Signed on the dotted line

I haven't had a chance to get pictures of our new apartment on my own yet - so here are a few I from one of the realtor's websites. The first picture is of the front of the main building with the lobby in the first floor. Our building is straight across the courtyard from the main building. From the courtyard view, we are the 8th balcony up on the left hand side:


Annie was kind enough to meet us at our new apartment and act as our translator which was a good thing since the entire lease was in Chinese (for our old lease we had both an English & Chinese copy of the document). The owner - well more correctly the owner's mother who signed the lease with us - still has a few things to finish up in the apartment (like install a water heater) but we have the keys & parking permit so we can start moving in anytime. Both Leo & I were very happy to get everything signed since there has already been a lot of interest at Leo's work about our great deal and we didn't want to get outbid :)


After finishing up the paperwork we headed out in search of some dinner. We found a great yi bai ($100 NTD) place where we ordered up all of our favorite dishes. Although, neither Leo nor I were too fond of Annie's favorite of bitter melon (yes, it really is bitter!). However, Conrad really enjoyed the boiled shrimp and ate the whole plate as fast as Annie could peel them for him.


Annie may not have split any boulders for us but she was more than helpful in negotiating a great deal on a great new apartment. We are so happy that we have made such great friends here in Taiwan and are looking forward to getting all settled into our new home.

Taipei 101 Cheer

Since we will be moving out to the 'burbs will no longer be able to walk to our favorite tallest building, we took a stroll over to Taipei 101 after picking Conrad up from school. We all had fun looking at all the decorations and of course our photo opps also turned in to a chance for some of the locals to also snap a photo or two :) We did not stay for too long - just long enough to grab some McDonald's and make a quick run through Jason's Supermarket. Luckily, we will still be able to pretty easily make the trek in from Nangang thanks to the MRT so I have a feeling that we will still get to spend lots of time at Taipei 101 even after we move.

Christmas Overload

Wandering through our local Carrefour home/grocery store it is hard to know on just what continent we are residing. The Christmas decorations are big, bold, bright which do cause a certain twinkle in a particular little boy's eyes. We only brought a few decorations with us from the States - giving away many of the things that were too big to store in a small city apartment and storing a few others that I did not want to risk having broken when shipped half way around the world (or when displayed in a small, tiled house with two small kids). If we were not moving this month AND traveling to Thailand over Christmas I may have been tempted to pick up a few new decorations to make the house look a bit more festive - however we left the Christmas aisle empty handed to go check out the fish display instead. But I am sure that Santa will find the kids regardless of how our house is decorated :)

Whatever Conrad can do...

...Rita can do (better)!

This weekend we ran to some of our local shopping megastores to look a for some things that we will need for our new apartment. We found a great place in the Nangang District that not only is bigger than we currently have but also cheaper plus it is only about 5 minutes from an MRT station and where Leo's office is moving this coming year. However, it does not have any built in storage or key appliances like a refrigerator, washer, or dryer (unless you count the bars on the balcony to hang your clothes on!) so we need to do some shopping. Even though we are not looking forward to the shopping we will have to do - the pluses still far out number the minuses for the new place! But I think that things will go a bit better shopping next time if we do not wait until close to dinner time to hit the crowded stores with two very energetic 'helpers'!

Girl's Night OUT

Last night I finally had a chance to hit the town WITHOUT the kids - just the girls! Annie, Yvonne, Ariel, & I started with dinner at a Japanese BBQ place. I was very happy to have so many guides since the entire menu was only in Chinese. After dinner we met up with Tine & her friend Frederikke who made the trip all the way from Taichung (in the middle of Taiwan) to join us! I guess that she needed a night out just as much as I did :) The live music at EZ5 may have mainly been sung in Mandarin - with the occasional English light pop song or Taiwanese ballad - but we all enjoyed the show regardless of our native language. After the bands wrapped up we all piled into a cab to hit one of the many dance clubs that the city has to offer. The only way that the night could have been more perfect is if we could have topped it off with $1 USD slices of pizza - instead with had to settle for a variety of Taiwanese snacks & tea from one of the many restaurants that lined the alley behind the club. It was a late night but we all had a great time & vowed that we need to make girl's night a regular occurrence.


Leo was on kid duty and it seems that they had a good time as well. All three of them were asleep in their own beds when I got home. Plus, he even took them out to the Raohe Night Market after having to cook dinner so I would say that he should have no problems wrangling the kids on any future Girl's Nights :)

Working for a living

This may have been a holiday week in the States - but here in Taiwan the kids have been working hard. Rita had a modeling job on Wednesday morning while Conrad was put to work posing in a variety of summer clothes this afternoon. Both shoots were at the studio with the scary 3 story stairwell and while I am not a fan of the stairs it was nice to not have to worry about the weather. We have also worked with the same crew several times now which makes for a more relaxed environment - even with Rita crying for a good portion of her time at the studio. Our little 19 month old apparently is already an overachiever and is fully embracing the fact that she is closer to two than she is to one by treating us to some terrible two behavior!


