the Hawaii of Taiwan

Last weekend was a holiday for the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Which meant that we teachers did not have school on Monday. We took advantage of this three day weekend to go to Kenting; the Hawaii of Taiwan. It was exactly what I needed. It was so much fun.

Next to the beach was this cool little setup.
We got the peach smoothie! (And the popcorn chicken, which was DELICIOUS!)

Later that night we went to the nightmarket. It was so busy and very cool. Some of us got some delicious cone pizzas (it's a pizza... in a cone!) and corn dogs that looked like rock candy. Haha. We got this other scone like thing too... but I inhaled it before I could take a picture. Oh, and I bought two cups of watermelon milk. Yum!

Camping with the students

The latest and greatest adventure in Taiwan was in one of my classes.

We just started a new book called P.J. Funnybunny goes Camping. So, I decided that my students and I were going to go camping too! Unfortunately, I wasn't willing to deal with those pesky Mosquitoes, so I put the tent up in the classroom.

I guess all those years of girls camp and family camping trips paid off. I actually put a tent together all by my lonesome. :)
Jessica and Pearl weren't so sure about the tent. They were the last ones to get in the tent. They seemed a little nervous.

Candy and Sharon were liking it alright. They thought it was fun and cool. The wouldn't stop touching the walls like they were going to crash on top of them! haha

Felix (who apparently thinks he's a jedi) loved the tent! Benjamin, although he looks bored in the picture, was just trying to pose for the camera. He said before I took the picture "I take picture like American!"
As you can see, Jeremy was OVERLY excited about the tent. He just couldn't control himself long enough for the picture. King, who loves his gang signs, ended up getting in the last picture too.
Here's King again. Haha He loves his buddy Sean, who really didn't want to get his picture taken. He kept telling me "No Teacher, I so ugly!" haha
I have a second class right after my 2nd grade class. The second class is a writing class for Junior High kids. I only have three or four students on Tuesdays. They jumped inside the tent before I had a chance to say otherwise. So, I let them write in the tent for the first half of class. For the second half, they got too hot and returned to their desks.
It was.... an entertaining way to end my day. :) Gotta love these Taiwanese kids.

A-bao

One of my favorite places to eat is just around the corner from where we live. It is called A-bao house. It's a breakfast place that is only open until 2:00pm I believe. It is so delicious!

My favorite things to get there are the Soy Milk (with sugar) and the chicken burgers. They are both so delicious. The cup even says so!

Anyway, since it's my favorite place to eat, I thought I would blog about it. I went there once this weekend. And once the week before. If I were made of money I would go all the time. It is cheap considering all the other places I could go eat, but still.... eating from home is always the cheapest.

strangers in Laie, friends in Taiwan

I have a dear friend who i met in Hawaii named Terri Wu. She is a sweetheart and I am so blessed to know her.

The other day, we got together for dinner and exploration because she lives here in Feng Yuan.

We went to a Americanized Taiwanese restaurant

- where they played The Eagles and ACDC for background music. Haha

I ordered fried pork chop (always melted in cheese) with rice and vegetables

Just so you know, the food on the very top was AWFUL!

But everything else was sublime. Especially the drink. It was a fruit tea with Apples, kumquat and honey. So, so, so good!

See?! Terri likes it too! Yummy!

Terri got Salmon, which was also sublime.

Next she took me to a smaller Night Market. It's so far my favorite.

Why you may ask?

This is why!

It's a mini roller coaster with a giant spongebob blow-up in the middle.

How is this not amazing!?

I also enjoyed seeing all the candy. There were tables and tables of this candy in these little bins.

These are sugar coated tomatoes.

I guess they really are fruit. Haha

Anyway, I'm glad I had the chance to meet Terri in Hawaii so we could meet together again in Taiwan. It is a blessing that I will never forget. I am so glad to know she's nearby for the remainder of my time in Taiwan. :)

Taiwan Costco!

Here's one thing that made me feel closer to home.

COSTCO!!!!!!

I was super excited to go to Costco in Taiwan.

And let me tell you, it was quite the experience.

Similar to going to Costco in Hawaii, it's kind of a big deal... and you need to carry everything you get back home. And home is far, far away. So my Backpack was ready to explode.

But before that, we went to the food court. Look what they have!!!!!

Isn't it wonderful!

Wait, it gets better!

Instead of Chocolate sundaes, they have Mango Sundaes!

Yummy!!!! (Although, I was missing the chocolate. But don't get me wrong, they were very good!)

And this was the result of our shopping trip. Haha

Please take note of the Nutella. That was my favorite part. LoL

Denny's of Taiwan

There is this restaurant a couple of blocks away (not too far) that is like the Denny's of Taiwan. I don't know what it's called, but it's open super late, and you're allowed to get breakfast food later than all the other restaurants. I liked it a lot. It was quite tasty! Here's what I'm going to get next time. I unfortunately didn't get it this time. Jenny did though!

I'll have to avoid that Kiwi though. Yucky! (Or at least.. ouch)

They make my mouth hurt... ALOT!

botanical gardens

For this weekend, we decided to venture into the city and buy tickets to see the botanical gardens. It was beautiful and I am so glad we did it.

Although I do not know what all the plants were called, here is some of what we saw.

Note: I am the man with the loin cloth.

This flower is beautiful! It was my favorite!

Biggest fish ever! And it did something really gross with it's gills which looked like something that could be in Jurassic park.