Taiwanimania: Part 3

I'm slowly but surely getting through my trip. Mom left this morning for the US (a visit), and Dad and I went to Shek O today. Pictures will follow at some point in time.

Anyway, back to Taiwan.

Paul and I met up with his cousin, and she showed us around Danshui where she had gone to college (Aletheia University). We first had lunch at a restaurant called the three sisters. The food looked strange, but it was so good! It was basically thin glass noodles wrapped in tofu and covered with a pink sauce.

The Three Sisters

Yum yum

After lunch we walked over to the college and toured the grounds. It's a beautiful campus, we had fun taking pictures everywhere. They had several replicas of old-style Taiwanese houses. We also ducked into the college's coffeeshop to take a rest from the heat.

Paul and an old-fashioned house made of flat rocks.

Inside the sweet cafe. I liked all the flowers.

When we had snapped a million pictures, we went to see George Mackey's first church. He was the first Presbyterian missionary to Taiwan and an important influence of Taiwan's Christian community. In fact, he was the one who started the college we visited. Paul and (most of?) his family are part of the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan.

A window in the cloister.

They had some really awesome trees there.

The head of George Mackay. We actually hadn't planned on being twins that day, but neither of us wanted to change.

Then we took a boat to see a famous bridge. It's very big and pink and interesting. Paul and I enjoyed eating some "metal eggs." I was leery at first, considering they're black and have a somewhat hard, leathery texture, but I ended up enjoying them. It was so hot so we were thankful for the wind that was blowing off of the bay. That, along with the shaved ice we bought, helped us stay somewhat cool. We were thinking of going up on the bridge, but it was too hot so we just pretended we had.

The famous bridge.

The Three Musketeers!

Me and the metal eggs. You can't really see it, but I was trying to show that I had an egg in my mouth. They're actually a little addictive.

This helped cool us down.

For some reason this didn't help cool us down at all.

We had fun playing some carnival games, and each of us won a small porcelain pig. Yes. We missed our boat by just a few seconds, so we wandered back to an arcade. We bought some tokens and tried to play a game but it wouldn't work or give us back our tokens! To make matters worse, the arcade guy wouldn't believe us that the machine ate our tokens. Finally, we found our token stuck in the back of the machine and he grudgingly gave us our tokens back. Then we tried to do DDR (which I'm terrible at) but it froze in the middle! The guy saw what happened and gave us another free game, so at least that was nice. Then we realized we were almost going to miss another boat, so we ran back to the dock and caught it.

View from the boat.

That evening we drove to another town to stay with another cousin and his family. We met them for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Paul's little second cousins are so cute! We went to their house after dinner and watched some home videos/picture reels. Always fun. Later that night we had a midnight snack! I don't remember what everything was, but there was at least french fries, fried chicken bits, chicken feet, fried cartilage, squid and chicken feet. Paul's relatives seemed surprised that I would eat all of those things (a common theme during the trip).

Snack time!

To top it all off, his cousin's wife went out and got some durian! She found out that I hadn't tried it and wanted to. Usually her husband and father-in-law don't like it to be in the house (it does have a funky smell) but for a guest... I tried it, and I have mixed feelings about it. I like the overall taste, but I don't really like the aftertaste. The texture is a bit strange, but not unpleasant. It did taste much better when it was frozen, kind of like durian ice cream! My students later told me that if I'm not averse to it, then I'll like it if I eat it a few more times.

I'll have to give it a try a few more times. Maybe I'll turn into a durian addict too.

The Cuteness Factor

Maybe I've been in Asia too long? Of course, in the whole scheme of things, one year is a drop in the bucket. But today I found out how much I've been affected by living here.

I had a break from work and I went out to get some milk tea. I was thinking about how I need to buy some cute things to take back with me.

I was perusing the local Circle K while my cold milk tea (dohng lai cha) was being prepared and discovered that the convenience store is simply packed with cute things.

There was an alien (from Toy Story) Kleenex box cover and a toast-shaped zippable soft bad with HelloKitty's face on the front.

But what was my impulse buy? What was the chunk of cuteness that stole my heart?

This.

And actually, he's quite useful.

See? He can hold my glasses at night!

At least he can remind me of the Stitch-crazed city of Hong Kong. I'll miss the backpacks, paper-lanterns, and ski-hats with his likeness staring at me in the streets and elevators and shopping malls. Maybe I can start the trend in Arkansas?

