day 9!

In an effort to broaden our Taiwan experience, my mom suggested that we make a short day trip to Jiufen, an old mining town/region about an hour outside of Taipei. So we woke up (relatively) early to make it happen.

The plan had been to take a bus to Jiufen, but we were intercepted by taxi drivers that haunt that particular bus stop, hoping to steal some of the traffic. They managed to convince us that it was worth the slightly higher fare in exchange for shorter travel time. Here's our cab driver's credentials. (He was missing all the fingers on one hand! Kind of a nice old guy though.)

Ok shameless showing off time -- wore some of the new stuff I bought so far. The dress was from me & my sis shopping at ximending yesterday, and the leggings I picked up at some point. MAN, I so thought that the half opaque/half transparent thigh-high-like leggings were so unique and special (since I got mine in the UK) but it turns out everyone and their mother is wearing them here. Which means that in 1 year or so it'll be all over the US :( on one hand I'm thrilled that I can get them so cheap in Taiwan, on the other hand it's like..........not even special anymore............boo. Welp :3 can't complain, these ones are pretty cute! (Janet let me know if you want some~ I think these were $5 ish)

A first glimpse of Jiufen! This part of it (the touristy part) is pretty much one long alley/street of shops.

This lady was selling various cold drinks in these adorable baby bottles! (but adult sized). They were so cheap, it was 50yuan for the drink + bottle (~$1.50). Cute! :D The lady was really nice too.

Cute little crafts. Rock concert!! Hehe little groupies.

A shop that makes ceramic ocarinas in all shapes and sizes -- there were turtles, owls, and all sorts of others.

A little snack where they take a scraper to a huge block of sweet peanut brittle, grab the peanut flakes that come off it and put it on a thin tortilla, add a scoop of ice cream and voila! We tried one, it was alright. Not a peanut fan.

Those things aren't sea anemone -- they're tea leaves! Not leaves, but a huge bud thing that you steep to make tea. Pretty huh?

There was a sign outside a building saying that stray cats eat food here (or something), and you can pay 30 or 50 yuan to feed the cats. This guy got a tin of cat food and had fun doling it out. :3 Such an ingenious business endeavor, no? It's a symbiotic relationship...you make money off selling the cat food, and the cats get...food.

The view.

Really cool shop where you pick a polished black rock, a design, and this guy etches it for you. (HE'S SO GOOD!! He does it so quickly, and his hand is so steady). His wife ties on a little string with beads so you can use it as a charm. :) We got a BUNCH done here for gifts.

You can't tell from the pics but we walk around the Jiufen street for a long time (it's a long street), buying little things here and there. A few hours later we decide it's time to go on to the museum, where they show you all the gold mining stuff. We hop onto a bus (it was totally empty) but as people were getting on.........BAM. This other big bus (the blue one) turns around a corner and hits us. Hard to see, but his mirror hit our windshield, cracking it. Our driver is heeelllla pissed, and tells everyone you may as well get off cuz we're not going anywhere. The drivers yell and bluster and exchange info. For some reason they DONT try to pull off to the sides of the road and let traffic through. This results in a delay of all traffic up and down the mountain, as it is a 2 lane highway....

As a result, when things DO start moving again, a small mob has formed, with everyone waiting for their tour bus to come pick them up. The regular buses running to and from Jiufen are also packed to the brim with overflow people. We try to get on a bus to the museum, or to the neighboring night market (which is famous for good food, and that is really saying something since ALL the night markets have good food), but no such luck. We're all kind of tired and frustrated, so we grab a bus back to Taipei instead.

We hop off the bus at Raohe night market. Turns out today is some goddess's birthday, so the temple was crowded with people paying their respects.

Various stewed animal parts (you can vaguely see chicken feet up front). Didn't eat any, just took pics.  :)

Little fried crabs!! They looked delicious but impossible to eat so we passed.

So Raohe night market has a really simple layout, it's just one big fat street, with an island of stands down the middle (effectively dividing the market into two lanes). The street is reaaaaally long though, so that means a lot of food and shopping. ;)

Found some more claw machines. Omg I have been in love with this weird little llama character since I first saw it here, and today I FINALLY CAUGHT ONE! I didn't even need help from the attendant. :D I earned it myself!! So adorable.

Kevin made a bunch of attempts at these cute lil penguins for me,  and the attendant kept positioning but the lil dudes are fat so it was hard. He gave up, and I gave it one last go and plop!! Out comes a little blue baby ^^

Didn't try for this one but -- happy fruit!!!!!!!!! Fuckin' emoticons, man. :*) they just make me so happy.

Welp, this was my dinner. :) Liang mian (cold noodles). Like I said..I love me some dry noodles ^^

Michael's dinner? These weird spiral-y corn dog things.

Look at that grin.

Dessert was a mango ice with pudding. :)

Nooo!! Don't press him, it hurts!!! :( you jackass. Hehe this is a Taiwanese fruit, it used to be my favorite. :D You pull off those little chunk/lobe things and there is like white fruit meat inside. It's really good. :) Haven't actually had any yet, cuz I don't think they're in season so I'm worried these will be bad.

My mom stopped to point this stand out to me. :) It's an okonomiyaki stand! The cute part is: right above the orange words it says, "yuan yuan shao". Yuan = round, shao = cook. So it's saying that they cook round things (or someting). BUT. my nickname in chinese is yuan :) same character. So it looks like it's saying "Steph cooks okonomiyaki". AND I DOOOOO!!! XD cute.

Another couple of hours later, during which I FINALLY buy comfortable walking shoes, and a bag (after a year of searching!), we leave the night market and head back to my grandma's apartment.

We woke her up from resting (she had a headache), but she was happy to see us. I'm sure she's always happy to see us but something was kind of different this time. Normally we're sort of awkward cuz it's hard for us to talk with her, and she's not the kind of lady that really gets into discussions or asks deep questions ya know? But this time it really felt like...she wanted to talk. :) It was really sweet. She kept saying really nice things to us. I don't know if it's cuz k&j are going home and she's kind of sad and trying to hide it? Or if she had rested and felt up to talking? I'm not sure. But my sibs all felt it too, which is why we ended up staying for an hour or so (where normally we try to escape the awkwardness). We ran downstairs to fetch some ice cream to eat and then..."chatted" for a while.


It's sort of hard to think about, I guess, but I did have the thought that well.....she kept saying we should make money and buy a house here so we can come back and visit every year. And she'd ask if we were gonna come back next year. And yes I'm gonna be the dick that says it but...reality dictates that in a year she wont' be here anymore. I wonder if that's why she's so sad and happy at the same time. It felt like she was proud..........to see all of us. Even though we're practically strangers to her, we're her flesh and blood. :) I think she tried to tell us that, the best way she knew how. And even with limited communication...that feeling came across. Isn't it amazing? How strong the feeling of love can be? It's not something that needs to be put into words. Anyway I don't want to get all dark, because I think I should put good thoughts out there, but I wish I could show her that we're all good kids, and she'll be leaving behind somewhat of a legacy. :) And that I hope that when I do come back next year, she'll be healthy and happy.

<3 you ah ma!

p.s. i get emo at night.