On our second day in Taichung, Lola attacked the breakfast buffet and happily munched on a bun in each hand. She also really enjoyed pressing the up and down buttons for the elevator, one set of which was at her height. The nicest things about the La Vida are the free breakfast and the on-site parking directly below the hotel lobby - so convenient and essential when traveling with a little one!
At the science museum, Lola was pretty reluctant to enter the exhibit itself (she wanted to go on the elevator instead). Every time we put her down, she would make a beeline for the exit, no matter how far away it was. Eventually, though, we got to an exhibit of a crocodile, which she really liked because of the "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" song.
When we got to the grand finale, which was a huge T-rex and smaller animated T-rex's, Lola's eyes got huge and her mouth dropped open. She was scared but trying very hard not to show it.
She kept trying to get away from the exhibit - but when none of her attempts worked, she suddenly said very clearly, "Lola boo boo," and "mmm mmmmm" which are the sounds she makes to indicate that she has to go to the bathroom. Well of course we then rushed off to find a bathroom, only to discover that this was just an escape mechanism that she concocted to get out of the dinosaur exhibit! We should have known better - she never signals that clearly if she actually really does have to go to the bathroom...
After all that exertion, we all needed a break. Flush from her recent adventures, Lola enjoyed a banana at the bottom of the museum steps. Then we were out in the warm muggy air again, ready to head to our next destination!
The play space was awesome - basically, a huge, sprawling, double decker building full of individual play rooms. The idea is, for any kids' party or meal, you can book a private room with its own set of slides, ball pit and other toys, and adults eat while the kids play. Brilliant! Lola started off in her dress but we quickly realized she would be better able to climb and play in pants, so she got an outfit change.
We also participated in a small ceremony for Bo Bo - apparently a little fun Taiwanese tradition that I didn't know about - he got to wear this ring of cookies as a necklace, and then every adult came up to help him wipe his drool with it, and confer a little blessing on him. I was called to say something and was very flustered so just wished him great intelligence and courage! The cookies were really adorable though.
As the kids played, the adults sat down to a huge meal. I ordered a beef and cheese milk based hotpot. In retrospect, I wish I had gone for the sour plum broth base. But clearly, as you can see, I was indulging in hotpot at every possible turn. Here Lola is giving a hug to our close family friend, Tina.
They let Lola take balloons every morning. On the first day Lola chose blue and yellow. By the end of our trip Lola had amassed a nice collection of blue, yellow, pink, red and purple balloons.
After breakfast, we went to check out the various exhibits about planet earth, fossils and dinosaurs at the science museum. Lola wore her very colorful floral dress and rain boots, which was very fitting given it was a rainy day, and had her hair in a beautiful little side French braid.
At the science museum, Lola was pretty reluctant to enter the exhibit itself (she wanted to go on the elevator instead). Every time we put her down, she would make a beeline for the exit, no matter how far away it was. Eventually, though, we got to an exhibit of a crocodile, which she really liked because of the "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" song.
When we got to the grand finale, which was a huge T-rex and smaller animated T-rex's, Lola's eyes got huge and her mouth dropped open. She was scared but trying very hard not to show it.
She kept trying to get away from the exhibit - but when none of her attempts worked, she suddenly said very clearly, "Lola boo boo," and "mmm mmmmm" which are the sounds she makes to indicate that she has to go to the bathroom. Well of course we then rushed off to find a bathroom, only to discover that this was just an escape mechanism that she concocted to get out of the dinosaur exhibit! We should have known better - she never signals that clearly if she actually really does have to go to the bathroom...
Once we were past the dinosaur exhibit, we got to the interactive termite maze, which Lola loved. She kept running through the mazes at top speed, squealing as she eventually exited at a difference place each time. We could not tear her away from this place!
We went to a huge playspace/restaurant (again, I wish Hong Kong had more places like this)!
We only had the private room booked until 5:30 pm, and at that point
Lola was so tired that we thought she would collapse. But she still
wanted to play until the very last possible minute.
With all the excitement, Lola couldn't focus and ate terribly. She just wanted to go in the ball pit and the slides (except once she got up to the slides she would chicken out and back away, perhaps because the slides were too fast). As a result, she ended up eating some of her meal in her car seat on our way home.
Our second day in Taichung was another huge success!
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