But it was not all tears - she did have fun sharing snacks with some of the other kids that were also modeling. Although, the fun & sharing seemed to end as soon as we tried to get the kids to pose together!


Rita's fuss meant that it took us a bit longer than normal to finish up - but I think that they got plenty of pictures of our little Diva for the spring catalog.


Conrad's shoot was right after school today so we grabbed a taxi to take us across town so we would not be late & the kids would have a chance to eat some lunch. I try not to take a taxi too often though since seat belts are not common and little Miss Independent Rita doesn't like me to hold her while we are moving so she is basically bouncing around the back seat of the moving car!


Apparently, Rita thought that she should have a been in the pictures today too! She was not too happy that there were no sample sizes in her size for her to try on!


However, I was very proud of Conrad today. He was a total pro! It was a lot of fun to see him interacting with everyone involved. He is growing up so fast! I have no doubt that they got lots of great shots for the spring catalog - just seeing his big smiles was making me want to buy some of the overpriced clothes myself :)


Luckily, we had plenty of time after each of the kid's photoshoots to take the MRT home. We had to walk a short while to reach the station but the area around the Shuanglian station is bustling with activity so it is a fun walk. Plus, riding the MRT is not only fun for the kids but is also much safer for all of us than taking a taxi (not to mention cheaper). So far, neither Conrad nor Rita has much concept for the fact that they get paid for the fun of modeling although I am sure that day is coming soon!

Gobble Gobble Gobble

In honor of Thanksgiving - and the fact that we had a play date party in the morning along with a big dinner out in the evening booked with some of Leo's colleagues - we kept Conrad home from school today. He was pretty excited that it was a holiday although the thought that it should have meant no school AND no work! Too bad Leo still had to go to work... But we managed to have fun without him. A fellow expat that we had met at the park invited us to her apartment for Thanksgiving-inspired pot luck play date. It was kid chaos - but we all had a good time & got to meet a lot of new people several who also send their children to the same school as Conrad.


We had enough time to get in some naps - well Rita took a nap - before getting ready for round two of Thanksgiving fun. A group of about 15 of us from HP met at Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill for a full turkey dinner. The organizer of our little party had ordered ahead and we all were enjoyed the turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, & even cranberry sauce. Keeping the kids entertained during dinner was a bit of a challenge but I suppose that it was still easier than keeping them out of trouble while slaving away in a kitchen all day in order to replicate the meal.


We all had our own plates served up to us - but some of the other tables had ordered family style and had whole turkeys placed on their tables. I guess that it is good to know that even on the far side of the world that turkey is still the star of the day :) Although, Conrad did get in on some of the photography action when the table next to us asked to borrow him for a few pictures.


I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner and really miss not being able to pull off the full feast like we have done in years past while living in the States. However, I still got to make a few things to share with friends and enjoyed some tasty turkey so all in all it was a good day. Happy Thanksgiving to all our Stateside friends & family!

Ra-Ra

Somewhere along the line Rita discovered Dora the Explorer and it was love at first sight. If we even mention anything that remotely sounds like Dora, she will go running towards the TV saying "Ra-Ra". Conrad started watching cartoons around this same age so I am not too worried about her viewing habits. But we do try to mainly watch episodes of Dora in Chinese so at least I don't feel as guilty about her TV time. Plus, it just may help me pick up some more Mandarin as well :)

Pre-Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving may not be celebrated in Taiwan but that does not mean that we have totally ignored this important fall holiday. Conrad - being the curious three year old that he is - has had lots (& lots) of questions about why we celebrate certain holidays. We have made some hand print turkeys and even watched some old Peanuts & Garfield Thanksgiving specials thanks to the wonder of You Tube all in an effort to help solidify in his mind why & how we give thanks at this time of year.


My ability to whip up a full Thanksgiving feast may be limited by the size of my toaster oven - but we were still able to have a little early Costco inspired family celebration today. Our favorite warehouse store may have roasted the chicken and baked the pumpkin pie - but I had to cook the mashed potatoes, rosemary chicken gravy, and veggies so there was still some work required to pull it all together. Conrad apparently learned a thing or two from the cartoon specials since he ate two servings of mashed potatoes with gravy, two of broccoli, and three servings of chicken! And then he still had room left for pie :) Rita also packed away a ton of chicken and then begged for bites from Leo's plate even after she had said that she was done!


We have a couple of activities lined up for on Thanksgiving Day - some which may even involve turkey! And considering that we really do have a lot to be thankful for having another day dedicated to giving thanks is not such a bad thing.

