Day 11 - Noah In Training

Bryan left for the MRT with 2 heavy luggage and a large carry on shortly before 1p today.

I had already anticipated the boredom that would ensue the week before so I asked if we could have a play date with "Little Ant" again. They were ecstatic when they heard she was coming, especially Zion.

But in reality, these were the few times they actually paid her any attention.

After "Shao Ma Yee" left for her nap we headed to the Taipei Main Station again to explore section R (Tsongshan Metro Mall) and eat dinner. Taipei Main Station is only 3 stops from our place. First is Shuanglian then Zhongshan then Taipei Main Station. What I didn't realize was that when you walk Section R you actually walk backwards and you go back to Zhongshan station then Shuanglian Station which means we were only 1 stop away from our home but we didn't have dinner yet. So I made the kids walk all the way back to Taipei Main Station (yup, didn't let them take the MRT) to have dinner. We didn't know where to eat but this sign in a small food court caught our eyes so we decided to eat here.

We had Yoshinoya, Formosa Chang and Krispy Kremes!

Three things I miss about Bryan when we go out. 1. Navigation - I usually tell him where I want to go and he gets us there. I just follow him blindly. 2. Carry heavy things - he carries our waters, jackets, wallet, phones, tissues, wet naps, band aids etc. 3. He pays for everything which means I don't have to handle the money or figure out which coins to use or if everything was calculated correctly. Since I already anticipated these inconveniences I started to train Noah.

Two out of three ain't bad. We'll start to work on the money one today.

Kids went to bed at 930p (the earliest since we've been here) and woke up at 10a. Hope they can wake up for camp tomorrow!

Day 10 - Our Airbnb

Bryan is leaving tomorrow so we spent the day shopping for last minute stuff for him to haul home and some stuff the kids need for summer camp. Not much to report today so here is a video of the Airbnb we rented for our stay.

Day 9 - Taipei Main Station - Taipei City Mall

Another night without the kids and we woke up around 10:30am! Since there was no time for breakfast we headed straight to my mom's to go out to lunch. We had lunch at a Taiwanese buffet. Look at these dishes!!!

They had so many vegetables I almost became vegetarian for lunch today. My favorite was the green leafy vegetable at the bottom left of my plate. I don't know what it's called but it's hard to find and expensive in the US. My plate cost about $5.

After lunch it was time to say goodbye to grandma and the nephews.

Then we went home so the kids could shower and nap (both of which they lacked in the last 2 days with the nephews). Then we went to Taipei Main Station and had dinner and some shopping at the Taipei City Underground Mall. Noah was starving and wanted to eat either ground pork rice, shao long bao or curry. We found a place with all 3!! Except it was dumplings not shao long bao. Here's a picture (about $15 for all that food!) and a video requested by my friend Julie. Enjoy 😉

Day 8 - Incredibles 2

What do you do when you are in charge of 5 boys ages 6 to 18 in Taipei? Goal - keep them cool, keep them safe, keep our sanity. The answer - bring them to the movies!

But first, we started our day waking up late because the kids were gone! We had a quick breakfast and headed to my mom's to pick up the boys. We brought the boys to Carrefour to get some snacks for their plane ride home tomorrow. Then had ramen downstairs. Though Carrefour was not far from the MRT or from our place we had 5 boys who would rather not walk. So we hailed a taxi and asked if they would take us all. Luckily we got a very nice lady taxi driver, who asked for a 30% surcharge for doing something illegal for us. With Victor sitting in the front, Bryan, me and 4 boys in the back we went home. Since Zion didn't sleep as much as he needs we took a nap when we got home. And after we woke up, this is the only picture I took today.

We then took a long walk (about 20 minutes) to the movie theater and ate McDonald's for dinner along the way.  Ticket prices in Taiwan are still a little cheaper than back in the US. About $8 for kids and less than $10 for adults. We were sure to find the movie times where they showed the movies in English (very important!) And the 4 younger ones and I watched Incredibles 2 and Bryan and Victor watched Mission Impossible 6. A few surprising things. Popcorn tasted very good. Savory, almost like popcorn chicken. Seats were super big and super comfy. It was FREEZING cold! And finally, no more standing for the national anthem! When did that happen?

Day 7 - Maokong and Shiling

We went to a new breakfast place today. Finally got some fan tuan. It was ok but the owners were very friendly compared to our usual breakfast place where the lady always looks unhappy.

The breakfast place was close to the summer camp the kids will be attending so we dropped by to check it out. The facility seemed a bit old and the pool was indoors in the basement with poor lighting. I hope they end up enjoying it.

We then headed to Maokong. We waited in line for 40 minutes just to ride in the crystal gondola which has glass floors.

At the top of Maokong we had lunch at the first restaurant we saw with decent food. The shrimp and chicken were good as was the kumquat lemon juice.

On our walk we saw several mountain apple trees right above us!

We ended with some green tea and black tea ice cream. Zion took a bite and did not like it.

We went back and had dinner with the family again.

So after dinner the kids wanted to spend the night with their cousins so Bryan and I were getting a night off in Taipei!! What a dream! Do you know what we did? We went to Shiling night market to buy last minute things the nephews didn't get to buy before they leave in 2 days. My feet are killing me! We got home at 11:30pm and I'm exhausted. But at least we checked Shiling off the list and we didn't have to bring the kids.

Day 6 - Wooderful Life

Money sure doesn't last long in Taipei. What we found out is that most places don't accept American credit cards unless they cater to the foreign clientele. Not even McDonald's, so we found ourselves at the Citibank ATM this morning. After a quick withdrawal we went for lunch at another shao long bao place and more A Gel pen shopping. The dish below is thin sliced bacon on top of enoki mushroom.

After lunch we went to a place called Wooderful Life recommended by my friend Julie. The kids were able to customize and build their own music boxes. First you pick out the type of base you want. Then the decorations you want to put on top and you're also able to pick out the song you want it to play. The kids LOVED it. Noah said it was his best day in Taipei so far! Everyone was happy except for Bryan who went to pay for it. Haha

We ended the day at the same seafood restaurant with my mom and the nephews.

Day 5 - Taipei 101 and Modern Toilet

Bryan wanted to see what Taiwan serves for breakfast at McDonald's so we went. Everything was pretty similar except for some chicken nuggets with the breakfast platter and I got a sandwich that had cheese, hash browns, ketchup and mayo in it. It was pretty good!

We then went to Eslite Bookstore in search for A Gel pens. Luckily, right next door was the KiKi restaurant where they sell "healthy" instant noodles. So we picked some up for Bryan's sister. 

We walked a few blocks to Taipei 101 building and went to the observatory. The first time we went, Noah was only 2 yrs old. We enjoyed it much more this time because the kids understood a lot more. We also had lunch at their food court. Forgot to take pictures of the food again!

We decided to surprise the kids by bringing them to Modern Toilet Restaurant for dinner. The pictures speak for themselves.