Another sit-down lunch upon our arrival in Taipei. At least they had a couple non-seafood courses, so Miss Leslie was able to eat a little more than she had at previous meals. We completed lunch ahead of schedule and had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus to come back because the restaurant hadn’t realized we were done eating and hadn’t called him! Fortunately the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze, so it wasn’t too bad.

Our next stop was the Taipei Museum, the Palace treasures exhibit. It was nice, but on the last day after a four hour bus ride, not as interesting as it would have been a few days earlier. We had 2.5 hours there, but really only needed one hour, which meant we could have had longer at our next stop, the 101 building. Before the 101 we stopped for a photo op at a temple. The Chinese guard was in the process of taking the flag down, and we found this very interesting. Seven guards took approximately thirty minutes to take the flag down and roll it up!

In front of the 101 Building
The 101 building was so awesome. When we got off the bus to see it up close, we had to nearly bend over backwards to see all of the way to the top. We only had an hour there, so we quickly entered and started looking at the shops. Wow, they were all designer. We saw Armani, Valentino, Chanel and many other designer stores. As you can imagine, we didn’t make any purchases. However, we went to the food court and had a great dinner. Miss Leslie had a chicken sandwich and I had some noodles and a pineapple smoothie. We also went to a great pastry shop where we bought some goodies for the plane; and for dessert we had some fantastic ice cream. The day was long, and we were about to leave Taiwan on a long airplane ride.

This was truly the trip of a lifetime–what an amazing experience!

With the City Government

Miss Leslie and I were seated next to, PKSCA (Portland-Kaohsiung Sister City Association) officers. Each of the delegations was given an opportunity to speak, and President Mack Lai talked about the many year history of the Portland Kaohsiung relationship, and how the float co-sponsored by PKSCA and Kaohsiung City was the centerpiece of the international section of the Grand Floral Parade. I was given the opportunity to say a few words, so I talked of the wonders of the city, how friendly the people are, and how well we had been treated during the visit. I also expressed her extreme gratitude about the opportunity that I’ve been granted. We had group pictures taken in the office. and we were off to the next stop.

Rachel receives a gift

Our next visit was City Council building–not as new or modern as the City Government building. Staff were waiting for us and clapped as we entered the building in order, Mack and his wife Rhonda, Miss Leslie and me, then other officers and delegation members. The Mount Hood Community College jazz band joined us at this visit, as well. Again Mack spoke, as did I; and I received a beautiful glass gift from the Speaker of the House.

Rachel bangs the gavel

We toured the council chambers; I even sat in the Speaker’s chair and banged the gavel! Again we took group pictures both inside and in front of the building. Our next stop was lunch with City Council, again a very traditional fancy seafood lunch. The appetizer came out on a boat with a lobster head sticking out of the ice!
The citizens of Kaohsiung believe in toasting . . . a lot. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Rachel and Japanese ladies

After lunch we went to the senior center and enjoyed some great performances by the sister city delegations. The group of ladies from Japan did a great performance on the koto—a Japanese pick harp. It was special because the elderly gentlemen sitting next to us in the auditorium started humming and singing along. There were also two great Asian dancing groups with beautiful costumes. Lastly, the Mt. Hood Jazz Band performed and they were fantastic! Quite loose from all of the toasting at lunch, they played wonderfully and even had an encore.

“Queen Rachel” in Chinese

Steamed dough

We started the day with breakfast then got on the bus to Cijin island. There were a group of wonderful volunteers that sang; they brought us fruit and desserts and most of our group made a pastry with bean paste and pink dough. They put the bean paste into the center of the dough then pressed it into an oiled wooden press. They then steamed them.

There was also a gentleman there that wrote our names in traditional Chinese characters for us to bring home with us. We then went to the park with a beach; it was crowded with people, as it’s holiday time here. All the food stalls were cooking interesting items: squid-on-a-stick, candy-covered cherry tomatoes and others. We took the ferry over the harbor for lunch, and Miss Leslie was even able to eat a few things, mainly rice. Next was a harbor tour; the sun was shining and we had a great guide telling us about the sights around the harbor.

Kaohsiung has a thriving port. In recent years it was the number four port in the world, and although that ranking has dropped, they’re still in the top 20—pretty impressive for a small country.

Our next stop was the Traditional Chinese Character Festival. This was the most amazing exhibit; all of the artists used Chinese characters together with technology. It was unbelievable creativity and artistry. This was one of my favorite stops on the trip.

After the great meal we continued up the mountain to the top of the monastery where there were three giant Buddha statues in a room. They were about fifty feet tall and all lit up. It was very tranquil. At the top we also went to an art museum, and through the art we learned more about Buddha. The tour guide that led us around was a thirty-year veteran monk who thought Miss Leslie was Queen Marshawna from 2009! We also met a monk in training from India.

With a Buddhist Monk

 What a gorgeous place. On the bus ride home, we fell asleep and as usual, slept like logs until morning.