Da Shan!

Da Shan (Big Mountains in Chinese)!

Our college applications are in sealed envelopes and ready for a hand delivery tomorrow.  Somehow living in a foreign country and not speaking the language makes everything complicated.  Imagine that!  After an extremely complicated application process, we have completed applications for two universities in Taiwan and three scholarships.  What a relief to have them complete!  Applying as an international student to graduate schools makes applying for colleges in high school seem like a breeze. Both of the schools are in Hsinchu.  Hsinchu has grown on us during our time here so we thought it would be nice to stay in the same city where we already know the lay of land, a few people and a nice church.  We'll let y'all know the outcome in May!

College Applications are almost complete! What a complicated process and a lot of paper to submit. 

Even with the college applications, we have still managed to squeeze in some trips.  Imagine that one, too! The Rockwells are never finding the time to go play in Taiwan ;)

First of all, we received a lovely gift from James' grandparents, Gammy and Roger.  James was more than thrilled to receive a box of Gammy's famous cookies.  Many of you may remember these cookies from our wedding.  Although the cookies did not last long, James did share a few crumbs.  As we have mentioned before, we have a few stray dog friends around town.  We are particularly fond of our dog friend that we affectionately named "Wo Chi" ("I eat" in Chinese) that watches our scooter while we run along the coast.  When we arrived, Wo Chi enthusiastically greeted us as normal.  James fed him a few crumbs from Gammy's Pecan Sandie cookies.  The dog loved it.  When we returned from our run 45 minutes later, we had a little surprise.  Wo Chi told the neighborhood about the delicious cookies.  Two other dogs were hanging out by the scooter with Wo Chi anxiously awaiting our arrival.  I think the dogs were pretty disappointed there weren't more cookie crumbs to share. They also probably called Wo Chi a liar.  We learned two important lessons that day: 1. Feed the dogs at the end of the run. 2. Everyone loves Gammy's cookies!

Gammy Cookies and other surprises!

For some crazy reason, ultramarathon man James signed up for a 54k run in Neiwan.  Since the race started at 5am, we decided it would be best to stay in the night in Neiwan.  Neiwan is a mountain town about a 45 minute scooter drive from Hsinchu.  On Saturday, we did a small hike with a group of friends and our church pastor outside of Neiwan.  We hiked to the ruins of a Japanese Fort.  The Japanese controlled Taiwan between 1895 and 1945.  During the hike, our pastor made a hilarious comment that I must share relating to the way time passed while living in Taiwan.  I have written before about the strange slow way time passes here.  Our pastor said the best way to calculate your time living in Taiwan is by doing it in dog years.  I am in complete agreement!

The Japanese Fort

Enjoying some vegetarian rice dumplings wrapped in banana leaves in the sunshine by the river and swinging bridge in Neiwan.  I can't imagine a nicer way to spend the afternoon. 

James and I stayed the night at a Bed and Breakfast since there were no hostel options in Neiwan. The experience was very personal.  The owner, a middle aged Taiwanese woman, cooked us dinner and breakfast.  She even made a breakfast at 4 am for James and the other racers staying in her B&B.  The place looked like I had decorated it when I was in high school. It looked like the way I decorated my bedroom. She painted the ceiling with clouds and covered the walls in butterflies, flowers and lady bugs. I loved her choices of bright colors, too!  James will have to write more about the race itself.  I enjoyed a nice long run on a gorgeous country road going up a mountain while James ran in his race (I had a few hours until he finished) and met James at the finish line to find him with a smile on his face.  I don't know how he finishes a 5 hour race looking so happy and with so much energy, but it happens almost every race!  We even made it to 1:30 pm church service in Hsinchu!

**Race Report from James**
I saw at least 50 people running barefoot.  I ate probably $40 US in tomatoes at the aid stations.  My race was fueled by tomatoes!  The aid stations also had weird Asian cookies, bananas, tofu, and some kind of pork, maybe pork skins.  Gross.  The race course ran 20k up a mountain, 7k down the backside to the turn-around point, then 7k back up the mountain, to a 20k downhill descent to the finish.  It was rather brutal, but a beautiful course with excellent weather.  And the race was called 'King of the World Ultra Marathon'.  So I guess that means I am now a King?

Ultramarathon Man James - always smiling

This past weekend we traveled to the BIG mountains of central Taiwan.  Friday was a national holiday, 2/28 Peace Day.  On February 28, 1947 in Taiwan, many civilians were killed due to protests and government unrest. We took advantage of the holiday and traveled with the couple from our church small group to Huan mountain.  It is literally right in central Taiwan.  The mountains were huge!!!!!!  The area is known as the Swiss Alps of Taiwan.

