Saturday, June 9, 2012

Day 5 (Kaohsiung) - part 2 of 2

While at the Confucius Temple in Kaohsiung a Taiwanese man standing next to us asked where we were from.  We've been telling people Indiana... near Chicago because most Taiwanese we talk to have no idea where the state of Indiana is but they've heard of Chicago.  Anyway, the man was noticing that Kevin was wearing a Butler University t-shirt.  He said that he went to the University of Indianapolis.  Haha!  I pointed to the shirt and told him that I was the Butler Alum (Butler is located in Indianapolis a few miles north of the University of Indianapolis), and that we actually lived near Fort Wayne.  Is this a small world, or what?

After visiting the Confucius Temple in Kaohsiung we walked along Lotus Lake.  I loved traveling with our iPhones so that I always knew where we were and occasionally took screen shots.




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Lotus lake is a man made lake in Kaohsiung that opened in 1951.  It is a popular tourist destination and is famous for the Spring and Autumn pavilions and Dragon and Tiger Pagodas.

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The Emperor of the Dark Heaven, a Taoist God, is getting a paint job.  He is extremely large and impressive.  In Taoist mythology, he defeated the demon king and is now a reminder that good always defeats evil.  My iPhone photos of this place do not do it justice.  Please visit this site to view beautiful photos of Lotus Lake.  Would love to make another trip here at night.  The night time photos of Lotus Lake are just lovely.  For photographer friends, this was my favorite place that we visited on our trip.  One could spend all day here exploring the intricate works of art here.

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Kevin is getting is fortune from one of the fortune telling machines.  I've seen things like this in movies and on tv, but never in person before.

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Hannah always enjoys feeding koi.  I really liked feeding the turtles and watching there little heads snap up the food. The first second photo below was borrowed from Amanda. (Thanks, Amanda!)  Aren't the two baby turtles on top of a big turtle cute?

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Kevin went for a little scooter ride while the ladies walked along the lake.

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Amanda is going to be such a good mommy!  She had lots of stroller practice today.

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Of course, we have photos of what we ate while we walked around the lake!  I had never heard of these before.  These are wheel cakes, and are a one of the most common desserts in Taiwan.  They were piping hot and so so so good.  I've read that they are a popular treat a night markets.  The flavors that we had are pictured below.  First is custard, taro, and traditional red bean.  Liked them all!  Then there's a photo of the shop that sold them.  Yum yum yum.

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It started raining pretty hard, so we sought shelter at an elementary school and hung out in the courtyard. It was Saturday, so school was not in session. Amanda took this photo of all of us on our smart phones at the same time. Hannah's frustrated because she wants to be playing with one as well.  (Photo credit to Amanda!)

Below are photos of the elementary school, their track, and playground. Notice the really big kid on the playground equipment.

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Our favorite stop were the Dragon and Tiger pagodas.  It was raining quite a bit, but I'm so glad that we pressed on and got a little wet.  Dragons and tigers are favorable auspicious symbols.  The dragon’s throat is the entrance and the tiger’s mouth is the exit. Entering a dragon’s throat and coming out tiger‘s mouth symbolizes turning bad luck to good fortune. Inside the bellies there are paintings that depict China’s 24 most obedient sons and scenes of heaven and hell to inspire people to do good deeds during their lifetime, and to provide threatening examples of retribution for wrongdoing.  No kidding!  Some of those paintings were pretty scary!

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Kevin and Hannah enjoyed climbing the steps up the pagoda. It started raining pretty hard again at this point. Can you find Kevin and Hannah?

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There they are!  Hey, guys!  Climb down and let's get a taxi and call it a day.  We're getting soaked.  We went back to our friends' home, ordered a pizza, ate some lychee fruit, and spent the rest of the day indoors while it rained... and rained... and rained....
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Other thank meeting Hudson, this day was my favorite day of our trip. Thankful to be blessed with such fabulous friends!

2 comments:

  1. Ahh . . . glad to know this day was one of your faves!! We enjoyed it too!! :D And, really the rain actually did help it to be more enjoyable since it killed the heat and blocked the sun. Otherwise, I really think it would have been unbearable pretty quickly.

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  2. What a cool place to visit! Something to add to my list when we visit Taiwan again. My husband loves lychee, me and Lexie, not so much! His grandpa used to grow them when he was little.

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