Taking a dip

Another rainy weekend and we could practically hear the pool calling to us from the basement of the apartment building. It may have taken use until after (an early) dinner to get everyone coordinated but we were all happy to get down to the pool even if the water was a bit cold. Rita practically jumped right in - a nice change from the tears we heard last time - and had a blast swimming around in her inner tube. Conrad also had a great time and was more than willing to swim around on his own with his inner tube. He was so willing in fact that he thought that he should be able to swim without any help at all! I think that we need to spend more time in the pool before that can happen though :)

Hot Pot Weather

It was a cold & rainy Friday - well cold for Taipei with highs only in the mid-60's F - so we decided to forgo our normal Friday wanderings in favor of our local favorite hot pot restaurant. HP had a 'team building' event in the afternoon since the Texas office was closed in order to start their holiday vacation early so even Leo & Eric were able to join in our fun too.


The food was delicious as was expected - so good in fact that we forgot to take any pictures of our feast! Well, I did manage to get a snapshot of Rita who stole the dish of ice cream that I had intended to be shared between the two of us...I think that I only got a bite or two before she had it devoured! I suppose that the ice cream did not help warm us too much but it only cooled us down a little bit after our bellies were filled of the wonderful invention known as hot pot!

First Report Card

Today we had a chance to observe Conrad's classroom and then meet with his teacher. We even received his first report card! As expected, he is doing fine in his school. We still worry about how well he is picking up Chinese and considering that all the kids were working independently (and quite quietly) while we were there I guess that it is no surprise that he is not speaking more in his second language. We got to sit in the middle of the classroom for about 50 minutes - and other than trying to keep Rita from disturbing the kids it was nice to see what goes on in the middle of the Conrad's school day.


Even though the kids work independently for a good part of their activities - there still does seem to be lots of one-on-one attention from the teachers as they are working. Conrad does seem to understand everything that his teachers tell him so he is making progress on the language issue along with all those preschool skills like cutting, pasting, & coloring. Overall, I would say that we all are still happy with the Montessori school however we did stress that our main goal for Conrad was to gain more confidence in speaking Chinese - especially since we work on things like English reading & writing at home on our own. Of course, his teachers think that sending him all day would be fine since he no longer naps and while that may help speed up his language acquisition it just seems like a really long day for a 3 year old. Conrad still has a lot of years ahead of him to attend school (and we would not have even considered sending him off to preschool already if we were still in Texas and especially not all day preschool) so I guess that we will just keep up with our half days at the Chinese Montessori coupled with lots of fun at home and hope for the best!

Hola

Last week - before Leo returned from China & reclaimed his Taiwan bank ATM card - we made a little side trip to Hola. I had never been to this store before and don't remember Leo having much positive to say about it when he ran through a time or two after trips to B & Q (a store like Home Depot) which is in the same building. However, several expats have referenced Hola when looking for some of the comforts of home so I thought that I should check it out for myself. Now I think that I understand why Leo gave it less than stellar reviews - he did not want me spending all his hard earned money on accessories for the house! Hola has a little bit of everything to make one's humble abode cozy & comfy much like Bed, Bath, & Beyond from the States. I resisted the urge to fill the cart with all kinds of fun kitchen gadgets but was happy to find a couple of new rugs that I was looking for to put near our front door. Considering that we live in a rental and do not do much entertaining at home I can't see myself making regular trips to Hola - but it is nice to know that the store is there when I need it.

Beginning to Look...

...a lot like Christmas everywhere we go...


It really seems strange to see Christmas decorations already making their appearance around town. I know that many stores/people in the States put up decorations this early so I guess that I should not be too annoyed that it is not even Thanksgiving yet (not that they celebrate American Thanksgiving here in Taiwan) & the Christmas displays are starting to show up. However, the fact that the majority of Taiwanese are either Buddhist or Taoist (or some combination of the two religions) means that most people here do not even celebrate the Christian holiday making the displays seem that much more out of place. Christmas has been proven to help boost sales in the States though so you can understand why stores would want to push it in Taiwan I just wish that we could wait until December before we got to enjoy the displays here...

Wet, Wet Market

Rita seems to be picking up new words everyday however her increasing vocabulary also means that she can be much more vocal about what she wants. And lately she has wanted apples :) Rain was predicted all day but when the gray clouds still had not let loose any water by noon I decided it would be a good time to run out to the local fruit stand to restock our apple supply. Once outside we decided to take advantage of the chance to get some exercise and fresh air by walking to the HuLin wet market. It really is not too far from our house and most of the walk is under the covered sidewalks so I figured that as long as a huge downpour did not start that we would be ok. We stayed dry on our walk and found several stands selling all kinds of fruit. We may have stuck with some of the less exotic items but we were very happy with our apples, bananas, kiwis, and watermelon.


We walked around the market a bit - but many of the stands were packing up meaning that there were various trucks driving down the narrow alley making it a bit awkward to navigate with the stroller so we turned towards home after taking in a few of the sights.


