As independent missionaries we have not the luxury of so easily obtaining a 9G visa as others do through a large NGO or mission organization. We tried to get Mike his permanent residency but that turned to be a big waste of money and a very disappointing impossibility because of several complications stemming from my adoption back in the 80's. We have, instead, the two options: making regular expensive trips to immigration or finding a country to fly to so that Mike can come back in with me and piggy back on my duel citizenship. We decided to take the more adventurous route of exiting and returning. I never imagined that taking trips around Asia just to keep my husband legally in the Philippines for another year would become such a missionary's necessity. But alas... it has. It requires some homework such as hunting for insanely cheap plane ticket promos and a place to stay. Between those big items and food, it all still comes out cheaper than 3-4 trips each year to the immigration office. We are so thankful for friends who've taken in all our kids to help make this possible.
Between Singapore, Kota Kinabalu and Taipei.... Taipei is currently our favorite. Kota was HAWT and, admittedly, I didn't do my homework. So, we had no special place to go to... or anything else to put on the itinerary. Singapore was pricey. However, there are plenty of inexpensive places to eat and that's where we first had roti and the goodness of other Indian food. Other than that it's a tourist trap for trekkers with deep pockets. mmmmm..... not us.
From the mass transportation system, to the places to see and to the food we enjoyed.... this was likely the most affordable combined with the most we got to do. Our hotel was just a few blocks walk from the main MRT train station. Had never seen an underground mall before and it almost seemed to go forever. Nice and clean. So many different kind of stalls. Then we learned about the food court which is on the second floor of the main station. It took some finding because there aren't that many Taiwanese with good English. Definitely not complaining about that. But it was a fascinating mini adventure in itself for someone who's not placed many foot prints into global travel. Here we quickly also learned that soup is a main staple at just about every meal. I find it strategic because that makes it hard for anyone to over stuff their maw. For the first time it was pretty clear that the Taiwanese also make the BEST DUMPLINGS. Beats any of the noodle houses we've been to anywhere in Manila. Taipei is well known for their dumplings and beef noodle soup. Both are WOW. If ever one wanted to get on a plane for downtime away from Manila's chaos and enjoy comfort food.... dumplings and beef noodle soup are perfect. And if you like your food spicy, the red pepper condiment is a wowser.
There were two places I had researched and decided would likely be the best for enjoyment outside of the city. (The Taiwanese mass train transit is amazing. The Easycard works on all trains and buses and is refillable at all the many 7-11's throughout the island). Economical is key and fortunately, for the missionary pocket, it certainly is. It was another adventure walking all the way from the main train station (underground) to find the blue railway line that goes to Ruifang. The train to Ruifang was just as nice as the rest. Had never seen a bathroom on a train since the time my family visited relatives in Europe in the 80's. Having forgotten about that this one was an "oh, wow!" It's about a 50min ride on the Taiwan Railway (not the main MRT). Being that we came in December, it was such a nice delectably cool drizzly day. All the locals wore jackets. Hubster wore a light hoody. I was daring enough to just go with a long sleeve button down. But it was such a nice train ride. Coming out of the station at Ruifang we went across the street from the main entrance and then turned our bodies left and walked about two or three blocks to the bus stand that was next to a green building. If you ever decide to see the ever so popular old mining town of Jiufen the bus numbers to take up there are 827, 856, 788, 1062, 808, and 825. When you see the 7-11 that's a good spot to get off the bus. Right next to that is the entrance to the Jiufen Old Street market. I'm convinced that the best time to walk through the Jiufen Old Street market is late afternoon and a cold cloudy day in December. The ambience with the lit up lanterns is dreamy to an amateur traveler. To take the bus straight from Taipei is much longer and we opted out of that. Coming back the last bus from Jiufen to Ruifang was 8pm. All the trains stop at 11pm so it's best to leave Jiufen no later than 7pm so that if you're taking the train all the way to Taipei and anywhere else in the cities you make it in time before you have to resort to something more expensive. Buses are a little higher but taxis are obviously the most pricey. I think we spent about $30 for a 50min ride from the airport to our hotel on arrival.
