after finishing the tomb sweeping proceedings and mending olivia's burns at the local hospital, we went on to the taiwan national museum of marine biology & aquarium as planned.....
i've seen these famous whale sculptures in other people's photos many many times. it was real nice to finally see them in person.
once inside there were all these really cool and huge aquariums, which made olivia want to get off her stroller right away.
even cooler than the huge aquariums, were these really long underwater tunnels.
the main attractions were these rather large stingrays.....
and school of sharks.
whenever we go out to eat at a restaurant that has these live fish aquariums, olivia always wants to go look at them the whole time. so being inside the underwater tunnels with so much fish all around to look at, she was in heaven! once we reached the end, we had such a hard time getting her to move on. when i had to forcibly grab her and take her away, she cried her eyes out.
i've never seen these things before, so i have no idea what they are but they were peculiar looking sticking in and out of the sand like some underwater prairie dogs.
beluga whale.
if you have kids, i highly recommend this place. even if you don't, it's a great place to visit. we had a really good time with lots of things to see. olivia wasn't the only happy camper in there. i too was pretty excited throughout and felt like a kid again!
View Larger Map
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
taiwan national museum of marine biology & aquarium
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
old mobile phone photos of olivia
never downloaded these off the old cell phone until now.....
all photos were taken during the first couple months, except for the last phone which judging by her bald head was taken after 3 months.
Monday, April 27, 2009
tombsweeping in hengchun
about 3 weeks ago we went down to hengchun to pay our respects to our ancestors and grandparens during the tomb sweeping holidays.....
the festivities were scheduled to start at 9am on saturday morning. we would usually arrive the day before so we have plenty of time to rest since the drive down to hengchun (which is located at the very southern tip of taiwan) is at least 6 hrs on a good day without much traffic. however, with mom and dad arriving back to taiwan from a trip to korea on friday night, we had no choice but to do a "redeye" drive. we left home around 2:30am and made a few pit stops in the many really nice rest areas setup along the highway (including this one) for some much needed coffee. we would eventually arrive at our destination around 8am.
almost there. no, the clouds weren't showing the funky dark blue colors. that was because of the windshield's tint. would have been cool tho' it that was actually from the clouds!
the first sight of the ocean does wonders to relax one's mind, body and soul.
sleepyhead olivia, who slept the entire trip, wasn't too happy to be woken up upon our arrival. wish i had let her sleep longer!!! :(
my great-grandparent's tomb.
burning some joss paper.
just a few minutes before olivia was accidentally burnt by a joss paper.
my cousin's granddaughter. yeah, that's right. she's my grandniece which makes me a granduncle! talk about feeling old!
our family tomb where my grandparents are at.
a little bit later, my grandnieces and grandnephew went to the onion field next to the family tomb to collect some onions and throw them!
future wang chien-ming!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
moblog: dumpling lunch
having lunch at a dumpling house in taishan. this place has excellent food with great prices. make sure to get reservations ahead of time because it's usually packed!
Saturday, April 25, 2009
moblog: sukiyaki dinner
having dinner at a sukiyaki restaurant called pin ding dain located in banciao.
Friday, April 24, 2009
happy birthday to mama / grandma
tonight was mom's birthday. nothing special, just dinner and a cake as usual.....
really good chocolate mousse cake from 85c.
olivia with grandma.
my sister's son ethan joins in on the fun.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
shihsanhang museum of archaeology - part 2
after we exited the museum, we headed for a walk outside around the premises.....
as usualy, olivia was really happy to be running around outside.
we headed up to the lookout platform on top the of museum to check out the view.....
there's a cargo port just out near the water, altho' i'm not sure if it's active.
nice view of the ocean and the park at the back of the museum.
you can see tamshui and the fisherman's wharf in the distance.
the wind on the platform was really strong, which was blowing olivia's baby mullet all over the place.
interesting decor on the sidewalk.
as expected with the current bicyle craze and fad, lots of riders all over the place.
even more bicycles parked by the food stands.
we joined the masses and got a couple things to eat. friend rice noodles, fishball soup and stinky tofu!
after eating, we walked around the park a bit. i have no idea why these oil drums were in the park. don't think the area used to be an oil refinery and who would bring some oil drums to decorate a park? but then again, we are in taiwan so you never know!
speaking of interesting park decorations, here's a "wood" carved sculpture just "hanging out". don't think this is appropriate with so many children around but it was certainly a big hit with young ladies, as i saw a few posing for photos and getting frisky with it.
our tax dollars hard at work. actually, it was nice to see that the park was well kept and maintained.
with the sun setting.....
and olivia tired from all the running around, it was time to go home.
View Larger Map
