"The Most Important Thing Is To Enjoy Your Life- To Be Happy- It's All That Matters." - Audrey Hepburn

"10, I give it a 10!"

This past weekend was spectacular! 

On Friday night, after getting done with school at 7:10, I joined the rest of the girls for an "Oh, CANADA!- Canadian Tuxedo" themed party. The theme was in honor of our only Canadian teacher's 25th birthday. A Canadian Tuxedo is wearing all denim.

Left Krista the Canadian, Right Michelle the American

Three peas in a pod!

Surprisingly, everyone had a lot of denim attire. I wore a jean vest, but it was salmon colored, oops! The Shang-An Chinese staff even came, including my summer teacher, Glory! 

T. Glory~ Unicorns!

Katie and I, with Moose Angela

I went home a little earlier than the rest of the gang so I could go hiking in Dakeng in the morning. The first time I went on trail 6. This time Laura, Kelly, Rhonda, and I did trail 9 and 10. It is always a great feeling to get up early and take a 20 minute scoot ride out of the city to hike up in the mountains. There are so many types of trees, I wish I knew even half of them.

We saw about 5 different spiders, which were as big as my hand, resting in the middle of their webs that had to be 4-5 feet around. My nightmare, literally. There are tons of little lizards running around Dakeng. We saw quite a few banana trees and picked some to try later. At the top, we were offered some local fruit, and on the way down we communicated as best we could with another local along the trail. I am told there are monkeys in Dakeng, but I have yet to see any. 

Praying mantis, see him?

Kelly Picking bananas!

Not many places you can see this much green and city.

Unfortunately I did not wear any bug spray and I wore shorts, so my legs are COVERED in bug bites. I'm talking 30-40 bites just on my legs. >_<

We spent a good 15 minutes trying to find a Greek restaurant called UZO once we made our way back into the city. We found it down a side ally and it was closed, so we ate at Early Bird. The very foreign occupied joint that plays NFL football. 

Saturday night, all of the teachers were invited to our head boss, the owner of Cornel School, the infamous Bih Hua's (pronounced Be wah.) She lives in the suburbs of Taichung, in a big marble house with her husband. Her house was extravagant, but beautiful. She is also a professional ballroom dancer, and her house is almost a shrine to her many years of dancing. We spent the majority of the evening in her back yard where she had prepared loads of delicious food! We ate steak, potato salad, mac and cheese, lasagna, brownies, and more. She prepared so many "home-style" dishes. She even made vegetarian dishes and a gluten free dish for the teacher's who can't eat meat or bread.

Bih Wah explaining her entrees

Some of my closest friends :)

Afterwards, we were brought in for homemade ice cream, a slideshow of her trip to China, and two videos of her ballroom performances where she won 1st place. Watching the dancing video's has been said to be a tradition, meaning she plays them every year for the new teachers. Before we left she gave each of us a 500 NT gift certificate to a shopping center that I have not yet been to.

New Friends at 'Luna See'

A handful of us left Bih Hua's to go to "Luna See," basically live music in the mountains. It was a lot of fun to see many of the same people we had met from the first time we went to "LuvStock" and of course to meet many more. It was a bit pricey to get there and back since it was a trek up the mountain.

Again went home earlier than normal so Kelly and I could join Gina and Matt for an all day adventure in her smaller district, Dajia. We were not sure what was planned, but boy did we have one of the best days yet!

Kelly and I took the city bus just outside of Taichung to meet Gina. After hopping off the bus we started walking towards the bridge that we'd meet her at, then an elder woman with white gloves on was walking towards us. She held up both of her hands and slowed down to a complete stop just in front of us. She had our attention so we had also stopped, and each raised a hand up to hers. We stood there, Kelly holding up her right hand, me my left, and touched hand to hand with this woman. She smiled a giant smile at each of us, nodded, and walked away.... 


