Taipei- leading by example

Hey all,

It's the middle of the night here and I am have been up since 6:30 this morning. However, I'm determined to get this blog up to speed. Two weeks ago, my friends (Ellie, Katie, and Betsy) and I were really trying to figure out a travel destination, but nothing seemed to be working. We were looking into Thailand and Vietnam, but we didn't have time to get the visa by week's end. Ellie noticed a deal on Zuji to Taipei. None of us really had considered the destination, and there were many skeptics among us. When everyone seemed to be making excuses not to travel, Ellie and I decided on Tuesday that we would book a flight for Thursday at midnight and see who would follow suit- assuming that nobody would.

The next day, people got wind of our travel plans, and people started ringing Zuji left and right. Since you need to book all trips three days in advance, people were on the phone for hours trying to puch their flights through. Betsy and Katie decided to join us, and eight other exchange students had booked the trip as well.

Since our flight was not until midnight, and our arrival was not until two, the four of us decided not to book a hostel for the first night. It was a brillient plan- we checked our bags at Central MTR station (in the heart of Hong Kong, but still pretty far from the airport) around dinner time, headed into Lan Kwai Fung for happy hour, and got a few drinks before our flight. Before we knew it, we were in the middle of Taipei Airport, and our plan not to book a hostel was looking like a poor decision in hindsight.

As we were pleading with the hotel booking representative at the airport (who spoke mostly Mandarin), our chances of finding somewhere to stay looked pretty slim. Suddenly, two other exchange students (one from HKUST and one from CUHK) approached us and offered a place to stay for the night. It is amazing the things that happen when you travel with two of the most attractive ladies around (Ellie and I are kind of a big deal). Anyway, this development made the rest of the trip what it was.

Jeff is from Emory and was studying at HKUST with us. Rob is from USC and goes to school with Betsy. He and Jeff grew up together and are great family friends. Rob's grandparents live in Taipei and had agreed to let us stay for the night. We arrived and were greeted by Rob's grandparents with various plates of local fruits. They were delicious. The grandfather used to be an architect, and had made his place by combining two or three of the apartments he had designed for one of his buildings. The place was incredible.

Initially, it was a little awkward to welcome ourselves into a stranger's home, but Rob and I soon discovered that we knew each other. When I was out playing USC in lacrosse last spring, I met up with Lizzie Dacey one night to go out. Rob actually came out with me that night, and he recognized me while we were introducing ourselves... small world.

There were a number of highlights to the Taipei visit- most of which were made possible by our new Mandarin-speaking friends. Despite a late start to the first day, we ventured over to the hostel and went to see some incredible temples (the name escapes me right now) and a place called "Snake Alley." After visiting the temples, we got reflexology foot massages before a great dinner. Then, we explored the night market there and went into the alley. Before leaving, Ellie and I had taken the snake blood combo platter. This included drinking snake blood, snake penis, snake poisen, ginsgeng, snake bile, and snake oil. I cannot tell you how interesting an experience this was, especially since we were being served the whole time by people who did not speak any english at all.

After a couple minutes of recovery time, we all made our way to the renoun hot springs, where we smuggled in plenty of alcohol and played our own version of red rover until our skin completely pruned over... time for bed.

The second day was filled with rain. We woke up early and tried to make a trip on our own out to see a castle at the end of the train line. The train took forever, and we ended up wandering through the torrential downpour for the better part of two hours without any luck. Again- Jeff and Rob were doing something with their families, and we were completely lost in a sea of Mandarin speaking people.

We had agreed to meet with some of Jeff's family for dinner, so we quickly saw the Chiang Khi-Chek (spelling?) Memorial before we were to meet. This was incredible, and we would return the following day to see the changing of the guards. The journey was highlighted by Ellie moshing by himself to a band that was playing- he looked really goofy and actually slipped and fell into a puddle. A great thing to happen before meeting Jeff's family for dinner- oh well.

The dinner was one of the most memorable events since coming over here in Janauary. It was perfect. Jeff's uncle took us to a local seafood mart/restaurant where he knew the chef. They sat us at two big tables in the back and all of the adult men of the group vanished for about a half an hour. When they returned, they said something to Jeff in Mandarin, and he erupted in laughter. He then asked me if I was interested in eating Rooster testicles. I said I would try them if they were brought out. They never ended up coming to the table, but a whole lot of other dishes did. Here is a list of all that I consumed that night. Keep in mind that each of these that sounds like an entree was an entree...:

Drinks (rating out of 10):
Orange Juice mixed with Guava Juice (10- a local favorite)
Plum Juice (4)
Oolong Tea (7)
Apple Soda (6.5)
Jasmine Green Tea (9)

Appetizers:
Cooked peanut dish with Ginger (7.5)
Plate of fried rice (9)
Plate of fried noodle (9)
Plate of steamed prawn (10)
Cold clam dish (9)
Mussel, tomato, and asparagus with mayonaise drizzle (9)
Steamed Rice (7-it was good, but I've seen it before)
Sauteed spinach with garlic (8.5)

Entrees:
Hot clam dish stir-fried with seasoning and vegetables (9.5)
Steamed white fish in brown sauce (10)
Fried Jumbo Crabs (6)
Steamed squid with vegetables (9.5)
Braised shark stomach dish (9)
Deep-fried fish strips (5)
*break here for about 30 minutes and ask if we are ok to continue
Raisen-fried salmon cut (10)
Enormous pork finale (8)

I cannot tell you how long it took me to physically recover from this meal. The amount that I had for the majority of the dishes (appetizers included) could have constituted their own separate meals. In total, we spent 3 hours eating in the restaurant. It was pheonominal. During the meal, Jeff's family also taught me some new Mandarin vocab words. They were a great group, and I really enjoyed getting to know them and their culture.

After the meal, un kids headed to Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world and the fastest elevator in the world. The weather and view from the top were pretty awful, but the trip itself was a great thing to have done.

We finished off the night by hitting the highly acclaimed night market, where we took on the elements until two in the morning. Betsy and Katie, who shared in my passion for the local tea tradition, were relentless and successful in finding themselves tea sets.

After a brief nap that night, we got up and rushed to see the museum and the Chiang Khi Chek memorial in the morning. Our friend from the hostel, James Chang brought us over to the museum. He was great- he was a Taiwanese native who had just returned after recieving his PHD in Australia. The man loved interacting with everyone, in all sorts of languages. He was simultaneously showing about 10 of us around the city. A really great guy. His personality and friendliness characterized the Taiwanese people that I met on my trip. Amazing sites, amazing food, amazing people. I had a blast in Taipei.