Tainan

Train, art center and historical courthouse

confuscius temple and shopping street

lunch

aunt’s house

The main purpose of this day trip was to visit our relatives on Ivan’s mom’s side. Ivan’s cousin showed us around in the morning, we then had a fantastic lunch with everyone and hung out at aunt’s place before heading back to Taichung in the evening.

train, art center and historical courthouse

We took the high speed rail down to Tainan.

HSR is fast and smooth. It's not cheap though.

The #2 art center that was built is of modern design.

The historical courthouse is right next to the art center and only a block away from the Confucius temple. This is a great area where all the attractions are within walking distance.

Ashlyn's bug bites usually get big and swollen. It looked pretty bad at the courthouse.

Our uncle from Tainan is a volunteer tour guide at the courthouse, now that he's retired.

Three mean judges.

Regretting my decisions while awaiting trial in the cell block.

Who's the guilty one??

Ivan's younger cousin's family. Ivan has two cousins in Tainan, one older, one younger.

Ivan’s cousins picked us up from the High Speed Rail (HSR) station and showed us the #2 Art Center and historical courthouse. His dad volunteers as a tour guide.

CONFUCIUS temple & shopping street

Tainan is a city full of culture, and the Confucius temple is the embodiment of Taiwanese culture.

Ivan's cousin said Ivan should've learned this poem on the wall during middle school. Ivan has zero recollection of it.

The alley across the street is a great place to stroll around, with plenty of souvenirs for sale.

These are perfectly edible buns in cute character shapes. Ivan's cousin bought the panda for the girls to try. Tasted like... a bun.

Confucius Temple nearby to the courthouse is a popular tourist stop. The shopping street across the street is a great place to check out interesting traditional souvenirs and snacks.

lunch

The view from the restaurant, which is located at the top floor of the mall in downtown. It overlooks the train station and the railroad tracks.

Megan got a good luck charm to tie onto our day pack.

Peking Duck, yum.

They carve it carefully at table-side. For a few slices, they even remove the fat under the skin.

We had three big tables, separated by generation. This is the middle-generation table. Some moms were stuck at the kids table though.

The grand-parents table.

The tofu-hua. They pour hot soy milk into the bucket that already had powers in it, and 15 minutes later, the tofu-hua is ready. All the toppings on the side are available for customization.

Swinging by the celebration outside the mall before heading out.

Shangrila, the highest restaurant in Tainan, is located on the top floor of the mall next to the train station. The food was fantastic! It’s certainly not cheap though.

Aunt’s house

Hanging out at auntie's house.

Auntie's house in Tainan.

Ivan's been to auntie's house many times since he was a little kid. The older cousin's house right next door is newly built.

These fish are massive for the tank.

A fully enclosed ecosystem. Fish poop fertilizes the vegetation, then decomposed by earthworms, filtered, and fed back into fish tank. Fish food is the only input.