Super adorable corgi travels to Taitung with its owner, watches the “Black Warrior” hot air balloon take off

Text & photos / Mocha Ma

On Sunday, July 21, our family of three took an overnight trip to Taitung, achieving the epic feat of a one-day trip from Taipei to Taitung!!!

It was all started by this crazy wife and breastfeeding mom, Ji-niang—> The Dairy King’s 2013 Taitung Hot Air Balloon Festival

Then Kana-ba said our young folks hadn’t gone out with us to see Angry Birds—>The Kana Family’s Moonlit Hot Air Balloon Chase

Originally, we had planned to carefully arrange a trip to Taitung to see the hot air balloons, but who knew that the Black Warrior would only be on display until July 22

After checking, I found that if we missed this week, the only ones left worth seeing were the little turtle and the upside-down hot air balloons

Ugh, those two just aren’t enough to get me excited about going to Taitung~~~

So, for the Black Warrior, we decided to go that very day!!

We promised our family and friends we wouldn’t say a word—we had to actually see the Black Warrior take off before we could reveal we were in Taitung

As all our loyal fans know, Xu Ge-lin, unsurprisingly, hasn’t broken her curse yet XDDDDD (shakes head)

Seriously, if we drove seven hours to Taitung only to have Kaka just “bang a塞” at Luye Plateau, that would be way too depressing

Fafa uh huh~~~~~ you know

Also, there’s really only a fine line between an enthusiastic act and a crazy one... Orz

＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝ LET’S GO ＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝

July 21, 10:00 pm: Right after celebrating Kulimu’s birthday, we set off directly from Taipei

July 21, 11:30 pm: Arrived at the Taichung Qingshui service area to let Kaka stretch a bit

July 22, 1:00 am: Reached the Guanmiao service area so Lao Mu could take a break

(Damn!! The restroom at the service area in the middle of the night is so creepy!!! Had to ask Meng-ge, who was waiting outside, to keep talking loudly to me XD)

July 22, 2:50 am: Entered the South Link Highway

July 22, 4:40 am: Arrived at Luye Plateau, Taitung

Along the way, I was still pretty fired up and excited, but the father-son duo eventually killed my enthusiasm......

When we entered the South Link Highway, we passed a car speeding like crazy called the “Little Rascal,” and Meng-ge immediately started tailing him while muttering non-stop

“Oh~ driving this fast on mountain roads in the middle of the night, this guy must be a local”

“Oh~ we’re losing, we’re losing!!! Here comes the South Link speed king”

“Oh~ oh~ can’t catch up~~ can’t catch up~~”

Actually, the Little Rascal lost us after just three turns.......

Then my son got really excited and started mimicking the smell of anal gland discharge... oh~ how pungent!

And in the end, I got carsick too....

The weather was super nice that day—we only dared to set out after confirming the chance of rain was 0, hahaha.

We parked the car, but the ground was all muddy, so we put Kaka in the stroller first to avoid having to carry him the whole way.

Dad and son duo take their positions.

It was almost 5 p.m., and the organizers had already started making announcements—the staff were also in place and ready to inflate the hot air balloons!

There was a host on-site the whole time explaining things—it was pretty nice to watch while listening to the commentary!

For example, the direction this balloon basket falls is quite important—it’s related to the wind direction that day.

Then they used industrial electric fans to inflate the balloon.

As the hot air balloon got more and more inflated, staff at the back would help hold it up to get it to stand.

Ohoh～the balloon is flying, Kaka!

This little guy hears the word "fly" and thinks it’s just birds, so he kept looking up at the sky for birds XD.

The ones that got inflated first were the tethered experience balloons—one after another they filled up and rose, really fast.

Besides watching the hot air balloons, you could also choose between a tethered experience (500 per person) or a free flight (8000 per person) on-site.

But the tethered experience was only 5–7 minutes—didn’t seem that interesting—but the price for the free flight was just way too intimidating!

