Kenting

The beach. . . Sigh. . .  Every good vacation includes a stop at one, right? Sadly enough, we almost didn't make it to one this vacation. Being on such a tight timeframe, I wanted to make sure we had enough time to get over the Hualien, the real highlight of the island. This means cutting from the west to the east side of the island, a proposition that takes several hours. Unfortunately, the fastest way to do so means skipping out the southern tail-like tip of the island, which includes Kenting National Park. (See below). 

For those of us who may not be familiar with Kenting, the national park includes over 70 square miles of unbelievable greenery, surrounded by beautiful beaches and ocean. It is the play capital of the country, and everyone we talked to in Tainan said we were crazy to not go.  Upon hearing this, Dad made the unilateral decision that rather than going to Taitung according to our original plan, we would instead be visiting Kenting for a day. After a bit of scrambling for a hotel and canceling another one, we made the adjustment, and were very, very happy we did. 

This place is gorgeous! I've never visited another place that reminded me more of Hawaii. One honestly could spend many days there, and still want for more. We only saw a small sliver of the park--Baisha Beach, to be exact--but I would love to one day come back and experience more of the actual National Park.

The area includes both white sandy beaches, and lovely black coral reefs--just like Hawaii.

Bathing beauty.

The kids couldn't get enough of swimming and playing in the sand.

Collecting sea shells, most of which still had sea life inside.

The oldest three kids got to snorkel for the first time ever. (I wish we'd gotten a better photo of them in their gear.) There was a bit of minor panicking at the beginning, but ultimately they had a magical experience seeing sea life with their own eyes that way. Sassy in particular never wanted to come back to shore. Dad said it was spooky just how much snorkeling with her felt like being with me. Her reaction for all things new and otherworldly could hardly be contained, which was oddly familiar. :)

Proof that Dad was here. I was relaxing so much this day, I completely spaced taking very many pictures of him. Sorry, Honey. For once, I am grateful for the advent of the selfie. :)

Even Buggas kicked back and relaxed.

The baby was happy beyond measure when he awoke and found him surrounded by the biggest playground of sand he had ever seen. (This was his first time at a beach.)

Did I mention he was happy to be here?

The sisters from my mission would get a kick out of this photo, which is part of why I included it. They all became quite familiar with how unruly my curly hair became when mixed with the humidity of Taiwan. (Note: I need to share with you the story about my first short haircut that took place on the island when the weather turned too hot. Out of pure desperation I chopped my tresses all off, only to suffer the fate of looking like Ronald McDonald the rest of my mission. . . Tragic.) 

On the whole, though we had hours of driving that evening to look forward to, our time at the beach felt both refreshing and relaxing -- my idea of a true vacation. Would that we could stay!

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p.s. - As if Kenting did not prove to be awesome enough, I have to mention that we had the best . . . I repeat, the best danbing of our lives here. For those unfamiliar with danbing, it is a Taiwanese breakfast item where they have something akin to a tortilla (but much fresher, thicker, and yummier) that cooks directly onto some beaten eggs. Sometimes fresh vegetables or bacon will be thrown into the hot mix, for good measure. 

After the two sufficiently cook/adhere to each other they are rolled up, sliced, and eaten with soy sauce or hot sauce. It is amazing, and one of the things I craved eating most when I got to Taiwan. However, much to my distress, when I arrived in YuanLin I had a dickens of a time finding places with real danbing. [Insert cry of frustration here!]

So, you can only imagine my delight when I found a hole-in-the-wall place in Kenting, (the best Chinese breakfast places are always unmarked) that had the real thing. Between these bad boys and some papaya milk, and I was swooning!  As you can see, the baby also approves:

Seriously, Li-ling and I are still talking about how much we wish we could eat danbing from Kenting again. Drool, drool, drool!