Wednesday after school there was a huge feast of turkey, potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie and adult beverages provided for all staff, faculty, and family members. It was a nice night without rain and cool lovely breezes. Thanks Admin!
Thursday we had a leisurely lay-in and then headed off to Kenting, in the south of Taiwan with Maria, Sarah, Virginia, and Cathleen. We meet at Zhishan MRT and head to Taipei Main Station where we bought tickets on the HSR to Zuoying Station in Kaoshiung City. The tickets were 1,500 NT per person one way ($49 US). We had about 3 minutes to make the train and fortunately had no problem finding the platform, the car, or our seats. There are 8 stops on the High Speed Rail and it is a blessing, it took 2.5 hours by train when it use to take 6 hours by car.
We then bought round trip tickets, 300 NT ($9.81 US) for a bus from the Zuoying Station directly to our hotel, Caesar Park. A 2.5 hour bus trip with very few stops. We had booked a normal room from the Agoda website for $176 US a night. Our travel buddies booked the Jacuzzi Villas for $246. We we checked in I asked to be close to their room so we got the upgraded room for free. The Jacuzzi villa was very nice. They even provided us with aroma bath salts; lemon and jasmine.
We hung out by the pool area and later had dinner at Smokey Joes.
The next morning we had our complimentary breakfast buffet that featured some typical Asian delicacies that I have not yet acquired the taste for: tea marinated hard boiled eggs, congee- watery gruel or porridge, tofu instead of cheese and noodles with seafood (not my idea of breakfast food). I often had some sort of salad for breakfast. We then headed out for a nice walk on non side walked roads which was interesting. The wind was strong and the beach sand stung as it hit your legs, arms, and head.
Mike worshipping the sun.
We headed into a little trail that was suppose to go on for several kilometers but it dead-end quickly into the ocean.
This boat must have been here for a very long time as it is no where near the water.
We had lunch at a place that served chicken fried rice as soup with shrimp in it. Not Mike’s favorite. We spent the rest of our time at the pool or on the beach.
That night we had supper at Mambo’s, a Thai restaurant it was yummy. We poked around the night market and bought a few Christmas presents.
Our travel buddies left the next day so we has Saturday to ourselves. We had a late lunch again at Smokey Joes and hung out reading by the pool.
The locals go to the beach fully clothed with the hope that the sun will not penetrate their coverings. They also stand and watch the kids play in the waves. This is winter season and is considered off season but it was still fairly busy at dusk. 
This lady has a bubble jacket (parka) on as Mike and I sit in shorts and t-shirts.
We watched the sunset from the cozy little bar area on the beach.
We headed home Sunday, our first trip in Taiwan by ourselves, and as we sat on the train headed to Taipei Main Station we were pleased with ourselves that we made it. The next stop a lady tells Mike that he is in her seat. We all looked at our tickets and sure enough we are on the wrong train. Fortunately it was still headed to Taipei but it was the snail train and not the bullet we had booked seats for. An extra half hour and we arrived, a little deflated but home.
It was a great vacation and well worth the trip. We are tan once again and loved soaking up the Vitamin D!
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