Malia Day + 2 (aka Last Day in Taiwan)

We've had a marvelous time, but the time to go home is drawing near. Today was our last full day in Taiwan. Packing and travel awaits -- but first, it's out and about in the rain. Not gonna let a little drizzle get in the way of our last day sightseeing.

On our way to the MRT, we went through the same market that I discussed earlier. On the previous pass-through, Jonathan and Ryan were not too keen on all the animal carcasses. This time, they weren't phased a bit.  Jonathan even posed in front of the poultry stand without batting an eye.  

This is where we got "chops" made for Jonathan, Ryan and Malia. Chops are Chinese signature seals. Every person has his or her own chop, and affixing your chop to a document essentially authenticates your signature. Maybe the kids can start affixing their chop to homework...that would be different.

Sightseeing goal for today was limited -- Sun Yat Sen Memorial.  Sun Yat Sen is revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait as the founder of modern China. He led the way to the founding of the Chinese Republic in 1912 and founded the Koumintang Party, which for many years ruled Taiwan as the sole political party. Just like American political parties each try to claim the legacy of Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson (fill in the blank), both mainland China and Taiwan vie to claim the legacy of Dr. Sun.

We have a local connection, because Dr. Sun spent part of his youth on Maui and attended both 'Iolani and Punahou Schools in Honolulu. He even founded the revolutionary "Revive China Society" while in Hawaii.

The boys and Malia cruising around the Memorial hall.

And stopping for a photo.

Changing of the guard -- shorter and more to my liking than the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial version.

Dr. Sun's statue from the balcony level.

The kids resting on the stairs. This is notable primarily because the boys sat down first, and then without any bidding, Malia walked over and plopped down between them.

When we got back home (and after a nap), Malia was in a playful mood. I am on the other side of the fold-out bed, and Malia and I are rolling balls and sliding books back and forth to each other. Jonathan was providing assistance when needed.

Malia and Jonathan playing.

While Malia napped, Shelley was out on Yongkang Street buying an onion pancake. Notice the long line. Shelley loves onion pancakes and noticed this stall on our first time on the street. She kept waiting for the line to diminish, but it never did. Even today, with non-stop rain, the line remained 15-30 deep. We were impressed...and so was the New York Times. Here's the opening paragraph to their story on the Yongkang Food scene, which I stumbled across while trying to find the spelling for Ding Tai Fung:

New York Times.  Sept. 2, 2012.  TAIPEI — Like many great food stalls and restaurants in Taipei, the Cong Zhua Bing onion pancake stand on Yongkang Street is easily missed by tourists.

It sits, incongruously, beneath a sign for a closed-down Vietnamese restaurant and offers no clues, in English, as to what it sells. But its pancakes are fluffy and airy with a good mix of tangy fried scallions and creamy butter. It is famous throughout Taipei, and the lines outside can run to more than 30 people on Sunday afternoons.

“They sell the best pancakes I have found in Asia,” says Deborah Chien, an American Chinese pastry chef who presents online food shows for Go Makan, an online Malaysian restaurant directory, and visits Yongkang when she is in Taipei seeing family members.

Shelley reports that the onion pancakes were indeed delicious.  Here's the link to the New York Times story: www.nytimes.com/2012/09/03/travel/savoring-taipeis-food-scene.html?_r=0 .  The only correction we would make is that the restaurant behind the food stand is no longer closed. The whole area is bustling.

We later had a nice evening dinner and then returned to our hotel to pack. Here is a picture of the kids in front of our "home" for the past 10 days. The staff is great and we would recommend it highly.