A Summer of Exploring Houli, Taichung – Yuemei Sugar Factory and More Pokémon!

During the summer, we ended up visiting Taichung quite a lot, especially Houli. My husband had been travelling there for work over the past couple of months, so instead of sitting around waiting for him to finish his job, I would take Adrian out to explore the area.

It turned into a nice little routine. While my husband was busy working, Adrian and I could spend some time outdoors, discover new places and find things to do together. We visited quite a few parks, and whenever we had the chance, we also explored other places around Houli.

One of them was Yuemei Sugar Factory, a place I had wanted to visit for quite a while!

Houli Forest Park (臺中花博后里森林園區)

Our first stop was Taichung World Flora Exposition Houli Forest Park (臺中花博后里森林園區).

The park was originally built for the 2018 Taichung World Flora Exposition and has since become one of the nicest green spaces in the area. There are walking paths, open fields, ponds, art installations and, most importantly according to Adrian... a playground.

Actually, several playgrounds.

The park is huge, so even on a hot summer day it never felt too crowded, and there were plenty of shaded areas to take a break.

I thought we'd spend an hour there. We stayed much longer.

That wasn't the end of it either. During the two days we were in Houli and Taichung, I think we visited four or five different parks.

Every time I suggested another sightseeing spot, Adrian somehow managed to find another playground nearby.

I suppose that's sightseeing from a eight-year-old's perspective!

Visiting Yuemei Sugar Factory

I had actually wanted to visit Yuemei Sugar Factory before, but the last time we tried, it wasn't open. So, when we had another opportunity to be in Houli, I decided it was time to give it another try.

The sugar factory has a long history dating back to the Japanese colonial period, and although it no longer produces sugar, it has been turned into a tourist attraction. There are old factory buildings, historical machinery and other reminders of Taiwan's sugar industry. You can also find a little area to walk around and, of course, enjoy some traditional sugar factory ice pops!

I always find places like this interesting because they offer a glimpse into Taiwan's past. It's easy to spend time visiting modern attractions and shopping centres, but sometimes it's nice to explore somewhere with a bit of history behind it.

Another Claw Machine Adventure

Of course, not every outing was about visiting historical places or exploring parks. Sometimes, we had a completely different mission!

If you've been following my blog for a while, you might already know about our little weakness for claw machines, especially when Pokémon are involved.

Naturally, we couldn't resist having another go, and this time we came home with four new Pokémon!

At this point, I think it's safe to say that our Pokémon collection has got a little out of hand. We now have roughly 60 Pokémon plushies of different sizes, and finding somewhere to put them all has become a bit of a problem.

Well, actually, the problem is that we don't really have anywhere left to put them!

Our collection has slowly grown over time, and somehow, the Pokémon have managed to take over Adrian's bed. There are so many of them now that they have practically become part of his bedroom furniture.

I suppose it's better than having them all scattered around the house, although I'm not entirely sure how much longer we can keep adding to the collection before we run out of space completely.

The funny thing is that Adrian absolutely loves it. He doesn't seem to mind sharing his bed with a whole crowd of Pokémon, and I don't think he would be particularly happy if I suggested finding a new home for some of them.

So, for now, the Pokémon are staying exactly where they are!

And knowing us, I wouldn't be surprised if the collection grows even bigger the next time we come across a claw machine with some cute Pokémon inside. After all, we only went out to have a little fun, and somehow came home with four more. 😂

Our summer trips to Houli might have started because of my husband's work, but they gave Adrian and me plenty of opportunities to explore somewhere new, revisit places we had missed before and, naturally, add a few more Pokémon to our ever-growing collection.

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Our Last Day in Warsaw & The Long Journey Back to Taiwan

After our morning exploring Łazienki Park and running around Warsaw trying not to be late for lunch, we finally had some time to slow down. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to cool down and rest for a little while. Because apparently... Even on holiday, sometimes you need a holiday from the holiday. 😂

But we still had one more afternoon in Warsaw. And there were a few more places I wanted to see.

Exploring More of Warsaw 

In the afternoon, we ordered an Uber and headed towards the Old Town. Our first stop was the area around the Royal Castle.

The Royal Castle is one of the most important historic buildings in Warsaw. It was the former residence of Polish monarchs and the seat of the Polish parliament for centuries.

The castle was destroyed during World War II and later reconstructed, so the building you see today is largely the result of post-war restoration.

We walked around the castle area and then continued towards Rynek Starego Miasta, the Old Town Market Square. This is probably one of the places people imagine when they think of Warsaw. Colourful historic-looking buildings surrounding a large square, restaurants and cafés, people walking around...

