Kenting and Exploring Taichung

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Last week we took a trip to Kenting. Kenting is the very south of Taiwan. It's a 4-5 hour bus ride, which meant we got to watch lots of pirated DVDs-new and old. The one's that stick out in my mind are Pan's labyrinth, Harry Potter 5, and Transformers. We left bright and early Thursday morning (class was canceled for us for Thursday and Friday). Arriving around noon, we stopped for lunch. After lunch we went to the Kenting Aquarium, which was a lot of fun. After the aquarium (only took a couple hours to walk the whole way through) we checked into our hotel. Our hotel, with MATTRESSES(We do not have mattresses at school, we had tatami mats, which really lack in comfort). I think that was what all of us were looking forward to the most. (By the way, by "we" I mean the Puget Sound students and Umass students).

The hotel had an amazing view of a little in clove, where we promptly went swimming. We swam until dinner and for dinner we went to Smokey Joe's! You can't get more American than that. I love American restaraunts here, they put anything they think is "American" on display. In Smokey Joe's, there was a collection of American, Spanish, and Taiwan Aboriginal paraphernalia on display. But hey, whatever works, right? I had one of the best tasting burgers I've ever had the pleasure of eating (except, of course, for yours Dad!). After dinner we walked around a night market and then my roommates and I all promptly turned in for the night-eager for a full night on a real mattress (which was like sleeping on a cloud).

The next morning(Friday) we went Kenting National Park. It was beautiful. There was this great 360 degree lookout point that allowed for some amazing photos. After that, we checked out of the hotel and about half of us headed back for Taichung. Some people stayed an extra night, but essentially they left the field trip and had to find their own way back, instead of the bus the school had rented.

On Saturday, myself and 3-4 other people traveled around Taichung, checking out some points of interest mentioned in our travel guides. We stopped at a massive Buddha, the largest in Taichung. After Buddha, we went to a Confucian temple/martyr shrine. We are still unsure who the martyr(s) is/are. Perhaps Confucius? Anyway, we ended up waiting out a great thunderstorm there. After the rain let up a bit, we made our way to the Taichung Museum of Science. Though everything but the exhibit titles was in Chinese, we had a great time.

For a full collection of pictures, check out www.lifewithmeghan.myphotoalbum.com!!! And don't forget to leave a comment!! 😊

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Photos

Garden Eels
...I think that's their name.

4 1/2 Legs
Aboriginal culture in the hotel lobby