iPhone iMpact
Man Apple might as well be a phone company.
[via Gizmodo]
Tomorrow is a big day folks.
SincereLi,
Andy
Taiwan Last 3 Days Recap
Since I just didn’t have the time to update everyday when I was in Taiwan I wanted to share my favorite pictures that were left over from the last 3 or 4 days spent in Taiwan.
There’s nothing like coming back home and being back home but looking at these pictures just makes me smile.
I can’t believe I come back to the states and NBC is getting rid of my man Conan. At least TV is back and we actually have things to watch again. We came back and our DVR was full that’s a great feeling.
SincereLi,
Andy
Taiwan Motion
It’s the night before I’m leaving to go back home to Rockville and I’m reflecting on the last 9 days that I have been here in Taiwan. I have to say that this is the most memorable trip I have ever taken to Taiwan. The number of trips that you can take with your family when you are my age are truly numbered. Sarah and I will have our own family at one point and taking trips like this will be so hard to coordinate and probably won’t happen very often. Getting to see my grandparents who I don’t get to see very often was worth the trip itself. Also, allowing Sarah to meet everyone and just getting the blessings of so many extended family and friends we still have here was truly amazing too.
I will remember this trip for many years to come and keep many fond memories close to my heart. Not all good things come to an end but this trip is. I can’t wait to see Rocky and eat an all American hamburger and maybe some Chipotle as soon as I get home.
I tried my best to shoot video along side of taking pictures when I was here in Taiwan which proved much harder than I thought it was going to be. There’s a fine line between spending your time looking for the best shots to shoot verses enjoying your time exploring and absorbing your surroundings. I put together this short video as a really quick and simple recap of our trip to Taiwan.
Be back home soon!
SincereLi,
Andy
Hard Hats
Day 6 was all about finishing the drive to Taipei the mountains. We drove by some of the most scary twists and turns on this oversized bus and some cars still wanted to pass us. We got to appreciate the many people who died building this road just so that the trip for us to Taipei would only be a 2 hour drive verses before these tunnels and roads were made it would have been either impossible or an extremely long drive for a bus like ours.
On the way they took us to a marble/jade factory and quickly showed us how they make the stones before forcing us into the show room to buy things. That’s typical in all the asian tours that I have ever been on. I remember they did the same to us when it was just the guys in China. However, when I was in the jade shop I spotted this woman that did the worst makeup job I have ever seen in my life. I couldn’t even look into her eyes. I mean you make your own opinion but why doesn’t someone help her out?
Then it was back on the road again to see the shrine they made in the mountains for those that died for the construction of the road. It was an option to walk 1 km of the road to appreciate both the beauty and the difficulty to build and of course we did it. Any chance to get off that bus was an opportunity taken.
We had to wear hard hats because of falling rock. I didn’t see any but I guess I’ll take their word for it. Until finally we stopped at our last view of the coast before entering the city. I have truly been able to see Taiwan in a light that I have never seen before this trip through the mountains and the coasts of Taiwan. Although seeing the skyline and the bright signs in Taipei as we entered the city brought such a familiar and great feeling to me.
Tomorrow it’s all about Taipei and we finally meet up with some more family!
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
Taipei or Bust
We started our journey around the whole country of Taiwan a whole week ago and even though I’m in our hotel room in Taipei now it was just two days ago when we were still driving through the coast of Taiwan on our way to Taipei.
Every one was feeling better and spirits were much higher after every one got a good nights sleep and did our best to purge all the bad food from our systems. Daddy is still to this day feeling a little weak when it comes to his stomach but pretty much every one else is feeling normal again.
Day 5 on our journey was all about he coast of Taiwan. We visited different parts of the coast that were all equally beautiful and unique. We stopped to drink tea overlooking the coast and just relaxed. It was an amazing feeling to just sit there with our family and take it all in. We stopped by the Tropic of Cancer marker on our way to Taipei too. The one thing that the Chinese can definitely do is make landmarks and shrines for things. This was a pretty amazing marker for the crossing of the Tropic of Cancer.
Rather then risk eating something bad again we decided to just get lunch at 7 Eleven and it’s not just big bites and beef patties over here but they have legit chinese lunch boxes which were both good and clean. Here are some pictures.
Today we just finished our last wedding “reception” that took place in Taipei. It feels good to finally get the blessings of everyone in my family now that my uncle and grandparents have given their blessings. We have also met for the first time and receive the love and support of so many of my family’s friends that are still here in Taiwan. It’s an amazing feeling to know you have a great family that is behind you 100 percent.
I know I’m 48 hours behind so I’ll try to post pictures again soon!
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
Tour Guide Nightmare
Two days ago on our 4th day in Taiwan it started out just like any other day and It was both beautiful and fun going from place to place but ending in every tour guides nightmare.
We visited the southern most tip of Taiwan and it was extremely windy and beautiful. I guess since every time I visit Taiwan I usually just go to Taipei I forget that Taiwan is actually a volcanic tropical island. We also went to the lighthouse that protects the southern border of Taiwan. The very last place was a national park that we had to hike a pretty long way to a tower that allowed us to view a 360 degree view of the country’s boarders which was amazing but eventually led to the craziness that took place on the bus back to the hotel.
