Stake Conference Saturday

Remember that story

about how Kendra and I

were going to ride a bus to the end of the line just for fun

but then we got off early?

Well, a few weekends ago,

when we had a Saturday to spare,

Jessica, Kendra, Kylie, and I decided to finish that adventure.

And can you think of a better way to start off a day than with this wonderful quote:

"Spend more time with happy people and you'll find that happiness is catching."

And with that thought in mind,
Off we went to Taichung!

 To see what we could see...

There was this park ->

Beautiful, no?

Do you see the giant goat??

(Seriously... how could you miss that thing?)

This is a lantern.

Like those things they send flying into the air in the movie Tangled?

Yes. Just like that.

It was made when the city of Taichung hosted the lantern festival,

which just happened to be in the year of the Goat!

[Hey - guess what year I was born in (;

Yeah, that's right... The Year of the Goat.]

This dog was...

super creepy.

I mean, just look at it!

Scary, as is!

And then it started slowly waddling toward us...

I was sure it was going to attack...

These much cuter puppies on the street begged me to tak them home...

Just look at that face!

[Random fun fact for My Mother -

There are tons of people with poodles here!

You'd fit right in!] 

This is where we ate our lunch/dinner...

I thought it was like a Build-A-Bear Workshop type thing,

but no it is in fact a restaurant!

And this is the best part -

They have swinging benches for seats outside!

 

The swings were actually the whole reason we decided on this place,

but we ended up eating inside

partly because it looked like a cute little cafe

and partly because it was air conditioned.

[That soup was SOOO good!!]

Waiting for the bus...

[Don't worry, guys, this is how we all feel...]

I took a picture of this guy through the bus window.

The best part of this story is that I tried to take another picture

a few seconds after this through a different window...

But the second window was actually a light on the bus

that just happened to match the color of the sky perfectly.

Look at all these lovely ladies,

just hangin around...

We had to be at the Stake Center way early so we could practice and change,

but we got there so early that after we changed the priesthood meeting wasn't even over yet

so we couldn't start practicing.

What can I say?

We got a little bit bored...

Our translators,

that didn't actually work all that well.

But they were cool to wear!

The choir that we sang with -

And the meal that Sister Dumai brought for us afterwards -

 

SO glad to be going home!

Because even a wonderful day can be draining...

Stinky Tofu

So there's this little thing.

It's called Stinky Tofu.

Remember that

Crazy-looking,

Weird-smelling

fruit I mentioned in an earlier post?

(The Durian)

Well that thing?

Has got absolutely nothing on this inconceivable little piece of cuisine:

And here is Jessica -

(She was much more composed than Kendra and I...)

When someone tells you that a food

(i.e. - Stinky Tofu)

tastes just like it smells...

BELIEVE THEM!

Trust me.

And if you do not want that smell in your mouth,

STEER CLEAR.

Just a friendly warning!

Day of the Durian

The weekend after we went to Hualien,
there were a few of us who were so wiped out
that we couldn't fathom doing much more than getting out of bed
let alone planning another trip somewhere.
So we just chilled at home.
But that does NOT mean that we didn't have any adventures!

There is a fruit here

with a smell the likes of which cannot be matched

anywhere else in the world.

Those of you who told me before I came that there were things here I would smell that could be smelled no where else,

I'm beginning to understand.

Behold.
The Durian.

This terrifying fruit has a smell the likes of which you can't even imagine. 

My dear friend and roommate Kendra Kimber
doesn't actually think that this fruit smells bad.
And I quote:

"I can't smell it!"

Kendra.
Are you kidding me??

It's only infusing itself into every inch of the kitchen!
(Ok, I guess it wasn't that bad... you'd understand if you smelled it.)

Anyway.
We tried this thing.
For fun.
Here is what happened:

And there you have it!

If nothing else,
it was definitely an enlightening experience.

Hualien: The Escapades [Part 2]

For day number two,

we started off by going to look at a nearby amusement park.

