After getting in late from Vietnam we were met at the Taipei airport by David and Jenny. David and Jenny are the aunt and uncle of one of my friends from my honor fraternity, Jenny! It was nearly 3am when David and Jenny were still visiting with us at their kitchen table discussing what would be fun to do during our time in Taipei. We heard there was a lantern release and asked David about it. He quickly replied with “My friend Paul is going tomorrow, do you want to go?” We of course said yes. The next morning, we met Paul and two of his friends to head to the lantern festival. We had no idea what to expect. We stopped for coffee, visited Paul’s friends’ property that housed an abandoned mine, and then pulled up to the beginning of the festival. Two busy pedestrian paths lined a railroad track and in-between trains, the track would be filled with people releasing lanterns. The sidewalks were full of food, trinkets, and lanterns to purchase for release.
As we worked our way farther through the festival, we visited a very impressive waterfall at the end of the celebration area. Following the waterfall, we headed back to the main square of the lantern festival. A large stage, news crews, and people lined a large square where the lantern releases would happen. The event consisted of 10 lantern releases of 200 lanterns at a time with live performances on stage in between the releases. Paul was a performer between the second and third release and somehow scored us all VIP back stage passes. Before all the main events started happening, we all headed back stage with all the performers for dinner. Not only were we VIP, we even got fed! While Paul was getting ready for his performance, his two friends invited us to join them for the 2nd lantern release of the night. We were dead center in a sea of lanterns illuminating the festival grounds as we all released them simultaneously. It was absolutely magical to watch the sky glow with lanterns as everyone’s New Year’s wishes drifted up into the nights sky. Not even 24 hours into Taiwan and we already had one of the most beautiful experiences of our lives.
After our lantern release, we watched a few performances (including Paul’s) from the second row in the VIP area. I bet everyone was wondering who the two “B List” celebrities were sitting in the second row, because that’s how we felt. Paul asked what we were doing the following day and invited us to join a trip with some of his students around town. After such an incredible night, we eagerly said yes.
The following morning, Marge and I visited the Taipei 101 building before meeting up with Paul again. The building is currently the 6th tallest in the world and previously held the record for tallest. It is an impressive building, towering over the city of Taipei.
After visiting the Taipei 101 we meet up with Paul again. We got to join a 7th grade field trip that he led around town (Note the little guy between Marge and I giving the “double bird” in the picture above). We visited a temple, a Japanese style building, and ended at a local market before parting ways with the kids. Following the field trip, Paul took us up the Mekong Mountain where we met one of his friends that runs a tea pot museum. Paul took us through the impressive collection of tea pots before we sat down to try some local tea with his friend. After tea time, we headed to dinner overlooking the city from the side of the mountain. It was one of the best meals of the trip and everything had some type of tea ingredient. Shrimp, noodles, mushroom soup, rice, chicken, greens, and several things I had no clue what they were, but they were delicious! After dinner we took the 3kilometer gondola through several misty mountain peaks and back to the city before parting ways. Paul had yet again impressed us. When he invited us to a dinner with some of his former students the following night, we again couldn’t resist!
The following day, Marge and I visited the Memorial Hall Square. It was a beautiful area triangulated by three main buildings. The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, the National Museum, and the National Concert Hall. The Kai-Shek Memorial Hall resembled the Lincoln Memorial in DC. After walking around the surrounding parks, we headed downtown to do a little shopping. We stumbled across a protest, a lovely garden, and a delicious bakery before meeting up with Paul. When Paul mentioned that we were going to a dinner with his students, we assumed maybe some High Schoolers. Little did we know, Paul has been a teacher in the community for decades and the students he was referring to were some of eldest. The dinner we were attending was their business New Year Party! We sat down to a 10 person table draped in red cloth and fancy chair covers. A stage with an MC, a light show, and live entertainment was the center of the room. I looked at Marge and I asked “How did we get invited to something this cool…again?” Though the event was all in Mandarin, Maggie and I tried our best to follow along. Before we knew it, Paul was on state. Though we couldn’t understand what he was saying (since it was in Mandarin) we knew when he began talking about us when he gestured a circle around the world with his hands and the only thing he said in English was “all you can eat”. Then he invited us on state in front of the 140 people to say a few words. As Maggie and I described how beautiful Taiwan was, a bit about our trip, and our gratitude for allowing us attend their event, Paul stood next to us translating everything for us. That was our last evening with Paul. We can’t thank him enough for all the experiences we had in Taipei together. It was 3 days that a typical tourist could never experience without the connection of a welcoming local like Paul.
For our last day in Taipei, Marge and I headed to the Betong Hot Springs. The springs were an interesting sight. Teal water bubbled with steam from the 200 F water below. Further down the stream, after the water cooled a bit, we relaxed with our feet in the warm stream before heading for a snack. We were standing on one side of an intersection when Marge made a comment about how we never ate at one of those sushi restaurants that trained the food past every seat allowing customers to pick their meal piece by piece. As if her prayer was immediately answered, we crossed the street and found the exact type of restaurant she was discussing. It was a fun concept of immediate food, cheap prices, and variety. If something looked good, you grabbed it. If it didn’t look good, you just let it pass you. We each had 5 small plates that only cost us $5 each. I’m glad we didn’t have more, because when we got back later that evening, Jenny had an incredible meal waiting for us consisting of curry and a homemade apple pie! We had a wonderful meal together before heading downtown one last time to see the Taipei 101 light up in the night sky
David and Jenny sure took wonderful care of us. Every morning Jenny had breakfast waiting for us, David helped us plan out our days, and gave us each our own room. For four days we felt like celebrities and fell in love with Taiwan. David, Jenny, and Paul: Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful city and home to us. I can’t imagine a better way to start out time in Taiwan.
If we had this much fun at my friend Jenny’s aunt and uncle’s house, I can’t imagine what her parent’s house will be like! Off to Taichung, Taiwan!