No Easter Bunny In Taiwan

When we made the decision to pack up our life and move it to Taiwan it was October.  The stores were full of fall decorations and Halloween.  It was easy for me to think about what I would want for the Tiny American for the following Halloween that might not be readily available in Taiwan. What I did not think about was what other holidays would come and go that are celebrated in the States that are not such a big deal here.  The first one we encountered was Easter.  They don't do colored eggs and chocolate bunnies.  I did find some overpriced, although very yummy, eggs and bunnies at Godiva.  A friend that was coming for a business trip brought some egg dye and plastic eggs for us and I was very grateful.  Obviously Z is young enough that letting the commercial aspect of Easter pass by would have been no big deal, it was more for me I guess.  I love dyeing eggs, always have.  Dyeing the eggs with my brother and sister and cousins and then hiding and hunting the eggs the next day are some of my favorite childhood memories.  Easter isn't Easter without the smell of vinegar and boiled eggs!  My mom and my aunt made holidays really special for us and I have always tried to do the same for my kids, so letting it pass by without celebrating with Z was not a real option for me. The Tiny American very quickly figured out the hunting egg part....he loves putting things in his bucket anyway so this was a normal progression for him.   The dyeing of the eggs was mostly for me.  He is still too little to really do it, but it gave us extra eggs to hide and hunt.  Next year we will be better prepared and I think he will be ready to dye eggs himself!

I love the smell!

With his bucket full!

After a very hot easter egg hunt the day before Easter with a friend.

While we were hunting eggs and eating chocolate bunnies for breakfast the locals were celebrating their own spring holiday, Ching Ming Festival, more commonly known as Tomb Sweeping Day.  This is a Chinese Holiday that is celebrated on the 15th day after the Spring Equinox.  In Taiwan it is always celebrated  on April 5 to honor the death of Chiang Kai-Shek.  This holiday celebrates the beginning of Spring.  Translated it is the Clear and Bright Festival.  It is a time to enjoy things being green and fresh.  Spring plowing and planting begins.  People get outside and enjoy family time and they honor their ancestors by cleaning up the cemeteries and grave sites.  They go to the tombs and pray, offer tea, wine and food to the ancestors, burn incense and leave paper money.  Willow branches are often placed on the graves as well as doors of their homes during this time to ward off evil spirits that may wander through during Ching Ming.

At the cemetery.  The yellow papers on the graves are joss paper, fake money.

It cracks us up to see what people carry on their scooters. This couple had 2 very large flower arrangements.  I assume they were going to the cemetery or the temple.

It actually worked out nice that our Easter and their Ching Ming all happened at the same time this year because it meant a 4 day weekend for John.  We hung out and enjoyed our new found freedom that came with his international drivers license!

silent sunday

Shangri-la does exist

We knew we wanted to go somewhere for a little getaway for my birthday and we knew we wanted the beach.  A friend recommended Kota Kinabalu, and more specifically Shangri-la's Rasa Ria Resort. John and I had never even heard of it.  It is on the Island of Borneo in Malaysia.  I have never been more pleased with a destination!  We had the best, most relaxing time.  The resort was so beautiful, the staff almost all spoke English, it was super clean and the restaurants were really good.  It was easy to navigate around the resort, and there was always someone close by willing to answer questions.  Our room, in the Ocean Wing, was fantastic.  It had plenty of room for 2 adults and the Tiny American to spread out.  The patio had a spectacular view of the pool and the ocean.  It had comfy furniture to hang out on and enjoy the view and a giant tub that the Tiny American made use of.

When we were planning the trip we realized that there was a direct flight from Taipei to Kota Kinabalu that would have us at our destination in about 3 1/2 hours.  When traveling with the Tiny American a short flight  sounds awesome.  No transfers, no layovers, etc...but it was an airline that we were not 100% comfortable flying so we opted for a flight through Hong Kong which meant an additional 1 1/2 hours of flight time as well as a short layover.  We are lucky and Z is a good traveler for the most part.  We downloaded his favorite program onto the iPad and brought a couple of his favorite books, which we all have memorized now, and he was good.  We lucked out on our long flight there and back and had an extra seat in our row so we could spread out. People ask us how we travel with a toddler...be prepared.  Bring little snacks, small toys and books. Like i said the iPad saves us when nothing else works; but most importantly, have patience.  It's not always easy, but I feel like if we stay relaxed and patient he will too and usually that works.  

