AMWF couple: sum up of 2019

I've been feeling down recently. Unfortunately, talking with my husband is too difficult. He tells me not to always complain and find someone else to talk to. When I express that I really need to talk about my problems instead of constantly keeping them to myself, he tells me to just change my mindset. He doesn't understand the challenges of taking care of our child, managing the home, and running my cake business all at the same time. When I mention needing a break from taking care of the baby, all I hear is to find a job so I can have a day off.

I'm happy to be going back to Poland soon. I've been trying to find many traditional Taiwanese foods for my family. I even have century eggs, although I think my family might be afraid to try them. It's unfortunate that I can't bring stinky tofu and durian. They would probably kick me out real quick, haha. I have some traditional cookies like pineapple cakes, sun cakes, mochi, and I even found some cookies with boba pearls inside. My family is quite big, and it's been challenging to find something for everyone. Food is already taking up a significant portion of my luggage.

Last year wasn't easy either. Before we even moved to Tainan, I used to meet up often with my South African friend. Once, while we were sitting in the park watching our kids play, a tall, strong Taiwanese man with an angry face approached us and asked her, "Are you Muslim?" He asked more than once, and she tried to explain that she is Muslim but not an extremist. He didn't say anything and soon walked away. It seems that being a white girl is definitely easier than being a Muslim or Southeast Asian person here. They encounter much more unfriendly or racist people than I do. People are usually more welcoming towards me and often express happiness in seeing me. Sometimes even a bit too much, as some will tell me I look beautiful, and one woman even started touching my hair. I also met an older woman from the Philippines whom I wanted to invite to our house, but she kept saying, "I think your husband will not like that," so she refused. It seems she has encountered many unkind Taiwanese people in the past.

I've also quickly made a new friend after moving to Tainan, who happens to be my neighbor. We live on the same floor, and she also has a daughter of similar age to our son. We often meet so that our kids can play together, and finally, I have someone to talk with. She is an English teacher, so language is no longer a problem. Our kids seem to really enjoy playing together. I've noticed that most kids don't like to play with others. My son is always happy and runs to other kids, but they often walk away or their parents quickly take them away. It has happened so many times already, and it kind of makes me sad. I also have a Polish friend here whom I can sometimes meet, and we've also met a German-Taiwanese couple selling pizza nearby.

I thought that after moving to Shanhua, everything would be more peaceful, but I find myself getting angry with so many people. When we go to the park, people often drink, smoke, and bring unleashed dogs. Once, there was a woman who chose to sit right next to us out of all the available places and started smoking. Her dog would always jump on my son because she would point at him and talk to the dog. When I asked her not to smoke here and not to encourage the dog to jump on my kid, she just laughed and said that it doesn't matter. There aren't many places where I can bring my kid to play around.

There was also a kid who always stayed at home and called my son to come over, but he never went outside, and they wouldn't let my son come in to play either. They all had fun because my son would stay on the other side of the door if they called him. One time, their kid took off his underwear and showed his bottom to us. He did it 2-3 times, which really made me angry. He's old enough to understand what is or isn't polite. Since that time, I barely stay around there. Towards the end of the year, we also had some problems with our neighbors. The family living below us has a few kids who would always run on the roof (since we live on the top floor). It wouldn't be a big deal if they didn't do it around 6:00 - 7:00 am, making so much noise that I often woke up. Fed up with the noise after many weeks, we mentioned it to them. In retaliation, they said that our kid is also very loud. They were angry that we even brought it up. In the end, there was a meeting to resolve the issue, but they didn't even show up. Only two other neighbors attended.

And once again, we had a problem with our in-laws. They gave my son a toy (or so we thought), a husky dog. He liked it and played with it for over a month. After that time, when we went back to their place, they asked us to give it back. They claimed that the toy belonged to my sister-in-law, and she kept asking for it back. A woman in her 30s couldn't accept losing a toy to a child less than 2 years old. This isn't the first time we've had issues with her, but this situation was just laughable. In the end, my parents-in-law bought a new toy for our son, which was completely different, and he didn't even like it. They always said they wanted to visit us, but it was only to take the toy back. I felt angry, so I forbade them from coming here and taking the toy. I don't understand why they want to hurt my child by taking away the toy he played with for so many days. And why couldn't they just find exactly the same dog and give it to their daughter?