Three Weeks!

The countdown is here. In less than three weeks, I'll be back in the US. I almost can't believe that it's happening! I'm excited that I'll get to go to my grandpa's 87th birthday party in Arizona, bum around my hometown in Colorado (and see people, of course), and visit people in Tulsa before heading to Arkansas.

I do hope the driving part won't be too bad. I'm flying from Arizona to Colorado, but I'll be driving from Colorado to Tulsa. I haven't driven in over a year and I'm going to be driving fourteen hours in one go! Oh well, coffee will be my friend.

I am going to miss Hong Kong. I've been trying to a lot of things before I leave, like drinking lots of milk tea and going shopping in Mong Kok, stuff like that. Today I'm going to get an egg tart! It'll be a bit strange to transition from the bustle of the big city back to a small town again, but it'll be nice.

I look forward to small things I miss like farmer's markets and frisbee in the park and getting pupusas and snow. It'll be an interesting chapter, however long it may be. Pray that I get a job when I get back! And I'll be seeing some of you very soon, on the other side.

I'll miss this.

Taiwanimania: Part 2

Fun in Taipei! We started the day with a fun-filled trip to the immigration department so that Paul could defer his military service. That was pretty cool. While I was sitting in one of the waiting chairs, a woman asked me where she should go, and I was no help whatsoever. Maybe I looked like I knew what I was doing.

I was feeling a bit draggy, so we stopped by a 7-11 (or was it an Ok?) where I purchased one of the greatest coffees ever. It was delicately sweet and it came in an awesome cylinder bottle. I washed one out and took it home with me, but unfortunately I lost the lid so it's now useless. After a morning of running errands, we had lunch with Paul's aunt at a small restaurant. I'm always up for delicious food.

Cool coffee cylinder.

Paul's aunt and I.

Before lunch, I was walking with Paul when he said, "Hey Laura, that guy is waving at you." I was wondering if maybe it was a chance-meeting with a friend in a foreign country (like when I ran into a college friend in a hostel in Scotland). But no, it was a random white dude waving at me. I was a little weirded out, so I kind of said "hi" as we walked by. Maybe he thought he knew me? Or maybe he hasn't seen a white female in a long time? Or maybe he's just inordinately friendly? Strange, strange.

Then after lunch, Paul and I were walking to the bus that would take us to the train station (to go to Taipei), when that same guy came riding up to us on a bike. Oh dear. "Hey, hey." he said, a but breathless from riding, "Where are you guys from?" We told him, and he told us that he was from Utah. So we're neighbors, in a sense. It turns out, he was a Mormon missionary who'd been in Taiwan for almost a year (I think). We asked him a couple questions and answered some of his, but our bus was leaving so we said goodbye and ran for the bus. He did give us each a tract to take with us, though he didn't have an English one.

After getting to Taipei, we headed over to the Chiang Kai Shek memorial. It was VERY hot outside, so I was sweating like a pig while we were trying to take some awesome pictures with the memorial. Silly us, we kept taking pictures and then realizing that we should move even closer and taking more pictures and then moving even closer. We came up with some unique shots. After exerting so much energy in jumping and trying to smile into the hot sun, we lost all energy and decided that we just couldn't make it across the burning cobbled desert. Seeing the memorial from far away was just fine.

Jumping for Chiang Kai Shek

Ok, so he's a bit cooler than me.

We took the subway to a shopping area and wandered around for awhile. We found a great shop that had a ton of things for only 3USD! Oh yeah. I bought a couple shirts, one of which says "The Sea is Terrific! Lively Girl and Active Boy" with a barcode on the back. I'm starting to like random shirts. I also took pictures of some random, cute things like an M&M machine and a Coca Cola-themed restaurant.

I kind of like M&Ms too.

One of my favorite Japanese restaurant dishes: fried chicken curry.

That night we trooped up to a glass gondola/cable car that went up the mountain and to the Taipei zoo. Unfortunately, it was getting a bit dark so none of our pictures turned out, but it was still fun. It was also a bit creepy since it was all dark around us and the cable car was very quiet. It just seemed like a scene from some horror movie. I could imagine the cable car suddenly stopping, rocking gently while we peered out into the dark, and then either a monster jumping through the window or some kind of poisonous gas leaking into the cabin. Thankfully, none of my imaginings came true.

A blurry gondola picture.

