My Mommy's in Taiwan!

So if you don't follow me on any other forms of social media {Shameless shout out! You can check out my Instagram and Facebook here!} and you didn't know my mom made it...well...my mom made it! It might have taken 9 months, lots of convincing, and promises of limited scooter rides, no nasty food, and monkey sightings; but, she's here!

She left Ohio Thursday morning bright and stinkin' early and landed in Taipei Friday evening a little after 6pm Taiwan time (I'll do the math for you...24 hours of flying and 36 hours lost with time change included!) on Friday, April 29. We grabbed some quick food in the airport and headed back for my home in Hsinchu to prepare for sports day Saturday morning. (Funny thing about schools here in Taiwan...they don't mind making you work an occasional Saturday, but you're always compensated for the day...so we got Monday off instead...whatever makes you happy!)

Sports day on Saturday included many waves from the students for my mom and many MANY stares from parents at the 2 lone white people that some didn't even know existed in the town {I'd blow their minds if I told them there was a white guy teaching at the Junior High as well! haha} Guys, I promise I'm not exaggerating this stuff! I had a mother of a first grader follow me around for a good 45 minutes taking numerous pictures of me and telling me over and over again in Chinese how beautiful I was and that she loved my nose...I've said it before...but I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried! After sports day (early release at 1...heck yes!) we headed home, quickly packed our bags, and hopped on the Train for Taipei {mom avoided a scooter ride here and I allowed her to breathe more easily on the local bus!}

We arrived to Taipei a little after 4pm, checked into our hotel, and Tour Guide Tracy got right to work on the extensive list I had been given to accomplish in Taipei {I'll brag for a second and say we covered everything on the list my mom gave me and then some...and we both lived to tell about it!}

First Stop...Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...with sightings of 101!

Next up...Longshan Temple

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...a must see temple in Taipei!

And finish the night off with...Shillin Night Market

{previous visits HERE, HERE, HERE, & HERE}...clearly I have a problem with night markets!

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

Sunday brought along a whole new set of adventures and exhaustion (I can't lie though I love traveling so, it can be quite tiring at times as well!) We slept in a little bit to help cope with our long day the day before {and possibly a previous 24 hour flight around the world!} and then headed out for our day's first adventure...and one that my mom was madly in love with!

First stop of the day...Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 

{previous visits HERE}...mom was quite smitten with the architecture of the buildings in this area AND that she got her first ever jumping picture in front of the Memorial Hall {it's truly the little things in life!}

After we were starving and caved for a late super late lunch, Hello...Din Tai Fung!

{previous visits HERE & HERE}...I can't lie, I think this restaurant is wonderfully delicious and I will miss it something fierce when I finally leave my island home. Needless to say...mom was also a fan, it's hard not to be!

We finished lunch and headed to...Ximen District...to walk off our food babies & see what we could find!

{previous visit HERE}...I can't say this is a must see in Taipei, but if you are in the area for several days and are wanting to see a different vibe of the city, this up & coming district is the place to be and a great way to spend an afternoon or evening, or in our case, a little of both as the nightlife here proved to be unique in its own right as well!

Last up for the night...Taipei 101 sighting at night!

{previous visits HERE, HERE, & HERE}

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

Monday was our last official day to gallivant through Taipei, remember thanks to sports day...no school Monday! And we started off with a bang and ended again way late; tired, but with full bellies and happy smiles!

First up, breakfast...Traditional Taiwanese Cold Peanut Noodles!

These can be bought just about anywhere, but I have been introduced to a popular street-side shop and knew she would love it!

Afterwards, the Taipei must see...Taipei 101!

{previous visits HERE, HERE, & HERE}...You just CAN'T go to Taipei and NOT go into Taipei 101! The building is beautiful, the dampener inside is legendary, the elevator is one of the fastest in the world, and the views are incredible! We spent a good 2 hours checking out the inside of the tower and lucked out when the outside observatory was open for visitors as well! Afterwards we took our grumbly tummies down to the first floor food court and found some delicious noodles for lunch!

There was ONE more item on her to do list...National Palace Museum!

{previous visit HERE}...This museum is incredibly beautiful both inside and out! It is interesting enough the largest (or one of the largest depending on your sources!) collections of ancient imperial Chinese artworks & artifacts in the world and constantly rotating its collections for an ever changing museum display. Needless to say we spent several hours exploring the museum ending with their borrowed exhibit from the Vatican.