We also traveled a lot this year. Unfortunately, while we were in Hualien, our son got croup. We only had the chance to visit 2-3 places on our way from Taidong and went to the Night Market. That night, our son couldn't breathe due to croup. We rushed to the hospital and stayed there overnight. The previous day, he was barely coughing (usually before sleep) and refused to eat his dinner. I wanted to take him to see a doctor earlier, but my husband thought that I was overreacting, as many mothers tend to be. The next day, he got better, but the doctor still advised us to stay one more day for observation. Unfortunately, a typhoon was coming the next day, which could have made it difficult for us to return home. It was a difficult choice, but in the end, the doctor allowed us to take our child out of the hospital around noon and bring him back to Tainan. It was a 7-hour drive back home. Fortunately, he didn't cry, which made it easier for him to breathe. After that, we still went to the hospital to make sure he was fine and got some more medicine. He got better soon, but since then, he refuses to drink milk, making it difficult for him to nap during the day.

I used to be happy during his nap time because it was the only time when I could focus on things like learning Chinese or making cakes. Nowadays, I'm still selling cakes, but I have to sometimes wake up very early to finish baking before he wakes up. It's getting more difficult over time because he wakes up earlier and earlier. On a positive note, something good happened. Just 1-2 months after we moved here, we posted about our cheesecakes in one of the local groups. People went crazy, and suddenly plenty of people started to order from us. After a short while, a newspaper contacted us, expressing interest in writing about our cakes. It was the first time for me to be in the news, even if it was just a newspaper (https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20190924001209-260415). I believe it really helped to build people's trust in the quality of our cakes. However, I'm not very focused on selling cakes seriously because I have very little time to bake.

And I still can't bring myself to write more in Polish. Initially, I thought of having a blog in two languages, but it seems like that might never happen. I've become so used to English. People may find many mistakes in my blog, but I don't care. It's part of the learning process. Sometimes, I've seen people laughing at others for their poor English (or any other language) while they can only speak one language themselves. I have a bigger problem with Chinese. I'm shy to use it because I know my proficiency is very poor. Of course, I know words related to things I do every day, like the flavors of my cakes, but I can't engage in much conversation with people. Even if I understand something, I don't know how to respond, or they might not understand what I'm trying to say.

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Pingtung Travel: Chuhuo Eternal Fire and Hengchun Town

The last stop on our Kenting Trip before going home was the Chuhuo Eternal Fire and Hengchun Town. In the town, we tried some Filipino/Spanish cuisine and Matsu-style buns. The town is very small, so it's easy to see all of the town's gates just by walking. The Old Street was quite empty, and we didn't see any street food, only some restaurants.

Hengchun Town (恆春)

Hengchun Town in Pingtung was established by the Qing Dynasty after the Peony Society incident. Construction began on November 15, 1875, and was completed on September 1, 1879. It is the only town in Taiwan that has preserved all its gates. The ruins of the city were designated as a natural monument of historical sites on December 5, 1935, during the Japanese rule. After the war, in 1985, the town was announced as a second-level monument and later changed to a national monument.

From September to March of each year, the monsoon from Siberia blows south along the towering central mountain range. When the Hengchun Peninsula descends sharply, the monsoon accelerates along the terrain towards the ocean, forming a strong wind. Due to the abundant sunshine and the strong hot and dry wind, onions are suitable for planting. Additionally, Hengchun introduced Qiong Ma in 1901 to produce ropes, sacks, and other products for people's livelihood, occupying an important position in the colonial economy of the Japanese era. Qiongma also became a symbol of Hengchun.

Hengchun is located in a tropical climate zone. The southern coast has a coral reef terrain and rich natural ecology. In 1982, Taiwan's first national park, Kenting National Park, was established here. The Hengchun area was formerly known as Langya and was originally under the jurisdiction of Fengshan County. In 1874, Shen Zheng was ordered to come to Taiwan to deal with coastal defense and aftermath matters. The following year, construction of Hengchun Ancient City began.