Unfortunately, for the time we went in December, the A-Mei Teahouse in Jiufen (and the one across from it) strictly served tea. Nothing else on their menu available much to my dissapointment. I wasn't interested in trying to find evening grub in Taipei later based on the assumption that we'd be too tired to go hunting for it by then. But in the end, that ended up not to be a big deal. The Jiufen Old Street market has plenty to pick from. My favorite was the fried squid. Not sure what seasoning is in the batter. The tea egg was a pleasant surprise. If ever we go back there'll be more enjoyment of tea eggs and fried squid. But, yes.... there's so much more to choose from. A-Mei Teahouse was buzzing. A blogger had written of having gone at a very quiet time of the year and enjoying a couple hours of tea sipping and some of the menu items... with a book. That's what we wanted to do originally but... oy !!! Can't expect to do that in December. Too many tourists.
Next on the agenda was Maokong. It's the Maokong tea farms on the edge of Taipei. This time I wore my thick front zipper sweater. It was perfect for the weather. We took the yellow Zhonghe MRT line all the way to the end at the Taipei Zoo, walked to the Maokong gondola (Sky Trail) and enjoyed about 45-50 minutes on the gondola. Hardly anybody there so no standing in line for more than 5-10 minutes. The scenic view of Taipei and the mountain hills was limited due to the low clouds and drizzle. But my goodness.... $6 for a ride that would typically be outrageous anywhere in the USA. Just can't beat that!!! Fortunately, there were no winds to keep it from operating and I definitely didn't realize it was that long of a ride. Enjoyable. Maybe more so had I brought along my book. Once we got up to the Maokong station I got back on google maps to find the Yao Yue Teahouse to make sure we didn't take any wrong turns on the trail as we hiked. Just like everywhere else in Taiwan, the roads are clean. My suggestion would be to go at not such a busy time of year. December was a good time for this one. We avoided the noisy market stalls. Our only interest was hiking to Yao Yue Teahouse. Was only about 20-30 minutes. Once we got there we wanted a quiet spot inside, by the window and out of the drizzly rain. There was hardly anybody there. Another reason December was a great time. We picked a big table by a window and ordered all sorts of delectables with our tea. Next time the book comes along, we spend more time just enjoying the quaint quiet of the tea farm hills and seriously.... more dumplings. All that with a much earlier start in the day. We did stop at one other tea house on the way back to the gondola sky trail for some coffee and dessert. That was probably the best milk tea I had ever had.
There were other places I would've liked to see but we didn't have the time. By the time we got back to the main MRT station we only had time for Mike to go grab our bags at the hotel and then make our way to the airport. The train ride to the airport was about 50min or so on the express train which takes you straight there. We almost got on the other train that would've taken a good couple hours because apparently it stops at every single stop towards Taoyuan International Airport. Never made it to any of the many night markets. Only reason we would've ever gone was to try the pepper beef bun.
Mike couldn't stop talking about how satisfied he was that we were able to do things budget friendly that didn't require dealing with crowds. He hadn't been able to have any downtime since he had gotten back from North Carolina in October. In fact, since last August really. He's convinced he was on the verge of burn out...and might have burned out had we not been due for a visa run and enjoyed some quiet R&R just for those two days in Taiwan.
Our exit and re-entrance to Manila was perfectly uneventful. With basically no traffic we got home in a record 30 minutes from terminal one. However, Mike found himself back in the 5-6 hour headache (one way there and then same back) a few days later to pick up someone.
The boys came with the their fiances a few days later and the next two weeks of having them and packing all eleven of ourselves around the table was quite the whirlwind. It was too little and too fast. None-the-less we're happy for the boys to have been able to introduce the girls to the rest of this monkey house, their childhood friends/classmates and show them around their old stomping grounds. Now we have a wedding in March and another one in July this year to fly to and attend. Fortunately, both are in the same Texas town. We're excited for the adventures ahead as we play a small part in the beginning of their new life chapters. Dylan's birthday is on New Year's day and to have to come home after watching the Manila skyline light up at midnight and then take them to the airport so they can catch their early morning flight was just .... well, definitely not the way we would've liked to start the new year on his birthday. There was no time for a special dinner and a clandlelit cake. tears. big puddle making tears.
God Almighty has been good and faithful.... as always. We look forward to many more of his goodness as he takes us through mellow and rough waters of 2019 for His name sake. Thank you for remembering our family when you go before the feet of Jesus in prayer. We have a new set of rough waters. But none that He hasn't already promised to help us swim through.
more Jiufen and Maokong photos here.
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