The end of the museum sadly also signaled the end of our long weekend in Taipei as we headed back to Hsinchu to prepare for school the following day.

Mom Meets the Monkeys

I'm pretty sure 99% of my mom's motives in coming to Taiwan were to go to my monkey friends in Kaohsiung {if you're wondering about the other 1%... 0.5% was to taste Taiwanese food and the other 0.5% was guilt that she should probably come see me!} And, because that's what she wanted, I had to make sure her dreams would come true lol...and what better time to do that than Mother's Day weekend! {talk about a Mother's Day she hopefully never forgets!}

My mom headed to school with me Friday morning to meet my kiddos at FuLong and after lunch with them we headed to the High Speed Rail station (thanks so much to a gracious co-worker for a ride!) and headed down south to Kaohsiung. We arrived to Kaohsiung around 3:30 Friday afternoon and I had the perfect spot in mind to start our weekend. Lotus Pond is about the epitome of everything you could want in a "classic Asian" experience! Pagodas - check! Temple - check! Lotus flowers & dragons - check & double check! Perfect picture opportunities, Chinese gods, and fancy rooftops - check, check, & check! Lotus Pond has it all; and I knew my mom would love it!

We spent a good chuck of time exploring the temples and pagodas before we decided we had better head towards our hostel and check in before the hostel owner got grumpy with us! After checking into our hostel. Once we were all checked in we relaxed for a an hour or so {ok I'll be honest...we enjoyed the AC! It was 90 degrees outside with a heat index over 100 and 85% humidity...hot as heck!} Once we were mobile again we headed back out towards the Liuhe Night Market not too far from our hostel where we sampled teas & feasted on Taiwanese pork sandwiches, fruit milk, crunchy pork buns, and of course...dumplings! When we didn't think our feet could possibly take us any further we dragged ourselves back to our hostel and collapsed with visions of monkeys dancing in our heads! ;)

Saturday morning, of course things won't always go right!, started off with a little public transportation hic-up that we quickly straightened out. So, after an early rise & a hearty 7-eleven breakfast {no judging, I wasn't feeling like navigating Chinese breakfast menus at 8am!} we found ourselves at the base of Shoushan Mountain 壽山 at a large temple overlooking Kaohsiung City. Naturally, after exploring the temple and its twin pagodas for a bit we began our climb....and continued for the next 3 hours!

My mom was lucky! The first time I went I was alone and had to walk a good 45 minutes before my first monkey sighting. The second time when Josh and Tina went along we walked we walked maybe only 20 to 30 minutes before seeing our first little monkey family. My mom, on the other hand, walked less than 10 minutes before a mom and her baby are plopped in the middle of our path. Stopping to check them out several more came down to see who the 2 funky white people were and my mom's camera was working on overdrive! I was pretty sure she was going to call it quits after seeing her first several monkeys, but she kept right on trekking! :P

I got a little mixed up on the trail, but it proved so worth while as we had a great time hiking, we didn't get into any of the steep areas or off the dirt or wood-paved paths, and we were still able to see several medium sized groups of monkeys at different spots as the day wore on! {ok...I just looked it up out of curiosity...apparently it's not a GROUP of monkeys...but a troop of monkeys!..thanks Oxford dictionary for your help!!} 3 hours, lots of sweat, and super empty stomachs later we found ourselves at the base of the mountain where we quickly ate and then headed to our hostel for nice cold showers and afternoon naps!

Once nap time had officially ended we headed to the Pier 2 art center {a reclaimed railroad yard turned into an artist outdoor paradise!} to check it out followed by an amazing Thai dinner filled with more curry than our hearts could handle. And of course, what trip to Kaohsiung wouldn't be complete without a nighttime stroll past the Love River that runs through the city center?! A wonderful night indeed!

Sunday morning we got our tired tushies up for breakfast and then walked to the Holy Rosary Cathedral in town {fun fact its the largest and old in Taiwan and in the top 3 in Asia...not so fun fact...it's actually not that big haha} where we had English mass with people from all corners of the world....LOVE IT!

