Mulhyanggi Arboretum

The kids didn't have school today, so a group of us decided to go to the Arboretum today.  We packed our lunches and headed out to the Arboretum.  It only took about 30 minutes to get there.  There ended up being a huge group that showed up!

The Arboretum was basically a beautiful botanical garden.  I was really hoping that we made it in enough time to see the cherry blossoms that Korea is so famous for, but we were a week too late.  There wasn't a single blossom, but there were some beautiful trails though.

There was also a huge pond there.  The kids loved the pond because there were big koi fish that came right up to the top of the water.  Monster was being a kid and picking up little pebbles and was throwing them in the pond, when a Korean lady came up to us and yelled at us that we had to stop.  I was confused as to what she was talking about, so she picked up a pebble and crossed her hands in front of here like a big X.  From the broken conversation we had, I think she said the pond is being observed by scientists and by throwing rocks in the pond, it ruins their observations.  Try telling that to a 2 year old... Monster ended up screaming and yelling because he couldn't enjoy the plop of a pebble in the pond.  I had to pick him up, kicking and screaming and walk away from the pond.

The Arboretum also had a small river that ran the length of most of the area.  There were many beautiful bridges and crossing paths that the kids enjoyed.

M&M kept seeing spots that she thought was beautiful and would ask me over and over to take a selfie of her.  It made me giggle, and I explained that a selfie would mean she is taking the picture and I was taking a portrait, but she still insisted it was a selfie. So, I took a real selfie with her.

After the pond and river, we came to a few greenhouses.  The kids enjoyed seeing the small fish pond in the greenhouse.  Monster especially loved the pond because the fish we so colorful.  There was a small bridge that the older girls enjoyed walking on that overlooked the small pond.

After the greenhouses, we stopped at some benches and ate lunch.

By this time, I was super tired and Monster was grouchy and tired!  I decided that we had seen enough for one day.  When we got back to the entrance, we saw a map of the property and realized that we didn't even see 1/4 of the Arboretum!  It is a huge place!  I hope that we can go back, especially during  the fall or spring time.

Taiwan Day 5: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, LDS Taipei Taiwan Temple & Modern Toilet Restaurant

Today was our last day in Taiwan, and we needed to be at the airport around 1:00.  We hired our same driver and got up early so we could catch a few more tourist spots!

Our first stop was the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Words to describe the memorial hall: Beautiful!  Gorgeous! Rich deep colors!  Amazing!  Wow!

Wow!  This place is wow! Its a large courtyard with four buildings on each side.  The two buildings to the side appeared to be the same type of building.

We initial entered the Memorial Hall through this huge gate like entrance. There is a beautiful deep purple which accents the sky!  The gate is so tall and so amazing.

We stood there staring at the gate for so long just soaking it up!

After we passed through the gate, we made our destination the other end of the courtyard where another tall building was.  This building is the actual memorial hall.  It took about a half an hour to get to the other side since we kept stopping and taking pictures and getting distracted by the gardens and the people around us.

When we got to the Memorial Hall, it started to rain. The girls were worried that we would have to walk all the way back in pouring rain, so they started to run back to the car.

We took a few last pictures then continued on to our next destination.

Our next stop was at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Taipei Taiwan Temple!The temple was just down the street.  I was excited to see the Taipei temple.  When we got out of the car, it was lightly sprinkling, so we were able to get a few pictures in front of the temple.

The kids were hungry about this time, so we decided to go to the Modern Toilet restaurant!  I'm going to let Big Sis tell you all about the Modern Toilet...

Big Sis here. I am going to tell you all about our adventure in the Modern Toilet Restaurant. After visiting the LDS temple, it was around lunch time. I really wanted to try it out, and so did monster, Little A, and M&M, so we went. When we got there, I realized why it is called The Modern Toilet Restaurant, it was because it was all toilet related.

We walked in and found a table and took a moment to realize that everything, and when I say everything, I mean everything, was toilet/bathroom related. The seats that the littles sat on where toilets, the menu had at least one connection to the bathroom, and the dishes, along with all the souvenirs, were all bathroom related too.

