Last Day with Fuhsing & Journey to Nantou

 

June 11, 2024

  Hello! Today Chloe and Aaron will be writing the blog. Chloe will be starting with the first half of the day:













This morning I packed up from my host student’s (Karen) house to go to Fuhsing. We had a farewell breakfast at 7:40am, consisting of breakfast sandwiches and brown sugar milk or green tea. After eating, we took our last photos with the Fuhsing students and had bittersweet goodbyes. Of course, some tears were shed as we headed out for Nantou.

However, we made a few stops first, the first being the Taiwan Semiconductor Corporation (TSMC) Museum of Innovation. The museum was incredibly high-tech, as expected of one of the greatest tech companies in Taiwan. We had a fun time after our short tour, interacting with exhibits such as the VR ones available.





After visiting the museum, we took a short ride to go to a restaurant nearby which specializes in Hakka cuisines. The food was quite good, although some of it needed some getting used to in terms of texture or taste. After eating, and giving my extra food to my seat partner for the day, we went to the second level of the establishment to explore the wonders of the restaurant. There were a bunch of different figures, artifacts, artsy signs and more placed in every possible space of the upstairs area. We took some interesting photos with the figurines we found upstairs and thoroughly enjoyed both the food and the unique decorations of the restaurant. Afterwards, we had some time to just chat with everyone and I really enjoyed talking with my seat partner, Connor, about literally anything that came to our minds. Our conversation flowed really well, and I feel like this trip has enabled me to talk to people I don’t usually talk to. Then, we left the Hakkanese restaurant and made our way to Nantou, which required a two and a half hour drive. 















Hello Friends, Aaron here. After visiting the Hakkanese restaurant, we bunkered down for a 2-and-a-half-hour drive to Sun Moon Lake. During the bus ride, we kept busy by planning our lesson plans for Fazhi Elementary School, where we will be teaching a book and a song. In addition to lesson planning, we also played Monopoly and read. Once two hours had passed, we arrived at a local tea factory. There, we not only sampled delicious black tea but also saw traditional pressing machines for the tea leaves. As it turned out, the particular tea factory we visited was famous for its feature in many local TV series.




After purchasing tea or tea ice cream, we headed to the hotel. After dropping off our luggage, we gathered into two minivans and headed to dinner. At the restaurant, named A Ba (or Daddy’s Restaurant in English), we enjoyed many fine dishes like pork belly, rice, and sesame egg soup. This restaurant features traditional Taiwanese family-style dishes. After the restaurant and another spot of ice cream, we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the adventure that awaits tomorrow. Thank you for reading!












谢谢你 (xie xie ni, thank you)

Chloe and Aaron


Comments

  1. CT in LaLaLandJune 12, 2024 at 7:59 PM

    Wow. Whoever scouted and planned this amazing itinerary has captured the every essence of Taiwan! I'll need to bring my daughter to visit the TSMC museum, the Hakka restaurant (the 2nd floor is a time capsule of Taiwan in the 1950's! And I've never visited a tea factory in Nantou. What a treat! Looking forward to reading your English lessons with Fazhi students tomorrow!

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