Tapeii, Part Two

 The second half of our trip was as busy as the first!  After a brief stop at the hotel to pick up swimsuits and a Taiwanese lunch in a shopping mall, we took the subway to the end of the line.  Destination? Hot springs!!  This was the part of the trip I had looked forward to the most, and it did not disappoint.  After a bit of confusion in speaking with the locals about which hot springs baths were naked versus clothed...obvously we were wanting one of the clothed ones!!

There was a "bit" of a hike straight uphill to get to the Springs and after 20 minutes of this (keep in mind Alli is pregnant and it was 98 degrees and humid!!) a nice resort van driver pulled over and gave us a lift to the resort we had decided upon. As you can see by the sign there were many to choose from and it was so nice of him!

We finally made it and paid the admission for an afternoon of hot springs and a fun buffet dinner.  There were 9 different springs to choose from, ranging in temperature from cold to very hot with jets, bubbles, spouts, showers, and plain old pools.  It was very relaxing and it felt very strange to not have to be chasing a kid around or worrying about one drowning!! I almost fell asleep on the hot stone area, it felt great after having walked all over the city for two days!

After we showered and got dressed at the resort we headed to dinner.  It was a buffet with tons of great food - a little bit of everything - some Taiwanese food, some seafood, BBQ vegetable and meat skewers, salad bar and dessert bar.  Pure yumminess and again weird to be able to sit and chew my food and not have to cut food up into tiny bites for little ones.

The next morning we had another fantastic breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the weekend "Holiday" Jade and Flower Market.  It was just a few blocks from the hotel in an enormous room with tables upon tables of the Jade and pearls that Taiwan is famous for. 

I also found this awesome round glass clock from 1892 that I bought for Tommy.  He usually buys a watch or some sort of timepiece from whatever country he travels to.  It is a little smaller than a tennis ball and very old. It sits on a piece of wood that keeps it upright on your desk or wherever.  He thought it was neat and took it to his office at work.  There was lots of other things too and reasonable prices so we all shopped and spent nearly our last penny!  Got a few Christmas gifts knocked off the list so that was great!

After that we went on a wild goose-chase trying to find another shopping district. We found it eventually but ended up having to leave right away to get back to the hotel to check out and catch our flight home.  Definitely another memory made, though!  Last but not least we ate the best lunch I've had in about 3 years... Kung Pao Pizza and Tiramisu at the airport and it was out of this world!  I have to figure out how to replicate it.  It was AMAZING.  A fantastic ending to a fantastic trip.  I am very thankful to have been able to go and travel while we are here - another once in a lifetime opportunity!