We arrived in Taiwan, and at my grandmother's house in time for a late lunch. After some rest, we went to the Confuciuis Temple (孔庙 kong3 miao4).
Why would we go there, you ask. Well, my parents are history buffs. So it to the temple we went, though we had already been there the last time we went to taiwan (and the time before, and the time before that... you get the idea.) . I know the temple is a place full of history, but at the risk of sounding shallow, I don't really find that sort of stuff fascinating. But it was fun! Because while my parents were traisping around listening to the guide, my brother and I were taking photographs.
This picture gives you an idea of how much attention we were paying. The guide was speaking to my parents, my brother was taking a photo of the temple, and I was taking a photo of my brother taking a photo. Fascinating stuff, really.
My parents were pleased though. We didnt whine and moan and constantly ask 'What time is it'.
We went back for dinner, and then I watched Espn. If you know me, you'll know that is a highlight. Because I am a sports nut (basketball, badminton, swimming, heck, any sport!), and I don't have ESPN at home. Hence, whenever I go overseas, the first thing I check at the hotel is whether they have the sports channels.
Day 2
My cousin took leave from work to bring around on Day 2, and it really made a difference having a local bring us around. We went to Chi Kan Lou and the area surrounding it. I shall not elaborate on the temples/architecture, as you already know my opinion.
What was important was the food!
I forgot what these round white balls are called, but some of these are cruncy while others are chewy, and there are white sugar as well as dark sugared varieties.
We went for lunch next. What my brother is cutting here is a 棺材板 'guan chai ban' (which roughly translates to 'coffin board'?) Its thick toast where they fry the toast, then cut off the top and dig out the middle. The hollow toast is then the 'coffin' and the top the coffin cover. They then fill the toast with something that tastes like campbell's coup. The soup oozes out when you begin cutting the toast, and it tastes lovely.
After that, it was time for some beancurd. We went a shop that was quite renowned, and the variety available was quite mind boggling. There was white beancurd and black bean curd. You could have your beancurd hot or cold, with red beans, with sweet sauce, with salty sauce, with with pearls (as I did, and you can see in the picture), or with everything if you dare.
We felt bloated after that much food, so my cousin brought us bird watching. The boys went to try to catch crabs, and they caught one, a tiny one, after much yelling and shrieking. I yelled too-- when they tried to bring the crab near me.
We watched the birds in a small wooden hut, and we had to keep quiet so as to not scare birds (if any) away.
I'll end with the pictures of birds I managed to get. It was quite difficult capturing them though, as the big flocks were at a distance from us, so all I managed to get were individual birds, through extensive zooming.
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