Continued from Taiwan Day 6.

Today is our last full day in Taiwan before we leave to Japan. We will be heading out to Sun Moon Lake with ah gong and ah ma.

My grandma has been trying to get us to bring these scraps fabric all the way back to America…yeah, not gonna happen with our packs already being very heavy before we even do more shopping in Japan later.

In the van with our driver, here we go. Don’t think there will be too much windy roads so hopefully we will be ok as far as motion sickness goes.

Ah gong is in the front seat.

Some sort of scenic area with all the jagged top mountains.

When we got to sun moon lake, it got really windy.

Here’s a temple that we can stop at to check out and also give ourselves a break on the twisty road. It took about an hour from leaving Taichung to get here by car. I’ve really enjoyed the car rides here in Taiwan. Get to talk and visit with everyone and not worry about driving. Also, it’s nice that it’s just a car with us, so even when we are slightly loud, we are not bothering a bunch of other people. I hope our driver isn’t too bothered by my loud family.

Sun Moon Lake.

I think I would be more impressed with Taiwanese temples if I didn’t grow up seeing them all the time. Is this how Japanese feel about those beautiful Japanese temples?

Cutie.

I guess all these people donated money for this temple.

Prayer charms. You pay money, get a charm, write your name on it, and you hang it. So…basically just donations.

Ah ma got some charms for the kids.

The temple had multiple layers set back and up the mountain, like four, which you couldn’t tell from the front of the temple at street level. Lots of stairs.

Pray.

Then three circles on top of the burning incense.

Lots of different smaller prayer rooms sprinkled throughout the temple complex.

Lastly, hang up the charms.

What looks to be the last level of the temple.

The three previous levels.

For some reason, these ceiling would look more impressive if they were from other cultures. Also, I can’t help but think that these were somehow mass produced.

Were these really hand carved?

All this other beautiful decor, and then you’ve got an incongruent rectilinear staircase access to the roof top…really?

I can’t get over that flat roof with the staircase for the roof!! WHY!!

Bob bob bob bob bob bob bob bob.

Bunch of turtles.

A family of turtles.

Time to head down the temple complex and get back in the car. Apparently this temple is around 100 years old? We asked the information desk but couldn’t get a very clear answer. There were originally two different temples that they’ve combined into this one.

There’s a little town by the pier. My parents told me that this town was actually where they had their honeymoon after they got married.

Here to catch a boat ride across the lake and our driver will pick us up on the other side.

But of course, some snacks at 7 Eleven before the boat ride.

This dog keeps following us around hoping for us to drop food.

Our boat, with a horse coming out of it. We originally went to another pier, and asked one of the other boat personnel on whether this was the right boat, but he extremely rudely turned us away. Like unnecessary rude. I’ve noticed that the Taiwanese in general aren’t as nice as they used to be, RL also noticed the same thing. Sad.

Oh, I get it now. It’s a pun. Pier in Chinese literally sounds just like horse head. Hah.

Wait, why am I taking a photo of the boat.

Let’s do it this way and show the lake.

How to take a picture of everyone in an awkward moment in time.

On our way. The lake is very flat and it’s only a 10min or so boat ride, easy peasy.

We also debated about riding the gondola instead of the boat, but the boat won out.

The temple we were at earlier.

Horse head at the horse head. Our boat captain told us some funny dry jokes while on the short ride. The water in the lake is very clean and you can drink it, but why is it that when after you boil it to sanitize it, you can’t drink it anymore? It’s because you can’t drink boiling water…hah hah. I enjoyed them, he had great delivery.

Phoenix tree. We also realized that ah ma’s name literally translates into yellow beautiful phoenix. Haha.

The kids were very impressed by this small kid’s toilet at the public toilet.

Look, a pay phone at the post office.

The security guards here don’t carry guns, but carry batons.

This cool looking beetle crawled up RL’s leg and she screamed bloody murder when she felt it.

Our driver picks us up, and it begins raining again, good timing.

Landslide. There’s landslides everywhere in Taiwan.

Zzzz. Everyone’s tired after 7 days of travel.

Lunch spot, been eating here most of my life too.

Well, I’m glad some things never change. Exactly as I had remembered it from almost a decade ago.

All the tables were reserved downstairs so we moved to the second floor.

Look, they’ve got one of those Taiwan Beer bottle opener too. They’ve tied one each to a table so that each table would have one at all times. So glad ah ma got one for me. Thanks again mom.

And just like how some things never change, the food here still tastes just the same as I remembered it. Except last time they put sprinkles over the mayo, RL was glad that they didn’t do that this time.

Chicken testicles. I asked all the kids to try one, and then told them what they were afterwards. Hah. Now, they can all say they’ve tried it before. I actually like this dish.

So much food, can’t eat anymore.

Ice cream.

Kids love ice cream, and ice cream makes a lot of sense in a hot country.

The food ingredients has been kept in a fridge like this one for as long as I can remember back when I was still a kid. Nostalgic.

And it’s still here. Outside this restaurant, a pvc pipe made by ah gong’s plastic pipe factory. Kids, now you know what ah gong did for a living.

Pineapple seller right outside restaurant. Sure thing.

Well, some things do change. Almost a decade ago, we came here and took a photo of a beautiful green wall. Today, that wall has been painted a super boring grey. Sad.

According to Ah ma, I learned to walk on this grass field.

Oh, look what we have here.

My elementary school in Taiwan. We drove by here to show the kids what my life was like when I was their age.

Must be stressful driving in Taiwan at times with these narrow country roads and big ditches on both sides.

After driving by my old elementary school, drove by my old childhood home for the kids to see. Again, now they know where their baba grew up. Zero friends close by in an industrial zone. Very different from their life right now with tons of friends close by in a residential neighborhood. And all they had to say with exasperation was that I grew up in a house that’s bigger than the one they are growing up in now…sigh.

Got back to our hotel and took a nap. Then it’s dinner time. Our original plan was to order bento boxes to eat at grandma’s apartment, but the bento place we were originally gonna order from didn’t deliver to our area. Oh well, we could use a little time away from everyone after 7 days. Dinner for two at the hotel rooftop bar/restaurant.

Drinks, and some blogging. Like always, falling behind on blogging.

Not very hungry, so only ordered a couple of items and didn’t even finish them.

This crispy chicken thigh was very good though, I’ll say. Yum.

Food took a little longer to come out (according to them, but we hadn’t even noticed), so they gave us some chips and salsa on the house. Tastes pretty good actually.

We asked for more ketchup and they handed us a shot glass worth of ketchup.

After dinner, we went to see the kids to help them pack their bags to get ready for tomorrow. Ah ma trying to fix Little KL’s Legos.

Yum, gotta eat another one while I still can.

Little KL’s geode that will get brought back to America.

Both grandparents joining forces to help fix Little KL’s toy. Tomorrow, we will say goodbye ah gong, ah ma, and ah zo and head to Japan.

To be continued at Osaka Day 1.