After mass we walked to the Kaohsiung 85 Sky Tower and holey moley guys...the views were great SPECTACULAR! You could see the city, the ocean, the harbor...they were amazing and we were so glad that we went! {and this was a first for me #winning!} Once we were able to close our jaws from awe we hopped on a pair of rented bikes, biked our booties all over Kaohsiung including stops at the sea-side university, Pier 2 art center, and a steamed bun shop before realizing that it was 6pm and we still had a 2 hour trip home! Goodbye Kaohsiung and Happy Mother's Day to my mommy!

Jiufen Old Street

Wednesday I decided to surprise mom a bit and give her a list of several day trips to choose between...it only took her like 4 years to decide, but eventually she settled on Jiufen Old street, east of Taipei. We headed up to a rainy Taipei Tuesday after school let out and after many failed dinner attempts and crazy angry stomachs...we ended up with a late night McDonalds night for dinner {sorry mom!} We made it a tad more authentic by throwing in a side of green tea/red bean ice cream for desert {I was a fan, mom...not so much!} After dinner we headed back to our luxury hostel [seriously if you're coming to Taipei check this place out!].

Wednesday morning we grabbed a non-traditional Taiwanese breakfast {who am I to deny my mom her new found love of sticky bun dumplings for breakfast?!?!} and hopped on a nearby bus for the nearly hour long drive to Jiufen. One quick nap later, and we were there! :P  [Fun Fact: Jiufen translates to 9 pieces in Chinese as there were 9 families that originally lived in this town]

Climbing off the bus we immediately began soaking in the views. Jiufen is situated part way up a mountain, thus allowing you both breathtaking views of the villages below and the mountains that continue upwards. Win, win in my book! It didn't take us long to make our way to the Old Street in town and quickly get pulled into the steady stream of tourists that run up and down both side of this Japanese-era street. We made quick work of locating several food stands and throughout the day sampled fish balls, red bean "pancakes", taro ice cream rolls, teas, and braised pork {our stomachs were not wanting today!}

We leisurely spent the afternoon checking out the street stands, absorbing the amazing views, munching on snacks, and people watching to our hearts content. Mid afternoon we ventured to the bus stop and grabbed a bus headed to our next attraction that we thought was just over a mile away. Well, a mile on flat, straight Ohio roads and a mile through the windy, mountain roads are 2 very different things...long story short, I'm glad in our 20 minute drive that everyone was able to keep their lunches down!

Finally, we arrived at the Golden Waterfall in Jiufen. Although, sadly!, there is no real gold in this waterfall, the water takes on a golden color due to the amount of heavy metals that are found in its riverbed. No matter the reason though, the falls are beautiful! We hung out at the falls for a bit before we realized there was only one more bus back to civilization the Old Street. We bought some last minute trinkets and snacks before we hopped on one more bus headed towards Taipei and ultimately my house. Today may have been our last outing together while my mom was here, but we had a blast!

Merida, Mexico & Mi Familia!

Talk about a shotgun wedding, I think this most recent trip was just that and more {{not my wedding!!!!}} 

Quick synopsis 

Tuesday - teach 24 hyper 8 year olds

Wednesday - spend the day flying from Ohio to Merida, Mexico

Thursday - check out some little known ruins called Chichen Itza

Friday - float around with wild flamingos

Saturday - here comes the bride and all that wedding jazz

Sunday - spend the day flying from Mexico back to Ohio 

Monday - 8:20 am...hello again my hyper children!

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

I suppose if you're here you're looking for just a *tad* bit more information on my trip than that though! ...I'll see what I can do for you ;)

I'm 2nd grade teacher here in Ohio where I'm currently living and we get a whopping 3 personal days a year to take as we please. So come March, having not taken any days off of work yet, coupled with the prospect of a family wedding && getting to see all my family that lives in Mexico, I dove in and took Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday off BEST DECISION EVER!  (besides 15 pages of sub plans, planning for conferences, and 4.5 hours of sleep before teaching Monday morning.....but I digress!) 

Wednesday was mostly a travel day. Leaving my house at about 5am and landing in Merida, Mexico after 8pm. I made a couple quick layovers and met and picked up my mom and brother in Huston on the way. We landed, found our way to our hotel, and then went knocking on random room numbers until we started to recognize faces that answered the door...we made it! A quick food stop for a late (like 11:30pm late) and well deserved dinner and it was time to hit the sack for these 3 amigos!