While we waited we bought some fruit, mango, waxed apples, dragon fruit, and guava. Then Gina showed up in her nice red car and we took off to pick up Matt. When I showed her my bug bites she insisted that we stop at her house for medicine first. (The Taiwanese genuinely care about the well being of everyone around them. How do I leave this kind of place?) To relieve the itching they use a Mentholatum, a clear gel like substance that smells like icy-hot.  

Gina shared with us that is has been the hottest and longest summer in Taiwan in many years. I must say it is very strange to have Summer weather here, when everyone back in the states is talking about colder weather and changing leaves. 
 
  

God is being brought ran into temple after dance to fight off demons.

Daoist guardian generals

We arrived just in time for a Taiwanese traditional celebration of The God, Mazu, meaning Goddess of the Sea. (Gina had told me it means Mother of Ancestors) The celebration consisted of music, costumes, dancing, and the burning of 'ghost' money!

 

After watching the performance we headed inside the temple to take some photos. Any woman on her 'time of the month' is not allowed into the temple. The 'waste' leaving the body is not good for the God. 

Lighting incense to burn in the temple after tribute to MaZu.

 

Where the incense are placed.

Water chestnuts looked just like mustaches!

We had a delicious shrimp and noodle soup lunch for only 40 NT ($1.20)! Then we tried a few of the samples inside the many dessert bakery shops they have. On the streets they were cooking many things, as usual, but this time I did see intestines being cooked! Gina said she likes intestines.

 

Sign behind us says do not touch in Chinese.

Then we went into a secluded area where had previously been one of the first schools in Taiwan. Now it seems to be another temple, and a storage place for many of the guardian generals weapons and costumes. Kelly and I posed for photos with many of the props, although we probably should not have.

Kelly took a picture with the green demon guardian and I took one with the red demon guardian of MaZu. I found this piece about them... "a pair of green and red-faced demons whom she had previously subdued, and who then became her most trusted guardians, A thousand Li Eyes (Qianliyan) and Favourable Wind Ears (Shunfeng’er). Her two guardians are so called as one can spot a seafarer needing help from a thousand li,6 while the other can hear the cries for help as fast as the wind can. As her loyal guardians, they clear the way for the goddess’ journey."

Qianliyan, MaZu, and Shunfeng'er

 We then went to the Jin Hua Shan MaZu Folk Museum. Past the first floor we were not allowed to take photographs. The entire musuem was dedicated to MaZu and her guardians. On the top floor were her costumes, statues, paintings, wood carving, etc. 
   

Ideal length was 3 inches.

We also saw the miniature shoes that woman would wear after binding their feet throughout their entire life. The bones would break, and their feet smelled horrible, but because the men thought it was highly attractive, woman would do this to be beautiful and worthy of a husband. This was also done to limit the ability to take part in politics or have a social life .YIKES!

Next we were off to see a landmark that has not been touched since it was built during the last dynasty, Qing Dynasty. The structure had been built for a woman who remained 'pure' until her death. She was first married to a family at the age of 7, at 12 her husband died. She never remarried and died 'pure' 70 years later.  





 

Just before sunset, we headed to the coast. The Taiwan Straight coast that would face west towards China. The view was beautiful. Wind turbines lined the coast, and empty wetlands covered the majority of the area. Everyone was allowed to take the boardwalk down to the very shallow waters, but much of it was roped off to protect the hundreds of miniature white crabs and their homes.

Lastly, we ate at Torii Coffee. The cherry on top of our Sunday, haha! Especially at night, pictures could not capture the view we could see. The restaurant is away from the city, and higher up in the mountains so the view was splendid. 

I have heard over and over that hot pot is a favorite food from many of the locals. I finally had my first. You choose the meat you want, and they bring you it raw along with a fire lit pot full of vegetables of all sorts and some seafood.

Matt and Gina!

Just before getting on the city bus to go home I bought a shirt in the night market. I was exhausted, but ecstatic about my day in Dajia!
 
Check out more Taiwanese secrets here! ^_^

Thanks for reading --K