It was too expensive for us poor teachers,

so we just looked and wished.

This amusement park happened to be right on the coast

and we were privileged to see what I deem to be a spectacular view!

So luckily that small sidetrip was not in vain.

I thought this was neat in an inspirational speaker-type way,

so I had to take a picture...

This little plant is growing uunderneath a drain in the sidewalk,

out of the wall of the drain.

I felt like it was a courageous little thing and deserved an honorable mention here.

Also on day two - we actually got to go to the Gorge!

[These were our bus tickets.

They have smiley faces on them.

Which makes them awesome.]

This is a closeup of the spot where a small tributary met up with the larger river...

See where the gray is disturbed?

And notice the enormous difference in the water?

Disgusting, right?

Most of the trails we were planning on hiking were closed

because of the excessive amounts of rain,

but we were able to hike a few of the lower trails.

Like this one,

which led to Sacred Springs Shrine -

This little set up was off to the side of the temple

and we definitely used it as a rest stop.

And I may or may not have taken a sucker...

On the bus home -

Dinner -

Because we hadn't had enough walking in all the miles we'd traveled that day,

Kendra, Nica, and I decided to go find the night market in Hualien.

It ended up being not very interesting,

but we did find these things -

Which we all tried and epicly failed at.

And we got delicious drinks from this tea shop -

My new best friends.

Just because they look cool.

And here are the hats we all convinced each other to buy!

Don't we look legit?

And now.

This is Day Three.

The first thing we saw after we left the hostel was this...

I'm not sure what it is.

But it involved excessive drum-banging,

a shirtless older man dancing around a bucket,

the burning of paper money inside said bucket,

and a rather large crowd gathered around to watch.

It was interesting, to say the least.

We went back to Taroko for one more hike before we caught the train home.

Soon after we got there, my camera died.

So these are the only pictures I got of that hike:

[Which just happened to be one of the most picturesque hikes I've ever been on.

Go figure.]

Luckily for me,

There were smarter people with me who charged their cameras

and I was able to get pictures from them.

So you can still see!

This trail that we hiked is used

by some of the aboriginal people to transport goods down the mountain.

Along the way there were several stands set up to sell a few things

like bracelets and scarves and such.

We stopped and several of us bought things,

but unfortunately we did not get pictures of any of it.

So I guess you'll just have to take my word for it!

I know I don't need to say this but...

It's stunning isn't it?

And I don't know about you,

but I am pretty sure there is no way the color of that water is natural.

It's beautiful, though.

And of course.

You didn't think that I could leave these little guys out, did you?

Of course not.

Mainly because we counted no less than forty of these nasty little things.

Forty!!

And those were just the ones I saw.

And only on Day 3.

Ugh.

Luckily the visitor's center had cheesecake,

which helped to soothe my terrified soul.

Remember how I said we were exhausted after the first day?

Well after two and half more days of that same breakneck pace,

exhausted doesn't begin to describe how we

[and our poor, aching feet]

felt.

So when we got back from this last hike,

we decided to take it easy in the visitor center/cafe and wait for the bus.

Nica's hand-picked souvenirs,

which she so generously shared with the rest of us!

[Of course it was raining...]

On the bus home,

there was an older man

who tried desperately for the entire time we were on the bus

to give us a message of some sort.

But, seeing as he spoke no English

and we all spoke next to no Chinese,

he was having a pretty rough time of it.

He eventually enlisted the aid of a couple of students

who boarded the bus a little ways down the road.

Those poor kids!

He pestered them until they were forced to use what little English they knew to talk to us.

I felt bad...

but at the same time it was incredibly entertaining!

We were pretty sure that this old man

wanted Jessica to get together with the 15 year old who was translating for him!

We were also fairly certain that he was drunk.

And that is the end of our Hualien adventure.

Of course,

we had to go back to the hostel to get our bags,

and then ride on the train for six hours

- with standing room only -

to get home...

But, those are minor details, really.

Fare thee well, Taroko!

Perhaps one day we shall meet again...