Ok, this is the last post on Taichung! On our last full day, Friday, we headed in to Taichung proper for some urban exploration. First we went to a nearby 7 Eleven, which in Taiwan truly is a magical shop that has a little bit of everything, then revisited the nearby park and playground.
Then we headed to the Taichung Science Museum, where the kids played under the sun before we had lunch nearby, before heading in to the exhibits.
This is the only science museum in Taiwan and their dinosaur exhibit is particularly fun because some of them move!
One of my fondest memories from our last trip to Taichung with Lola was when she got scared of this exhibit but then was unwilling to admit it, so claimed she had to go to the bathroom. We should have known immediately that something was up! Ha!
After the museum, we headed to a nearby park to soak up the sun and let the kids run around. It was kind of fun to see how local kids play and interact. I was pleasantly surprised to see kids stripping down to bare feet and shorts to play with sand, which in the frigid weather I wasn't even prepared to allow my kids to do, but it went against all of my expectations that Taiwanese/Chinese people are deathly afraid of kids catching cold.
After that, we headed to the Fengjia nightmarket to have a wander and see if we could get the kids to play any carnival games. Unfortunately one of the small pop up nightmarkets that was chock full of amazing kids' games which we visited years ago has disappeared, and Fengjia is not so much for games as it is for food, so we didn't stay long. I have to say we were nearly frozen solid though, it was so windy and cold! We did get to eat some delicious fried scallion pancakes, some fresh egg waffles and lots of fruit.
Michael won a Pokémon keychain for Lola (huge crowning moment) but otherwise we just wasted a lot of money in pinball machines, claw machines and video games.
After that it was time to head home for a quick clothing change, and then to a large (and final) dinner gathering, as we knew we would be leaving on Saturday morning and this would be the last event with everyone. Because of the timing, this time I didn't get to see my dajiu and dajiuma (my mom's older brother and his wife) except this one dinner. But at least they got to meet the boys for the first time, and see Lola again!
The restaurant was very pretty, set in a house with different levels and we were in a private dining room (which was good because our kids were so loud and hyper - but all in the best way)!
The next morning, we woke up bright and early, went to the little neighborhood park one last time, and then got on the road to Taipei International Airport to make our way home!
In conclusion we are so grateful we got the chance to take this trip to Taiwan. It was in many ways colder and more tiring than we expected, but in so many other ways it was so rewarding and sweet. Memories that are made at the start of life nonetheless have deep meaning and may ultimately play a much larger role in our lives, shaping who we are, than we realize. After our trip my mom sent me two pictures from my own time traveling to Taiwan when I was five and a half, and playing and hanging out with my cousins (the very one with kids that my kids are playing with now!) So fun, right?
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