Tuesday April 2nd, 2013
Again no high school today BUT there was a Tatung trip among
the exchange students with two teachers, Redy and my homeroom teacher Athena.
Five foreign chicas plus two teachers equals a nice group of seven. We all met
up at 8:15 in the Taipei train station near Taipei Main Station MRT. For those
who arrived early, such as myself and several other exchange students, we took
a pit-stop at 7-Eleven for coffee. Oh yes I was in need of it to avoid dragging
through the day. I’m happy to say the caffeine indeed served its purpose well
with no crash afterwards. Yay!
Well I should the say the coffee only did so much at first.
It was obvious the caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet when I needed to use the
lavatory on the train. Trying to figure out this different style of toilet, I
couldn’t figure out how to get the lid to stay down. As soon as you put it down
it would flip right back up. I tried looking for a button, or slam it down or
looking for a magic magnetic device to make the lid stay the fluff down.
Returning unsuccessful back to the group, I face-palmed myself when the answer
was so incredibly simple. You make the lid stay down by…by sitting on it. Oh.
And that my friends, is proof why I needed a coffee boost. XD
When the train arrived at “Ruifang” (瑞芳), we exited the station through a hallway that had artistic photos
displayed along the passage. I think I’ve been there before because I instantly
recognized a picture I absolutely adore, one of a Ba Jia Jiang (八家將). Asking my homeroom
teacher to take a picture of me with it, she kindly did so. Lovely memories!
^_^
Then she suggested
to kiss the handsome guy. My reaction was like, ‘haha what?’ but in the end I
happily obliged. Turns out the resulting picture was actually really good.
Homeroom teacher has a good photographer’s eye! ;D
I professed to my
teacher that I really, really like Ba Jia Jiang and she revealed something
surprising to me. Apparently there are two of my classmates at Tatung that know
how to perform as a Ba Jia Jiang. …REALLY?!
:D I SO WANT TO WATCH A BIA JIA JIANG PERFORMANCE! The one I saw at NK101 was
more like a modern version. Before I leave Taiwan, I really REALLY want to see
a traditional performance. I’m just so amazed that I have classmates that can
do it! Though I don’t know them too well, I for sure am going to ask them when
their shows are. THIS IS SUPER EXCITING! ;D
Regarding today’s
weather, it wasn’t raining except for a light, misty downfall but it was quite
foggy. Fog up the wazoo! The view of the ocean was completely obscured and even
nearby mountains were difficult to make out. Fog versus rain, I think I prefer
fog. Either way, I haul around my cane umbrella everywhere I go now just in
case the saturated clouds have a mood swing. ;P
Our real
destination was at “Jiufen” (九份), a place I’ve been to twice before. Once
was the Teapot Mountain Fail Hike and the other with my host family. I like
Jiufen and had no problem visiting a third time. Heck, I could go for a fourth
or fifth time even. ;D
We first zipped
through the gold mining museum, which I previously saw with host parents.
Despite this fact, the gold mine experience was not the same. With my host
family we viewed the museum and ate a gold miner’s lunchbox. Among our Tatung
group, we did see the same museum but did two different activities.
One of these
activities was…dun…dun…dun…GOLD DIGGING! :D I felt like I was in California
during the Gold Rush. XD
Situated in front
of a long trough of water, each participant was given a small dish with what
looked like dirt and a petite glass bottle. Everyone first removed rings,
rolled up sleeves, etc. to prepare for getting rich. ;P
The guide then took
us through three steps of gold digging. You begin with filling the dish
somewhat full of water. Then use your hands to play around with the dirt,
making the substance all loose.
Next is to fully
submerge the dish in water and gently shake it. Dirt will puff up from the
underwater dish like a murky cloud. Bring up the dish and scoot unwanted rocks
off the plate into the trough. Repeat this step several times until your bowl
is rid of rocks both big and small.
Finally, submerge
the dish underwater and gently circle it around three times. This is to get rid
of all the rocks and other undesirable substances. By the end there should only
be a small circle of fine sand. In this remaining stuff you should be able to
see tiny, shiny flecks. GOLD! I’m happy to report I did indeed have several
bits of gold in mine! Whoo-hoo! I’m a few gold flakes richer! ;D
For commemorative
purposes, we poured the matter into the glass bottles provided and corked the
top off. It included water inside as well so you have to let the bottle sit
unshaken to see the gold and sand gather at the bottom. It’s a lovely souvenir of
such a unique experience. 我非常喜歡！(I really like it!) ^_^
After visiting the
gold mine gift shop, we took a break to write two postcards. One was for
Tatung’s principal and the other for Bai Lao Shi, the lady teacher in charge of
the exchange students. Every exchange student contributed a short written
message on each, all written in Chinese characters. They ended up being basic
things like “today was very fun” or “Jiufen is a great place.” It was almost
painstakingly simple writing but it’s the thought that counts. ;)
Up next was a short
walk through a tourist mine, giving basic information concerning a miner’s
work. We were given helmets for protection but underneath the white helmets
were a ridiculous looking blue sanitation cap. It looked like a weird version
of a Muslim cap. XD
The beginning of
the dark, damp mine tunnel
Following that was
viewing the Japanese Prince’s chalet. This I previously saw with my host family
but it was still nice to see a second time. It’s just a small area with a tiny
garden and Japanese-styled house. Pretty summerhouse indeed.
