October Long Weekend!
October has turned into quite a month! Hmm...where to even begin. The Mid-Autumn Festival turned into a five day holiday amidst all the political drama that is going on here. British Claire, French Claire and I took the opportunity to head down to Hualian for a bit of hiking, rafting, and rock music. We took a three hour train trip down, and because Taiwan is so highly populated, there were no seats. Haha, so Claire and I spent most of the train trip sitting on ur bags near the toilets. We met up with a very sweet American girl at our Formosa Hostel, and spent the first day hanging out in Hualian.
We snuck into the Rock Festival that night...sneaking into events and hotels has become a recent hobby of mine! You just have to look confident and walk in there like you own the place, and no one ever says anything! They did a very crappy job with publicity, so the crowd was not very big, compared to the huge stages and acts that they put on. Nonetheless, we met some interesting people, and Andrea and I got to play beach volleyball on white sand (a rarity in Taiwan).
On the second day we met up with Jeremy, Lyndsey and their crew for some white water rafting. Oh man, this was definitely an unforgettable experience. We were the only foreigners amidst 300+ Taiwanese people. Now, Taiwanese people are scared of the sun and water, so it was amazing to see so many of them out there. They were still wearing jeans and jackets and for most of the five hour trip, they were splashing each other with water buckets. We definitely got competitive and paddled to the front of the masses. It was so nice to have space to enjoy the scenery without the high giggles associated with the random water fights. We would be stopped once in a while by the safety crew because we had paddled too far away from the crowd! God forbid you step out of your box in Taiwan, and not conform to the group mentality...haha!
It was so much fun though...and the scenery on the East Coast of Taiwan is breathtaking!
On Sunday, we headed up to the Tarokko Gorge, for a day of hiking. I almost called it a day after sitting on the bottom of a small bus, as it drove around the winding cliffs of the mountains for three hours. It was all worth it when we made it to the waterfalls. Haha, at one point we had to put on the yellow 7-11 ponchos to enter a cave with these really powerful waterfalls or water curtains. The water was so refreshing in the October heat!
I definitely have to make another trip down there. We stopped at Dashi, the surfer's beach, on the way up to Taipei. The rocks were a bit crazy but the waves were awesome. It was nice to have a relaxing day at the beach before the trip back into the madness of Taipei! Last weekend, we went to a wig party, which ended at the Gay Bar Fresh...haha. We celebrated Jared's going away at the beautiful Grand Hotel. This hotel is a historical site, and it is a stunning Chinese building inside and out. We had a delicious buffet, and then the girls and I headed over to Hooters for some drinks...hahah...hey, it has one of the best patios in town!
This weekend we are heading up to Jiufen, because I have to do tons of souvenir shopping before my trip home in two weeks. It is also the Jay-Z concert which I am so excited about. The only thing is that I am going with Karl and I am not sure how that will be. Oh well, there will be lots of people there, and frankly it's Jay-Z, so who cares who else is there!
Halloween is coming up and my kids are so excited! Claire's having a house party and there is a huge party at the WTC!! Fun fun!
We snuck into the Rock Festival that night...sneaking into events and hotels has become a recent hobby of mine! You just have to look confident and walk in there like you own the place, and no one ever says anything! They did a very crappy job with publicity, so the crowd was not very big, compared to the huge stages and acts that they put on. Nonetheless, we met some interesting people, and Andrea and I got to play beach volleyball on white sand (a rarity in Taiwan).
On the second day we met up with Jeremy, Lyndsey and their crew for some white water rafting. Oh man, this was definitely an unforgettable experience. We were the only foreigners amidst 300+ Taiwanese people. Now, Taiwanese people are scared of the sun and water, so it was amazing to see so many of them out there. They were still wearing jeans and jackets and for most of the five hour trip, they were splashing each other with water buckets. We definitely got competitive and paddled to the front of the masses. It was so nice to have space to enjoy the scenery without the high giggles associated with the random water fights. We would be stopped once in a while by the safety crew because we had paddled too far away from the crowd! God forbid you step out of your box in Taiwan, and not conform to the group mentality...haha!
It was so much fun though...and the scenery on the East Coast of Taiwan is breathtaking!
On Sunday, we headed up to the Tarokko Gorge, for a day of hiking. I almost called it a day after sitting on the bottom of a small bus, as it drove around the winding cliffs of the mountains for three hours. It was all worth it when we made it to the waterfalls. Haha, at one point we had to put on the yellow 7-11 ponchos to enter a cave with these really powerful waterfalls or water curtains. The water was so refreshing in the October heat!
I definitely have to make another trip down there. We stopped at Dashi, the surfer's beach, on the way up to Taipei. The rocks were a bit crazy but the waves were awesome. It was nice to have a relaxing day at the beach before the trip back into the madness of Taipei! Last weekend, we went to a wig party, which ended at the Gay Bar Fresh...haha. We celebrated Jared's going away at the beautiful Grand Hotel. This hotel is a historical site, and it is a stunning Chinese building inside and out. We had a delicious buffet, and then the girls and I headed over to Hooters for some drinks...hahah...hey, it has one of the best patios in town!
This weekend we are heading up to Jiufen, because I have to do tons of souvenir shopping before my trip home in two weeks. It is also the Jay-Z concert which I am so excited about. The only thing is that I am going with Karl and I am not sure how that will be. Oh well, there will be lots of people there, and frankly it's Jay-Z, so who cares who else is there!
Halloween is coming up and my kids are so excited! Claire's having a house party and there is a huge party at the WTC!! Fun fun!