The way we enjoy the beach with our Tiny American is pretty simple.  We get up early, we do anyway so we may as well make use of our time, breakfast at Shangri-la starts at 6:30 so we were some of the first ones there.  They serve a combination of Western and Asian breakfast choices.  They had a good selection of things that all of us liked.  One thing I don't understand, and it seems to be a cultural thing, is that they do not cook their omelets all the way, they leave them runny. It takes some getting used to. You could also order from the menu but we did not do that either morning.  The breakfast location looks out over the beach.  With full bellies we would head out to the beach for a couple of hours of sand and surf time.  It was easy to get a chair this early and the sun wasn't as harsh for Z.  This summer when we were at the beach he was not especially crazy about the ocean, but he has gotten over that and LOVED it. The first morning I wasn't sure we were going to get him out of the water!  He actually fell asleep on daddy's shoulders on the way back to the room. If I had one complaint about the whole resort it would be that there were not enough beach chairs and umbrellas on the beach.  If we had gone later in the day it would have been tough to find a shady spot.

I love to shell at the beach and there were lots of tiny perfect shells of all shape and color but they all still had someone living in them....Z loved that of course.  SO we only came home with one perfect sand dollar that John found on our last morning.

During nap time one day John had a massage and the next day I did.  John was also able to get in a round of golf on their beautiful course.  He saw several very large lizards on the course.  There were signs warning about crocodiles!

The pool was awesome and we spent time there in the afternoons.  Lots of chairs and umbrellas line the pool deck.  There wasn't a dedicated kiddie pool on our side of the resort but it had the zero entry and very gradually got deeper so it was perfect for Z.  The resort does have another pool with lots of kid friendly slides and features that if we go back someday when Z is bigger he will get full use of!

One of the coolest features of this resort is that they work in cooperation with Sabah Wildlife Department to rescue and rehabilitate Orang-utans.  They have a 64 acre nature preserve that hosts a wide variety of wildlife.  We were able to take a short hike into the preserve to an observation area and see the 2 Orang-utan they have in their program right now being fed.  It was so cool.  We got there in time to see them come through the jungle.  They are small, only 5 years old and maybe 1/3 the size they will eventually be and they seriously disrupted the trees when they swung in.  It was awesome to see and fun to see Z watch them.  He wasn't old enough for us to do some of the other walks you can do through the preserve, they offer several opportunities to see the other inhabitants of the jungle.

I had read that the sunset from the beach where we were was in the top 10  of best sunsets anywhere in the world....and it was.  I have never been anywhere where i could actually watch the sun just disappear into the water.  It was so beautiful. Z enjoyed playing in the sand and we enjoyed the breeze and the amazing view.

Sunset the first night.

sunset our last night

We dined one evening at a Japanese Tapenyaki restaurant.  The food was really good and it gave us an opportunity to visit with some of the other guests.  They chef was good about fixing Z his food first and not making him wait. It was still a little tough for him to sit for that long. The last night we dined at their open air restaurant that was set up like a street market with different offerings at each stall.  We tried several stalls but both really loved the Asian Fry Noodle place.  It was crazy crowded and took a very long time to get our food, but it was totally worth the wait.  The atmosphere was good and it made the wait not so bad.

I love this picture!

Our trip home was uneventful, just the way we like it!  It was a fun break from the city.  I think we will most definitely go back, maybe for Chinese New Year.  John liked it so much i'm not sure I will get him to go anywhere else, but I still want to see a few other things! But if you are ever planning a trip to Malaysia I would recommend Rasa Ria.

linking up with Tiny Expats here  show me your world.

We went walking....

We went walking, what did we see?

Of course the Tiny American....my constant companion!

The dumpling makers at one of our favorite places in our neighborhood.

We walk past these 2 signs almost everyday...they are at the pineapple cake store.  One is the entrance and one is the exit sign for the drive thru.  Z loves them!  Even when we are on the bus and pass by he yells at them.

This Dragon is on the temple in one of our favorite parks.

A little hidden garden in our courtyard is one of the Tiny Americans favorite places to go.  He especially loves it at night when the lights are on.

Almost every playground has a least one of these ride on animals. They are on a giant spring and I doubt they would pass any sort of playground safety standards in the U.S.  Z of course loves them.  They are mouth smashers...he uses his whole body to make it move and smacks his face on the head every time and keeps going back for more!

Thanks for walking with us this week!