Day 7 - Totally Tubular Trip - from Toucheng to Taipei

大家好！You guessed it. It’s your favorite, Momo and Russell. 

We have officially crossed the halfway mark! Seven days into the trip, and it's safe to say that we are all ready to cancel our flights back home and stay here permanently in Taiwan. Today was packed, yet again, with exciting cultural activities, starting with a slightly difficult wakeup call at 6:30 (We slept for another 30 minutes) 😩. We woke up in the Toucheng leisure farm, had a traditional breakfast while conversing with some of the locals honing our Chinese skills, and then all piled onto the bus to head to the Yilan Cultural Center. I (Momo) must be honest and say that while I loved the Toucheng farm with all my heart, I was kind of glad to leave behind the gargantuan spiders that looked as though they were made in a military lab. 

After a 40 minute bus ride by some beautiful scenery of the ocean and getting to know someone better that we didn’t talk to much on the trip, we arrived at the cultural center,  which was basically a mini theme park minus the rides. The humidity was the first thing that hit us, followed by the sound of 6 or 7 sunscreen and bug spray bottles going off. We were unfortunate to miss out on seats for a live performance of the Journey to the West, but thanks to 锺老师(Ms. Chung)’s vigilance, we were able to find a spot on the side of the building where we could peek through to watch the show. Afterward, we split up into 4 groups to explore the cultural center on our own and look around the shops and restaurants. Most of us went to go eat traditional Taiwanese food, like noodles and fried rice(all of which were 很好吃 or very tasty). There were a couple of us, however, that were missing home a bit and went to eat burgers at an American restaurant (we won’t name names…).

After eating, most of the groups went to look around at some shops, and my group found this store that was selling beaded bracelets. Each one was NT$280 (around 9 dollars), a price we all believed was a bit expensive, so we asked the storeowner in Mandarin if we could have a discount. I (Russell) personally explained to him how I had spent all of my allowance already and only had  NT$100 left and used the skills I spent honing in Chinese class for two months and got him to agree to a 40% discount only if we were giving the bracelets as gifts to our girlfriends. Of course, we all told him we would be taking the bracelets to our girlfriends at home, and then we proceeded to get the bracelets fitted for our own wrists, all with huge smiles on our faces. By paying 5 dollars for our bracelets instead of 9, we all felt like bargaining kings. The economic world of Taiwan was now our oyster. Overall, the experience at the cultural center was excellent. I (Momo) must say that the hospitality and kindness of the Taiwanese people has been wonderful, another reason why we all want to settle down in this beautiful country.

Time passed way too fast…after a brief one hour bus ride playing games with everyone in the back of the bus, we drove to a busy side street where we wrote down wishes on lanterns and set them off in the sky. Despite the humidity and rain, we still learned about the culture behind sending off lanterns and the values that each color represents, like how white represents health and a bright future. We ended up setting off lanterns with a red background symbolizing health and peace. I personally wished for health, wealth, and happiness (and Momo wrote about his plans to play in the 2030 world cup). After waving goodbye to our wishes and our lanterns, we got on the bus for a fun trip to Taipei: the capital of Taiwan. . 

At the Raohe night market, we 什么都想吃 (Shénme dōu xiǎng chī) or we wanted to eat everything. At the first shop, my group immediately stopped to try a Taiwanese pepper pancake. Its hot steamy flavor instantly made me want to eat the whole thing in an instant, despite my personal fear of spices. After gobbling up that bun, I immediately looked for a drink to wash it down, but one of my group members was instantly drawn in by the pungent aroma of a Taiwanese delicacy: stinky tofu. After giving it a try, I moved on to looking for bubble milk tea to quench my thirst; after all, Taiwan is famous for its bubble milk tea. After buying one for myself and one for a friend for the mere price of three US dollars, we eagerly drank it to soothe our burning throats. After finding that refreshing and sweet drink, we immediately wanted to try even more unique Taiwanese dishes. We tried some sweet potato balls, the traditional beef hand pulled noodles, and even a Taiwanese donut. After a long day of trying new foods, we have landed in our last (and best) hotel where we are currently writing this blog and overlooking the beautiful city of Taipei. See you tomorrow!!

谢谢你们！

• 唐炸虎 and 蔡尔琛