Taiwan Trip Day 2: First Day of Sight-Seeing

After attempting to sleep the night before, the four of us (Kyle, me, mom, and MiMi) were up around the 5am hour and eventually met for breakfast down stairs. The buffet and breakfast choices were pretty decent I will say:). We looked around our hotel, rested up, and then walked to Taipei 101. This is the second tallest building in the world and is a major attraction in Taipei. We were not able to go to the top (not enough time) but enjoyed looking in the shops and getting to walk the city. Mr. Yeh and Alex (tour guides) then picked us up and took us to the Flower and Jade Market. I was not sure what to expect...what is a Jade Market? Essentially it is a covered market underneath a highway where hundreds of people sell precious stones, jewelry sets, and little trinkets. You bargain and buy. Kyle got me and Miss Cora a jade stone for a necklace:). Next we walked the Flower Market and then went to a place called the Handicraft Center. This is a shopping center with many floors where you can buy any souvenir that Taiwan has to offer. I bought Cora an authentic Taiwanese dress she can wear when she is older. Next, we headed out to a famous dumpling house called Din Tai Fung. It was Trip TripAdvisor's big recommendation and other adoptive families blogged about how great it was. Let me tell you....YUMMY!!! The waiter helped us order and we feasted on all sorts of dumplings and noodle soups. We learned how to eat them properly and all agreed that the spicy shrimp ones were the best. What a day! We headed back to the hotel and attempted to sleep. I would say it was an amazing first day!