Monday February 11th, 2013
First day waking up in a new city, new room and new family.
It’s almost like switching host families again. XD There was a slight
misunderstanding from the previous night. When I inquired about what time we
would need to be ready the next day, I was told 7:00AM. Turns out that 7:00 was
supposed to be the wake up time. Whoops. Oh well, no biggie. I was just an
early bird. :P
Leaving the house rolled around 7:30 and breakfast was
drive-thru McDonalds of sausage egg McMuffin, hash browns and coffee. Adding
cream and sugar in a crowded moving car is really difficult…fyi. XD
After driving a bit, we stopped at a supposedly famous
chocolate store called “18°C.” It wouldn’t open until less than
thirty minutes and people were already starting to gather around. A small
chocolate sample and coffee was provided outside, which we indulged in. I
thought we would wait for the opening (since it seemed like we were for 15+
minutes) but it turned out not to be the case. We just plied back in the car,
all seven of us, and drove on.
During the time we lingered outside of 18°C,
there was a window that allowed onlookers to watch the company’s bakers create
a round cake. This was fascinating, to a baker like myself, watching a long
cylindrical cake rotating on a pole as this dude used a knife to cut it. All he
had to do was lower the knife gently straight down and the rotating machine did
the rest of the work for him. Sweet! Literally! XD
These were nearby the shop for sale. Apparently they are huge
seeds (about the size of your palm) that you can carve designs into, such as
Chinese characters. I asked whether or not you could eat it, to which I got
“yes” as a reply. Even so, no one in their right mind would ever dare such a
feat unless you possess iron teeth. XD
By the way, the seven mentioned members of this trip were
host father, host mother, Michael, host mother’s sister, host mother’s sister’s
two sons (both in their 20’s) and me. You’ll see pictures later, don’t worry.
;)
Throughout the mountains we swerved through, trees growing
betel nuts thrived along their sides. This type of nut may be new to you, it
was for me at least. I’ve heard of the term before on the subway when an
announcement came up. “Please do not smoke, chew gum, betel nuts or eat food in
the MRT. Thank you.” From what I gather, it’s a drug very prominent in Asia.
Users can be easily spotted if they have unnatural red coloring around their
lips and gums, almost as if they’re bleeding. I don’t think they’re illegal
because I was told little shops with flashing rainbow lights and a beautiful
girl sitting in the window sell betel nuts. Those places are EVERYWHERE in
Taipei. I haven’t seen many people with the physical side effects from betel
nuts most likely because I was told truckers are the ones who usually buy them.
Remember, hugs not drugs!
The main activity of the day was to visit a park of some
sort, which would lead up to the famous Sun Moon Lake of Taiwan. Pulling into
the parking lot, sakura trees all in bloom graced the area with its stately
presence. The pink flowers to the clear blue sky created such an eye appealing
contrast. Weather, nice and clear, accented the feeling even more. Twas very
lovely.
Approaching the entrance to the park, two males were flaming
from up high with a familiar logo to the side of them. The famous and beloved
‘One Piece’ of Japan. Yes, it is a Japanese cartoon for those of you who don’t
know, one that’s been around forever and seems endless in length. The show is very popular in Taiwan and most likely
the same in other Asian countries. Unfortunately I only watched a little of the
beginning a long time ago and don’t understand all these new characters I see.
Therefore this park having One Piece plastered every which way didn’t have much
of an effect on me. I don’t consider it a shame though because a smile or two
came out when Zoro was sighted (the character I remember liking but don’t truly
remember XD) If any of y’all are One Piece fans…don’t hurt me for going. XD
A display of Luffy and his ship. One Piece fans…have fun
indulging your eyes. ;)
The first thing done was ride a towering UFO mast roller
coaster. I excitedly dashed towards it with the expectations of it being a
death drop with unforgiving bounces like I’ve experienced in America. This one
was just five seconds or less of a quick drop. It helped wake myself up but not
enough to satisfy the adrenaline junkie *points to self*. XD
We skipped the bottom One Piece park and took the available
gondola straight up to the top of the mountain where Sun Moon Lake was waiting
for us. It’s pretty darn hard to see but if you squint closely, the left
gondola (the oncoming front side) has “Formosan Aboriginal” displayed. On the
right gondolas (the backside of them) there’ll be a picture of a certain
character from a certain mentioned anime. The nearest one is Sanji, Luffy next
and then no clue afterwards. I laugh at how One Piece even commandeered the
gondolas. XD
My 台中 family! Host mother’s sister is in the
middle. Cang jie (the eldest son) on the left and Qi Han on the right. Don’t
they look jolly? ^_^
This cable of
gondolas reminds me so much of a string of Christmas lights. Doesn’t it look
like that to you as well?
