A Sunday in Taichung for Amber

A while back, my wife signed our daughter up for a learning program that is supposed to encourage a child's mental and physical development. We received some playthings, plus periodic classes and activity days were offered. One of those activities was held this morning in Taichung (T'aichung) 台中. There were obstacle courses full of things for kids to climb up, walk across, crawl through and roll over, plus storytelling and dancing. Amber enjoyed doing the individual exercises but showed a worrisome reluctance to participate in the group activities (much like her father, unfortunately). Still, she said she had a lot of fun, and that's what matters the most. Here she is at the end, with the rubber tiger hat and box of cakes that all the children received for coming today:

The three of us were pretty hungry afterward, so we drove over to a nearby Géant hypermarket to have lunch. Our first choice was a Japanese restaurant there called Gen Teishoku 元定食. I sat down and ordered the tonkatsu set meal 豚カツ定食, only to be told it was already sold out (before 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon?). As nothing else on the menu looked appetizing enough to justify the prices being charged, we moved on to a teppanyaki 鉄板焼き establishment across the food court to have a more reasonably priced lunch.

From Géant it was another short drive to the cleverly-named Children's Hall and Children's Park, located in the Beitun (Peit'un) District 北屯區 of Taichung. Unimaginative nomenclature aside, the park is a well-laid out expanse containing several playgrounds, a baseball field and tennis court, and a large fish pond, while the three-story hall provides a library, art and crafts rooms and a couple of indoor play spaces. Amber enjoyed herself playing on the slides and in the sandbox. She also made friends with a couple of girls. As the parent of an only child who has few opportunities to interact with other children, I worry about her ability to get along with others. If this afternoon was any indication, she should be fine once she's old enough to start school.