Swimsuit vs. Swimcap

Over the memorial day weekend we took a high-speed train down to Kenting, on the southern tip of the island, to play. It was absolute craziness on Saturday and Sunday. There was a McDonalds convention in our hotel, a live karaoke band playing each night right outside our room, and Asians in speedos swarming the beach (Shaun was absolutely disgusted with the french cut on a man.) Need I say more?? Sunday, in keeping with the kids' schedule, we got up super early, ate a quick breakfast, and took the kids to a great aquarium where we toured a sunken ship, visited penguins, and watched beluga whales. The aquarium had several outdoor water play areas for the kids, so we spent the majority of the day there. Just to make sure the kids were super tired and ready for bed, we took them to the hotel's arcade for an hour before bed. That did the trick for all of us, and we slept through the loud karaoke music like babies that night.

By Monday, the crowds had cleared and we were able to enjoy the pools and beach in relative peace. So which item is more important to you in the pool--swimsuit or swim cap? Americans would probably answer swimsuit. Apparently, for the Chinese it's the swim cap. At the pool, little kids were swimming naked, but they had swim caps on (hallelujah!) We got in trouble for not donning swim caps, so we went down to the hotel store and bought the most obnoxious colors we could find. Shaun flaunted his bright orange swim cap for all to see at the pool (classic example of his passive-aggressive way of dealing with conflict.) People were bursting out in spontaneous laughter as he passed by, so I guess he made his point that swim caps look stupid. btw: if you want a close-up of Shauny-baby in his swimsuit, just click on the picture!

Dooby had a great time getting as muddy as he could on the beach while Sophie flitted around burying us in the sand. Shaun found several hermit crabs on the beach, and of course, he brought them back and dumped them all out on the hotel bed to examine them with the kids. I eventually made him throw them out the window. Trying to avoid the Chinese dinner buffet, we found a great Tex-Mex restaurant called Smokey Joe's right next to the hotel. Yum! Shaun was in heaven with his bbq chicken and rib platter. It's true that meat is a man's pleasure food! We haven't had good restaurant food from home for a long time, so it was a real treat. We ate there twice for dinner. The trip home was uneventful, other than trying to keep Dooby from throwing things over the seat or Sophie from constantly putting the tray up and down on the seat in front of her. The kids (and Shaun) had melt-downs, but we can all laugh about it now. We realize that these are get-aways more than vacations and we definitely had fun!