Taiwan! Andy & Gaby! The nieces!! Maile! Fun!!

** photo heavy...though when is it not?? and not necessarily in chronological order...

After Myanmar, we headed to Taiwan where we got to see the stomping grounds of Andy, Gaby, Catalina and Julienne! They moved to Taipei last year and we honestly didn't think we were going to be able to make it out to see them anytime soon. So glad that we were able to go!

The gorgeous family!

We had a great time hanging with the clan- we did so much fun stuff with them! We visited Yeliu, Wulai, Jiufen, Bitou Cape, saw the Dragon Boat Festival races, ate at Din Tai Fung, watched Kung Fu Panda 2, visited Catalina's school (she finished kindergarten this year! woo!), and so much more. It was fun spending that amount of time with them, since I don't feel like we've really had the chance to over the years (just a few short visits here and there)...though they may say otherwise, having us as guests, lol.

On our first full day in Taipei, Catalina showed us her skills on her princess bike!

Catalina and Julienne trying to get Uncle Adam to eat seaweed, one of their favorite snacks!

Our adorable niece Catalina at her Kindergarten End of the Year Party!

Is this not the cutest picture ever? Mother and daughter sharing an umbrella!

Kung Fu Catalina!

Waiting outside of Din Tai Fung...Julienne making her monster face!

Rolling out the dumpling skins!

Awww, Uncle Adam is so sweet! Catalina couldn't see the guys at work so Adam gave her a boost!

Which one, which one?

A 3-year-old using an umbrella that's her same size...so cute!

Adam testing out the Portuguese style egg tarts sold at Taiwan KFCs. Andy and I agreed, these egg tarts were amazingly good and totally delicious!!

We took a trip out to Bitou Cape to catch the sunset

Sunset between the clouds

Hanging out in Bitou waiting for the sunset

Adam and my attempt at doing the squishy face...fail! 

In honor of the Dragon Boat Festival, even Starbucks was carrying zhongzi (or joong in Cantonese)

Andy and the GPS...she's always telling us to make u-turns. What is up with that?

Julienne singing...perhaps to the Tangled soundtrack, or the Rio soundtrack, or the hilarious Spanglish "Gummy Bear Song"

 

Adam and I on the outside of Jiufen's Old Street. Lots of noodle shops, snack shops, and touristy shops.

I picked up some of these in Jiufen and the girls seemed to like them! Of course, Adam didn't touch them!

Aww, how sweet!

Awwww!

Catalina is such a ham! 

On our way home from Jiufen, Adam started to get carsick. Julienne always gets carsick so she has a plastic vomit bag just in case...she was so sweet sharing with her Uncle Adam.

Abandoned building along the coast

A waterfall that we passed on the way home

We were in Taiwan during Dragon Boat Festival, so we were able to go out and see the races over the weekend close by Andy & Gaby's house

We were there the first day, so some of the teams were kind of lousy and the other teams were super intense. I am sure by the last day of races, the really good teams are left.

TOO CUTE!

Adam is yawning, Andy is playing on his iPad, and Gaby is checking out her photos. Clearly the races were not so intense that it captured our attention! =D

I got Adam to pose for a photo!

They also had food vendors and games, so Catalina and Julienne rode the carousel. Catalina is pointing because her horse was broken!

And yes, they also rode airplanes!

Another day trip to Wulai waterfall. And of course, Gaby and the girls are like celebrities. These women asked to get a photo with them!

Super pretty waterfall and really clear blue water below

Aww, finally a good picture of Adam and I!

And yet another day trip out of Taipei to Yehliu Geopark. So many cool places near Taipei! Here there are hoodoo formations dotting the landscape- super cool!

The famous "Queen's Head." We didn't stand in the incredibly long line to get a picture with it though...it was way too hot!

Cute little tchotchkes 

 Dried fish and shrimp

Monkeying around at the mall!

While we were in Taiwan, our good friend Maile was able to fly from Beijing to see us! That was super cool and very fun as well. We hung out at the Shilin Night Market, rode up to the top of Taipei 101, ate at the "Modern Toilet" restaurant (so-so, but we had to try it!), rode the Maokong gondolas, perused the flowers at the Neihu Flower Market, spent a morning at the National Palace Museum, ate at Din Tai Fun (yes, we went twice!), and of course, rounding out Maile's wishlist of things to do, drank lots of coffee and boba tea!!

Maile was super impressed with the metro system's coin scanners

Taipei 101!

View from Taipei 101. It looked like a clear day but from above it was fairly hazy

Adam and I and the Damper Baby

Maile and I in front of Taipei 101

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Another one of my "It's so hotttttt" faces

Standing guard at Chian Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Eating dumplings at Din Tai Fung...YUMMY!

Some steamed buns!

Maokong Gondola!

Ok, super cute, as always!

Julienne is "flying" over the trees

One of my favorite pictures- Julienne and her Uncle Adam

Gaby and Julienne making monster faces! 

Ah yes, Modern Toilet Restaurant. Food served in little toilets. Sitting on toilet seats, table is a bathtub with glass on top. We had to try it out!

Adam picking out all the seafood from his hot pot.

Adam is making a sad face because the picture of the dessert showed a swirly "poopy" frozen yogurt dollop...but what we got was a scoop of chocolate ice cream in the squatty potty. 

Maile and I headed out to the flower mart. It was a huge market filled with all sorts of flowers, including orchids, cacti, roses, daisies, tulips, etc.

Maile carrying home a gorgeous bouquet for Gaby and Andy. It was raining, we were umbrella-less, so a plastic baggy had to do!

On our last day in Taipei, we were able to meet up with my cousin Elmer for lunch. I didn't get a chance to visit any of my other family members in Taiwan, so I was glad that we were able to see Elmer right before we flew out. 

So that was our trip to Asia! Totally fun, thousands of photos, and endless priceless memories.