Conrad had opted to stay home with Daddy but the boys did call with a lunch request as we were on our way home. Since it was a Sunday, Leo's favorite spicy beef fried rice shop was closed so I had to go with option number two of spicy beef chow mien from a different shop which was on our walk home. We felt a few sprinkles as we got closer to home but not enough to put a damper on our little walk so I am really glad that we took a chance on the weather to get out of the apartment for a while - plus we now have lots of apples :)

Lamborghini Car Wash

Just when you think that it is going to be another quiet day of running errands you find a Lamborghini in the neighborhood car wash just steps from our apartment. I guess that it is good sign that we had picked a reputable shop for our $400 (~$12.50) complete hand detailing (inside & out) of our lowly little Savrin.


We are not big gear heads and generally see a car as a means of transportation but there is just something to be said to be up close with a car that probably cost more than a quarter of a million dollars. Along with the minor detail that a car like that we never encountered a car like that any where that we lived in the States and it is just another small reminder that we are in a whole different world over here. Of course, I wonder if their second car is an old scooter :)

Scootering in the Rain

Our streak of lovely fall weather seems to be over - the rain has found us yet again. As I drove Conrad to school (and then Leo to work afterwards), the little boy kept wondering why so many people were still driving their scooters in their rain. I know that it is novel concept for many Americans but the fact is that cars really are an expensive luxury for most of the world's population. And the truth is that life does not stop when the weather is less than ideal - so many of our neighbors still must zip around the city on their trusty scooters hoping that their rain gear keeps them dry.


Seeing the scooters out in the rain did make me feel a bit like the spoiled, rich American as we sat safely buckled into our full sized car sheltered from the weather and I guess that in many ways we are no matter how much we try to fit in here. The rain did manage to keep some of the scooters home though which was a good thing since the dreary weather made the ones out on the road harder to see. I was very happy when we made it safely back to our basement parking garage without any traffic incidents as I still have no idea how the local kids manage to balance on the back of the scooters (in wet or dry weather)! However, the kids fighting as soon as we got home about who got to push the buttons in the elevator did leave me dreaming about our past days of sunny skies. Unfortunately, I think that we are in for several days of rain...

China Recap

Leo is back to the grind - although I am not sure if he ever really gets a break from the grind - so I will attempt to summarize his trip to China. He started with a late flight into Hong Kong and then one of the suppliers picked them up the next morning (Monday) for the 2 hour drive across the border to the industrial area of the city of Schenzhen (you may not have heard of it, but it's population is larger than any city in the US). Luckily, China has local brewed Mountain Dew to help him through the long days!


His days in Schenzhen passed quickly and he flew up to Shanghai on Wednesday. Lots of meetings and traveling (you can spend more than 2 hours just driving across Shanghai during rush hour). But they (his boss & another colleague from Texas were also traveling with him) did get to enjoy some of the sights of the city. One night they went on a dinner cruise along the river that runs the city. Leo's camera does not take very good night photos - but even with the fuzzy images I still think that the city looks pretty cool all lit up.


Leo may have been working long hours while in China - but he did have some pretty nice places to return home to at the end of the day. It is hard to have much sympathy for him when his bathtub has such great views while I dealt with a bathtub full of kids toys :)

Schenzhen bath & view of the world below:

Not to be outdone - the Hyatt bath in Shanghai with views of the busy river traffic from the 81st floor:

His 81st floor room also gave Leo a great view of the smog over the city. Apparently blue skies are quite the rare event in most cities in China.


Luckily, Leo did not spend his whole trip either in work meetings or taking in the views from his bathtub perch. He left the pricey real estate of the Hyatt behind (only the top ~30 floors of skyscraper in pic below is the Grand Hyatt Hotel Shanghai) and found some of the more 'rustic' areas of the city.


Scooters may rule in Taiwan - but the bicycle is still king in many parts of China (even the big cities). They not only serve as an important mode of transportation but also can be a great place to run a business.


As much as Leo enjoyed seeing some of the 'off the beaten path' sights of Shanghai, I think that his favorite part of the trip may have been the amazing bowl of chicken noodle soup that he got after a hard day of bargain shopping. He did have to make the special request of no "chicken parts" as he saw the feet and head show up when the street vendor was scooping out a previous customer's order. He filled his stomach for a whopping $0.71 USD! And he needed all that energy in order to get his new suitcase filled with various night market finds back to the Hyatt where a warm bath and luxurious bed were waiting for him.


We missed Leo while he was gone to China - but are glad that he not only got lots of work done but also got to sneak in some time for fun too. Now that you can fly directly from Taipei to Shanghai perhaps the kids & I can join him on a future trip. After flying half way around the world in September - a two hour flight sounds like a piece of cake (of course the whole visa issue may make things a bit more complicated...).

