Weathering the Typhoon, Part 3.

Hello world, it's been an eventful couple of days since my last post. A typhoon is moving in and with it rain, so my camera has seen limited usage.

On Friday for breakfast, I had a fruit sandwich. Normally I don't go meal by meal about what I ate each day but when Cris and Sarah told me they were going to go get fruit sandwiches, my interest was pretty piqued. Have you guys ever heard of a fruit sandwich, cuz I haven't.

Basically it's a sandwich but instead of meat, there's fruit. Kiwi, dragonfruit, orange, pineapple, tomatoes... And yes, it is DELICIOUS. They need to make these in America. Hot damn.

After a long and dreadful class was a trip to Gong Hua, which is like NOVA in that it's a huge technology center seven stories tall filled with electronics. You can find everything here, from cell phones to Chinese dictionaries (which is why we were there) to resistors, capacitors, etc. This place seriously has it all. Chow, Tsay, Jenny and I walked around the place for a few hours, checking out cool phones and automated escalators (that eat people!)

Afterwards we went to Si Ling night market, or at least a part of it. Jenny told me that I needed to go to Si Ling at least once while I was in Taiwan so we went last night after Gong Hua. This is one of those places where I seriously regret not bringing my camera. If I tried to describe every night market to you guys they would all sound the same, but something about each one gives it its own charm, its own feeling. Si Ling and the night markets have indoor and outdoor sections, and a huge, huge dog section. Si Ling also has a lot of circus-like games that I haven't found in other night markets. We played this baseball game where you try to knock down numbers; it was fun.

You'll find whole night markets located in warehouses, and the food section is located in what looks like used to be a large, emptied out storage warehouse. They just emptied the building out and stuffed it full of food stands; it's like a food court on crack. We shared this huge ji pai (fried chicken) that was, literally, larger than Brian's head, and a delicious ou ah jien (oyster pancake) that wasn't as good as mom makes it but still pretty delicious.

The rain pushed us back to the MRT station, but it was almost closing anyway. We ran to the last train headed back to our dorms just in time. All in all a satisfying day.

This weekend we were supposed to go to Alishan, which is supposed to be a really pretty mountain. Unfortunately the roads to Alishan got owned by the typhoon, so we went to Dan Shui yesterday instead. Dan Shui is a really pretty harbor at the end of the Red Line on the MRT, and about 30 minutes away from Taipei. I imagine it being a really nice place to be; unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs when we went, so it was a little less convenient.

I did take my camera to Dan Shui, so this portion of my entry will be pictures:

A street in Dan Shui. Lots of shopping, but too rainy so we just took in the sights and powered on through.

Finally found a temple in Dan Shui and did some praying.

Went bowling because it was raining too much. Bowling costs like 5$ per person for two games, including shoe rental!

After dinner and chasing a bus down, we finally made it to the harbor of Dan Shui. It was still slightly rainy but it was still very pretty; will have to come back one day when it's not rainy.

Dan Shui night market at night, after a rain. I love the way rain makes everything reflect off the ground, and makes the air feel so clean and clear.

We bought some crackly things and took a few sweet pictures. Then it was time to put the camera away because the rain started falling down harder.

The train ride back to the MRT was fun; Brian made up this new game where you have to keep your balance with both your feet together. A bunch of us fell over; I fell into a pole, and then onto my ass. We also tried taking jumping photos in the train but we got in trouble.

And, finally, today the typhoon is kicking some serious ass. I called the typhoon out on not being bad-ass enough last time, and it is showing its hand this time for sure. After lunch we went outside, and the wind broke four of our umbrellas instantly. I'm talking like, DEMOLISHED our umbrellas. As in, the cloth part of the umbrella was ripped FROM the bent and cracked metal skeletons of the umbrella. Walking back, you can push into the wind and get blown backwards. You can not be moving and have the wind drag you around. You get stung by the hard, fast rain. You see trees knocked over, bikes flung around, broken umbrellas left on the side of the road. The entrance to our dorm is flooded. Basically the typhoon is being ultimate bad ass and I'm loving it.

I just wish I had food to eat for tonight!

Zai jian,

-Justin