... that we went to Taiwan: Day 1

There are only 3 words to describe Taiwan: hot, humid, mosquitoes.

Every day. All day long.

By the time we got home from the airport it was super late and we were exhausted, so we all just crashed. The next morning, I was feeling a little tiny bit better, but still hadn't eaten anything besides half a taco and a handful of Triscuits in the last 24 hours. Thankfully, I just KNEW that my mommy would have exactly what I needed to make me feel better:

TSU!!! I had my mommy and a hot bowl of tsu, and all was right in the world.

I was still feeling a little weak, so I took a nice relaxing shower while everyone else went out to get some breakfast at the morning market. By the time they came back, I was feeling better and ready to go out! We took a little walk around mom and dad's neighborhood:

We walked to a huge mall close to the house and grabbed some peanut butter burgers for lunch! And by we, I mean everyone else but me because I was still scared to eat real food. But I sure wanted to, because FreenBurger looked delicious!!! Who knew peanut butter and cucumbers could be so good on a hamburger???
 

Course you could put just about anything on a burger and Matt would eat it. All-American over here.

After lunch we took a little longer hike up to a scenic view of the valley

Fin is such a crack up with her "funny face!" And she sure does love her Uncle Mott!
 

After our hike (of which I totally forgot to even take a picture of the view... -__-),  we walked around the night markets a little bit. Three night markets to be exact.
 

Asia is awesome. Every night, the city opens up and every major road has a night market on it. It's like a street fair, but EVERY NIGHT. Asians know how to party! The first market was more of an outdoor mall area with enough Christmas lights to rival Whoville.
 

We picked up some cotton candy, then made our way to night market #2:
 

This scene was a little more authenic. Tons of little booths and shops lining the street selling almost anything you could think of. Jam packed crowded with people, food carts, and scooters that would run you down if you weren't paying attention. It was awesome!!! I LIVE for this stuff! I love the hustle and bustle of busy crowded window/treat shopping in a big city! I think Matt would have liked it too if he hadn't been so preoccupied with making sure I didn't get run over by anything hahaha. Mom and dad pointed out a fried rice stand that they like, and we got a few orders to take back home. I decided I was ready to try some real food, and I'm so glad I did because OH MY DELICIOUS.
 

This was also the fateful night that mom and dad introduced us to Taiwan's finest treat of all: Donggua Moussa
 

A "winter melon herbal iced tea" drink that could bring world peace and solve the energy crisis. I think we ordered at least three of these every day for the rest of the week.

After putting the kids down, it was time for night market #3:
 

Also super authentic and even more crowded than the last market! This was more of a large lot with rows and rows of just food carts and trucks. AWESOME.

I'm pretty sure this is where 95% of the country eats dinner every night. Because everyone in the whole country was there! And it was just a regular Thursday! Although I'm not sure you would actually want to eat here every night...

FREAKY!!! But dad was on a mission for one thing and one thing only: Indian burritos.

Yes, we flew halfway around the world to eat Indian food wrapped into a burrito. Mom and dad kept saying that authentic Taiwanese food was not that great anyway hahahaha. But we did find this super legit guy who sold us a box of dumplings

And Kell had a hankering for some fried chicken
 

Don't be fooled by our jackets and pants: it was hot and muggy and sweaty! But the jackets were the only way to keep the mosquitos away! We went home exhausted, but full. Such a fun night!

I love Taiwan!!!