Within our tour group there are a bunch of lets say less than healthy Europeans and Americans. Most of them are overweight probably haven’t hiked or done much exercise in a long while. With the combination of the local food and the hiking the first thing that 2 people did when they got in the bus was to vomit into plastic bags. The drive to the hotel was suppose to be no more than 2 hours drive that turned into pulling over for people to throw up every few minutes and we didn’t end up making it to the hotel for 3 hours. Even worse was the chain reaction that started with just 2 people throwing up eventually led to 4 people throwing up. You know how you might not feel sick but when you have people throwing up time and time again around you it kind of makes you feel sick. My mom must have threw up 5 times on that bus ride because of that.
Right now my mom, dad and myself still feel a little sick because of that one night but Sarah seemed to have made it through that night unaffected by the madness. Anyways, here are some of the pictures of better times of that day.
I am feeling better now but hopefully my parents will feel better soon, please pray for them!
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
iPhone images
Sarah took a couple of pictures of me with her iPhone and I was impressed with how good they came out. Here 3GS camera can actually make for some decent composition because she has directional focus. I could never take pictures that looks like this with my iPhone or at least it would be a lot harder.
The images are still a little noisy under lower light as compared to that last one in better lighting but none the less pretty good pictures from a really small camera on a phone.
SincereLi,
Andy
Night Market
Yesterday was a much more relaxed day where we were visiting temples and museums. Maybe it’s because we live in the Smithsonian area it’s hard to impress me when it comes to museums but the Taiwanese museums were much like the Smithsonian ones except a lot smaller and not as cool. I guess because the fact that our country is way bigger we should have a lot more stuff.
We had our first passion fruit bubble tea in Taiwan today and it was not what we were use to but it was still pretty good. I took a picture of the greezy guy that made the tea for me since I know at moments like this Sunny and Dub would be reaching for each other’s balls. There was definitely something in the tea that was different then tapioca, i mean would you drink bubble tea from this dude?
The Night Market was the probably the most fun that we had yesterday night. It’s just booming with lights and people. It’s so funny how the people here have no sense of personal space or manners that we all take for granted. People butt in line, push you out of the way, and get in your face just to get what they want first. This wasn’t the night market that Sunny and I had went to when we were kids but rather a complete different one that my parent’s had never been either. Sarah got to experience the stinky tofu for the first time and you can imaging her reaction to the smell. We had another amazing day here in Taiwan so check out the photos.
Until next time.
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
Sun Moon Lake
::EDIT::
Thanks Ethan & Ginger for letting me know my images were not showing up. I have no idea why I did that but I had the images pointed to my private server and it wasn’t displaying unless I was logged in. The pictures should show up fine now. Thanks guys!
::EDIT::
It’s the morning of our third day here in Taiwan. Still trying to over come the jet lag. Actually I’m not sure if it’s jet lag or just that we were so tired yesterday. I mean we both woke up naturally at 5:30 am Taiwan time this morning and that has to account for something.
Yesterday was another amazing day. We began the day with seeing my Grandfather whom we haven’t seen for so long. I think it was really special for my mom as Sarah told me that my mom and Grandmother were close to tears. I have never thought of Taiwan as a really nice place to visit, I guess because it’s where my parents are from and ever time I have visited it was never anything much more than Taipei city. Actually visiting places that my parents had never visited is crazy to me. I can’t imagine going on a tour of Washington DC and them taking me to places that I had NEVER seen before. We visited the Sun Moon Lake yesterday and it was both beautiful and quite. We went hiking up to a pagoda that was made in the honor of Chiang Kai-skek’s mother. It was a LONG hike for us but I’m sure Sunny would have thought it was a breeze. I was proud to see that my parents made the long hike too as they never get any exercise back at home.
After a tiring day filled with great local food we retired at our lakeside resort Fleur de Chine Hotel. In my opinion we have stayed at our share of high-end hotels and resorts however, this one takes the cake. This hotel spared zero expense in its creation and design and it is hands down the nicest hotel we have ever stayed at.
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
The Friendly Skies
We just spent our last 24 hours in the air and if we weren’t in the air we were in and out of international airports. It’s not as bad as it sounds because 12 of the hours were quickly fast forwarded when we crossed the international date line. We have made it from DC to Tokyo and finally to our final destination in Taipei safely. We both were really surprised that we had such nice flights the entire day. I guess another indicator that Sarah and I are a match made in heaven is that fact that she can sleep just ask much as I do on the plane. I don’t know what it is about being in an airplane for me but I get some of the best sleep in the air. Turbulence and airplane shaking is really annoying during a flight for me and that’s why I usually don’t like longer flights however this time around there were barely any moments that the plane even shook at all. You could say that the sky’s were truly “friendly” as advertised this time around.
A couple things made me wish some people were here with me. Ginger, Daddy was cold and had to get a long sleeve shirt at the airport but they only had one color for a shirt in his size and it was PINK. It takes a really secure man to wear a shirt like that and now I’m totally aware of how secure my dad is in himself. Too bad his family wasn’t that secure. We laughed and made him wear another shirt over it because we were embarrassed for us. I know you would have laughed and love it so much so I took one picture for you to see. Too bad he wouldn’t let me take a picture of him when he was just wearing the pink shirt alone.
Dub, I think you would have LOVED the drink machine at Tokyo. I took a picture of the drinks and I wished you were there to part-take in the drinking and tasting of all those drinks.
Well it’s 6:26 am here in Taipei and I gotta start getting ready for today. Here are some pictures of yesterday.
I’ll try to update again shortly.
SincereLi,
Andy & Sarah