We arrived mid-day on Friday. The weather was not as delightful as we had hoped but we had a few good views when the clouds occasionally parted.  The area was packed with tourists for one main reason: snow.  The Taiwanese are not used to seeing snow.  Snow can only be found in Taiwan in the high mountains during the winter. We actually saw people filling up buckets with snow.  We are assuming they were bringing them home to keep in their freezers.  Also, tourists seemed to enjoy making small snowmen and putting them on their car windshields.  As you can imagine, this whole scene of excitement over a small amount of snow seemed odd to our group which included James from Michigan, one friend from New York City and another friend from Ohio.

We felt so small compared to these huge mountains. 

It was so cold!!!!! 

Glad that's not our scooter...

We hiked up a well traveled trail up a mountain.  The trail was more difficult than anticipated due to the snowy steps.  The descent was dangerous but quite enjoyable.  We (well, actually just James and I) were literally snowboarding down the snowy sections in our running shoes.  Our shoes were soaked but I could not stop giggling.  I think the other couple we were with probably wonder about our sanity and think we lead them to hikes where their lives are at risk :)

The Taiwanese LOVED the snow!

Hiking in the snow.  The descent was the fun part!

All the Taiwanse loved that we were wearing shorts. Ohh, those crazy Americans!

The next morning James and I awoke early to watch the sunrise.  We enjoyed a sunrise run up the mountain to the Cingjing Farm.  After a delicious breakfast at the B&B (James and I are spoiling ourselves with all of the B&Bs), we went back to the Cingjing Farm with our friends.  The Farm has sheep from New Zealand that graze on the land.  Once again, I was amused by the pure joy of the Taiwanese seeing and petting sheep.  I suppose we are spoiled in the US by having the opportunities to see snow and go to petting zoos, as well as James and I are spoiled from seeing an endless amount of sheep in New Zealand. We also enjoyed a horse show.  The horses were from Mongolia.  I don't know if this is a regular show or something new for the Chinese year of the horse.  Nonetheless, I always enjoy seeing horses.  We were even able to pet the horses after the show and take pictures.

Sunrise.  The building is the Old England Bed and Breakfast.  It really looks like a building from England. 

The campgrounds here are quite different than in the US.  Everyone pitches their tents right next to each other (often times right next to the road) and there are no camp fires. 

The cherry blossoms were in bloom. 

Sheep!

Wow...sunrise in the mountains is breathtaking!

I think we should send this picture into Runner's World magazine. 

The rays of sunshine shining through the clouds are always a good reminder of God's beauty for me. 

Look at all those sheep. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the Swiss Alps I experienced in 2005 when I studied abroad in Europe.  I would not personally compare Huan Mountain to the Swiss Alps, but that's just me.  Each place is beautiful in its own way. 

We headed home on Saturday evening.  It's amazing how you'll cut a trip a short to get a car back before you are charged for another day.  This makes me like the public transportation with few time constraints in Taiwan more and more! James and I did not want the vacation to end so we enjoyed the evening in downtown Hsinchu. The local glass museum set up an art display in the river canal.  The combination of the lanterns and glass displays was quite nice and romantic.

Let's hope the February showers bring March flowers (rather than March monsoons)!  Love y'all!

Facts & Fiction - Chinese New Year Taiwan + Michelle's Visit

Unlike many expats in Taiwan, we decided to stay in Taiwan for the Chinese New Year.  This year we "only" received four days off from work.  Most years, there are around nine days for the CNY.  Thankfully, we had a special visitor from America so we were given an excuse to face the crowds and explore Taiwan.

My friend from Atlanta (she was in Sorella Cycling with me and we attended the same church) is a pilot.  Her CNY started off with good luck, because she rode in first class for the 19 hour flight! She escaped from Snowmagedon in Atlanta, yet she brought great weather for Taiwan.

Michelle was a real trouper.  She traveled in Rockwell fashion!  We started off the trip by bringing her straight to a hostel in Taipei.  The next morning we discovered fact #1 about CNY in Taipei - the majority of restaurants are closed.  That did not stop us from our adventuring to the east coast.  We started the trip with an incredible day in Juifen doing the Teapot Mountain hike.  You may recall James and I doing this hike during the summer.  Michelle got to experience some of the crazy climbs on Taiwanese hikes.  She did well, but whenever I would get nervous, she would, too.  Honestly, she made me feel better about myself because I sometimes get shaky on these climbs while James just bounces right up them (along with the 80 year old Taiwanese hiker men).  Thanks Michelle!

Happy Hostel in Taipei - Gotta love this place

The coolest hostel owner ever!  He has owned hostels in Taipei for like 35 years.  He has traveled around the world to visit people that have stayed at his hostels.  Maybe you will see him in Atlanta one day. 

First meal in Taiwan - Rice noodles and greens (she will get more adventurous in her food choices with time)

Teapot Mountain - What a beautiful day!