This was the
archery range just above the main house, which you can see behind the rail.
A peek over the
archery range’s rail reveals part of the house and what looks like a miniature
golf course for a backyard. XD
The two fine young
ladies who were gracious enough to chaperone the exchange students. Redy on the
right and my homeroom teacher Athena on the left. FYI, it is very unusual to
call your teacher anything other than “teacher” (“老師/lao shi”). There’s no
‘Mr. Wang’ or first names, only “teacher.” Therefore it’s kind of strange for
me to think of my homeroom teacher as Athena. But to stay respectful and
Taiwanese, I stick with “老師.” :)
I think I showed
y’all these pieces of art last time but I’m not if I told the story behind
them. So I’ve provided a snap shot of the actual sign just in case. ;) (FYI,
this isn’t true Taiwanese culture. It’s just a made-up story over a modern piece
of art)
A short taxi ride
later and we arrived at the Jiufen old street entrance. This I have indeed
visited before with my host parents (where I got my ocarina) but there’s so
much here that you could never get bored of coming here. ;) It’s a thin street
lined with shops and food stands that winds up the mountain.
Speaking of said
ocarina, here’s what the store looked like. Isn’t it so appealing?! It looks
like the colorful candy shop of the ocarina business. XD The offered ocarinas
are also such a joy to view that it has become my favorite shop in Jiufen
street! Love this place! ^_^
To make things
simpler and freer, our group of seven broke up with the promise to meet at
7-Eleven after two and a half hours. Both teachers, Rike and I first ducked
into an apparently famous shop for their treat of taro balls. There was both a
iced and hot version, the teachers getting the cold one and the hot one for the
exchange students. In the provided picture, the iced one is on the left and
basically is a heap of ice with the taro balls plopped on top. The hot version
is a sweet broth with the balls submerged inside. Other than the purple taro
balls there was also orange sweet potato balls, green bean balls and red beans.
It was a tasty dessert, slightly sweetened but not very sugary.
Since this street
was the place where I was first exposed to the peanut ice cream burrito, my buying
of one was inevitable. The place of purchase only placed two scoops of the
different ice cream inside. Taking no chances, I asked for both scoops to be
pineapple instead of a pineapple and taro combo (at Raohe’s night market the
taro flavor was kinda tasteless). As always, this treat is a delight to
consume! According to my teacher it is called “rung bing bing qi ling,” which
is a different name from what I’ve been told before. The name doesn’t matter as
long as I get the treat in the end. XD
The final food of
the afternoon/lunch time was something that I have no idea how to label. It’s a
triangular tofu with some white sauce on some part of the outside. Perhaps it’s
meshed up seafood. It kinda reminded me of a fish ball so my best guess is
seafood of some sort.
One bowl came with
two tofu triangles and upon biting it, the discovery of an inside component was
found. Some kind of meat was hiding inward. The outside was drizzled in a spicy
red sauce that put a small flame to my tongue but nothing painful. I sure wish
I had a fork or spoon to eat this because chopsticks were so unsuccessful. The
stubborn food kept falling despite all my chopstick efforts to eat slowly. Not
bad in the taste department though I could’ve done without the spicy sauce.
Joining my
teachers, we stopped by a tea place for sampling. They offered ginger tea,
winter melon tea, combinations and probably more. The straight ginger tea was
quite potent but the others available were less strong and more savory.
Blocks of winter melon
for drink making purposes!
Before our trip
came to a conclusion, we snatched a picture at the street entrance with the
Taiwanese, French, German and American flags. (There should’ve been the
Ecuadorian and Mexican flag too but we didn’t have them at the time) Yes,
America is cute and tiny. :P Something I can’t believe is I can’t find my big
American flag that my parents sent me. I searched my room high and low but
can’t find a single trace. What the heck? It boggles my mind trying to figure
out what happened to it but I still hope that I’ll magically stumble upon it
again. It’s still so strange though!
While waiting for a
bus back to Taipei, I saw this BEAUTIFUL roof that captured my attention. Hence
a spam of stunning photos ensued. ;)
Phoenix in flight
An hour and a half
of a bus ride and it was back in Taipei. Electing to take the subway one
station further, I skipped out on the bus and just walked all the way home for
some nice cardio. By power-walking, it took me about thirty-five to forty-five
minutes to get home, not too long but not too short. Twas juuuuuust right. :)
Thanks to walking
home I was able to stop by a piece of art that always caught my attention when
riding the bus. It’s too far to take leisure stroll from my house so that’s why
you’ve never seen a picture of it before.
It’s several
robotic dinosaurs with LED faces that change expressions. The big T-Rex can
merrily laugh and even display “Have A Nice Day” panning across the space in
between his parted teeth. He’s a lot of fun to watch and I took a video of this
run through of expressions, which I’ll happily show anyone back in Texas if
interested. ;) These guys are just so cute and brilliantly designed!
Wrapping things up,
today was fantastic, loved every bit and pleasant memories have marked this
day. I give a big thanks to my teachers for taking the exchange students on
this wonderful trip!
Alrighty peeps, I
bid y’all a very fond good night! ^_^
P.S. This Taffy has been posted so late because I was waiting for homeroom teacher and Redy to send me pictures from this trip. They still haven't but I think this Taffy is good enough even without a few group shots, right? :P
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