Day 4- AIT & Touring North Coast

Friday- We started the day with our appointment at AIT (American Institute Taiwan). The purpose of the meeting is to apply for Danny's Visa. All the paperwork had already been sent to them by our agency but we arrived with a binder of paperwork in case they had questions or needed additional backup.

All went smoothly and they said we could pick-up the visa in 2 hours. Typically, you come back the next working day (for us Monday) to get it. They said since there were no inconsistencies in the paperwork, we could get it that day. We were there with another couple also adopting using the same agency so we all waited an extra hour and half to get the visa's and not have to return.

After a quick stop at the hotel, we started touring. First stop the harbor town of Keelung. We saw the Buddha statue and rang a huge bell. I am sketchy in the bell's significance but think it symbolizes good luck. We were told to ring the bell one or three times (good), not two or four (bad). We climbed the inside of the big Buddha statue (hot in there!).

Then we went to Yeliu Geopark and a market there. We ate lunch at the market and tried some unusual foods. We liked the (salted) dried sea vegetables and did not like ground fish chips. We ate noodles with pork (good) and egg, noodle, clam dish (good- but looked scary). Photos of the "restaurant" are below.

The Geopark was next door on a peninsula with great views of the ocean. It has cool rock formations.. (most looked like mushrooms) People lined up to get their photo taken in front of one that they say looks like a queens head. (no photos for us).

Off to the market in Jiufen, another coastal town. It was good we were there on Friday because on weekends you cannot drive thru town due to street closures for the market and have to park under the town and walk up- maybe a mile uphill. Alex described this narrow alley market with small shops on both sides as looking like a town in Taiwan fifty years ago. Mr. Yeh had us try all kinds of new foods here. We did not try the stinky tofu but did smell it. My favorite was the ice cream like mixture with cilantro and ground peanuts in a (kind of) wrap. Photos of them making it are below. We also tried teas, jello?, fruits, and many desert like balls that I don't know the name of- But we have a bag of one of them it was so good.

Did I mention a typhoon was heading this way? It has been windy the last few days because of this. Last I heard it missed us and was heading towards Hong Kong. The breeze has been great. Did I mention it is hot?

I think that is it. It was an amazing day and we enjoyed spending it with Mr. Yeh, Alex and the Kellers.

You can't see it but this is his first Cubs hat!
At the market-
Keelung Park with statue & bell

View of town from Park/Bell

Yes, we climbed the inside of the Buddha.

On the side from Keelung to Yehliu Geopark

At the "restaurant" in the Yeliu market

Market entrance

Restaurant in market where lunch made (it was air-conditioned behind the plastic)

Dried sea vegetables (good)

Dead fish (smelly)

Danny on one of the mushroom rocks at Yeliu

He hates having the sun in his eyes...

Juifen market

Making the ice cream snack (Yum)