Out of the Hotel

Yesterday was jucky (chilly and misty) until we went for dinner. We met up with Megan, Ken and their first daughter Kimi (isn't she cute!!) at their hotel and then went to Taipei 101 for dinner. Taipei 101 was the first real modern mall we had went into. By our hotel there is a building and the sign says "Modern Mall" not so much. It was just a bunch of restaurants. We figured out how to use the ATM after 15 failed attempts, but once Mom provided Dad the right pin number for her card it amazingly worked fine. Taipei 101 had a huge food court and plenty to choose from for everyone. To include a KFC for mom. We then headed for the MRT (subway) the sign (in English) said FREE MRT shuttle, only thing is they didn't have the same sign on a bus that we could see. But one came by and in all the writing on the front of the bus I seen "MRT" so we climbed and dragged ourselves onto the bus and I asked the driver "MRT?" and he gave me look of bewilderment so we just went to sit down and see what happens. We moved in the right direct that I wanted to go and after the second stop decided we should probably get off where ever he stopped next. Amazingly the next stop was the MRT station. By the way it wasn't the free shuttle. We took the MRT to the Shilin Night Market. That was fun. It was much bigger than the other one we went to and had better stuff. The road was lined with shops with tables and carts down the middle of the lane. People would move slowly down one side of the lane and then other. As we went through there were a couple of things we want to go back and look at but it was just to hard to fight the crowd on the side we were on. But that didn't work out. I had heard about the vendors that set out blankets in the street that they are not supposed to be there and they beat feet when the police come. Well it isn't just the blanket guys, it was all the venders in the center of the road which was a continuous line down the road and their presents is what makes the movement of people so difficult. They have stands that fold up, they use blankets and have carts and some of them fold out and up. And as we got close to some stuff Wendy wanted to go back and look at, you would have thought that an ambulance was coming or something because venders in the road were all looking down the street over there shoulders as they quickly grabbed there stand and scurried toward us in a continuous line. We were wondering what was happening as there was panic in the vendors eyes as they dashed into different nooks and crannies. Then we seen the policeman and it all made sense. The walk was very easy after that down the street but the good stuff int he middle of the road was gone. That was fun. After we passed the policeman we seen vendors on handheld radios reporting to others the location of the policeman.

We got a few gifts for Joshua there and some cute clothes. There is a matching hat that he hates and throws on the ground - milliseconds after it hits his head. It was a great night out, and great to meet Megan, Ken & Kimi. We are going to meet again tonight for dinner and two other families that just got their babies as well.