Early in the morning Yan-Shih and I took the bus to the hotel, knocked on the door, and wandered across the street to a breakfast plane. Quite a bit of food was ordered, enough for them to sample, and soon we were off. Yan-Shih needed to check in with her work to take another day off, so I brought my parents to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. We left the MRT and walked into the pavilion; the National Theater and National Concert Hall on either side of us. I can only imagine for my parents the feeling of being in a place that they had seen via photograph just weeks before. We walked up the steps to see CKS' huge statue, glanced at the guards, walked around the garden some, and headed to the Taiwanese Handicraft shop.
The store is what you would expect, various art pieces (most likely overpriced) from various parts of Taiwan. Many were magnificent, as I tried to curb Cathy and my dad from making any premature purchases. After looking at all the floors we walked out, across the street, and into the 2-28 park. We chatted throughout the entire park, exited near the corner and glanced at the Presidential Palace (Cathy initially thought it was a train station). We walked around the park again and finally met up with Yan-Shih. Next we strolled toward Taipei Main Station, purchased some Jin Ju Nai Cha (a heavenly drink), and walked into the station. Yan-Shih and my dad bought the tickets to Yingge, a ceramic town that was on Cathy's “must see” list. The train ride was quick and pleasant. We left the train and walked along a busy road to the museum, which represented a fine mixture of ceramic history and art. The museum itself is creatively designed. Cathy appeared to be in heaven.
After the museum we walked across a very busy road and finally into a noodle place. With noodles consumed we walked up to the Old Street ceramic section. Unknown to me, but my dad is addicted to teapots, or at least teapot shopping. Like a little kid wandering through a mall of toy shops, he popped in and out of stores with impressive consistency. For those of us not obsessed with teapots, we knew what the antagonist in our nightmares would be.
We spent several hours teapot shopping.
Soon we boarded the train back to Taipei and found our car rental place. We signed the forms, paid the deposit, and scheduled to come back the next day. Yan-Shih called her mom and arranged to meet her at the Shao Shao Ke restaurant, one of the finest cuisines in Taipei. Shortly we met up, and introduced our parents. With the possibility of so many things that could go wrong, dinner was a delight. The food was amazing, no mores were broken, and everybody had fun. We all said goodbye, Yan-Shih left with her mom, and I escorted my parents back to their hotel. I said goodbye, and wandered back “home” quite late a night. The next day would be long one.
This entry is from my journal and was written on April 25, 2007. It's been tagged with Travel and Family and Yan-Shih. There have been 0 comments so far.