These two shots are from the walk we took through Alishan , an incredible, peaceful, old national forest. It was so picturesque, I wanted to load all the photos I took! I couldn't do the place justice, but I have the walk in my mind and would love to return here some day.
We ate at THE most amazing buffet I have ever been to! It was on the top floor (~40th?) of this very nice building that was located right by the bay. We looked out over the water and saw all the glittering lights below us and gorged our faces with food, food, and more food! I'm not kidding you- there was everything: vegetable cream soup with a puff pastry draped over the top, sushi, big veggie filled salad, lots of meat dishes, any noodles, rice, bread, oh the bread! There were about 10 different fresh juices, all the fruit you could imagine.. the list goes on(can you tell i'm hungry hah) But that wasn't even the best part. there was a whole section dedicated to DESSERT. Chocolate mousse cake, homemade chocolate with nuts and seeds in it (delicious) AND there was a freezer of serve yourself ice cream... hagen daze ice cream.. Okay i was in food heaven. I'm not going to lie... I stuffed my coat pocket with the homemade chocolate. I'm not proud of it but it was SOO worth it! Okay I'll move on from the food :)
During this part of the trip I had an experience that was so different than a typical US visit... I developed a small red, rash on my arm and it wasn't going away and was bothering me so I had to go into the doctor while on the trip. We walked into the hospital (conveniently across the street from our hostel) and the doctor promptly came out to me in the waiting area, a women dressed in casual day clothes, looked at my arm and pretty immediately showed concern and that she couldn't help me. We were sent to a dermatologist office where I wait for about 10 minutes for the doctor to call me in. I walk through and right there in the room, layed out in a chair similar to one at the dentist, is a women getting what I presumed to be botox. I was a little shocked and worried they called me into the wrong area but then the doctor pointed back to a office through the room. We sat down, and he used a device to show my rash 100x larger on a plasma screen TV that was mounted on the wall. not a pretty sight! He looked at for a second, and within the next minute I had a prescription to cure my mild dermatitis. The prescription was filled in 2 minutes I'd say and the final cost? $6 US dollars! SUCH a different system, but a cool experience non-the-less.
The picture above is from the oldest Confucius temple in Taiwan. We all got a card to write down a wish, or prayer. We signed the card and dated it... leaving a little part of ourselves to fill the beautiful walls of the old temple. Across from the temple was a big park with little kids practicing some form of ti-che, and a women taking her bunny (yes bunny as in rabbit!) for a walk on a leash. don't worry i got a picture!
Our last stop was in Tainan, where we stayed at one of their Universities and were paired with a student to guide us around for the next 3 days. We went to a night market... it was SO crowded, at one point I was literally pressed up against people on all 4 sides trying to get around--- thats when we decided to get the heck out of there! This night market had the best food! I had fresh corn on the cob, baked sweet potato puffs, fried squid, and this incredible dessert where there is ice cold ice cream inside a hot, cooked little waffle pocket!
And finally, one of the many great signs we see here! Some other of my favorites are : (on a park sign) "while walking your dog, if nature calls, scoop it up" "no transcending while waiting" (at the bus station) "no hubbubble" (at the zoo!)
I'm off to prepare a presentation on the book I just read, The Hospital by the River... I don't actually recommend it but it is an incredible story of a couple who in the early 1950's moved to Ethiopia and established a hospital. They have cured 30,000 women of the terrible injury, a fistula, created in an obstructed childbirth. The poor women are basically ostracized from their community, left by their husbands to fend for themselves. Anyways, gotta go pull some quotes and get my facts straight!
Much Love from Taipei!
