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Published: January 25th 2008
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A tray is placed on the table in front of us.
There is a bowl of snake soup, a glass of red liquid, and 5 shot glasses containing other unknown fluids.
The waiter approaches our table and gives orders in Mandarin.
Jason and Laura, our Taiwanese friends translate:
Jason: "He said that the red liquid is snake blood. Please drink half each"
We dutifully share the drink between us.
Jason: "Now, into the empty glass, he says to add half of this liquid (pointing to the first shot glass)...it is snake bile"
We add the liquid
Jason: "Now add the second - it is snake penis"
We do as told
Jason: "Now add the third - it is snake guts"
Jason: " Now add the next two....one is ginseng...."
Ah, we've heard of that one.
Jason: "And the fifth is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine"
Laura: "Very good for you!"
We mix all the liquids as directed
Jason: "Now drink!"
And we do. Half each. It tastes.....interesting.
Jason: "Now we eat the snake soup"
And so culminates our first 24 hours in Taiwan.
To start at the beginning......
We arrived in Taiwan for a week long visit, and were
Taipei Night Market
Laura in the night market on our first night met by our Taiwanese friends Jason and Laura, who we would be staying with for part of our trip.
To be honest, I didn't know a whole lot about Taiwan before we arrived; I knew that a lot of electrical equipment was made there; that my friend from back home had lived there for the past 3 years, and that currently they boast the tallest completed building in the world. But I wasn't at all sure what else to expect.
So far, Taiwan has been shown to me as a fascinating and beautiful country, with friendly people, and all the craziness you could hope to find in any Asian country.
The traffic itself is a sight to behold!
It appears that when it comes to road rules in the capital city of Taipei, that there are no rules. It reminded me very much of Bangkok traffic....only more chaotic somehow.
In Taipei, if the car in front of you stops, or slows down for any reason, this does not mean the car behind must also follow suit. It means that the car behind must pull-out and quickly move around the stationary vehicle - regardless of what traffic is coming in
Dessert!
Lots to choose from in the night market the opposite direction, or whether you can actually fit 2 lanes of traffic down that street in the first place.
It also seems to be obligatory to change lanes as often as possible, and if you can, you should straddle 2 lanes, and drive scarily close to the car next to you. Interspersed with the thousands of cars on the road, are also thousands of scooters and motorbikes - sometimes carrying up to 5 people (seriously!) - all of which makes for an exciting and at the same time, terrifying, first car journey in Taiwan. Seatbelts are optional, but we highly recommend them.
An hour after landing, we met Jason's family for a welcome meal at a seafood restaurant in Taipei. The food was delicious, and we were very well looked after. We chose to drink some Taiwanese beer (made slightly differently from rice and barley), and at various times during the meal, Jason's father would raise his glass and toast us, Taiwanese-style - which meant that we should drink all the beer in the glass, all at the same time. Luckily for us, the glasses were small!
After the meal, Jason and Laura took us to a
night-market for dessert. These markets are dotted all over Taiwan, and from dinnertime onwards, they serve a huge variety of tasty and sometimes unusual food for $1 or $2 per dish. We have grown to love these markets during our time here.
Our first full day in Taiwan saw us explore Taipei city. Our first stop was the memorial constructed to Chiang-Kai Shek. Chiang-Kai Shek is a famous chinese general who defeated the Japanese in China in the Second World War. He also fought against the communists in the 50's, and was the leader of the KMT, the party in China who retreated to Taiwan when the communists got the upper hand in main land China.
A trip to one of the main temples in Taipei proved to be a fascinating stop-off for us later in the day. The religion at that particular temple appeared to be a mixture of Buddhism and Taoism, and we were allowed to be blessed by one of the people there. This involved us standing next to them while they waved smoking sticks around us. It sounds strange I know, but we really felt glad that we were able to get involved in
Breakfast Taiwanese style
Jason at breakfast in Taipei that way. Funnily enough, one of the blessings is supposed to bring you wealth, and we received our tax refund that night. Spooky.
We also visited more food markets and street stalls to sample more of the local food, and luckily (!) for us, our old friend pig's intestines was on the menu yet again. Along with some congealed pig's blood too! Yum!
And so, after breaking-up our diet of animal organs with a quick trip to Starbucks for an iced coffee (normality needed!), we arrived at our second night-market, which would be the scene of our snake-ingesting feat.
For those who are curious, we didn't vomit after eating snake and drinking its bodily fluids. In fact, snake tastes like.....well.....chicken! And everything else just tasted like sour wine.
Our Taiwanese friends were very enthusiastic about the snake blood and bile. They had all tried it previously, except for Willy, and as Jason jokingly said, as we strolled to the car later;
"Snake blood is very special....it gives you energy....is good for your insides.....in fact, I feel it is better than red bull"
Hmmm.
Give me a sugar-laden caffeine drink any day.
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Maddy
non-member comment
Wow!
Snake blood huh? And after trying pig's intestines too...I'm impressed! I reckon you'll be able to conquer anything that's put in front of you from here on in. Just watch out for those scorpion's stings! ;) So great to read how you're both going though. Hope you have the energy to keep up the blogs. Cheers, Maddy. :)