Lincoln Hotel Tainan

... see pictures) <br><br>It was a good weekend and I am already looking forward to where I could go next weekend?!?! It is so easy and cheap to travel on weekends. I was able to get my HSR train tickets, 1 night in a hotel, food and drinks, rent a scooter, fill the scooter tank with gas and pay admission to some of the sights for about $130! Just one night in a hotel would cost that in the states! <br><br>Well, until later.....love ya and miss ya!

<br>So after I finished the blog last night, I decided to check on Wotif.com whether there were any cheap last minute places. To my surprise, I was able to find a few. The best of all was the Shangri-la Hotel, which was only USD$122 a night! Including booking fee, that works out to only be AUD$75 a night which is a bargain! Possibly the best bargain I'm going to get on this trip I think. I was so ecstatic that I was gonna run and tell Daniel, but ...

... made its way to the Tainan Ecological Zone where we visited their Whales Studies Department. I don't know if any of you remember seeing in the news (a few years ago) that a giant whale had exploded in a busy intersection while in transit, showering commuters in a sea of sizzling intestines. That event actually happened in Tainan and the residents (strangely) have kept that whale skeleton in a museum. Katherine, Luke and I took a late train back to Taipei where I bid goodbye to them ...

... yourself and then you are welcome to head to the natural waters. I tried all of the springs and I found the one that had live fish in it quite amusing. You can see the pictures of the fish attacking our feet, but really they were harmless just tickled. The Hot springs sit in the midst of the mountains and I cant find the words to describe how beautiful the scene was there particularly when the sunset. Once we showered and got dressed we went to the hotel where the springs ...

... followed me around to every shop I went to smiling and staring at me. Finally I was able to get away from him in the crowd of people, even though when I looked back I saw that he was looking for me. He seemed completely harmless but I didn't have clue to say to him and it got weird to have someone staring at you nonstop! Overall I really enjoyed the night markets, they have them every night of the week at different locations. I almost forgot how I got to the night market, well ...

... to the food though, some I have liked and some not so much. Most restaurants serve beef, pork, and lamb in the city area. In the department store food courts there is more seafood dishes and on the outskirts of Tainan. Everyone here drives a scooter( young ,old,business people, etc), there are literally thousands of them on the road and its a art not to get hit by one. The driving here is really crazy so pray for me. There are ...

... spent the evening in the hotel getting ready for the next day. A gracious host to the end, he seemed concerned that we didn't eat dinner, and left us only when we agreed that if we got hungry we would call him and he would take us to dinner. Of course, that didn't happen. The only person I saw the remainder of the evening was Shuying, who I bumped into as I was walking down the stairs to go to 7-11 for some chips. Otherwise, I enjoyed just having an evening to relax and take it easy in the hotel.

... ziemlich rasanten Wandel ziemlich fortschrittlich geworden und das haelt fuer mein Gefuehl auch an, aber bis wirklich alle "Schmuddelecken" aufgeraeumt sind und ein Grossteil der Leute einen europaeischen Lebensstandart geniessen kann wird es doch noch sehr lange dauern, oder es wird nie dazu kommen, weil die Insel einfach nicht so viel Platz bietet und weil die Mentalitaet der Leute und damit die Ansprueche auch anders sind.

... lernte und viele Leute wissen ueber die (angeblichen) Charaktereigenschaften der einzelnen Merkmale gut bescheid. Aufgrund dessen sind die Taiwanesen auch oft unerklaerlich aengstlich. Wenn man nach Einbruch der Dunkelheit pfeift, ruft man damit angeblich die Geister. Wenn man mit dem Zeigefinger auf den Mond zeigt, soll man im Laufe seines Lebens seine Ohren verlieren. Und waehrend des "Geistermonates", einem Zeitraum im chinesischen Kalender wuerden die meisten nicht ...

... mit Knaeckebrot, die ich hier im Carrefour gefunden habe. Ausserdem eine quietschegelbe, richtig taiwanesische Gesichtsmaske mit breit grinsendem Spongue Bob und als i-Tuepfelchen "I love Taiwan". Hoffe, wir finden mal noch ein T-Shirt, z.B. von Taipei 101, und dann koennen wir wirklich im Partnerlook durch die Gegend marschieren. Unser festschmaus bestand aus taiwanesischem "Vollkornbrot nach deutschem Rezept" mit echtem Allgaeutaler, was ich ebenfalls ...