Thursday was a little {{ok a lot}} more entertaining than our previous flight day. We didn't even try to wake up early as our tour wasn't leaving until 11, but when I found out the restaurant in our hotel was serving chilaquiles verdes for breakfast, I was downstairs in a flash. Post breakfast my mom, brother, aunt, and cousin {let's give out some names here: mom, David, Carmen, & Susana} hopped in a tour bus with several other tourists that we had arranged the evening before and headed east almost 2 hours to  Chichen Itza, the Mayan pyramids in the state of Merida. 

h.o.l.y- m.o.l.y were they breath-taking

The Pyramids of Chichen Itza are one of the new 7 Wonders of the World and just as amazing as I had been hoping for {this book about the 7 wonders is drool worthy}. We arrived to the pyramids and found ourselves an English speaking guide to show us around the grounds. Pyramid after pyramid and ruins after ruins, this place was gigantic with each new site leaving us more and more in awe of the almost 1500 year old structures that loomed above us. 

Once we finished our tour and wanderings (roughly 2 hours and we didn't even see everything) we hopped back in the van and headed for lunch. The tour group we joined included a traditional Yucatanian buffet that proved to be every bit wonderful. Bellies full we headed to our last stop of the day; a natural cenote. Cenote translates from Spanish into Sinkhole or natural pit and the are quite literally one of the most beautiful things I have seen. 

Dozens of meters below ground level lies some of the clearest & bluest water that you could imagine in the Cenote near Chichen Itza where we were in Merida. We walked down several flights of stairs that had been carved into the stone on the sides of the sinkhole until we were at the bottom starring up at the sky above us like we were in our own little world. A dip in the cool waters proved to be as exhilarating as the views and we swam until the last possible minute when we realized our tour van was ready to up and leave us behind {{not the worst place in the world to get left at overnight though!}}

After a now almost 3 hour ride back we were able to meet up with the rest of our family that was still trickling into Merida as well as grabbing dinner and drinks with my cousins and some of the friends of the bride && groom to be. Food + Family + Warm Weather + Laughter + Drinks = There's really no more a girl could wish for!

Saludos Day 1 :)

Hello Canada!

June 14, 2010
Sooo...after a solid 3 hours of sleep my mom, Jared, David and I piled into the van at 4am headed for Fort Wayne for my 6am flight...I know I know way to early but what can I do! lol. So I get there and check in only to realize  my flight had been delayed! Only by 46 minutes but just enough to make sure I would be late for all my other flights and have a 6 hour layover in Detroit by myself! After hugging goodbye and getting my bag checked through security they came over the PA system and announced that my flight was moved back to normal time....leaving in 15 minutes....first sprint of the day!

Landed in Cincinnati and got off the plane around 7:15....with a flight to catch at 7:30...picked up all 50 pounds of my carry on and sprinted (sprint #2 of the day!) from gate 32 to gate 2...of course they have to be at opposite ends . After arriving at my gate and catching my breath long enough to talk to the lady I boarded my flight to New York where once landing I found out the girl I was to meet had also been delayed! (oh reliable airlines!) After a quick bite and a few last calls home I found a group of people also going to SAS and we boarded our 50 person puddle jumper headed to Halifax!

After arriving in Halifax I found that although I was able to be redirected to my original flight my bag was not quite as fortunate. So, now I'm in Halifax bagless hoping in comes in before I leave tomorrow. After getting into Halifax I met up with several girls that I am rooming with for the night. After going to a quick grocery run and a trip out on the lake on the paddle boats we are now waiting for one last girl and my luggage to come in before we crash for the night and board the boat in the morning!

Can't believe this time has actually come...I'll be on the boat tomorrow!!!

Taiwan Night Market

Taiwan is FAMOUS for their night markets! If you read my post from when I went to Taipei you may remember several pictures from the Shilin Night market there, it's huge! Each town has their own night markets; larger towns nightly, and smaller towns maybe weekly, but they are there rest-assured!

Although my town of Xinfeng is not that small I live outside of the city limits in the township, and it is small! My town only has it's night markets on Friday nights, so I went last Friday and my hopes were crushed...there were only 4 vendors...BUT...it was ghost festival, so I thought maybe, maybe, there will be more people next week. Man was I  glad I gave it another chance!  I love it! They literally have just about anything and everything there! I walked up and down the isles for well over an hour taking in the sights, the sounds, and the SMELLS (ok I can't lie, I also had some treats...and made a mental list of what I will be coming back for next time!)