Holding the teapot

Michelle is truly embracing the adventure of this hike as she climbs up the mountain using ropes. 

Michelle was ready to hit up a night market.  We took the bus to Keelung after the hike.  Keelung is a town on the coast famous for their night market.  Turning the corner in the bus in Keelung offered us a pleasnat surprise.  The Luck Duck!!!!!!!  My eyes lit up like a kid's at Christmas!!!!!  Luckily we had that excitement for the visit to Keelung because the night market was more crowded than a concert.  We literally could not walk through the crowds! Fact #2 - Tourist spots are crazy busy!

LUCK DUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

Luck Duck cotton candy

The following morning we rented U-Bikes in Taipei.  U-Bikes are a shared bike program in Taipei.  Unfortunately, we could not figure out how to rent three bikes with only two Taiwanese bank debit cards which makes no sense (we figured out how this works later).  So, Michelle and I took the bikes along the lovely river path in Taipei.  Once again, I am thoroughly impressed and amazed by this river path.  We biked around 15 miles of all path all the way to the west coast to a town called Danshui.  We checked out the street food (and realized that every other stand was fried squid).  Then, we took a ferry across the bay to the fisherman's wharf.  The day turned overcast and we were not impressed with the area at all.  After we found a restaurant to eat Japanese Ramen, the place became much nicer.  Apparently, we were all starving!

Sorella Cycling ladies reunited in Taiwan with our U-Bikes in Danshui

We were all looking forward to Monday.  We planned to go to the famous Lantern Festival.  The Lantern Festival is held every year around the time of CNY in a mountain town called Pingxi not too far outside of Taipei.  Well, us and the rest of Taiwan decided to go there, too.  We rode on the famous scenic mountain line train, but we were all packed in like sardines so we couldn't see much.  We hopped off at the first stop for a hike.  The hike was gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better.  We saw several waterfalls.  We even made a stray dog friend that we named Gimpo.  He was missing one foot.  He hiked with us for about an hour until we hit the crowded town again.

That's a real swinging rope bridge if I've ever seen one

Ohh Ahh - a waterfall!

View from on top of the waterfall.  Michelle was brave in her photography over the edge. 

Gimpo!  He may have been missing one foot but he had no problems keeping up with us. 

In the town after our hike, we painted our own lantern to release.  We wrote every Chinese character we know on the lantern (which is a pathetic amount), some scripture from the Bible, and an American flag. This was a really special experience!  We had thought the big release of lanterns was in the same town after dark.  However, we discovered while Michelle was buying some souvenir presents, the big release was a few stops further on the train line.  We tried to get on a train but it was so packed that no one else could squeeze in!  No picture would do this justice.  There was no way we were making it there.  We enjoyed watching the release of some of the lanterns made by tourists in the town we were in and then headed back on once again an incredibly crowded train.

Perfect day for the Lantern Festival

Go USA! 

Oops! I don't think that's supposed to happen...

The big release!  We look so happy in this picture that it makes me giggle. 

Lanterns in the night sky

Ugh.  The crowded train platform. 

Even worse...the crowded train ride!

The weather turned rainy and overcast on Tuesday.  I think we all needed a "rest" day though.  So, we did a walking tour of the main attractions in Taipei near our hostel.  James and I finally got to see the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial that we have tried to visit twice now but it was always closed.  We even got to somewhat see (while peering through a crowd) the changing of the guards.

Peace Park

Chiang Kai-Shek memorial - changing of the guards

Michelle felt Taipei 101 was a must-do for her visit.  We headed on the MRT to Taipei 101.  Unfortunately, the weather had really turned sour once we arrived so we scratched the hike on Elephant Mountain.  We wondered around the high-end mall in Taipei 101 and ate at the food court instead.  The famous dumpling restaurant in Taipei 101 had a 101 minute wait so we scratched that idea, too. Michelle decided that she wanted to go to the top even though the weather was bad.  She sweet-talked James and I into going with her by buying our tickets.  Thanks again Michelle!  The elevator ride was insanely fast.  It's the fastest elevator in the world!  Although we could see basically nothing from the top, we enjoyed checking out the other entertainment at the top.  The building is an engineering wonder (at least that's what was written all over the place).  There is a huge damper open for viewing.  The damper prevents the building from swaying when the wind blows!

Taipei 101 - Not looking like a good day for viewing from the top

Hmm...great view. We could see a few cars and roads down below. Looking down will make your stomach turn.

The damper that the Taiwanese nicknamed "Damper Baby" and created their own cartoon character.  Good way to sell souvenirs.  The Taiwanese will buy cute stuff.  

James sticking his tongue out at the damper baby and me kissing it.  Somehow the yellow damper baby reminds me of a GA Tech yellow jacket so I felt drawn to this one. 

