5 Days in Hong Kong: Part 1 by Charlotte (and Sam)

 On Wednesday, we woke up very early in the morning. It was still dark when we traveled to the Taipei airport. Before we went to our plane, we found the lounge. I ate mochi, cucumber and dumplings for breakfast. Then we found our gate and boarded our plane for Hong Kong.

We are in Hong Kong because Dad has meetings. This trip is short. It is only five days, so instead of an Airbnb, we are staying in a hotel called The Penninsula. It is very fancy and has large red hanging lanterns at the entrance. The lanterns are decorations for Chinese New Year and look like they are floating in the sky. 

Our room has a view of the lanterns and also the harbor. It also has curtains that you can close with a button and there is even a TV at the foot of the bathtub! 

After we got settled in our room, we went to the pool. It is big and deep. There are two smaller attached pools that looked like hot tubs, but they are the same temperature as the pool, just shallower. There is also a lion head that sprays water. When you arrive at the pool, they give you spa slippers and towels, but you don't keep those.

The hotel has a really good breakfast. Today was the first day I ate at the hotel breakfast and I am stuffed! There was bao, dumplings, congee, pickled vegetables, fish, miso soup, dim sum, poached eggs, omelette station, potatoes, roasted tomatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, crepes, assorted pastries, yogurt, muesli, cheeses, fresh fruit juices, tea and coffees. I ate a chocolate croissant, a bao, a waffle with whipped cream, pineapple and chocolate. Mom had beef congee with a poached egg, scallions, pickled radish, fried Chinese bread slices called "you tiao" and fish. Ansel and Natalie ate so many bao we lost count! The butter was so pretty that I thought it was a little treat. Dad told me not to eat it.

Today after we finish our writing and math school work, we will go to the winter carnival on the Hong Kong side of the harbor. Our hotel is on the Kowloon side, so we will take the Star Ferry.

Our New Apartment Near Da'an Park (Ansel)

Last week we changed apartments and moved to a new neighborhood. 

Our new apartment is more like a house. It is bigger and has three bedrooms. Every bedroom has two big beds. Since we have five people in our family, it works better because everyone gets their own bed and I even get my own room! Dad has an office in his bedroom.

                                     

We live right by Da'an Park. Da'an Park is the biggest park in Taipei. 

                                              

I like this because I can go there everyday to play soccer and run around (when I'm done with school). The people call it the "Lungs of Taipei." Lots of kids go there to play, eat and relax. Adults also go there to exercise, meet with friends, take classes and even pray. There is a huge white statue of Guanyin near our corner of the park. It used to be inside a temple but now it is outside and anyone can walk by and pray.

                                    

The birds are always chirping and strutting all over the place. There are big birds and little birds, sassy birds and calm birds. There are also pathways that lead to the church, night market and the coffee shop that Dad goes to almost every morning. The kids like to play sports, play on the playground and run/play tag. There is also an outdoor roller skating rink that has rentals and classes every night. The grownups like to do TaiQi and yoga classes (TaiQi is a martial art). Mom and Dad also like to go there to work out and run. In the park there are work out machines that older people can use to improve mobility and get stronger. 💪 There is also a perimeter path around the entire park.

                                    

For all of these reasons, I really like living near Da'an Park.

                                    

Dihua Street (Natalie)

                                                                   Dihua Street

        On Dihua street anything is possible. A hog walking on a leash? Potato chips on a stick? Yep, it's possible. Our family explored and had lunch there. 

First we stopped for some gua bao (a kind of bao that's shaped like a taco and filled with meat and vegetables) we also tried something new, rice meatballs! They were delicious. We also got shrimp dumplings courtesy of Ansel. (He was the taster) Mom also stopped to pick up some fabric to make new pants for Charlotte.

                                             

 While she was picking out the fabric with Charlie, Dad, Natalie, and Ansel got potato chips on a stick. The vendor offered all kinds of spices including powdered seaweed, pepper salt, and plum powder. 

                                              

The family also stopped for sweet and slimy tofu pudding, complete with tapioca pearls, red bean, taro balls, and grass jelly. After lunch we headed over to the Hello Kitty themed 7-Eleven. We got a Hello Kitty stuffie dressed like a snake. 

                                            

Mom offered all of the kids to get a sweet drink so the littles got slushies and Natalie got a boba tea. Sipping our sweet drinks, we headed home. A claw machine caught our eye. Now let me tell you about claw machines. They are around every corner of Taipei. It seems to be a national pastime around Taiwan. Anyway, in the claw machine there was a capybara stuffie just barely hanging on. We were all doubtfull as all Taiwan claw machines are made to grab the stuffie, bring it up, and let it go back into the machine leaving the user with a 10NT dollar setback. Previously another kid had managed to aqquire a snoopy stuffie from a different claw machine. Charlotte took the chance. The claw brought the capybara high over the rest and dropped it. The capybara bounced off of the others and into the pit. Charlotte got it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all screamed and celebrated. Dihua street was a huge success.

                   

The Beitou Hotsprings (Natalie)

                                                 The Beitou Hot springs

            After a long train ride, our family made it through the mountains to arrive at the Beitou (bay-too) hot springs. The springs we chose to visit were located inside a resort. The wait at the reception desk was pretty long and we were all relieved when Mom informed us that it was time to go. By then was lunchtime so we went upstairs to the resort's restaurant. We got assorted sushi and other good food but the highlight of that restaurant was definitly the beaf udon soup. We got two of those and split them 

together. After lunch it was time to hit the springs. We checked in and they gave each of the adults and the two big kids baskets filled with one towel, a robe, a pair of flipflops, and a shower cap that was mandatory to go in the hot springs. After the guys and the girls had gotten ready in our bathing suits we headed outside. The wind was strong so we didn't delay getting in the water. The springs were situated so that there were about seven or eight individual pools. We explored almost all of them including one with a water fall, one with bubbles, a reclining pool, and a bunch of open pools with various levels of hotness. There was also a cold plunge and a family pool that was rather cold. We also enjoyed a stone surface that was heated so that people could lay on it/it was like a grittle for humans. We spent about three hours there and then showered and left. 

