taiwan!