Descending to Sun
Moon Lake! Almost there!
I’ve seen pictures
of this esteemed lake and advertisements recommending it to tourists. It caught
my attention and I’ve held onto a desire to go see it before my exchange ends.
It occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to since it’s not in Taipei nor is it
a short bus ride away. That’s why I’m so happy and thankful to have been able
to see its beauty and taste its thriving aboriginal culture.
The culture?
Well-he-he-ell! That was the most wonderful, awesome, spectacular, fantastic,
phenomenal part of the day. Starting with the favorite highlight of a
performing musical group of aboriginals set up on the harbor where you can take
boats to the other sides of the vast lake. We first sat down and listened to
them in all their glorious music as well as gawk at their awesome clothing, at
least I did. XD At one point they invited people to come and take pictures with
the peeps, so I took advantage of that opportunity.
See that handsome
guy on the left? Him, his outfit, dancing and singing were all my favorite. He
was just overall astonishing and I wanted to hug him so badly. XD
Host mother’s turn.
The arm/head wrestling going on the right is adorable. ^_^
And Michael’s!
Then after going
back to sit down my host family asked me “Do you want to dance?” It so happens
that the aboriginals were asking for volunteers to come up and learn a dance.
Dancing? Aboriginal dancing? Heck YES I’m in! :D So my foreigner self
skip-e-doodled up and waited to begin. No other people came forward so it was
just two (later three) aboriginals and me.
They jumped into the
song and dance with no warning or preparation so I had to learn everything on
the spot. I’m sure in the video my host mother took I have confused face
looking like a newb in the beginning. XD Very quickly I got the hang of it then
and put more energy into the movements, enjoying each step. The guy on the
right was the one I followed most and usefully told me “shou xi” (breaktime)
when we simply had to step side to side during a musical interlude.
Halfway through an
aboriginal lady joined the dance showing me the female version to which I
adjusted my movements to match hers. Isn’t that an attractive face the right
guy is making? XD
The men who sang
their hearts out for the song! Gosh darn it Mr. Handsome-Tassel’s clothing and
voice is gorgeous! The other guy seemed to cutely have a blast when singing
away.
At the end of the
song, we aligned like this in friendship. I would humorously like to point out
the contrast of my neon white skin against my friends’, especially the guy to
the right of me. Glowing white upon mocha brown. XD
This would be
howling a “woooooo” to conclude our performance. I thanked my new friends for
the dance and waved goodbye. That experience was so INCREDIBLY AMAZING! I LOVED
IT TO NO END!
We then took a boat
across the lake where a small temple lay as well as a good viewing point for
the sun part of Sun-Moon Lake.
That island you see
at the bottom would be the sun part. It’s like a small circle within a bigger
one, almost like a target.
As a little munchy,
my host father bought tea eggs. I didn’t really taste the tea part of its name
but the egg portion was delicious as always. Come on, it’s an egg! You can’t go
wrong with that. ;)
Next we took a boat
to yet another side of the lake where mostly restaurants were located. With no
previous reservations, we just grabbed a quick and cheap lunch at 7-Eleven. I
chose a rice sandwich with chicken. Tasty as always.
The best part about
this side of the lake was this darling. Totally unexpected and a total shock,
BAM! Out of nowhere I see a beautiful cockatoo! Oh how I wanted to give him
snuggles and kisses! ^_^
One last boat
landed us at our original location, back at the harbor where my new friends
sang and danced away. My host family sat down again to listen some more and
rest. Guess what? They yet again asked for volunteers from the audience. Take a
wild guess at who was first up there? XD
I didn’t go there
alone though! I grabbed my cousin Qi Han and encouraged him to join me. See, he
is a dancer though in the pop-and-lock and breakdancing field but nonetheless a
dancer. Therefore I just had to get him to join in the fun! Success!
Both the song and
dance were new so it was learning on the spot again. And just like last time,
when I got the hang of the moves I let loose and had fun with it, a smile
plastered across my face the whole time. Qi Han was a hoot to watch because he
just messed around playfully. For those who are interested I can show y’all a
video when back in Texas. I’m not patient enough to post it on YouTube because
I don’t have the time to wait hours around my computer making sure it doesn’t
fall asleep. :P
To finish the
performance we all took a bow. Um…Qi Han? You’re supposed to bow. XD Don’t
worry, he did soon after this photo. :P
I professed by want
of hugging my beloved favorite of the group to which my host mother said I
could. “Really?!” See, hugs aren’t
common or even normal in Taiwanese culture but my host mother said that among
aboriginals they are. So I leapt at the prospect and dashed for Mr. Handsome-Tassels.
