Day 5

Bread of Life

On Sunday morning we hopped on the MRT hoping to make the 11 o'clock church service at Taipei Bread of Life English Ministry. (breadoflife.com.tw)

Our GPS only led us to the main Chinese church, so we had to hurry down a few more blocks to get to the English service.  We turned into an alley and didn't notice anything that looked like a church.  If it weren't for the smiling Latina lady greeting visitors at the door, I don't know if we would have found it. Later I learned that many South Americans are coming to study Chinese in Taiwan, they even started a fellowship group at church called Viva La Vida.   So upon seeing the greeter, we entered the building and headed down to the basement and joined the 200+ Chinese and expats gathered together for a two-hour vibrant, spirit-filled service.  The lights were dimmed, the music was ON, it was seriously like a rock concert.

As Caedmon caught a glimpse of the pastor, he asked excitedly, "Mom, is that Francis Chan?"  The young Taiwanese pastor shared stories and slides from their latest mission trip to Mozambique and preached a powerful sermon on taming the tongue from the book of James chapter 3:1-12.   At end of the service he did an altar call for anyone who wanted to receive the gift of speaking in tongues.  Many young folks came forward and when the chorus of prayers began, Jenna's eyes just about popped out.  It was a good experience though and we felt blessed by the fellowship time afterwards.

Day 4

Cabin in the Sky

Still waking up before the crack of dawn, we left our place early Saturday morning for another adventure. Today we took the Maokong Gondola transport up the mountain for a great view of the city below.  Our fare was only $50NT (less than $2 USD) and the kids rode for free as registered summer school students.  Public transportation is so inexpensive here, and the MRT and bus systems take you everywhere, even in the air!

We decided to take the gondola up four stations and stop at the Taipei City Zoo on our way down.  We waited for our "Crystal cabin", a gondola that had been retrofitted with 48mm thick glass bottoms.  

A view of the rain forest below

My dad just happened to call me on Skype while we were up there, so I answered the call from my cell phone.  I turned on my Skype video cam and he got to see our view.  If you have Skype and want to see where we are, just call me at Lina.Hughes  I have the app on most of the time so I invite you to join us...who knows where you'll find us next.

From the Eyes of Maokong Gondola

Little Village Down Under

Destination: Taipei City Zoo

At the end of our exhausting day trip, we took the bus back to our city.  The kids sat in the row ahead of us, and after just a few minutes, it got noticeably quiet.  We peered over and found them heads down napping.

Day 3

In Search of Modern Toilet

Today we ventured on the MRT (Metro Rapid Transit) into downtown.  Our destination was to have lunch at Modern Toilet. Yes, that's right, I did just say we were going to get food from a toilet, but not from just ANY toilet.  Modern Toilet is actually a really popular restaurant in the Ximending District, a major shopping area in town, where you can see all around the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture.

So on our first outing, we trapsed through town trying to find this trendy joint in weather too perfect for hermit crabs.  Definitely not for the weak-hearted.  Well, we almost didn't make it when we got there and was told to wait 40-minutes for a seat...a toilet seat, that is. (FYI: restaurant patrons get to sit on fancy toilet seats at the table).  But fortunately for us, the host (who just graduated from Penn State and had impeccable English) must have felt so sorry for us because after just one-minute of waiting, a table opened up and he let us in right away.

Our shaved ice desserts came in a little yellow squatty potty bowl, and Caedmon's delightful Kiwi drink came in a green urinal cup. Trust me, it tasted better than it sounds.  I guess you just had to be there. ;-)

Day 2

"Perfect for Hermit Crabs"

We landed in Taipei at 10:40 pm, and immediately upon leaving the jetway, we walked right into thick humidity. Having warned the kids about this in advance, we agreed not to complain about that part of the experience.  So for the next 29 days if any of us just had to complain about the weather, we could only say, "It's perfect for hermit crabs!" (Translate: Waahhhh, I can't stand how hot it is here!)  We can also say it's TOO "perfect for hermit crabs".  

As we made our way out the airport, my dad and brother greeted us and brought us to our new home away from home. Taking the hour-long bus ride back to town, we noticed the streets were bustling with vehicles and people even at midnight.  We counted no less than 10 7-Elevens. Starbucks is everywhere as well.

Alas, we arrived at our place on the 25th floor, turned on the A/C on and said Good Night!

Day 1

Destination Motherland: Taipei

Leaving on a jet plane...

We began our journey at SFO and grabbed a bite to eat before boarding our flight.  Here's Caedmon tackling his dinner.  Did I mention he likes seafood?  Good thing there's plenty of that where we're going...

Boy vs. Squid

All Smiles On Board

Each seat had a touch screen video monitor...with a Kids channel for video games, TV shows, movies. There were even old reruns of CSI for Mom.

Not bad for 12 hours and 12 minutes.