Since my last blog post, life has just been busy- I don't think I have ever graded as much as I did in the last 2 weeks of the semester out here and then my parents, sister and brother-in-law came out to spend the holidays with us in Taiwan. We had a wonderful time traveling around the island and while we did many, many, many things- I thought that I would first post about the top 5 things we did traveling from Taipei to Kaohsiung, and then the top 5 things traveling from Kaohsiung to Kenting and back up to Taipei. Photo credits go to Mom, Dad, Amy, Kevin, Myron and myself.
Taipei
One of my favorite things that we did in Taipei was to go out to Maokong, the hills surrounding Taipei where tea is grown. You can actually take a gondola ride up, but it was closed while we were there, so we took a bus. When you get up into the hills, there are several choices of tea houses that you can choose from. We chose one that had a great view of Taipei, Yuan Xu Yuan. But I would love to go back and try out other tea houses.
Once there, you choose a tea and they provide you with all of the tea drinking items that you will need to successfully drink tea, as well as some extra items that we had to ask what we were supposed to do with them. Then once you have mastered the various tea preparation steps that involves washing the tea and making a first batch and disposing of it, you can sit outside, enjoy the view and the company and drink tea.
Beipu
Beipu is probably not a town that I would recommend staying in, but it was definitely worth a visit for lei-cha. We went to the teahouse, The Well, which was much better identified and found by its Chinese characters- in fact, we went on what most resembled a scavenger hunt to find the Chinese character signs in town and follow them to The Well. Once we found the teahouse, we went inside, asked for some lei-cha, and were given a mortar and a stick to use as a pestle. The mortar was filled with green tea-leaves, sesame seeds, nuts, and grains.
You mixed the ingredients into a pulp and this was used as a base, to which hot water and puffed rice was added. The result was a tea called lei-cha. It was served with some crackers and cookies. The tea was quite tasty and a fun experience to make.
PULI
Again, I don't think you really need to stay in Puli, though we did. However, the Chung Tai Chan Temple in Puli was certainly worth a stop. This is a massive Buddhist temple. Some of my favorite memories from this temple were learning the proper way to bow to Buddha and receiving as a gift auspicious water. Also, the grounds were quite stunning- I loved the courtyard that was filled with tiny bells that tinkled as the wind blew. Dad's favorite Buddhist statue was the man with six arms- the Buddhist temple really helped Dad to discover his inner zen as you can see here.
SUN MOON LAKE
Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan, was quite stunning. We only spent one night here, but I think all of us wished that we had spent more time here. Of all that we had time to do here, taking a boat across the lake and then a Gondola ride up the hills surrounding the lake, was the most memorable and strikingly beautiful. I would definitely recommend this experience.
Kaohsiung
A visit to Kaohsiung really isn't complete without a visit to Lotus Lake and this time we captured some more great photos of the lake. This was how we spent Christmas morning- walking around Lotus Lake. At this point in the trip, Amy and Kevin had just joined us. The weather was beautiful, and I was so happy to have family with us. Andrew- we missed you! Merry Christmas!
Here are some of the better shots:
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