:P Unfortunately he was busy talking to the audience with the microphone so
instead I hugged a very friendly guy who also is a great singer. Doesn’t he
look precious? Eeeee! Hugs are fantastic! ^_^
When we bid goodbye
to my new favorite people and left, my host family related an observation they
made to me. During both of the times I got up to dance, more and more people
made donations. My family joked that I should join up with them and earn them
more money. We humorously speculated that perhaps I descended from them, which
is why I picked up the dancing so well and fit in hence earning them more cash.
Therefore we now say that those aboriginals are my long lost family. I embrace
that idea lovingly and whole-heartedly. ^_^
Taking the gondola
down half way, we got off to walk through an outside aboriginal museum-like
area. There were beautiful sakura trees throughout the area, which called for
picture time. Here we have my dear older brother Michael!
This was just lots
and lots of laughs. Random but fun. Btw, that hat I’m wearing was recently
purchased on the street just down from my long lost family. Tis a pretty
aboriginal hat!
Michael’s head was
to big to fit through the hole so he had to compensate. XD
Peace signs while
being chained to a block of wood. Of course my host mother would do that. XD
Cang Jie being even
sillier. Nicely done cousin. XD
Qi Han being the
craziest of us all. Or perhaps being chained long enough caused him to go
insane. XD
Host Father’s turn.
Some totem poles…
The zone between
the top and bottom of the gondola system was an extensive hill filled with
aboriginal houses. There were several different tribe sections with
corresponding style of houses. I’ll show you a couple.
This is a chicken
coop. Cozy huh?
Raised up house
Famous aboriginal
red and white boats. Cang Jie looks like a curious cat tapping experimentally
in interest. XD
The experience of
exploring that aboriginal area was a lot longer and expansive than those few
pictures depict. For time’s sake I shall just move on. At the bottom of the
hill was back in One Piece land again. One building had areas dedicated to each
main character where you could pose like them in a certain way. I dashed to
Zoro’s stand immediately. ^_^ That picture is not in my possession but in my
host father’s so I’ll show ya some others.
Michael posing as
Luffy with a ginormous elastic fist. Feel the power! >:D
Cang Jie at Zoro’s
station attempting to pull out the swords from the sheaths. He didn’t succeed.
XD Perhaps it’s like an Asian version of the sword in the stone where you
become the Pirate King if you pull out the swords. :P
We stopped at a
water ride, roller coaster, stimulation ride and a merry-go-round. The water
ride was ridden with Qi Han and he scared the crap out of me when he lost his
glasses on the drop. Thankfully it just fell down on the coaster’s floor and we
retrieved it after the ride. The roller coaster was Mayan themed and required
extensive safety preparation as far as making me tie and tuck my hair in my
shirt. And all for a really really
quick ride. Still it provided a tad of a thrill to the point where I had fun
shouting out random Spanish words for an added effect like “Mi Dio! Aye
chihuahua, guacamole, burrito, churros, tacos (etc.).”
At the very end of
the park was a fire juggling show as well as a park with some unknown lit up
building. That terminated our trip to Sun-Moon Lake.
As you can tell
from the pitch-black sky, it was getting well into the night, high time for
dinner. A car drive away, we ate at a small place for stinky tofu and noodles.
A tasty bowl wonton
soup.
Fantastic stinky
tofu! Gosh I love this stuff!
My new beloved
aboriginal hat I mentioned earlier. Isn’t it darling and precious? ^_^
After a bit of work
to help me figure out the different aboriginal tribes, my host brother
explained that my favorite Mr. Handsome-Tassel is originally from the Amis (阿美族) tribe
but married into the Tsou (邵族), which were the
other people’s tribe. So he says the Tsou is my tribe. Ok! I have a Taiwanese
aboriginal tribe now! That’s awesome! :D
The more and more the
memories of today’s aboriginal dancing reside in my mind along with gazing at
pictures and videos, the more I fall in love with my long lost family. Their
beautiful clothing, their melodious songs, their passionate voices, their
energetic dancing, welcoming demeanor not to mention handsome men all are just
so breathtaking. I cannot express how much I’ve fallen in love with them. They
have stolen my heart forever. ^_^ In the category regarding an entire day from
morning to night, this one has been my favorite in Taiwan so far. It holds a
very dear place in my heart! ^_^
Stay well my
friends! Peace!