Return of the Birthday Boy

Leo safely returned from his trip to China. He was only gone for 1.5 weeks but for some reason it felt like it was so much longer. Perhaps it was due to the fact that he was so busy the week before he left or maybe because we did not get to talk to him very much. Either way, we are all very glad to have him home.


Well, Rita did not quite give him the warm welcome that he may have wanted...
But she did cheer up with Leo opened up his suitcase of gifts he bought in China! It may have been his birthday but the kids (& also myself) benefited from his night market shopping trips :)

Leo was pretty tired from his long day of traveling since direct flights between China & Taiwan are still not the norm (even though they are technically allowed now) but he did muster up the energy to have some birthday cake.


I am not sure what he wished for as he blew out his candle...but perhaps is was for Taiwan to import the real Mountain Dew that he found while in China?

Forkers

The morning started off early in order to make sure I got Conrad to school before my doctor appointment but all worked out well. I was very happy to be out of the hospital in record time where we found that the gray clouds had stopped dumping rain on the city meaning that we had plenty of time to take a leisurely walk home instead of having to navigate a school pick-up in a taxi. After Rita's nap we headed out to check off one more thing from our to-do list and found ourselves wandering the area around ZhongXiao and DunHua Roads around 5:30 or so - just in time to grab some dinner. The area is filled with restaurants - many of them offering a range of Western foods. It was getting dark and we were getting tired so we settled on Forkers for some good ol' hamburgers. The restaurant was essentially empty when we got there and never really filled up as we ate our meals - but we were very early for dinner (according to Taiwan time that is).


Our burgers were great! I had a ranch burger with tons of fried peppers & onions on it while the kids shared a plain burger. Well, Rita mostly ate french fries but Conrad did eat all of his salad and the tomato off his burger so at least one of the kids got some healthy foods in them :)


We were kind of between MRT stations so we just ended up walking all the way home from Forkers. Plus, I figured that a little exercise was needed after that heavy meal. Forkers has a huge menu and while it is a Western inspired restaurant you are still reminded that you are not back home as I don't think that I seen too many fish burger options in the States! For most items on the menu you could choose to have a beef, chicken, pork, fish, or veggie burger underneath all the yummy toppings. While I can't see making Forkers a regular dinner spot - it is nice to have the option here to get a big, juicy hamburger when the mood strikes.

Festivals with Friends

We may have previewed some of the downtown festivals yesterday but today we planned being able to stop and enjoy them along with our good friends Annie & Eric whom not only are great at helping with translation issues that I may have but are also quite adept at keeping two small kids entertained to I can enjoy all the sights & sounds this amazing city has to offer. Our first stop was the 10 Drum Festival which was set up in the Mitsukoshi walking mall area. The crowds were much smaller today than they were last night which gave us more room to play & blow bubbles. I don't think that either Conrad or Rita were impressed with the music but they did have fun with their bubbles :)


We took a break to grab some lunch at one of the Mitsukoshi food courts. Rita ate a ton of Thai shrimp fried rice. Well, she ate the fried rice while Conrad quickly picked out all the shrimp to eat himself :) I had a tasty bowl of spicy Thai noodle soup - I have no idea what it was called as I just saw the guy before me get his order & then pointed to its picture on the menu. It was not quite as good as Leo's favorite suan-la beef noodle but it hit the spot. After filling our tummies we returned to the surface to enjoy some more of the drums. Again, the kids seemed more interested in playing games & blowing bubbles than the music. But Rita did finally get in the mood & danced to the beat with Auntie Annie :)


Eric had to leave the fun to go in to work for a while leaving us girls alone to continue on our fun festival adventure. We made the short walk over to the Taipei City Hall park to see what the Aboriginal Festival had to offer.


Wandering through the various food vendor stalls made us all a bit happy that we had already eaten our lunch as whole grilled pigeon or salted grilled fish cooked over a rusty can just did not look appetizing to any of us.


We left the food behind to check out the dancing performances. I was struck by the similarities between Native American crafts & dances and those of the Taiwanese Aboriginals. It is amazing how different yet so much the same we all are.


Yet again, Conrad insisted that he did not want to go home however the option of Rita essentially going two days in a row without a nap just did not sound appealing to this temporarily single Mama. We made the slow walk to home where we bid Annie farewell as she headed for her bus to take her back home to Xindian and Rita happily took a nap in her much loved crib.


Even though Leo missed yet another fun day, we are so happy that we got out and were able to enjoy some good family fun in the city. Now if I could just figure out a way to know what was going on around town besides having the good luck of walking by while the fun is happening... Although, I have already found out more than once that planning ahead in this climate (and with two kids) does not always work out either so maybe my method of finding fun things to do is just fine :)

Lonely Wives Club Playdate

Considering that both Leo and my friend Tine's husband, Alan, are across the straight on the mainland we decided that a Saturday playdate was the perfect solution to apartment boredom for both us and the kids. Tine made the (easy) drive in from her suburb of SinJhuang to meet up with us at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park. The weather was overcast but the temperatures were perfect and surprisingly no rain was in the forecast making it a great day to run & play in the grass near the pond. Conrad, Rita, Victor, & Mila had a great time blowing bubbles, eating snacks, playing ball, and just in general running around.