We orders our lunch and ate. The spaghetti I got was really good. I think M&M enjoyed hers. I also think Little A liked hers too. Monster didn't really eat anything.

Mom and dad really liked their food. After finishing our dinner, the waitress gave us our side dish/dessert, it was chocolate ice cream in the size of ahhh...# two... in a dish the shape of a squaty-potty. It was really funny.

After eating our dessert, we paid and went. I think that by far, that restaurant has been the funniest one I've ever been too. Such a funny adventure.

Taiwan Day 4 (Part 3): Elephant Mountain Hike

It's Big Sis again and I am going to tell you all about our Elephant Mountain Hike. When I think of the word "hike", I think of a trail that is in the forest that is super simple. But if you thought of that for this hike, you are definitely wrong. The hike on Elephant Mountain is nothing but stairs to get to the top of the mountain.

When we arrived to the mountain, and I realized what we had to do, I thought that it was going to be impossible. But, I didn't want to spoil all of the fun we had that day, so I swallowed down my fear, and challenged myself to make it all the way to the top without complaining.

Before we started, M&M and I came up with the idea to find out just how many stairs there really were on the mountain. She was going to go by how many times she could go through the ABC's, and I was going to count by numbers. I was the leader of the pack on the stair toward the top of the mountain. I go to a school that has multiple stairs that you need to climb to go to your next class, so I am pretty used to climb stairs. As I climbed towards the top on countless stairs (I was still counting), I realized that I wasn't tired of climbing. I felt pretty relaxed and I was surprised by that because usually I don't like to take stairs.

As we started to get closer to the top, the stairs got more steep and more difficult. Little A was holding on, M&M was fine, Mom seemed to be enjoying the view, and since dad was carrying Monster in the hiking backpack, he seemed to be out of breathe, but okay.

When we got to the top, we where all kind of disappointed because there was nothing at the top except a view of the city.

After realizing how pretty it actually was, I really enjoyed the view because me and M&M totaled up our numbers and here are the results: M&M ended with 886 stairs and I ended with 897 stairs. I think mine was more logical then M&M's results. After a couple minutes of enjoying the view, we made our way back down the 897 stairs.

When we got back down to the bottom of the mountain, we made our way back to the hotel to relax and soak in the amazing adventure that we just had and the biggest accomplishment of stair climbing that everyone had ever done. What an amazing adventure!

Taiwan Day 4 (Part 2): Yin Yang Sea, Golden Waterfall, Chuen Ji Hall, Gold Museum & Jiufin Old Street

After the Elephant Head Rock, we were driven all around Keelung!  Some places were a super quick stop, and some took a lot longer.  Our first stop was at the Yin Yang Sea.  When he first said we were going to the sea, the girls were very excited because they wanted to find shells and see the beach.  When we pulled over into a parking lot along a highway, we were all very confused.

Our driver took us across the parking lot, we crossed the highway and he had us stand on a very narrow shoulder of the highway against concrete barriers.  At first we were confused, and the girls were extremely disappointed because it was obvious that there was not a beach close.  Then he had us look into the sea, and we noticed the color of the sea had multiple colors swirling around.  The sea had yellows and oranges and deep browns.

We were then given a short history lesson on how this area is the run off from the gold mines.  After finding the gold, it would be washed then the water would run off into the ocean.  The metals and material from the washing changed the color of the ocean!  It was so crazy beautiful.  The large jacks looking barriers were my favorite!  The colors exploded off of them!

When we got back to the car, we noticed an ancient building on the hill top.  It was super beautiful! We were told that this was the old gold mine factory.  It looked like something out of an old English country side book!

After leaving the beach-less sea, our next stop just a few kilometers away- the Golden Waterfall.  This was a quick, park and take a picture location.  The waterfall has the same yellow, orange and brown look, since it also has the metal run-off.