So we just took Kaka to run around on the free grassy area instead.

The ones with small trucks at the back were the free-flight balloons—once they were inflated, they were off, so we watched super closely in case we missed it.

Finally, the cow and the dark knight got to work!

The dark knight’s back bun was also pretty cool (though it’s obviously just a mushroom cut XDDD).

Boom!!! The super cool and fierce-looking dark knight is taking off!

We went down to the base of the dark knight for a group photo.

Dad and son duo take one too!! If you hadn’t taken off today, big bro, I would’ve cried!!

Fafa uh hey～～～～you know.

The sound of the hot air balloons firing their burners on-site was actually pretty loud—every time there was a burst, Kaka would flinch in the stroller (startled).

We soothed him with beef jerky while trying to distract him, and after a few bursts, it seemed like the little guy had gotten used to the rhythm (??) Hahaha.

Steady steady～not bad for my laid-back good son (is that even a strength? XD).

We were getting ready to push him up to the platform and then let him run around there—what if he ran up to the dark knight and peed on it? That’d be so embarrassing.

The little guy dashed around super excited—it was so much fun!! Yeah!! He was the one who napped the most in the whole car.

Pity there weren’t many good shots of the grassy field—the old man was completely focused on the hot air balloons and ignored us running around having fun!!

This one’s so cute!! Looks like the free-flight balloons are lining up ready to take off.

As expected, Fearless Xu isn’t just all talk—he’s totally adapted to the sound of the hot air balloon’s burner and is laughing so happily!! (kiss)

No problem even if half my underwear fell off, pfft!! Only noticed in the photos that half my sports bra was down too, hahaha

This one’s saying it should be a calendar—so sexy (??)

Official announcement: the free-flight hot air balloon rookies are ready!!!!!!!

The first one to take off is the Cow Hot Air Balloon

Because hot air balloon flights are greatly affected by wind, and after sunrise, the rising air currents are strong, easily creating turbulence

So the event can only be held in the early morning or evening; unstable weather means we can’t take off

And it turns out hot air balloons can only control up and down, not direction!!! This is so thrilling

Wherever the wind blows, they stop—so seeing a balloon return to its original spot is really just luck XD

The second one is the Upside-Down Dutch Hot Air Balloon

This one’s pretty interesting—actually, the basket on the upside-down balloon is fake (it’s all just for show), and the real basket is hidden inside the lower part of the balloon

So the pilot inside the basket can’t see anything outside at all

Therefore, another upright hot air balloon is needed to help guide it, so these two have to fly together, quite the pair huh

To put it correctly, he’s basically flying blind...

The pilot’s got some serious guts though!!

Calling Little Card back for a group photo (such an obedient and easy-to-control kid)

The third one is Who Are You Scaring? Little Turtle

Hahaha~ because his hands are always posed like he’s trying to scare people (?)

Mom was right—the turtle’s butt can shoot fire~~~~~ so hot!!

Those untied sneakers are so cute~~~

Finally turned back to the front—uh.......weird smiley face

And after flying up

the position of the basket looks like a pile of poop XD

The fourth one, Black Warrior—hey, are you flying or not????

Suddenly realized this guy actually looks a lot like Fakuman’s character, kinda similar (?) (not panicking, just saying)

Looks like Black Warrior is going to be a tethered balloon today (?)—then let’s take enough photos to make it worth it!! XD

Kaka’s face is so cute!!!!!!! Another baby bear face

Brother Meng isn’t just all talk—he’s flying with his son!! (Because he couldn’t afford the 8000 bucks, had to just live vicariously XD)

I actually jumped up!!!! One night without sleep and I’m having a moment of clarity

The expression when jumping up is really hard to keep relaxed and not tense......＝ ＝

Meng Ge's triple jump combo, JUMP

Song: Uh... sorry, you're blocking the main character. Let's do it again XD

Meng: Huh? Isn't the main character me? Weren't you supposed to film me?