                                                                                                   

It was a great experience and we would highly recommend it to anyone. The only improvement we would give to the resort would be to offer snacks while soaking.

Maokong Tea Country (Ansel)

We made a plan to visit the Maokong tea plantations. The way you get to the plantations is by riding on a gondola.

The line was pretty brutal so we took the crystal cabin. The crystals are gondolas with glass for the bottom. That means you can see through the floor all the way to the ground below you. I am afraid of heights so I didn't exactly jump in happiness at the idea.

When we got on the gondola we could see lots of stalks of bamboo and even all the way to Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the city, kind of like Taipei's Space Needle).  

When we got to the top of the mountain we saw a lot of tea bushes. There were fields and fields of them! We climbed the mountain and came back down. 

We had lunch (chicken soup) and bought ice cream. The ice cream was good but the wind kept blowing dust into our cones so we had to turn our backs to the wind. My ice cream got so dirty that my dad had to clean it off for me!

I would recommend the tea plantations as a good place to visit because the gondola is fun, the food at the top is great, and the energy of the mountains is exciting. As a note to cat lovers, there are stray cats there that love when you pet them. Natalie was in heaven...

The Taipei Zoo (Natalie)

                                                               The Taipei Zoo (by Natalie)

            Our family thinks that the Taipei zoo is one of the biggest and best things to do in Taipei. We visited it after our journey on the Maokong gondola. We were very pleased with the super cheep prices. Each person in our family got in for about 100 NT (New Taipei) dollars, about 3 US dollars. We immediately boarded a zoo train that took us into the main zoo. The zoo was huge! We rode the train for about 5 minutes and then got off and were greeted with some crazy big birds including owls and eagles. Then we crossed through a courtyard full of places to eat including Turkish ice cream which we tried the last time we came to the Taipei Zoo. 

                                       

The zoo has eateries throughout. Mom gave each of us 100 NT to spend at the zoo. Ansel purchased a happy meal for $2 at the zoo McDonalds. After we crossed through the food court, we arrived in the Africa section of the zoo. We made the Africa section a priority because last time we didn't explore it to the full extent. The first animal to greet us was the gigantic African elephants. They weren't very active at the time, just eating their lunch. The last time we were there, we encountered a very active Asian elephant that we dubbed "Ansel". When we did visit "Ansel" again he was having a session with a trainer indoors, so sadly, we didn't see him romping around. However, we did see hippos, giraffes, camels, emus and zebras. 

  

     

After Africa, we realized that the zoo would be closing in less than an hour so we hurried toward the panda exhibit on the way we spotted a really cool tapir. He was swimming in his algae covered pool.

                                   

 We also saw the monkeys including orangutans and siamangs. The highlight animals in my opinion were the otters. They were tumbling around their enclosure, wrestling each other playfully. Lastly the star of the zoo was the giant panda. It was sitting in a pile of bamboo stuffing itself. That was the last animal that we saw. Our family would highly recommend the Taipei zoo to anybody.

                

                                  

Taipei Christmasland (Natalie)

                                The Taipei Christmas Market (Natalie)

                                                             

On our first extremely jetlag day in Taipei city Ansel and Mom visited a charming Local Christmas market. They had a pleasant experience that inspired our family to visit a bigger market called Taipei Christmasland. 

The day that we set out on our Christmasland adventure was our second one  staying in the bustling city of Taipei. We first stepped off the bus and crossed the street. Once across we were met by a family friendly array of vendors and games. It served as a great place for kids to get out energy in the open space. After running around we walked through the Taipei train station. Inside the train station we found a bunch of fun shops. We passed through a store that was dedicated to basically cats, cats, and more cats. That was a big hit with all of the kids. The adults went into the Jack Wolfskin store to their great pleasure. After we finished up in the train station we walked out to the actual Christmas market. 

The first thing that caught our eyes, or rather Charlotte’s eye was a unicorn carousel rotating on the other side of the street. After a round of the carousel we all headed to the central area for the market. Tents lined the street and framed a huge stage illuminated by bright screens broadcasting New Taipei Christmasland. The crowd was packed into the space like sardines. On the stage were some community members taking selfies. 

Eventually the event started, the narrator was talking animatedly into a microphone that blasted our eardrums. Unfortunately for us, the whole speech was in Chinese only. When she finished she handed off the mic to some cheerleaders who performed a choreographed dance routine to music. Our family’s favorite part of that were all the big lifts. 

We visited a street vendor and picked up some delicious fried chicken and squid. For a drink we got milk tea in a cute little bottle shaped like a teddy bear. The rest of the night was mostly more speeches and pictures. One thing that we noticed that was different from the US was that after a performance or speech the applause was way quieter than in the US. Our explanation for that was that the applause was polite, not as loud and casual as in the US.

After we got tired of the performing perspective of the market, we headed across the street via a colorful overpass. 

That’s where all the kids got face paint.

There was another ride there, this time a swinging boat, but you had to buy tickets to another market to ride that. After all the festivities we headed inside to a mall and got bubble waffles at a restaurant called Manny’s. 

Those were delicious and a perfect way to end the day. Our family agrees that the market was a fun experience for families. We recommend it if you happen to be in Taipei around Christmas time.