At the open air market with my grandmother, we get freshly made dumplings (really fresh - I watched him make them) and bring them back to her flat. There we're served a plethora of desserts before we eat, all filled with my favorite, red bean paste. So basically I'm in heaven here. Red bean paste in an egg bun? Got it. Red bean paste in a rice ball? Got it. Red beans stuck in a rice log? Got it. What more could this girl ask for?
Which chikin you want?
Red bean paste nom nom nom
After lunch my immediate family (plus Uncle Stone who acted as our AMAZING tour guide) took a visit to the community college that my dad went to (before military service and university)... "Oxford". That's right. My dad went to Oxford. Really the college's name is Tamsui Oxford College (Tamsui is the city name) and is now called the University of Truth. Near the college campus were a few historical sites, one of which had an exhibit depicted native Taiwanese life. Lo and behold, I look like a Taiwanese native. Is there any native that I DON'T look like? This actually spawned some good conversation and is how I found out that my life is a lie. Not until recently did I find out I am a 1/4 Taiwanese and 1/4 Chinese instead of 1/2 Chinese. Turns out that isn't true either! I'm only 1/8 Taiwanese. My great grandmother on my grandmother's side was 100% Taiwanese. By the way, we finally saw some white people here. Two, to be exact.
Me
Water buffalo
Hug
Victory! Over what? Everything!
Cherry blossoms
Lady of the Lake
See? See?
Crazy straw
Right near the college is the military base where Je-Ming is stationed. Je-Ming just got his Master's in Public Health and is now fulfilling his military service. Military service is mandatory for one year for all males here. It was a two year term back when my dad had to serve (sometime between 1974-1977) and he was talking about how cushy the service looks now (not having to wear hand me down uniforms, only serving for a year, getting to wear those boots instead of half blown out running shoes). I can't at all imagine my dad as a military guy.
Uncle Stone sweet talked the guards (holding rifles) into letting us onto the base to wait for Je-Ming. He was on a mandatory timed 3200m run which you have to finish in 14 minutes. At least they didn't have to do the run in full uni's. Athletic shorts and running shoes were the norm. Nobody looked happy coming back from that run. The heat, humidity, and impending sandstorm coming from mainland China probably made it... not so fun.
From there we kept exploring the Northwest shore and headed to the Fisherman's wharf. We walk in an are instantly handed a drink sample. I look down and swear that this is a cup of water with tiny fish eyes in it. I'd been a pretty adventurous eater for the last day and a half but was in no way going to drink this without getting confirmation that it wasn't a cup of fish eyes. Turns out they were Taiwan basil seeds. When you put basil seeds in water a gel filled sack forms around it giving it the fish eye look. I took a catious sip and was delighted! It tasted like lemonade with tiny, fun, boba-esque balls floating around. I totally bought some so if you'd like to try it give me a call! The next booth had my childhood favorite...don't mock it til you try it... fish powder. While everyone else's parent were packing them peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch in elementary school, mine was sending me with fish powder sushi rolls. My sister and I got the 3 for NT$200 deal: salmon, swordfish, and some mystery fish my dad couldn't even translate into English. NT$200 is only about $7.
Eyeballs
Fish powder!!! Swordfish, mystery fish, salmon
Night market in Shilin was supposed to be crazy and it was. It seemed like there were endless alleys of stuff and it was really crowded, even on a Tuesday night. They had a bunch of cool stuff but the crowd made it impossible to enjoy the shopping. We did, however, get to play the fish game. You're given a scooper with a net made of paper and have to scoop out a fish before the paper disintegrates. I failed. Twice. At least my sister did too. Being such a hot spot, we up our white person count to about 12. Interestingly enough, the two that I ended up standing next two spoke conversational Mandarin. Looks like they belonged there more than I did. I'm trying to learn as much as I can though. A lot of what I heard as a small child is coming back to me: names of animals, names of foods, how to say if you like or don't like something, want or don't want something, hello, thank you.
Mosquitos exist to ruin my life.
We arrived in Taipei late at night and that first night I didn't get bitten by any mosquitos. The second night was a different story. In the middle of the night I heard something buzzing by my ear but don't really think twice about it. Boy was that a mistake, I wake up with 7 big ones. And I mean big ones!! I'm pretty allergic so these bad boys have swollen a fair amount even though I haven't scratched them. My grandmother (we call her Nai-Nai) sees them and immediately slathers them with some mystic pink Asian gel. It smells a little bit like menthol and has a cooling effect which is great for my flaming hot bites. That crazy pink gel is the only thing I've ever tried that actually made my bites stop itching for a while. It didn't last very long so I'm having to reapply all the time. Apparently the gel is some sort of restricted substance. It has no label and cannot be found in stores. You have to know a guy who knows a guy who knows how to get it. At the end of the day my bite total is 12. 4 of which aren't that swollen!
