Miner's Museum & Jioufen

Saturday January 26^th, 2013

Trip time! The outing was with my host parents and two fellow exchange students, Akiko and Erin. I was told beforehand that we would go to an art museum and somewhere else. Not sure what happened but we ended up going to a place called Jioufen.

On the way there we shortly stopped at a couple places. It was to see the work of pollution as a thing of beauty. I find that funny because my host mother is working in the environmental section of the government. But this little doo-hickey is referred to “Yellow Waterfall” because of the pollution’s color.

The location of our touring so happened to be the same place I briefly passed by when climbing Mt. Teapot last week. Two main attractions were a miner’s museum and the crown prince of Japan’s get away home in Taiwan.

The prince’s house was a quick visit because it wasn’t huge and visitors can only see the outside. Fun fact, the prince only came to the house once and never returned. It’s like, ‘let’s have a summer home but only make use of it once.’ XD

These random little pieces of art were gold beasts. Only gentle and kind people can see them and if you sit on them they might lead you to gold. That was the story behind them anyway. :P Well I could see them but they didn’t move when sat upon. No gold for me. XD

Speaking of gold, the museum was fine. The surrounding town was made into a mining settlement thanks to Japanese rule. That’s the main overview. ;)

 

Next was a short hike up the mountain to a temple. Well, it used to be a temple anyway. To me it looks like a roofless roman coliseum with two big chess pieces in the front. But that’s just my perspective. XD

All five of us visited gold miner land again with the midday meal. It was eaten at a café linked with the museum hence why I say miner land again. :P All three exchange students chose the ‘miner’s lunch’ option. This not only includes food but an Asian metal lunchbox container, cloth and chopsticks. That was my main motive for getting it because these metal lunchboxes are what students use to bring lunch to school. So it’s an object of modern culture. Plus ‘miner’s lunch’ sounds interesting. ;) Inside the box was half filled with rice, then some vegetables and a chunk of chicken. Top it off with hot tea and it was a good meal.

Afterward it was an exciting new exploration at a narrow day market street that winds up the mountain. It’s contents held many small shops primarily food based but various non-consumable items. Among the consumable items, there was a Taiwanese sweet burrito dessert. First you lay down a rice thin tortilla thing, dump a peanut sugar dust onto, then slap two scoops of ice cream in the middle and finish by wrapping it all up.

Erin is our model for this food. Smile girl!

Here’s one cool stand. At first it looked like a bunch of pretty, colorful marks but soon we realized, oh snap he’s painting Chinese characters awesomely! That is pretty darn sweet!

My favorite part of our day market visit was two ocarina shops. Ocarinas! I’ve heard of these wonderful little instruments but haven’t yet seen them up close until today. They captured my attention instantly. It was fun looking at all the types and designs. They stayed on my mind the whole time walking through Jioufen street that I determined I just had to buy one before we leave. They were cheap and who knows when I would see another ocarina shop. As I was selecting one, host mother inserted her generosity into the situation and said she would purchase an ocarina for Erin, Akiko and me all. It was so sweet of her.

This is my new baby! A 9-holed ocarina made in Taiwan. Ain’t she a beauty?! I absolutely love the idea of playing an instrument again and the fun part is learning a totally new type, a wind one! An easily portable wind one! Portable is such a lovely word. Too bad my cello isn’t so portable. T-T That is why I’m so thrilled for the ocarina. It’s pretty sounding, portable and I can play it while in Taiwan. Whoo! I can kinda toot out what sounds like a scale but it’s difficult to fully cover the back holes. It’ll get better in time with practice. Who knows, maybe I’ll become really involved and dedicated to the ocarina even when in America. The anticipation is exciting! :D

The night finished with a Skype to my American family with introducing my Taiwanese family to them. Good times! And I bid y’all farewell. Until next time! :)