The best part about the waterfall was our Little Monster!  It was well past his nap time and he was not excited about us taking him in and out of the car so many times.  He was also mad because he wanted Little A's glasses!  M&M was sweat enough to giver him her glasses, but that was not what he wanted.  As we were trying to get a picture, he was screaming his head off.  All the tourist around us were laughing and thinking it was the cutest thing ever.  I just shrugged my shoulders, smiled and had them take the picture.

The entire waterfall was completely fenced off.  It really was a gorgeous waterfall, though!  The color of the water and the different orange and yellows of the rock made it extremely unique.

After the waterfall, our next destination was the Gold Museum.  As we were driving around the corner to get to the museum, we were passing by a gigantically fabulously gorgeous temple.  We asked if we cold stop and see it, so our driver parked right up front and took a bunch of pictures outside the temple of us!

This temple is called the Chuen Ji Hall.  On top of the temple was a huge bronze statue. It appeared that the statue was in the backyard of the temple, so we asked if we could get closer to the statue and take a picture.

The best part about having a driver, is that they speak the native language.  He then proceeds to go into the temple and talk to the temple workers.  He motions for us to come into the temple.  I couldn't believe it!  We have been to many temples around Korea, I've been to some in Bali and we have seen a lot in Taiwan, but we haven't ever been in one.  I felt like I was trespassing.  As we walked in, we are greeted by a beautiful water fountain.

We keep getting deeper and deeper into the temple.  The art is simple amazing!  We walk by worshiping patrons, burning incenses and chanting priests.  We also pass dorms and a small kitchen, and we still climb stairs higher.   When we get to the top, there is a beautiful marble mural!  The marble has a picture that was hand etched into it.  The kids were in awe as they touched the mable and could feel how the artist made the mural.

As we walk to the front of the railing, we are greeted by a beautiful and breathtaking scene!  We are now on the roof of the temple and can see the colorful rooftop and rainbow dragons that adorned the roof!  I was super confused as to why we were on the roof.  I wasn't going to complain, because it was amazing!  I was looking around, trying to see if I could see the statue somewhere on the ground floor behind us.

As we turn around we behold a  gigantic bronze statue of the God of War, Guang Gong. The statue was not in the backyard of the temple, it was on the roof! It was actually so big and directly above us that we couldn't get a picture of it.

We ended up staying on the roof for a while.  It really was something else!  Something amazing!

When we finally decided we better get back to our car, we left the rainbow of colors and beautiful architecture and descended the stairs.  We got back to the car and went to the Gold Museum, which was literally just down the street.

We set up a meet time for an hour from being dropped off.  We paid the admission fee, and walk in.  We were super disappointed with the Gold Museum.  The museum was more like an amusement park with no rides and no acts.  It was outdoors, except a few buildings.  There wasn't a ton to see.  There were buildings, but we couldn't go in very many of them.  The kids were hungry, so we stopped by the restaurant and ordered some food.  Either we were all super hungry, or it really was the best food we ate!  We all ate every bite!

By the time we were done eating, we had enough time to stop at a picture spot, then go and meet our driver.

Our last stop in this area was Jiufen.  Our driver was insistent that we had to end at Jiufen!  He said everyone goes there and it is so popular!  The roads to get to Old Town Jiufen, our destination, were extremely busy and backed up.  When we finally made it there, our driver pulled over and pointed to an alley, and said that was where we needed to go and he would be back in 2 hours.  The alley was a huge bottleneck with a million people trying to fit into this tiny opening for an alley.

When we finally made it in, we were disappointed.  We didn't know what to expect, but we didn't expect to be in a huge alley market.  Old Town Juifen turned out to be an endless alley with street booths selling clothes, food and miscellaneous items.

The girls were excited to buy trinkets, but after walking a good distance, it was plain to see that there weren't many mindless trinkets in the alley.

We did get some delicious goodies to eat!  Our favorite was a pancake ice cream cookie!  It was a scoop of ice cream between two pancakes!

We all enjoyed our treats, but with how crowded it was, and the kids alreay had a long day, we didn't last the full 2 hours.  After about 40 minutes, we called our driver and asked him to come pick us up.