A Day in Kaoshuong

By the time we got home from Hua-lien and had dinner (at this great hot pot place!) it was time for bed. The next morning on Day 7 we were out the door with our backpacks yet again and were taking the high-speed bullet train to Kaoshuong, which is basically the southern-most point on the island. Driving would have taken at least 4 hours, but we got there in 90 minutes on the bullet train, it was awesome!

Bullet train pulling into the station
















My aunt and uncle took us to this teppanyaki place for lunch, it was one of THE best meals that I've had in Taiwan! I'd never been to such a fancy place in Taiwan before, and every dish was not only amazingly tasty but also exquisite in presentation. It's not like the hibachi places where the chef performs and throws shrimp in the air, teppanyaki in Taiwan is very formal. We had a little of everything: salad, soup, chicken, fish, beef, scallop, shrimp, asparagus, garlic (the garlic is SO good!) and dessert.
















With our uncle and aunt, their two kids, my aunt's mom (she's SO adorable, she used to take my grandma around on a scooter, can you imagine?!)
















Tasty and pretty salad....
















After lunch, we went downstairs to have fruit and coffee in the 'lounge' area. It was Valentine's Day, so there were a lot of red balloons everywhere. Perfect, I just realized that I was wearing my 'black' sweatshirt in protest, how appropriate!
















I thought this cup of cappuccino looked so artistic, I couldn't resist taking a picture. I love the orange cup and saucer, and the beautiful swirl in the foam, and a small patch of cinnamon in the corner!
















Later that night, we went to the night market for a quick dinner, shopping and photo-booth fun. My sister and I each got two pairs of jeans (each pair was $12!) And they actually fit me decently well, go figure! There are all these Japanese sticker photo-booths in the night markets and department stores. The largest booths can fit 6-8 people, and we all squeezed in there for a photo shoot. It was a lot of fun, because they give you borders and silly designs or themes, then after the photo shoot, you can decorate the pictures with shapes, colors, words, etc. on the computer screen! They came out really well.

In front of my uncle's house, the downstairs of which is being used as their private ENT practice (my uncle is the doctor, my aunt is a former nurse and takes care of all the administrative stuff, more on this later, there is an amazing story!)