Taichung Deuxième Partie

Of course the merriment and crazy playing continued for the two remaining days we had in Taichung.

I don't think the boys managed a nap on any of the days that we were there. There was way too much excitement: time was too precious and could not be wasted on sleep!

We kicked off Thursday morning by heading to an outlet mall almost an hour away.  Our kids, being true Hong Kong babies, are frightfully unused to any car trips that exceed 20 or 30 minutes.  They were thankfully pretty happy and in good spirits during the car ride, especially with their Tonies box to accompany them (btw, I am a fan).

At the mall, the kids ran around playing and enjoyed little fishing and arts and crafts games to while away the time. 

We had some casual lunch, then we were off to the main event - a little wooden fantasy Wonderland where the kids had two hours to play and I was endlessly impressed by how much they crammed into such a compact space.  Wow!!

After that, it was some shoe shopping (pink Ariel princess flats for Lola, red McQueen light up sneakers for Al, and nothing for Teo, though not for my lack of trying - he was adamant he didn't want new shoes) and snack time, running around and just generally having a good time in the basement of the mall.

After a nearly hour long drive back to Taichung city center (perfect time for some singing and napping in the car), we just hung out in the hotel until the cousins came back to play.  Then the boys went to bed and we went out (Lola included) for an extra special hotpot treat.  

The restaurant I love/live/die for in Taichung is DingWang, a hotpot restaurant that serves up a mixed hotpot of spicy duck's blood and tofu soup base, and a pickled cabbage and pork soup base.  This time it was situated conveniently right next to our hotel!  Amazing.  Their spicy is not terribly spicy but it is so flavorful, and if you throw in some spicy goose or pig intestine, the unlimited duck's blood and tofu (all that I really want to eat anyway), and the sour plum juice, I'm sold.  I always eat here until my stomach is distended and starts to ache.

It was a great end to another very happy day in Taichung, and I think one of Lola's most excited days yet - she probably didn't make it to bed until after 10 pm!  For us, it was so great to see her getting along with her cousins and how much fun they had being silly and crazy together.