We’re closing in on a month here and as such we are finally settled and starting to venture beyond our Zuoying neighborhood! Below is a distant view of the Tuntex sky tower as we searched for a new camera lense on “computer street”.
We’ve gone to the Lotus pond, Shoushan Zoo, the National Science Museum, and lots of time at the malls to stay cool from the heat (Taiwanese malls are pretty cool with at least 10 floors and kids areas). On the other hand, the zoo and museum really made us appreciate how nice we have it in Indy, as these were very outdated. We still had fun though! Wild monkey’s were everywhere as we descended the mountain out of the zoo, with one even snatching a water bottle from a toddler right in front of us!
The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas / Confucius Temple were about 30 minutes by foot from our apartment. We were pretty exhausted
by the time we got there due to the extreme heat and decided to cut the visit short….so we’ll be smart the next time and take a taxi. We were told that if one enters 
from the dragon’s mouth and exits through the tiger’s mouth it will turn bad luck to good fortune. We also saw a few really amazing temples but didn’t get time to venture inside as the kids were quite cranky from the heat. It was really amazing to see enormous traditional temples randomly in the middle of the city block. It makes you feel like you’re at a one-of-a-kind old temple from the 1700’s, until you realize they can be found literally everywhere. The colors and sculptures of dragons on the roofs are very bright excruciatingly detailed. The picture below shows us at the bottom of one temple and gives you an idea of scale.
For Ly’s birthday, we ate at Din Tai Fung, featured here on Anthony Bordain, to eat Dim Sum. Specifically, we were there to eat Xiao Long Bao dumplings (or as Bordain calls these “Pillows of Happiness”).
The founder was born in China but moved to Taiwan in 1948, where he started the restaurant and eventually it was named one of the top 10 best restaurants in the world (in 1993). The shrimp and pork shao mai and the Xiao Long Bao were reallllllly good. The other food wasn’t bad but these were our favorite. Here’s a cool video we took of the kitchen staff making the dumplings in rapid succession. I’ve never seen someone roll out dough so quickly!
Bakeries are YUUGE here. Wherever you go, there are new bakeries that have put their own unique stamp on bread rolls or pastries and you just feel like you have to try everything at least once. Here’s a snapshot of the many bakeries we’ve tasted.
The eating fruit has also continued to be non-stop, which brings us to Fruit: Part Deux! In this edition, we see cloud apple (very airy and yes, cloud like), 2 different types of passion
fruit (red and yellow), yellow watermelon (not as sweet as red), and durian (We lovingly call this stinky fruit. The last time I was forced to eat this was when Ly made me and my groomsmen eat it 6 years ago). It smells BAD.
Other random food we tried. Thai curry, italian food, japanese food, Brick oven pizza, sashimi, hot pot, and vietnamese (good, but Chao in Indy is way better!)
If you’ve stuck with me this far, I’ll reward you with a list of 10 funny/surprising things we noticed so far living here:
- Chasing down the trash truck: You actually have to listen for the trash truck music (like an ice cream truck, except they play a Polish song called “Midnight Prayer”) and chase down the truck with your trash. Say whaaat? Yeah. Luckily for us, we live in a newer building and we have the luxury of carrying down our trash in the elevator to the dumpster at any time.
- 7 Eleven: Surprisingly, not a gas station.
If there isn’t a “7-Eleven” on the city block you’re standing on, pick any direction and you’ll be at another one at the next traffic light. Not only do they have the Walgreens type items you’d expect, but you can also ship packages, make photo copies, and you can even sit and dine there. But perhaps the most unique thing is that you can pay your electricity, gas, and water bills. You literally walk into a 7-Eleven and the lady at the register scans the bar code on your bill and you pay her cash! For internet, you have to go to Chunghwa Telecom store to pay it. I still can’t believe they do not offer online auto-pay! - Dog strollers: They either have these strollers or they hand carry their dogs, I presume so their feet don’t get dirty? We’ve actually seen more dog strollers at times than baby strollers in the malls. WOOF.
- Appliances: Clothes dryers, dishwashers, and microwaves aren’t used very often here. Hang dry is the preferred method because it is so hot here that clothes will dry in less than a day. Dishwashers and Microwaves are seldom used because the culture here from what we’ve seen is to eat out most of the time. We were told that if you need to microwave something you can take it to 7 Eleven and they’ll heat it up for you. Of course they will!!
- Umbrellas/Masks: Umbrella’s are used everywhere on sunny days and masks are worn by ~50% of people, not because of the pollution
(Kaohsiung’s air isn’t too bad) but to prevent spread of sickness and also to act as a dirt filter when you’re driving your scooter. Long sleeves are also very common despite the heat to prevent direct sun contact on skin. - Apparently Ly knows Mandarin! Who knew? This older lady walks by and says something to us and after we pass Ly says, “She just said your baby is sleeping”. I thought, that’s a weird thing to know in Mandarin. But then the next day we are grocery shopping and a 4 year old starts talking to her. Ly proceeds to talk back to her and her mom pretty well. These situations began occurring practically every day for weeks, until it got to the point where she basically understands everything but still won’t admit it!
- Sidewalks: There are 2 sidewalks on each side of the street (4 total). One is where you’d expect it to be but is often completely covered by scooters (parked or being driven). The second sidewalk is further
in under a store-front balcony. While I’ve seen this before in bigger US cities, the difference is that each store actually owns their own sidewalk, making each one slightly different in material and height. The transitions from one to the other are horrible, which makes it very interesting to navigate with a stroller. Yet, to escape the rain and sun, it’s still the preferred sidewalk choice. - Cash: Cash is King. If you have to pay your rent, utility bills, even eat at a nice restaurant… they all require cash. I try to use my credit card as often as I can but it rarely is allowed. This means
I have a pocket full of coins at all times. The other day I was so happy I was able to use 100% of the coins in my pocket, only to get a fresh pocket full on my very next transaction! Also restaurant tipping isn’t a thing here, and sales tax is already included so what you see is what you pay. - Ghost Money/Hell money: It’s “ghost month” in Taiwan, where food is placed
on a table outside shops and tremendous amounts of “Ghost Money” are burned up as an offering to their deceased relatives and for good luck. All shop owners, including large banks, the zoo, etc, continue to do this at their entrances. We even heard a story where one shop owner bought a fake iPhone to burn, and then was convinced to not forget to purchase the fake iPhone case and charger accessories! - Healthcare: Vera bumped her head trying to walk on our tile floors (she’s fine) but we went to a pediatrician just in case. We found an office within a 5 minute walk, walked in without an appointment, saw an English speaking pediatrician within 5 minutes, and left a little while later feeling much less worried. The entire cost was a whopping $500NT ($15.62 USD). Why cant we do this in the US?
On the next episode: Ellie starts school!