There were tons of high school kids in the park when we got there working on various painting projects. Most of them packed up by noon or so leaving us with a few hours of quiet before the late afternoon crowd started to fill up the park again.


The little ones were starting to get tired, so we slowly packed up and said our farewells. As with most plans in Taiwan go it seems that Tine's have changed and she will likely be on our little island until at least February - Yea for us!


Even though he ran & played & ran some more, Conrad was still not ready to leave his beloved SYS. I relented to his requests to stay and we walked around the grounds in hope that Rita would fall asleep in the stroller but there was just too much going on for her to succumb to sleep. The time was not a complete loss though as Conrad made a new friend to play ball with. I had thought that the little boy only spoke Chinese but after they played for a while and we were getting ready to leave his Mom prompted him to come up to us and tell us his name was Jimmy. I know that I was extremely shy around adults when I was younger so I have to give the kid credit for speaking to us in English even it was only done under parental direction.


I knew that Conrad was tired but he still did not want to go home and I was not too keen to be stuck in an apartment with a grumpy, tired 3 year old so we decided to go buy more bubbles since we had used up all of ours at the park. We walked past several festivals and the shopping area was packed! I guess that we were not the only ones that did not want to go home yet on a nice (fall) day.


Rita finally gave in to sleep as we were walking around the toy store. You know that a kid has to be tired if they can fall asleep when surrounded by all the wonder that bright colors & plasticizers can offer :)


The Mituskoshi Mall area was also packed as we finally started our journey towards home. Conrad was disappointed that he could not run like he normally does since there were too many people. Although, I have no idea how he still had any energy to run!


Our final stop after our long day of outdoor fun was at Dominoes to pick up a pizza for dinner in honor of Leo's birthday. He may be in another country but that does not mean that we can't still celebrate with him! And a Skype video conference call with the birthday boy as we were eating our pizza meant that he really did get to share in some of our fun. Although he was a bit disappointed that he could not order up his own pizza as the Grand Hyatt in Shanghai strangely does not have this much loved item on their room service menu.


Having Leo out of town is never fun - but we are happy that we found some friends to help us pass the time. And we hope that Leo had a great birthday even if we did have to have our own separate celebrations this year.

Quaking not Quacking

Last night, a little bit of quiet cartoon time was interrupted by an earthquake centered near Nantou in the middle of Taiwan. The shaking was not super strong in our 9th floor Taipei city apartment in that I did not even hear any dishes or doors rattle - but the whole apartment moving did seem to last a long time. And I admit that I did get a little worried when Rita was standing on the couch - giggling - as the world was wiggling around her. Luckily though we all emerged unharmed as did the rest of our little island.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau had initially reported the quake to have a strength of 7.0 on the Richter scale but that was then downgraded to 6.0. The United States Geological Survey has it listed at only 5.4 so I think that it is safe to say that it was not too strong but it still was a bit unnerving. At least the kids think that earthquakes are fun :)

No Slow Down at Sogo

The other night when we met Annie for dinner I realized that not only are they remodeling our elevator accessible entrance to the Taipei City Hall MRT station but we have not ridden the train since we have been back in town (over a month now!). The weather forecast looked favorable and we had some Sogo dollars at home so I thought that I little post school field trip - including a ride on the train - would be a perfect way to spend the afternoon today.

Our first stop was lunch at the park behind the old Sogo. I think that Conrad & Rita each only ate a few bites before they wanted to run off to play. After quickly eating my own burger I relented to their requests and we all had a great time running around the small park.

The lunchtime crowd at the park had dwindled so we also packed up in order to stop hopefully do some shopping before the kids got too tired. However, I think that it was me that was too tired to do any shopping. Apparently, today was the first day of a HUGE sale at the Sogo malls and they were packed! Along with lines to ride the elevators there were lines to get in to many of the high end shops. Luckily (for Leo's wallet) I am so out of touch with fashion that I would not know what a good deal on a Chanel bag was if it hit me over the head...and I definitely could not imagine waiting in line to buy a purse :) I am not sure if this is a sign that the economy is picking up & people are willing to splurge on luxury items again or that it has slowed down & people will only buy when on sale. Either way it means that I want to be far, far away from the crowded malls!

After exiting the mall empty handed, I gave Conrad the choice to walk for a bit or get right on the train and he actually chose to walk. I think that he was trying to extend the time it would take us to get back home. I was also more than happy to walk as it would likely lead to a longer nap for Rita and I know how important it is to take advantage of nice weather when we have it. It was a great walk - although I think that our stop at 7-11 for some refreshments (and a peanut butter sandwich for a certain preschooler that essentially skipped lunch) may have been Conrad's favorite part of the afternoon.