During the Japanese rule, the ancient city of Hengchun was damaged by a typhoon in 1908 and was designated as a natural monument of historical interest in 1935. During the Second World War, the ancient city of Hengchun was also damaged by a fire. Furthermore, it was hit by an earthquake in 1959. Due to the construction of roads and other factors, the city wall of the Dongmen section was dismantled in 1963.

In 1968, the ruins of the ancient city of Hengchun were listed as tentative first-class monuments, and the Pingtung County government rebuilt the South Gate Tower with the subsidy of the Tourism Bureau of the Ministry of Communications in the same year. In 1983, the Dongmen City Tower was rebuilt, but due to insufficient reconstruction, it was downgraded to a second-class monument when it was announced in 1985. Among the two reconstructed towers, the Dongmen tower was damaged by termites again in 1998.

The perimeter of the ancient city of Hengchun is 2,600 meters, and there are four gates. The south gate is called "Mingdu Gate," while the other three gates are simply referred to as the east gate, north gate, and west gate. Battery turrets are located between the city gates. In 1878, Zhixian Huang Yanzhao excavated five water wells in the city, which were respectively located on the street, the west gate of the county office, the front of the Fengshen temple, the back of the county office, and the south gate. The more lively areas in the ancient city are in the southwest.

See also: Baihe Fire and Water Spring

Chuhuo Eternal Flame (恆春出火) 

Chuhuo Eternal Flame is located just outside of Hengchun on the east side. This place is filled with natural gas underground, and sometimes the ground is covered with sand and gravel. When ignited, it forms a red flame, which attracts many tourists. Due to the constant flow of natural gas, the fire outlets also vary from time to time. Although the flame is not very large, there have been incidents where tourists have been burned.

Address:

1. Hengchun East Gate: 946屏東縣恆春鎮恆東路259-2號恆春縣城東門
2. Hengchun West Gate: 946屏東縣恆春鎮恆春縣城西門
3. Hengchun North Gate: 946屏東縣恆春鎮恆春縣城北門
4. Chuhuo Eternal Flame: 屏東縣恆春鎮946出火特別景觀區

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Pingtung Travel: Kenting National Forest Recreation Area

Unfortunately, some places here were closed for renovation, such as Fairy Cave and the Viewing Tower, but it was still a very nice experience. It took us 2 hours to visit all the accessible places. There is a huge area planted with different plants, such as palms or cacti. Among the gardens, there is also a small stalagmite cave, which can only be seen from a platform. The park consists of forests and coral rocks that used to be underwater thousands of years ago. Some of those rocks are really tall. It is interesting to just walk around, even though apart from rocks and trees, there was nothing else to see. It's a shame that the caves were closed this time.

Kenting National Forest Recreation Area (墾丁國家森林遊樂區) 

Kenting National Forest Recreation Area is located at the top of Hengchun Township, Pingtung County. This area was originally inhabited by the Paiwan tribe and was formerly called "Jiayajiao". Under the consideration of academic research and education, the Forestry Bureau rebuilt it into a scenic area with a southern flavor. The Forestry Bureau Kenting Forest Recreation Area was established in 1968 and was later renamed the Kenting National Forest Recreation Area. In 1984, the Construction Department of the Ministry of the Interior planned to establish the Kenting National Park, which included the Kenting National Forest Recreation Area and expanded to other scenic areas on the Hengchun Peninsula.

The area is situated 200-300 meters above sea level, with a total area of 435 hectares, accounting for 2.5% of the total land area of the National Park. Currently, 76 hectares have been developed. The entire area is filled with uplifted coral reef rocks formed by the deposits of coral skeletons, shellfish remains, and seaweed. Therefore, this area undoubtedly belonged to the seafloor several thousand years ago.

