Relaxing....

Rachel and I had a great idea last night.... a massage and hair wash! It's really cheap in Taiwan and they are so fast at it and my hair felt so clean! We also went grocery shopping at their "walmart-type" store. Somehow the cart grips the escalator... it's pretty cool. Today (Friday morning) we enjoyed watching Micah while Rachel was taping and Matt was at work. We'll get a taxi to the airport at 1:30 PM!

Last full day in Taiwan.... Thursday

We've had such a great time here! We were blessed to attend ORTV's 8:00AM worship service! The singing and instruments were just fabulous! Everyone there is just so nice! Rachel and Matt took us to a "Mongolian BBQ" place for lunch... and it was really neat! Then Rachel took us to some really cool places. It will be hard to say goodbye!

WEDNESDAY!

This morning Rachel gave us a map, cell phone, umbrella, camera, and snacks -- we were travelling by ourselves to Danshui! We took a bus part of the way and then the MRT (subway). We had a lot of fun walking around and even split 3 big ice-cream cones for only 10NT (~30 cents!). Did you notice the Starbuck's building, Pizza Hut delivery man, and the potato sticks? ... check out the "fresh" outdoor meat market, too! We ended a fabulous evening with Matt's parents and Pizza Hut for dinner! Micah is saying "da" so much now! We're working on "ba."

Tuesday in Taiwan!

This morning we watched our T.V. star sister, Rachel, film a show about the Olympics in the Studio Classroom. It was so cool! We went shopping this afternoon and then at 7 PM we left for the night market. You have to hold tightly onto the bus handles because traffic is CRAZY! We ended the evening with the shaved ice or "bing" dessert. It was fabulous!

Typhoon is coming!!

We are really enjoying Taiwan despite the rain, rain, rain! It's rained almost non-stop since we arrived in Taiwan on Friday... and we just found out that a typhoon is coming Wednesday! The rain doesn't stop the Taiwanese: athletes exercise, military men practice, scooters speed down narrow streets, vendors sell goodies, and plenty of people briskly walk up and down the sidewalks with their colorful umbrellas! (They are a bit pushy, too! Rachel said that it's not rude to push people out of the way!)

What a day we've had! We relaxed this morning and watched Micah after we took a walk in the park. Then after lunch, Rachel took us to Micah's doctor appointment. It's not unusual to pay just $6 to see the doctor! Micah is doing much better now.... he had a bad bug bite and a little sore throat, but the doctor gave him a little hand wrapping and liquid cough medicine.

Then Rachel took us to the subway and we visited an underground mall! Jason tried a bread stick for only 10NT (~$0.35), compliments of Rachel! We each posed in front of our favorite art hangings near the rest room. Colorful, eh?

As we walked down some side streets, we spotted a bakery with samples! Jason tried a light pastry for 35NT and I tried some grapefruit tea that was delicious! We ordered the tea all by ourselves! We also bought a few gifts for Jason's parents at a stationary/book store.

Matt & Rachel stay so busy! Matt is a great Dad and a great worker. He gets an A+ as a dish washer, diaper changer, Christmas decorator, and cleaner-upper. Rachel stays busy watching Micah, working as a TV star, tutoring in English, preparing & buying food for meals, keeping the house clean, exercising, and daily washing numerous loads of laundry! She and Matt are great hosts!

Uncle Jason, Aunt Liz, & Micah are bonding quite well. Uncle Jason loves to make funny faces and sing the "Mr. Micah" song and Aunt Liz loves to feed Micah and hold him close.

We had a great supper Monday night of salmon, sugar peas, yams, dragon fruit, rolls, and veggies! Matt also decorated the apartment for Christmas!