Taking Taiwan

The food, oh the food!
The food is quite worth mentioning, because it's nothing like I've ever experienced elsewhere. Meats and vegetables are fresher than I have ever seen. The tastes are amazing, and utilized in ways I have never thought of, and has awoken taste-buds I didn't know exists. There are more vegetables to choose from here than I've ever seen in an American grocery store, and it looks like it was JUST PICKED five minutes ago, and is there right in front of you. Even the chickens are killed right there, and they put them in water to drain the blood, and then put them out on the counter. It is divine. (My apologies to the vegetarians)

Oh ya, and I ate a chicken foot. It is supposed to be full of collagen, hence making my skin terrific and young. Screw you, Botox!!


Everything I learned about traveling, I learned from my brother.
Well, almost everything. See... what my brother doesn't know is that foreigners are much more attractive to the locals, and especially with my curly hair, I get special privileges. My [male] couch surfing hosts take time to show me around, take me to parks, and others get mad that I don't choose to stay with them. I get told I'm "Hot" and "Beautiful" etc. I get chocolates, and some men ogle me, others loudly express "WHOA" and turn their heads as I walk by. I think it's my curly hair.

Whale watching and playing with dolphins
I love the dolphins... they are so playful. They like to play in the bubbles created by the boats. So they were all around our boat, and were doing flips and tricks for us galore! Even the little babies were jumping and flipping!

Still studying!
Every chance I get, I practice my herbs. If I see a market, or a building of acupuncturists and Chinese herbs, I stop and say hi. Then I start naming the herbs. We might not speak the same language at all, but when I start naming the herbs in Chinese, they love me. If I get it wrong, they correct me, and they cheer when I get it right. I look at the formulas the make, and say what ails the patient, and my host translates it, and they nod in agreement. "that person has digestive issues." "that person has constipation" "that person needs to calm their spirit" (I saw Zhen Zhu Mu)


Mermaids in Taroko National Park
This place is amazing, and full of hikes. The rock is marble, and the water is sometimes silver, and sometiems clear and blue. I went in with my host - Blanchard - and played Mermaid (him-Merman) for a while in this stunning water.
The name, Taroko, means the "magnificent and beautiful". Long ago a tribesman of the Truku aboriginal tribe saw the beauty of the azure Pacific when he walked out of the gorge. Astonished by the elegance of the scene, he cried: "Taroko!". And so it became the name of the place.

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Videos from "Taking Taiwan":

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