I, on the other hand, loved watching the changing colors as the early setting sun bounced among the buildings - when not dodging scooters that is :) We may have left the mall empty handed but it was far from an empty day.

Healthy Hiking

Our cool weather only lasted a day as we awoke today to bright blue skies and temperatures expected to reach the mid-70's. Rita's fever has been gone since Monday and while she still has not entirely seemed sick she has been a tad more sleepy & grumpy the past few days. I had to make my quarterly trek to the hospital for my thyroid blood work so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked. We walked and walked and walked - nearly 7.25 miles by the time we dropped Conrad off at school, went to Chang Gung Hospital, walked back to school, and then took the long way back home! No wonder I was tired - but it was fun.

I can never resist a beautiful blue sky - even if I only get to see snip-its of it between the tall buildings:
Luckily, my giant stroller does not count as a 'cart' at the hospital as they are not allowed. And we still do not see the appeal of chewing betel nuts - but luckily they are not allowed at the hospital either.
You kind of forget about how big Taipei is until you cross 10 lanes of traffic on what just seems like a 'quiet' city street. I have driven on DunHua Street and walked along it more than once and it did not seem like too crazy of a street - but when you are pushing a stroller across it as you watch the little cross-walk sign count down it seems really big!
Most of our walk was pretty easy. But I was reminded of why the city frustrates me at times...it is not the fact that women run around in miniskirts & boots on a random weekday but rather the 4 steps leading up to the sidewalk.! Luckily, there was also a lower sidewalk available but that usually means having to fight my way around scooters.
Rita did really well on our urban hike - but she did have a few moments of fuss when I could not figure out just what she was trying to tell me.
But she was all smiles when we got to Conrad's school and really happy when we took a break to have some fresh croissants we bought from a small bakery. I was also very happy with our little break as by that time I was getting pretty tired! But I am glad that we were had such nice weather today - it makes a routine blood test a little more enjoyable.

Jacket Weather

I just bought the kids light windbreaker jackets at Carrefour yesterday just in time the cool weather that found us today. We were still happily wearing shorts this past weekend but it was definitely jacket weather today! Cool & windy - it would have been a perfect fall day if not for the few random sprinkles that we felt when we were out & about.


The cool weather was also the perfect excuse to head over to Leo's favorite suan-la niu ro mien (sour-spicy beef noodle) shop for dinner with Annie & Eric. Annie had an evening doctor appointment at the hospital near Leo's work and an afternoon work meeting in Danshui so we met her at the MRT before all walking to the little shop for dinner. The soup was so good - the perfect blend of flavors to make the long walk worth it. Eric gave us a ride home which I think that a tired little Conrad really appreciated. He has not wanted to ride in the stroller lately no matter how tired he is (apparently he does not want people to think that he is a baby). However, Rita's bouncing around in the back seat reminded me of why we do not take taxis very often (aside from the slight language barrier!) - she just did not want to sit still when not contained in an US-approved car seat! But both Conrad & Rita went to bed without any fuss - so I would have to say that it was a great dinner out with Annie (and Eric too).

Stowaway

Rita woke up with a fever of 101' F (~38'C) this morning meaning that we would not be able to join the annual City Playgroup Halloween Party. Over 170 people were expected and that is just a few too many for Rita to share her random germs with! We were pretty bummed to miss out on the festive fun especially since Leo had arranged his travel plans in order to be able to attend the family friendly party. However, I think that we can still proclaim Halloween a success considering that Rita climbed up on the table before breakfast to sample some of her trick-or-treat goodies :)


Not being able to attend the party meant that we had plenty of time to pack Leo's things for his trip to China. It was kind of funny that Leo was getting nervous that he was forgetting something important since he has not had to travel as much for work since we moved to Taiwan. I, on the other hand, was totally calm. He was so busy last week with meetings & dinners that another 10 days of wrangling the kids on my own does not seem too daunting. But we will all miss him - especially Conrad - so hopefully his trip goes well & the kids behave while he is gone!

American Halloween

We found real, suburban-American Trick-or-Treating in Taiwan thanks to our good friend Michele. Well, really it was Denis her boyfriend whom works at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT - our version of an embassy) that had the 'secret' map to the houses on up on Yangming Mountain that were dolling out the sweet treats! Apparently, the employees of AIT donate the candy which is then handed out by some of them that all happen to live in the same quiet neighborhood about an hour north of the city.


