week 37_afternoon in Danshui

For the second day of my birthday weekend, the weather was lovely! In fact, it inspired us to get out of town after all - so we rode the MRT to the last stop on the main line, to Danshui, a suburb of Taipei about an hour away by MRT. When I visited Danshui in 2006, I remember the pier venturing out into the water, seafood vendors with freshly fried snacks on the street corners, and cute shops & cafes for wandering. During this visit to Danshui, it was clear that the quiet escape has changed... Hundreds of city-dwellers filled the MRT seats all the way to our destination. The crowds flooded the streets, making it impossible for cars to drive on some streets, and every park bench appeared to be taken.

Nonetheless, the #1 appeal for us Texas folk was not suffocatingly crowded, it was juuust right!

By now (approaching my 9 month mark), we've heard rumor that there is a Mexican restaurant in Taiwan that is actually owned & operated by a Mexicano! [No way!] But in fact, it's true! In the popular suburb of Danshui there is a small restaurant called Eddy's Cantina that is owned by a gentleman from Mexico who is married a Taiwanese woman and started a life here. We are thankful! Yay for Mexican food! It made for a perfectly wonderful birthday lunch/dinner... since we were splurging, we went all out and ordered entirely too much food for two people!

They even had tasty margaritas! Happy birthday to me! :)

Yes, that is my husband wearing a cowboy hat & eating a burrito...
... In Taiwan [?!?!]
Sorry ladies, he's taken!!! ;)

After we had completely gorged ourselves, we hit the streets for some window shopping - that turned into some trinket shopping plus dessert. :) On my previous visit to Danshui, I purchased a hair pin in a cute little shop full of wind chimes. On this trip, I made a similar purchase - two hairpins... a very sentimental purchase for me because it was on my last trip to Taiwan that I learned to pin my long hair up with a single pin, and loved it!

It's a beautiful day to shop in Danshui (pronounced Done-shway)

Trinket / Gift shop, where I purcashed my hair pins

Hair pin: $3 (USD).
Learning to pin up long hair tightly with a single pin: Priceless!
[Thank you Taiwan!]

We packed in among the crowded alleys and continued meandering along until we found some dessert... the tallest twist cone I've ever seen! The perfect weather, great food and good company certainly made for the perfect end to my birthday weekend :)

Hard to eat this one before it melts!

Finally, to wrap up an already wonderful birthday celebration, I received flowers at my office from my immediate family, and goodies in the mail from my amazing more extended family! Thank you everyone - near or far - for making my birthday so special! :)

My birthday was wonderful ~ thank you!!!