Like I said anything and everything you may want...sunglasses, phone cases, clothes, phone cases, shoes, phone cases {seriously, they have a fetish here or something!}

Meat?!?! After some prior experiences here...I was a little hesitant to try random meat for the time being!

Balloon pop for the kids...

...and ring toss for mom & dad!

Taiwanese candy GALORE!

And my dinner! Taiwanese taco anyone?! The "tortilla" was sticky-ish, and it had chicken, TONS of onion, red cabbage, some corn, a sticky soy sauce, and a jelly like hot sauce...not too shabby!

Persimmons & Baseball & Dumplings, Oh My!

To say this past weekend was an eventful weekend is to say the least, but it was also a blast!!!

You may recall from this earlier post about my terrific ability to get lost...anywhere! {thanks mom!} and making it to the local persimmon festival was no different! Last weekend I tried to venture to Xinpu about 30 minutes away and found myself so terribly lost that I gave up for the time-being, but was determined that I would make it! One of the teachers I work with at school had told me about this festival {think about visiting an apple orchard in the fall....now change the apples to persimmons} and I was determined to check it out for myself!

SOooo, this Saturday I woke up early and determined and set out on my scooter with high hopes of finding this place. Let me tell you after 30 minutes of driving the excitement I felt when I began to notice signs in the shape of persimmons pointing in the direction of the farm! I finally made it!!! And, oh my goodness, I am so glad I did, it was so pretty!!!  (be prepared for picture overload!)

 This is a persimmon, Hsinchu (where I live) is known for their persimmons and their bountiful harvests each fall and then their gorgeous displays such as these at the persimmon farms (I'm not really sure what they are called!)

 Down to the nitty gritty...what in the world is a persimmon festival?? First it's not technically a festival! This is more their processing area that just happens to be beautiful so they open it up to the public! Here's a little snapshot of the process starting top left 1. Fresh persimmons are picked they can be red, yellow, or orange/soft or hard/round or pointy  2. Persimmons are put through this apple peeling-like machine to take off their skins  3. They are then put on these round well ventilated racks on bamboo poles up high to "bake" in the sun  3. The dried persimmons (also known as persimmon cakes) are sold to visitors to enjoy!

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!

Exploring Chiayi

April 1 - 5, 2016

After a fun filled Children's Day at school Tina, Arial, and I had big plans for our 4 day weekend that lay ahead! {Thanks Tomb Sweeping Day!} On my quest to visit each of the 15 counties on mainland Taiwan, I am getting to the point that I only have a couple left on my list with one county being Tainan. Luckily, Arial's family to the rescue! Her mom's side of the family lives in Tainan and her aunt was gracious enough to allow the three of us to stay at their house for several days while we explored the area. {Bonus points to her cousin who also volunteered to drive us around saving us from the headache that easily follows trying to figure out public transportation in a new city!}

Sadly since Ariel lives on the other side of the country from Tainan (Tainan is in the southwest part of the country) she couldn't make it to Tainan until Saturday early evening {don't even get me started on this, I know it's crazy! Taiwan is a TEENY country but because of the mountains in the middle it takes FOREVER to get from point A to point B} Well, Tina and I are not easily discouraged, so we decided to head down early, Friday after school and get the weekend started right away!

Friday evening I met Tina late at the Chiayi train station {the county directly above Tainan} where we grabbed a quick dinner of Mos Burger (a Taiwanese fast food joint) and headed to our small hostel we had booked near the center of the small city of Chiayi. Arriving to the hostel we talked with the owner for a bit asking about what to do in the area before we headed out for a late night snack at the local Wenhua night market...turkey rice...a southern specialty that I was more than glad I tried! After our late night snack we found our way back to our hostel {lucky duck us had the room to ourselves} and stayed up talking far too late into the evening before we finally called it a night.

Saturday morning we woke up with only the most tentative of plans as we quickly found out there wasn't a ton to do in Chiayi, but we were bound to enjoy our day and cross yet another county off our bucket lists! First on our list for the day was the Chiayi Park. Naturally though we stumble upon a crowd of people at a local tea shop and I stop and ask what the specialty is and order myself a tall glass of the local fruit tea. After our tea break we continued on to the park still with few expectations of what we would find.

