China: our first international getaway since moving to Taiwan. What, isn’t Taiwan a part of China?? Well, my friends, I challenge any of you to spend a week in each region and then, you tell me if they’re the same country. First up, the big boy capital of China…Beijing. The last time I was in […]
Jules
Escaping to Yilan 宜蘭 for a Day
We took advantage of a school holiday to go on a day trip with Aunt Ivy to the ever-crowded city/county of Yilan. We made the half hour, eight mile long drive through the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道), the ninth longest tunnel in the world, connecting Taipei to Yilan. The alternative is a vomit-filled two hour ride […]
Getting into Genki Cat Cafe (元氣貓主題咖啡館)
WARNING: If you’re not into cats, then you may want to skip this post. A momentous afternoon as Jules and I got past that red velvet rope that bars children under 12 from entering the more exclusive cat cafes in town. Here’s how it went down: Jules: Mommy, look it says ‘cat cafe,’ maybe we […]
Giant Water Lilies at Shuangxi Park (雙溪公園大王蓮)
Oooohhh! That’s what Jules and I said when we spotted these beauties at Shuangxi Park, a 15 minute walk from our apartment. A veritable green sanctuary amidst the city chaos, I was sooo happy that these giant Victorian water lilies were still in bloom. However, given that they need very warm water temperatures to survive […]
International Day of Peace 2017
Yesterday marked the 36th annual International Day of Peace as set forth by the United Nations in order to promote peace around the world regardless of our differences. As it turns out, the Big Orange didn’t get the memo. Nonetheless, the Taipei European School certainly did, and it was sweet seeing so many of the […]
Howard 舅舅 and Jungha 阿姨
Uncle Howard and Auntie Jungha…our first visitors! Although we’re having a great time experiencing things here in our new country, it’s always nice to have a piece of home in a new environment. I realized that this is the first time my brother, Howard, and I have been in Taiwan together since we were children. […]
Glass blowing at Kun’s Crystal
Taipei has an endless supply of fun things to do with kids. The 3 to 9 year old crowd probably has the greatest selection, like this glass blowing workshop at Kun’s Crystal, located in the Eslite (誠品) Spectrum mall. Many blog posts are devoted to the wonder that is the chain of Eslite bookstores here […]
Becoming Taiwanese
Aaaahhhh, we finally did it!! After months of incredible amounts of stress and running back and forth to buildings like the one below, we finally obtained Jules’ Taiwanese passport today! I practically squealed when the lady at the passport counter at the Bureau of Consular Affairs handed over the passport. As you can see from […]
First Day of Third Grade
Today was Jules’ first day of school as a third grader, or the American equivalent of French CE2, in the French Section at the Taipei European School. He’ll be alternating his days in English and French with a bit of Chinese thrown in on a daily basis. Luckily, the school is only a 10 minute […]