day 18

arrived in Hong Kong without a hitch!
wasnt sick on the plane is always a bonus. 

so off we go to the food court at hong kong airport 

had to have popeyes! definitely not as good as it is in america but it will have to do! :) 

waiting at the terminal to go home.... it felt sooo long!!! 

and we are finally home! got through customs without a hitch! 

ps didnt realise that then post didnt get loaded until almost 2 weeks later! :p

xoxo hippo

day 17

today is the day we fly home. its saturday but we wont arrive home until sunday. lots of sleeping on the plane and hopefully we have a motionless flight so we have less sickness

after breaky we spent some time with our host dee dee just hanging out. 

get to the airport, checked in and just waiting to get on the plane to hong kong. cant wait to go home. 

thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend time with us. we hope to see you all very soon! 

xoxo hippo

day 16

last full day in taiwan before going home 

lunching with the family and handing out red envelopes for the kids

now off back south to kao hsiung to get ready to catch my plane tomorrow 

lots of rice farms on the way 

dinner time! grinding my own sesame sauce 

full set with miso soup, rice, steam egg

AND drink and ice cream! ate so much!!!! 

had to go walk around after this otherwise would definitely be tooooo stuffed to even sit!! 

staying at God mum's new place!! such a nice apartment in a very nice area! 

one last sleep before getting on the plane. having a sick gut feeling as usual... but will be home soon!!

xoxo hippo

day 15

today we leave tai chung 

bye bye aunties! i will miss you very very much! 

off to chia yi, aunty from the mum side of the family! 

we arrived and checked out their new renovations and then went out to dinner. after dinner its dessert time! 

icy pearls in syrup! 

super full from all the eating... holiday is slowly coming to an end! 

a few last minute packing to make sure everything fits and not over weight! 

xoxo hippo

Day 14

Very hard to blog with no pictures today as today was family day.

All the aunties came from near and far as well as a few cousins. It was great to see them and their kids it was a lot of eating and just chatting. It's rare to have so many people squeeze into a tiny apartment all in little kids stools eating! 

Hippo had too much fun listening to all the stories that he totally forgot about pictures! 

Xoxo hippo 

day 13

another quiet day as new year period. today is lunar jan 2 day thats when the married women go back to their parents. so more cars on the road but still not much stores open. 

we went to 3rd market today to have a look around 

so in taichung there are 4 daily markets they are the biggest ones. 

1st market - sells fruit, veg and meats and lots of chinese medicines

2nd market - sells fruit, veg and meats and little eateries

3rd market - sells more clothing/shoes

5th market - sells fruit, veg and meats with rows of little eateries 

obviously there is no 4th market because 4 has the same sound as death. 

there are smaller markets around that open up around sunset and others at sunrise. 

so we got some soupy noodles for lunch! 

went to high speed rail station to meet with pupu. lots of funny little things at the station. a bumblebeeeee

cardboard totoro

cardboard train! hippo thinks he is captain

cardboard Eiffel tower. hippo is determined to climb to the top to be like godzilla

a lego temple? 

sat in the sun with a nice afternoon snack waiting for pupu.

went out with distant cousins for dinner. shrimp cocktail to start off, hippo already drunk from whiskey. 

after dinner went for a walk around at the night markets. 

xoxo hippo

day 12

we went to rainbow town where a 93 year old man painted on some old buildings that were going to get torn down 

now its a big attraction. tour buses come to see the building 

hippo is looking for love

it was a warm day so hippo got bah boo  ice cream

hippo riding on rocking horse

then it was afternoon tea time and chilling  at home as no shops are really open. 

xoxo hippo

day 11

it is new years eve lunar 29th january, the day to have big feast! on the way to lunch we passed a temple, hippo got snatched by the... lion? tiger? i dont even know what it is! 

got hippo out of the things mouth and ran!

pork rib noodle soup! was so good to drink soupy noodle 

went to another market. full of hot pot stuff!!! could totally swim in it! 

feasting time! 

so full after all the food but its new years eve so its constant snacking all the way through. 

after the wine hippo zonked out!

xoxo hippo

day 10

today go to the markets to pick up the chicken we ordered along with filling up the fridge for new year feast!

they have new signs! 

TOMATOES! super sweet! 

fish balls, beef balls, pork balls, shrimp balls... all types of balls! 

come home and do more cleaning and eating!! :D

xoxo hippo

day 9

today being the last weekday before new years so off to the markets before the weekend rush

cake stuff

all the food!

walking through the maze

seafood

lining up to buy lunch! 

was on the news briefly when buying this! hippo missed out on dinner with uncle! silly hippo with his short legs!

big pot of ginger duck soup on a cold windy night!

xoxo hippo

Day 8

After a late night kitchen clean.. Took a little break today to go on a 2 wheel tour of Tai Chung

Off we gooooo...

Just down the road.. Apparently we live in the match making industry. This is all that is left now that the buildings have been taken down and turned into apartments. 

We stopped at an art studio... Hippo thought he had found a new home! 

Had morning tea at the cafe in the studio

Hippo trying to read Chinese... I think you are reading it the wrong way! 

Microphone testing.. Microphone testing... 1-2-3

Found rows of tables and chairs just like they had at school in the olden days! 

Next stop we arrive at Confucius temple... Let's see what Confucius has to say...

Knocking on the door...

Wahhhhh... Hippo says that's a big temple for 1 guy...

Instead of the stairs... Hippo decided to climb up dragon mountain...

Climbing on where the essence are burnt to get a better view inside... No ones home! 

Hippo saw the tiled roofing and wanted to do some Kung fu roof running full ninja style! 

Hippo caught being a peeping Tom through the window! 

We stopped at dads primary school

And at dads high school

Then stopping at a tiny almond drink store in a tiny little alleyway

 Stinky tofu for lunch.. Hippo crawling inch by inch towards the smell..

Stopped by a little park on the way home that has heaps of little Japanese buildings. 

Hippo thinks he's a panda now... Climbing through bamboo trees! 

Saw big hairy looking tree! 

Then it was home to do more cleaning as its getting closer to New Years!

Xoxo hippo