Surprisingly for us though, the park was quite large and there was an art exhibit going on that day with local artists spread about painting the scenery while others sold their works. One man in particular was selling his wood burning and invited Tina and I over to try our hand at making a bamboo woo burning on a key chain. After spending a little more time checking out this park {imagine a mini Central Park in Taiwan!} we headed to our next destination; the Chiayi Prison Museum. Was the museum neat to look through; yes. Was a one hour tour in Chinese necessary for 2 non-Chinese speakers; no. Were we forced to take the tour if we wanted to see the inside; most certainty! Being honest, the prison was neat to look at, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you don't speak Chinese unless you REALLY LOVE prisons!

By now it was early afternoon and we had one more spot we wanted to hit before we hopped on the train to meet Arial in Tainan. Hinoki Village was last on our list and sadly we would have loved to spend more time there! This cultural village is made of Japanese forestry homes and contains "crafts" from this historical time period in Taiwan's history.  Leaving Hinoki Village we grabbed our things from the hostel and headed to the train station to meet Arial and the remainder of our weekend down south!

After meeting up with Ariel, her cousin picked us up from the train station and took us to an old sugar factory that is now the home of a band called 10 drums and their cultural village that they have set up within the old factory. The drum performance was amazing and the views from the city on their many elevated walk ways were beautiful.  We spent the evening walking around, relaxing, and snacking our way through the old factory and warehouses. Afterwards we went to the movies to watch Batman vs Superman. Needless to say at 11:30pm + it being dark in the theater + it not being my type of movie + my popcorn running out...I snoozed for a couple minutes and woke up wondering why one of the main characters was dead...clearly it was bed time for me at this point!

My bamboo wood carving along with my Chinese name. 

Flamingos, Family, & Celestún

Merida, Mexico Take 2!

If you missed out on the previous few days be sure to check them out {here} & {here}

After our whirlwind day checking our the A.M.A.Z.I.N.G pyramids and natural sinkhole at Chichen Itza my grandma decided she wanted in on the fun and just had to see the wild flamingos...we happily obliged! 

My uncle Pablo rented a gigantic van and loaded my cousins, grandma, aunt, mom, brother, & I {{all 8 of us}} into this thing and hit the road. Close to 2 hours later and finally in Celestún we stopped, meeting up with another aunt & uncle, rented a pair of boats and guides and hit the open waters. 

Celestún is a narrow peninsula off the coast of the Yucatan peninsula right inside the golf of Mexico and is a well known destination for wild flamingo sightings and this day was no let-down. We traveled one boat after another for close to 10 minutes enjoying the scenic views, wind in our hair, and smiles on our faces. Next thing we know the horizon slowly began to turn pink and before we knew it, we were surrounded on all sides by bright pink flamingos.

{flying, squawking, eating, sleeping...they were everywhere!}  

5 hours with the flamingos probably still wouldn't have been enough, but just over a half hour after we first met the little guys, we were on our way back to the open waters. Before we knew it there were pelicans flying overhead {{like almost hit my head overhead!}} and we were being introduced to "Bird Island". Holy Moly, I have never seen so many giant birds so up close & personal. These pictures don't even begin to do it justice. We all craned our necks to looks up and out of the boat to ensure that we din't miss a single bird flying overhead! Spectacular!

Driving past Bird Island we had one more, magnificently beautiful, stop of the day before returning to shore. Los Manglares {or the mangroves}. I had become quite familiar with mangroves while living in Taiwan as they were less than 5 minutes driving distance from my house, but the mangroves near my home in Taiwan had nothing on these in Celestún; they were beyond beautiful! Clear waters, twisty tree roots, fish of all sizes, (and apparently alligators that we luckily didn't see that day!) After a quickly dip for the family in the cool & refreshing waters we hopped back in the boats and headed for shore. 

Afterwards we agreed that we were unanimously starving and stopped at a beach-side restaurant for some mouthwateringly fresh seafood {like my teeny shrimp ceviche pictured above}, family time, walks on the beach, and an abundance of seashells. The evening came to a close and Pablo drove as we napped! Returning back to the hotel we headed out with the remainder of the family for drinks and dinner until a typical Mexican 2 am when most of us called it quits for the night!

Saludos Dia 2!