Next up, two more jumps in a row—everyone, watch closely!!! Something dirty is about to appear

(Everyone: Then why did you tell us to watch closely!!)

ROUND 2 — Legs so straight, so long, so handsome

ROUND 3

Wow～～～～～～～～～～～ Everyone, did you see the dirty thing clearly???

That's right!!!! It's Wen'ang's pants ripping apart!!! I'm dying of laughter～～～XDDDDDDD

These three jumps caused a total of three holes in Meng Ge's pants—something happened with every jump!! (laughing uncontrollably)

Ugh!! GAP pants are really not durable at all!! (picking nose)

And we only noticed after getting on the van, because Little Meng got "frozen" by the air conditioning ＞／／／／＜

Then Meng Ge immediately took out his camera to confirm it happened during the flying kick,

On the van, we were shaking with laughter—it was so stupid!!!

And Meng Ge, I said no pixelation, and that’s exactly what you’re getting, no kidding XDDDDDD

What do you mean—pixelating that area would look weird, like some strange thing is showing. Anyway, it's just guys' underwear, so it's fine, right!?

(But guys, you don’t need to zoom in and enlarge it—that would be just too sleazy!! Hahaha)

Today was quite the spectacle, with a total of 13 balloons launched (impressive)

The only pity is that the Dark Warrior, due to its unique design, requires stricter weather conditions, so the free flight was ultimately canceled

Couldn’t fly, so the balloon instantly deflated!!

Aaaaaaaaah～frontal direct hit (ouch)

Bye-bye then, Dark Warrior

Taitung at 6:30 AM, the sun is as hot as noon in Taipei—can’t take it anymore

Immediately headed to the next spot, originally planning to have breakfast at Sometimes Stroll

But somehow ended up eating an authentic Chihshang bento box that wasn’t tasty at all......it really wasn’t any better

Then rushed to the not-at-all-green Brangdao (Balan Boulevard), but this time the focus wasn’t the straight road

But rather the big tree where the handsome Takeshi Kaneshiro shot his commercial

Saw someone online saying they spent an hour looking for it (so dedicated)

Turns out the problem might be that the big tree in the ad was probably post-processed to look bigger and lusher

But the real thing on-site is.........ah～it’s kinda worn down XDDDDDD

The little rock where Golden Handsome Kaneshiro sat, our Akaka is also a handsome dude

Then we swung by Tainan to eat and drink to our hearts' content.

Without Karen’s help, we’d have thrown in the towel after just three dishes.

Luckily, my mom didn’t take the day off to accompany us—otherwise, we’d definitely have gotten an earful XD

The biggest issue was that Tainan was scorching hot—it felt like we were on the verge of heatstroke.

We set off from Tainan back to Taipei at 4:30 PM.

Kaka in the back seat was already in a daze XD

We zoomed back to Taipei in just three hours (driven by yours truly), scared out of our minds about getting a speeding ticket!! (covering head)

The best part about being a mom? Even when you’re so exhausted your head spins, you still have to give the little one a nice bath once you get home.

Let him play in the grass and get as dirty as he wants—I don’t care, as long as he’s happy.

The one thing I insisted on was taking a bath as soon as we got home that day.

Kaka remained in a daze..........................

Mom: Alright then, let’s skip the bath today.

Kaka: Really?? (excited)

I’m kidding!!!!!!!

Bubble-wrap Kaka is soooo cute～～～～ (kiss)

Finally, squeaky-clean Kaka is out of the bath!!! We tied a big towel into a bow—thought it’d make a cute gift XD

But this trip was seriously so exciting and fun!!!!

We even did a day trip to the farthest place, Taitung—nothing’s too hard for me now XD

Maybe we’ll do the same next year too!!! LOL

※ Traveling with the adorable corgi “Mocaca”:Meet the “small-eyed” corgi ~ Mocaca’s blog

※ Follow “Mocaca”’s daily life:Small-eyed corgi ~ Mocaca’s Facebook