Angel and Debby's Visit

A couple weeks ago, we were lucky enough to have our host daughter from two years ago and her cousin come to visit me and Jonathan in Tainan! There's not much to do here, so we pretty much toured the whole city in 4 days. :)

On Tuesday Angel and Debby arrived, and Jon took some time off work. First we went to eat some lunch, and our cab driver joined us! (He is one of Jon's employees as well, so it wasn't weird, haha)

These were some delicious 肉圓rou yuan! And Leon said it was the most famous in town, and had been there the longest.

Then we went to visit the ChiMei Museum in Tainan.

At ChiMei Museum (Only go here if you came to Taiwan to feel like you're in Europe. Seriously.)

Caught in the rain... (with one umbrella and a bench that only fit three people) Sad Mallory...

The sun was too bright!

Just being goofy

Then we had dinner at my all time favorite restaurant, Nephi! If you come visit me in Taiwan, I will take you here, and you will have the best French food you've ever had (unless maybe from France...)

Fancy

Jon is either tired or just being annoying...

Outside the restaurant

 On Wednesday we went to Chihkan Lou (or Fort Proventia) which was a Dutch fort at the time of Dutch occupation in Taiwan. Tainan was the first city in Taiwan, and is the old capital.

Just outside the tower

With Angel, you take pictures at every photo opportunity

Inside the tower!

The tower had two parts and really cool balconies. I told the girls it reminded me of Mulan.

We then went to an old famous street in Tainan that has some cute shops and stuff. We realized later that it would be better at night when the shops were open, haha! But we did find some awesome ice cream and a Canadian/Taiwanese man who spoke English! (he also told me that my Chinese was really good!)

Mango, Pineapple, and Lemon (Get the lemon, it's the best!)

 Then we met up with Jon at Hayashi Department Store. This is the oldest department store in Tainan and Taiwan. It was the first building to have an elevator!

Fun times. I had to drive here in a car. This may not sound like much, but trust me, it was crazy. Taiwan scooters are the worst!

There's a shrine on top of the roof. Kind of odd, but we took pictures!

Jon likes to sneak up on people...

Then it was time for dinner! We ate at a BBQ place. I don't remember the name of it, but it was amazing! So full!

Ready to eat!

Love me some Sweet and Sour Pork! (This is the closest thing to American Chinese Food...)

Finally, we went to get some Mango Bing 芒果冰 for dessert. Unfortunately we couldn't find a parking spot, but Jon was on his scooter, so he had to wait too long for us. He finished the whole 冰 before we got there! So we had to order another one to share, haha!

It was really sad to see him sitting with an empty bowl and four little bowls when we walked in. Wish I had a picture of that!

On Thursday we went to the Confucius Temple and wrote down our wishes!

In the temple

Me attaching my wish to the wall (Min was that I wished I could learn how to speak Chinese!)

From there we walked to the National Museum of Taiwanese Literature. This place was really cool, I wish I could read Chinese. The best part was the children's library! I think I will have to come here on the weekends when Jon has to work and read children's books in Chinese. It's a great resource!

Me, Angel, and Debby reading a children's book

Then we met up with Jon again, this time at the Black Bridge Sausage Museum or in Chinese:

黑橋牌香腸博物館 

Out front - We were trying to take a picture with the sign, but it was too dark

So many different kinds of sausage!

Photo ops everywhere! Here is a BBQ overlooking the city

Bike delivery? And Jon's head floating.

Our last adventure was that evening at the night market. We shot some BB Guns, ate some crazy food, and went shrimping!

Jon was the only one who came close!

Yum!

Angel loves her food!

Shrimping!

Thanks girls for coming to visit! We had an awesome time with you and are so happy to be part of your family! Foreign exchange programs are amazing! I'm so happy that I have two wonderful girls in my life, from completely different cultures and backgrounds, yet they are both my daughters. :) Love you both, Angel and Charlotte.

Come again soon Angel and Debby!

Water Fountain at ChiMei Museum