It was actually really nice to finally see it in person.

After living in Taiwan for so many years, I'm always interested in seeing how different European cities feel compared with Asian cities. And Warsaw definitely had a different atmosphere from what I'm used to.

A Walk Through Warsaw

From the Old Town, we continued walking and eventually made our way towards Ogród Krasińskich, or Krasiński Garden. It's a large public park in Warsaw, originally created in the 17th century as part of the Krasiński Palace complex.

Today, it's a peaceful green space where people can walk, relax and escape the busy city.

And we definitely appreciated the greenery. But then... The weather decided to change. Very quickly.  

When we left the hotel, it was warm. We were dressed for warm weather. No jackets. No sweaters. Nothing. Because why would we need them? It's summer!

Well... Warsaw apparently had other plans. The temperature suddenly dropped. The air became really cool. And then it started raining. Not a huge storm. Just enough rain to make everything unpleasant when you're outside without a jacket.

And suddenly we were all thinking: "Okay... where's the nearest metro station?"

We started walking faster. By the time we reached the metro, we were definitely ready to get somewhere warm and dry. At this point, we were also hungry again. And there was something I had wanted to try for a while. Georgian food.

So we found a Georgian restaurant and decided to give it a try.

Dinner

Now... I'm still not sure whether I should recommend this particular restaurant. Because the food itself was actually interesting. The problem was... the waiting time.

We ordered four dishes. And then we waited. And waited. And waited... After quite a long time, about an hour after, the food finally started arriving. One dish. Then another. Then another. We ate the first three. And our fourth dish was still... missing. At this point, a LOT of time had passed. We were already wondering whether they had forgotten about it completely.

And honestly... We gave up. We canceled the last dish and left.

So, unfortunately, I didn't really get the full Georgian food experience.

Maybe the food was great. Maybe we were just unlucky that evening. But waiting that long for dinner when you're cold, tired and hungry isn't exactly the best restaurant experience.

So... I'm still undecided about whether I'd recommend the place.

And outside... It was still cold and raining. So we didn't hang around. We basically rushed back to the hotel as quickly as possible. At that point, we were ready to get into bed.

Because the next morning... We were flying back to Taiwan.

Our Polish summer was officially coming to an end. Or at least... We thought it was.

The Journey Home 

The next morning, we finished breakfast, checked out and ordered a taxi to the airport. And, of course... We couldn't leave Poland without one final little problem. When the taxi arrived, we immediately discovered an issue. Our luggage didn't fit. At all. 😂

Apparently, we had ordered a car that was simply too small.

So... We had to cancel it and order another one. Lesson learned. When you're travelling with three people and a lot of luggage: Choose the XL car.

Don't try to save a few minutes by ordering a normal car. Because eventually... You'll just have to order another one anyway. 

The second taxi arrived and, thankfully, this time everything fitted. And we finally headed to the airport.

We arrived at the airport about one hour before our flight. Which normally wouldn't be ideal... But we thought we'd be okay.

Well... The airport was VERY crowded. And everything was moving incredibly slowly.

Check-in. Security. Border control. Everything.

And then suddenly... It was already getting close to our departure time. And we hadn't even passed border control yet.

They were actually calling passengers for our flight earlier because they knew people were still stuck in the queues. But even with that... Everything was taking forever.

We just kept moving forward a little bit at a time. And I was starting to wonder: "Are we actually going to make this flight?"

Eventually... We made it through. We ran to the gate. And finally... We got onto the plane.

Success! We were going home. Except... The plane didn't go anywhere.

We got onto the aircraft... And waited. And waited. And waited. There was another delay.

And by this point, our next flight was already delayed too. So even though we had finally made it onto the plane... We weren't going anywhere yet.

We sat there for about an hour before the plane finally took off.

Our flight from Poland to Abu Dhabi was already delayed by about an hour. And once we arrived in Abu Dhabi, we still had another three hours to wait for our flight to Taiwan.

But apparently, that wasn't enough waiting for one day. 

After boarding the plane, we sat there for another two hours before the plane actually took off.

At this point, we were getting pretty tired… and very hungry.

And then, after we finally took off, it took another hour before they started serving the food.

But eventually, we got our food, survived the long journey, and finally made it back to Taiwan.

After all the traveling, waiting, delays, airports, trains, cars, and everything in between… we were home.

And honestly, even though the journey back was exhausting, I was really happy to be back.

It was such a long trip, but we had a really memorable Polish summer — spending time with family, eating Polish food, exploring places I hadn't seen before, and showing Adrian a little more of Poland.

And now… it was time to get back to normal life in Taiwan.

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