On the way home, we found some more cute/quirky things such as a fire-extinguisher sign with no fire extinguisher and a women's waiting area at the train station. Although maybe the waiting area's a good idea...

Pretending to be a fire extinguisher.

Paul won't be safe until he steps into the pink box!

Taiwanimania : Part 1

Yeah, so I wasn't going to repeat the Cambodimania thing, but Taiwanimania just looks so fun! And try saying it! Isn't it fun?

So here it is, the first part of my Taiwan trip! I'm so thankful to Paul and his family and friends for being so hospitable and taking me around. They were really great.

I left on a Sunday morning, and I was very tired from staying up late the night before. I really do never learn, do I? I got there in plenty of time (almost two hours early) so I had plenty of time to kill. I seem to gravitate between twiddling my thumbs at an airport and running in terror trying to get there on time, and I definitely prefer the former.

So sad and tired.

My mood is quickly improving.

Waiting for the plane.

Goodbye Hong Kong.

I landed in Taiwan and got through security quickly enough. Paul and his godmother were waiting for me! I hadn't seen him in a long time, so it was fun to catch up. His godparents drove me to a rest stop kind of place where we ate a little food before heading to the next town. One of Paul's good friends is a choir director and was having a concert that afternoon. Although I didn't understand most of it, the music was beautiful. My only worry was falling asleep! After the concert there was a potluck upstairs. There was SO much food; it was brilliant.

Me and Paul!

At the choir concert.

After sampling a lot of interesting dishes, we headed over to Paul's town. A lot of his family members were having a BBQ, and we got there on the tail-end of it. It was already dark, and they were set up on the sidewalk in front of their noodle shop. They had a little portable grill out, and were milling around seemingly in a full, contented state. They offered me a plastic stool and immediately started grilling me up some food. The food at the potluck was good, but this was delectable. I had grilled shrimp, bamboo shoots, and various other meats. My absolute favorite were some clams that came in a thin broth with herbs. Heaven! I wish I had taken some pictures of the food, but I didn't.

Paul's cousin's boyfriend from Canada was there, so I had someone to talk to! His family is from Hong Kong, so we had fun talking about the city and discussing the bits of Cantonese I know.

When things were winding down, Paul and I left with his aunt (we were staying at her house). The next morning I wandered around her awesome garden. She has a really sweet house with a beautiful albeit overgrown garden.

It was the Dragon Boat Racing day, so we watched the dragon boat races on tv while eating these traditional dragon boat glutinous triangle things with black sugar.

After lunch we went with Paul's uncle and one of his friends, Zowan, who's an English major, to visit a pier and its market. It was pretty, but VERY windy. Paul lost his hat at one point and I was afraid it was going to blow into the water!

Zowan and I.

Paul with his cool paper hat.

Inside the market. There was so much to look at!

There were also giant corndogs.

After that Paul, Zowan and I wandered around his town taking pictures and then met up with two old friends of his. We all went to a coffee shop together, but unfortunately I was too full to actually drink anything!

I don't know why these statues are this shape, but they're pretty cool-looking.

At the coffee/tea place.

Then Zowan's brother, sister, and sister's boyfriend showed up to take us to the Taipei Night Market. We played some of those carnival games which was great fun, although I swear that there was something wrong with the gun. I was aiming so carefully, and wasn't hitting very many balloons! Also, I couldn't even see the BB go anywhere or even feel it leave the gun. But oh well. I didn't want to win one of those giant Stitch stuffed animals anyway. Pens are much better.

The sneaky balloon-shooting place.

We had some amazing food for dinner, and I really liked the oyster omelette I had. I tried stinky tofu for the first time, but wasn't a fan. It kind of smells like the animal barn at a country fair, and unfortunately its taste is very similar to its smell.

My delicious oyster omelette.

The food part of the market.

After dinner we wandered around looking at the market. I bought a couple of presents for people, and we got more and more food! Every ten minutes or so someone would buy us something else. We all took turns buying (a cool part of Asian culture) so we ended up having onion cakes, fried chicken cakes, cookies wrapped in dough, cranberry lemon juice, and other things I've by now forgotten. By the end of the night, I was waddling! I couldn't even eat more than a spoonful of the shaved ice cream even though I'd been looking forward it for a long time!

The wrapped cookies before they're wrapped.

What, no handouts?

Shaved ice cream, mango.

Strawberry and chocolate. Yum!

I've heard that if Asian cities were assigned a deadly sin, Taipei's would be gluttony. I believe it.