Taichung Part 1: Tea Time

This past weekend was one of Taiwan's four national holidays: Dragon Boat Festival. I took advantage of the extra time off to visit some family friends in Taichung. Well, basically to let someone who was savvy help me since, don't be shocked, I've been sick again!

I bundled myself on to the bus, and wondered if I'd made the right choice.

But as the concrete gave way to greenery, I decided it had to be worth it.

It was a good choice. The change in weather and scenery had an immediate effect on my health (being able to breathe actually does affect a person!).

After a lazy afternoon, we rode over to the bike shop

Alex had some repairs and questions in prepartaion for a trip to Europe.

It took longer than antcipiated, but it was a lovely night for a ride and so we continued around the neighborhood. So different than Taipei county, where you would never find a rice paddy against the night skyline.

As I was taking the last picture, Alex's wife Penny called to see how we were faring. This brought some poeple out from the house behind us. We ended up accepting an invitation to tea (very high quality oolong) and enjoyed apples and candied yams.

Later, one of the family members said he'd like to play guitar for us before we left.

A little rumba, a little flamenco--it was fabulous!

The most amazing thing was the house, which was one story and built around a central courtyard. A traditional Chinese house, that is markedly absent in Taipei county, where I live. It was difficult to get a good picture of the architecture, but I'll try again on a daytime trip.