Unfortunately, I had to work on Wednesday so we returned to Hsinchu on Tuesday evening.  Michelle took a train to Neiwan (our local mountain stomping grounds) while I worked.  The weather was not too lovely but I was pretty impressed she embraced the adventure alone.  Any place outside of Taipei is quite intimidating for tourists who do not speak English.  James and I remember what it was like when we first arrived (hey...we even know what it's like now!).

James was an incredible travel agent for Michelle and I.  He was determined for us to end our trip on a good note. The crowds were starting to die down from the holiday rush.  We were able to get train tickets to the east coast town of Hualien.  Finally, Michelle got to enjoy having a seat on the train!!!!  It was delightful.

We arrived in Hualien and almost immediately rented bikes.  What else would you expect two Sorella Cycling ladies to do?  We were riding in style on two cruisers, baskets and all.  After struggling to find the river path, we managed to navigate our way to the strikingly gorgeous east coast shore.  Of course, we stuck our bare feet in the sand and the water.

The beautiful east coast bicycle path and our cool cruiser bikes

We continued to ride the path along the coast.  The path became confusing (because everything is confusing in Taiwan especially when you barely speak and read Chinese).  We ended up befriending two Taiwanese men who were riding their bikes in the same direction.  One spoke limited English.  When the path ended, we hit a road known for cycling that starts to follow the mountains along the coast line.  We decided to continue following them.  The best part is that one of the men was wearing a corduroy shirt, dress pants and dress shoes.  Seriously, I can't make these things up! Michelle and I continued further than them.  We turned around in a parking lot.  A really cute Taiwanese baby found interest in us along with his three year old brother.  Before Michelle and I could blink an eye, their parents were putting the kids in our bike baskets and taking our picture!  Michelle is finally the celebrity she always knew she should be.  Our picture is probably all over facebook right now!

We walked what seemed like 10 miles to find a dumpling restaurant in Hualien that Lonely Planet recommended.  We arrived at the restaurant at 8:02 pm.  Well, they would not feed us because they stop servicing customers at 8:00 pm. Just like everything in life, everything works out.  This time it was in our favor.  We went to the next restaurant we saw and had an amazing meal!

The next morning, Michelle and I were picked up at our hotel by Tonny for a tour of Taroko Gorge.  James and his friends used Tonny as their tour guide last month.  He was great and we really enjoyed spending the day with him.  Although, we had a rough start with Tonny.  A few minutes after we entered his taxi (yes, the whole tour was in his taxi), he told us that he thought he saw us the day before.  He asked what time our train came into Hualien.  He said he asked us if we needed a taxi and we completely ignored him.  Wow!  He really just called us out.  Ha!  Guess we should be nicer next time.

Taroko was amazing and I really see why it is Taiwan's top tourist destination.  We enjoyed the same sites and walks that James did.  However, we really enjoyed the hot springs unlike James and his friends.  We changed into our swimsuits and stuck our whole legs into the natural springs.  Michelle was a pro.  I could barely stick my toe in some of the pools and she was walking through them!  However, she did not even compare to the elderly couple that put their whole bodies in the hottest pool.

Lovely Taroko...a must-do for all visitors to Taiwan going forward.

Ready for the Curtain Cave!

Michelle had really wanted some fresh fish while in Taiwan.  She had read about the abundant amount of fresh fish in coastal towns in Taiwan.  Somehow, this mission was extremely difficult.  Tonny hooked us up with a great place.  We had hot pot and Michelle finally got her fish (and enjoyed it).

Final meal in Taiwan - delicious hot pot

I was sad to see Michelle leave on Saturday morning.  I really miss having close female relationships here and awesome women in my life like Michelle.  Speaking for Michelle, I think she enjoyed Taiwan overall (although she may tell you differently :) ). She was impressed by how cheap eating out is here but overwhelmed by the crowds.  She became more adventurous (especially with food) in the seven days she was here and fell in love with steamed buns (who can blame her).  It was a memorable trip for her, James and myself and a great way to start the CNY.  By the way, the time change seemed to never affect her.  I feel like a wimp since it took me two weeks to adjust!

Michelle took the good weather with her.  The cold rain is upon us again and just in time to welcome monsoon season in March and April.  Guess it's time to buy some galoshes!  Actually, Hsinchu recorded the lowest temperature in Taiwan (in the low-lands) yesterday with a morning temp of 6.9 degrees C.  Thats 44 degrees Fahrenheit!!!!  "Makes for a brutal scooter ride", said James Rockwell.

**Facts & Fiction - Chinese New Year Taiwan: Everything we heard was a fact - the crowds, places being closed, and packed trains.  If James and I are here for CNY 2015, we will join the other expats and take a beach trip to Thailand :)