I took over 60 pictures today, and there are over 30 ready to share with you, reader dearest, but that's more than one post, and I'm pooped. That pregnant lady wore me out! So I'll post the first part of today's adventure and hope I wake up early enough to post before the Taipei adventure tomorrow.
We went for a fairly long, scenic drive. I shot this from the moving car (out the other side, even). It's such a beautiful country.
We finally reached our destination, a small town that my co-worker guessed the spelling of: Pei-Pu (in Hsinchu county). There was a street fair going on with blocks and blocks of booths selling everything you can imagine and more. We were actually headed to a Buddhist temple (which I will post LOTS of pictures from tomorrow, or tonight for you U.S. peeps), but we walked through the street fair to get there.
First we stopped here. To the untrained eye -- that would be me! -- this might look quite temple-ish. Turns out it's just a shaded area near where there was going to be a drama. We walked up later just as they were finishing. Drat!
OK, so if you go back to yesterday's post where I'm talking about the fruit that you peel and eat, the Chinese name for it is pronounced "lee-chee," and I got a picture of some today:
My co-worker and her husband bought a bunch of it and let me have some; it's sitting in my little hotel fridge right now. Yummy! And yes, when you peel off the outer rind, the fruit inside is white. I'll take a picture of that when I eat some of mine.
As we were walking around looking for things to buy, we saw this interesting building. My intrepid guides tell me it's a traditional Chinese house. You know, if I lived in Taiwan, I'd want to live in a house like that. Very cool.
Once we found the actual street fair, it was so busy that I thought I'd take a picture of it. People and booths and umbrellas everywhere.
I haven't posted any pics of co-workers on my blog (just because I choose to tell my stories on the interweb doesn't mean I should put them out there), and I think this is as close as I will get: today's guides are in the foreground on the right. They were such gracious hosts, and I had such a great time today. I doubt they'll ever read this, but thanks guys!
And lastly for today, this was our first snack: roasted corn on the cob. A note to you Americans: when they ask if you want traditional or spicy, you want traditional. Unless you really want them to bring the fire.
Very shortly after this, we all cooled our fires with shaved ice topped with fruit. You could choose four fruits, and I got watermelon, mango, pineapple and lee-chee. She gave me tapioca (the brown ball things in bubble tea) as a bonus. Yummy, and just the thing to cool down after the roasted corn!
Oh, and speaking of bubble tea, I forgot to mention that my wonderful hosts showed up at my hotel with my favorite beverage when they picked me up. Yummmmm! So thoughtful.
Once I've had a little shut-eye, I will be thrilled to tell you about the rest of my perfect day. We visited a Buddhist temple, traveled to one of the two cold springs in Taiwan (all the rest are hot springs), and then went to the coast to see the sunset before dinner. And of course I have pictures of everything.
See y'all in the (yawn) morning!
2 comments:
Ah, so the magic fruit is the lychee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lychee). I believe you can get that in America, though you may need to go to an Asian grocery (or at least Whole Foods or Central Market) to get it.
oh god............. I love lychee. Those are my favorite slushes with boba. You can get the drinks in Austin at boba shops.
Now I'm craving one.
Thanks ;o)
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