During the Japanese rule, 513 species of tropical plants were introduced, and the restoration work was carried out by the Hengchun Branch of the Provincial Forestry Research Institute, which is now called the "Kenting Tropical Botanical Garden." There are more than 1,200 types of plants, divided into areas for coconuts, oil, rubber, medicinal plants, tropical fruit trees, and more. The dense shades, red flowers, and green leaves complement each other, creating a stunning landscape. There are 17 tour bases divided into the first and second tour areas. Among them, the silver leaves of Bangan, Xiandong, Guanhailou, and Ronggu Valley are most appreciated by tourists. The silver-white color of the leaves is over 400 years old. Due to growing in a tropical humid and rainy environment, the roots grow upward in a plate shape to provide support and breathing.

The Banyan Valley is peaceful, and huge white banyan roots hang down from the valley wall, creating a spectacular sight.

There are natural limestone caves with stalagmites and stalactites that have formed over thousands of years due to the condensation of calcium carbonate dissolved in groundwater. They are the country's most precious natural treasures. We were able to see only one small stalagmite cave, as entrance to the others was prohibited.

The Fairy Cave is 137 meters long, and various scenes inside the cave are formed by condensed stalactites. Unfortunately, when we went there at the end of November, the cave was closed for renovation until December 4. Similarly, the Viewing the Sea Tower, which offers a good view overlooking the southernmost tip of Taiwan's main island and Lanyu in the Pacific Ocean, was also closed at that time.

Dajianshan is one of the landmarks of Kenting. It's a large rock raised on the grassland and is the highest point in the Kenting Peninsula area. To access Dajianshan, one must enter through the gate of the Kenting National Forest Recreation Area, cross the Kenting Ranch, and climb ropes along the ridge line. From the mountain top, there is a beautiful landscape overlooking the Hengchun Peninsula.

See also: Kenting National Park

Address:

946屏東縣恆春鎮公園路201號墾丁國家森林遊樂區

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Pingtung Travel: Traveling around Kenting National Park

The list of places I have visited is already quite long, but I always feel like there are still so many things to see. Taiwan is small but definitely not lacking in attractions. This time, we went to Kenting for a short trip. I was here two years ago, but it was only a brief stop at the beach. This time, I wanted to see more. I thought the weather here would still be hot, but I didn't know that Kenting is so windy. The water was a little cool and very wavy, so I wasn't interested in swimming at all. Also, when we went to the east side to see the cliffs, the wind was so strong that it was sometimes difficult to stand. Following Google Maps isn't always a good idea either. Once, we followed a very small and sandy road, and the slope was quite steep at times, but 100 meters before reaching another road, it was blocked...

Kenting National Park (墾丁國家公園) 

Kenting National Park was established on January 1, 1984, and it was the first national park established in Taiwan in the post-war period. The Hengchun Peninsula, located at the southernmost tip of Pingtung County and Taiwan's main island, has a land area of 18,084 hectares and a sea area of 15,206 hectares, totaling nearly 33,290 hectares. The park is approximately 24 kilometers long from north to south and 24 kilometers wide from east to west. Kenting National Park is located in a tropical climate zone. The temperature is warm and humid throughout the year, and tropical plants thrive. The surrounding waters are clear, and corals grow vigorously. Kenting is rich in flora and fauna, with 5,164 species of animals and 1,921 species of plants recorded as of 2014.

In the Hengchun Peninsula, whales and dolphins such as the big-winged whale, sperm whale, jis dolphin, and black-necked dolphin have been spotted. Cetaceans can be seen near the seaport on the west coast of Hengchun from December to March, and in winter, a group of dolphins can be seen along the coast of the Hengchun Peninsula. Kenting is also an important area for migratory birds, with species such as the Shrike and gray scorpion seeking refuge from the cold during autumn and winter.

The downhill wind is a unique weather phenomenon in the Hengchun Peninsula during winter. From October to March, the northeast monsoon blows south along the central mountain range. When it reaches the Hengchun Peninsula, the wind suddenly intensifies due to the Shimen Valley, Dawu Valley, and Manchu Township valley, causing the wind to rush down the steep peninsula, creating strong winds and sometimes sand and dust cover the sky.