Many of the houses were decorated and the owners were in costumes which added to the fun. Although, a few houses did scare our brave little Spiderman!
I don't think that Rita was scared by any of the festivities - but she did want to be carried for most of the night. However, that also could have been due to the fact that she had a mysterious fever all day. It never got lower than 102'F (~39'C) all day - even with ibuprofen - but she never acted sick so we brought her out to enjoy the trick-or-treating fun with the plan of keeping her from touching anyone (which for once seemed to work quite well).
Along with seeing our own kids get excited about getting treats - it was also fun to see the crowds of people wandering around the small neighborhood. Even Rita eventually wanted to get down and walk on her own on the quest for more treats!
There were about a dozen or so houses participating which gave us plenty of opportunity to get lots of treats. We had not even made it back to the car before Rita was digging in her pumpkin bag checking out her loot :)
Before heading down the mountain to get a late dinner we made one quick stop to take in the city views from near the University since we were so close. Conrad had fun pretending he was watching over the city just like the real Spiderman does :)
Leo successfully navigated his way back to the suburb of DaZhi and found this little italian restaurant that he has been to several times with colleagues from work. However, they closed early so we had to go to plan B after letting the kids burn off some of their sugar powered energy at a little park next to the preferred eatery. It all worked out well, though, as we found a nice little cafe that had a whole range of western food choices. Leo & I had burgers with all the fixins while Michele had an omlette and Denis had a version of chicken fried steak. It may not have been the pasta we had been looking for but it all was very good.You would never know that our smiley little garden fairy is fighting off a fever!
We are so happy that Michele & Denis invited us to join them for AIT's Trick or Treating! It truly was a treat to find such an authentic celebration of Halloween here in Taiwan! Even the treats brought back memories of days of our youth when we would wander our own neighborhoods for hours on All Hallow's Eve in search of lots of treats and perhaps a trick or two as well :)

WuGu Zun Farm Outing

Today we headed off to Zun Leisure Park in WuGu for a family outing with Conrad's Montessori school. Well, Leo had to miss out on the fun (which he was very bummed about) since he had meetings that he had to attend with his boss who is in town but Rita & I happily joined the fun. The school had given me an English version outlining the details of the trip but I still did not quite know where we were going as I could not find any details on the web. Luckily, they had 3 huge buses to take us out to the suburb of WuGu (and it turns out the park was not too far from the birthing clinic in HsinZhuang where we had Rita so I was still in somewhat familiar territory).



We were broken into 6 small groups as we toured around the grounds, learned about some of the plants & animals, and did some DIY crafts (yes, DIY as in do-it-yourself has crossed over from English and is commonly seen on signs around Taipei). The presentations were all in Chinese but Miss Claire (Conrad's main teacher who was our group leader) along with some of the other parents were good at translating some of the key points so I could was not too lost.

Rita has mastered the fake smile - but she still looks cute in front of the frog pond :)

Our first lessons were about frogs. Rita was not interested in touching one but did like to sit on the stools like the big kids - until the frog jumped right at her which startled her & made her cry!


Luckily, Conrad was not too scared of the frogs. They all seemed to want to jump towards him. One of the little ones even jumped right out of the instructor's hands & landed on Conrad's shoulder!

The butterfly lady was pretty essentric but I was quite excited to hear Conrad answer her questions - in Chinese! Although I think that Miss Claire may have helped a little. The butterfly garden did not have as many of the insects flittering around as the one at the Zoo but it did have several unique caterpillars which the kids were encouraged to touch which was cool.

Conrad's favorite part of the outing was the greenhouse filled with various herbs for everyone to smell & taste :)
After a very fancy lunch - no white table clothes (luckily they were brown) but it did have lots of breakable dishes on the table - we had some free time to play. All the kids had a great time running in the open grass chasing balls of various sizes.
It was then time for our group to do some of the DIY projects they had set up. I think that painting the small 'recycle' bags may have been Rita's favorite part of the day.

While Conrad was very proud of his airplane and had a great time flying it around.

The long outing made for a very tired Rita - she fell asleep almost moments after this photo was taken after a short ride in her stroller with her trusty bunny.

Some parents drove so the crowd slowly starting dispersing before the rest of us headed back to the awaiting buses.

It was a long day but lots of fun. I just wish that I had been feeling 100% healthy as I was still not quite feeling like my typical fun-loving self but it was nice to get to better know some of the kids in Conrad's class and also have a chance to talk with some of the parents. I also found myself marveling at how even some of the kids could easily switch between Chinese and perfect English - hopefully we are at that point ourselves someday!

Lazy Lunch

I was feeling under the weather and figured some good ol' junk food just may have been what I was lacking so we headed over to the Viewshow Theater food court after school for some Burger King. Well, Rita & I had Burger King while Conrad had a much healthier spaghetti meal. My lunch may not have revived my tired soul but our walk did help burn off some of Conrad's boundless energy which was a good thing since Leo had dinner plans for work so I could not count on any Daddy-time reinforcements later on. Hopefully, I am feeling up to my chipper self soon since we have lots planned the next few days and then Leo is heading off to China for 10 days.