See also: Kenting National Forest Recreation Area

White Sand Bay

White Sand Bay

White Sand Bay

White Sand Bay

White Sand Bay (白沙灣海灘)

White Sand Bay is located on the west bank of the Hengchun Peninsula and on the northwest coast of Maobitou Park. The Baisha Bay area is a coral reef coast that was originally a small fishing port. The beach in this area is up to 100 meters long and consists of pure white shell sand.

Fengchuisha (風吹砂) 

Fengchuisha is a windy terrain. From September to April of the following year, the sand is blown by the northeast monsoon in winter and carried to the southwest by the wind. The sand carried by rivers and tides along the coast is transported to the northeastern beaches. Due to wind erosion and aeolian accumulation, the sand in the valley is continuously transported back and forth by wind and water, forming a unique landscape of "dunes" and "sand waterfalls." However, the construction of a road and the planting of a large number of Casuarina windbreakers by the local government have disrupted the natural sound of wind and sand in Kenting.

Longpan Park (龍磐公園) 

Longpan Park is located between Elunbai Cape and Fengchuisha. This area is characterized by rising limestone formations, which result in limestone caves, seepage points, cliffs, and red clay. The park features prairies that transition from steep cliffs to winding coasts. The area has less light pollution, making it suitable for watching the sunrise and the starry sky at night.

See also: Hengchun Town

Longpan Park

Longpan Park

Longpan Park

Longpan Park

Longpan Park

Guanshan (關山)

Guanshan is located in the southwest of Hengchun at an altitude of 152 meters. Due to its higher terrain compared to the rest of the peninsula, it offers excellent views. It is one of Kenting's famous attractions, especially for observing the sunset. From the north, you can see the slopes of Dapingding and the scenic fishing village along the way. Looking east, you can overlook Longtan Lake and the scenery between Nanwan and Elunbai Cape. The Guanshan area is composed of uplifted coral reefs. According to carbon isotope dating, these coral reef formations rose at a rate of approximately 5 mm per year, which means that Guanshan was still underwater 30,000 years ago. On the top of Guanshan Mountain, there is a temple built on a coral reef, which is rare in other parts of Taiwan.

Chuanfan Rock (船帆石小沙灘)

Chuanfan Rock, also known as "Sailboat Stone," resembles the avatar of former US President Nixon from a certain angle, and thus, it is commonly known as Nixon Head. The rock has a height of 26.4 meters and reaches about 18 meters at high tide. The old coral reef rolled down to the beach, and it has recently become a popular spot for bird watching and snorkeling. There are many diving-related shops and homestays in the vicinity.

Guanshan

Guanshan

Guanshan

Chunfan Rock

Chunfan Rock

Chunfan Rock

Houbihu Port (後壁湖) 

Houbihu Port is the largest fishing port on the Hengchun Peninsula. The terminal offers glass-bottom boats, yachts, and other facilities, attracting many tourists. There is also a small beach abundant with dead corals and shells known as Xingsha Bay.

Shadao (砂島) 

Shadao is a small sandy bay. Due to reduced wave energy in the bay, shells and corals in the nearby waters have been eroded by seawater over time. The shells and corals were excavated and used for necklaces, wall decorations, and more, leading to sand mining. However, it has now been designated as an ecological protection area, and mining is prohibited to preserve its natural beauty. The department has set up a shell sand exhibition hall equipped with microscopic viewing facilities to provide high-quality tourism services.

Southernmost point (台灣最南點)

The Southernmost Point is located between the famous Eluanpi and the Longkeng ecological reserve area. It is a 10-minute walk on a stone pavement trail from the parking lot to the monument marking Taiwan's southernmost point on the reef.

Kenting Main Street (墾丁大街) 

Kenting Main Street is a shopping street with a night market. It is filled with restaurants, hotels, street food vendors, and water activities along the beach. However, the presence of Kenting Street is not conducive to the ecological conservation of the national park, as it causes light pollution, pollution, and impacts the water temperature.

Houbihu Port

Houbihu Port

Houbihu Port

Shadao

Shadao

Shadao

Shadao

Shadao

Southernmost Point

Kenting Main Street

Kenting Main Street

Address:

946屏東縣恆春鎮墾丁路596號

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