We started with going to lunch at a fancy Japanese style Ramen (noodle) house in Tao Yuan. Ali and Nikki had variations of the "original" ramen soup, and I had the Miso Chashu (BBQ pork) Ramen. We also split a Tonkatsu-esqu (Fried Pork) dish which was really yummy!
While we were in the restaurant, there was a "cooling mist" that they would spray throughout the restaurant every 5 minutes or so. Very refreshing :)
When we left the restaurant we saw some "monk bodyguards" sitting on the road side. I guess whenever a monk goes out into the streets, these guys put on costumes (in the background) and dance around the monk to protect him. Lol. I wish I had caught them on duty instead of taking a break!
We spent the next hour or so at a local batting range/entertainment centre. They had batting cages, pitching cages, bowling, basketball, arcade games, darts, etc! Ali made me try the 130 km/hr hardball pitch. It was tough but I was proud that I at least got a few decent hits out of the 20 pitches :D If you're interested, here's a video of me in the pitching cage thing. I cut out the first 5 pitches where I completely missed the target ;)
http://picasaweb.google.com/justinliebregts/Taiwan2010#5497497237854335458
After the entertainment centre we went to Ali's parents house since they lived close by :) They're so nice! Just as kind and hospitable as I remembered. I was welcomed in with lots of questions and food. Anne, Ali's sister, needed practice with her english so we made her have several conversations with me. She struggled through them but her mom was really happy she was learning and practicing with "a real foreigner" as her mom put it. We made a deal that if I come by to have conversations with Anne, that they would take me out for diner ;) I talked about what I had been doing for the past few years and showed them pictures of mom, dad, and tink as well as eliza (because they all wanted to see what everyone looked like). I learned that "new ponyo" means "girlfriend" in mandarin. haha everytime Ali's mom said that it reminded me of Ponyo, the Ghibli animation :P We made a deal that I would come back for another english lesson in exchange for a sukiyaki diner next weekend!
And the evening does not end here! We went to one of the Jhong Li night markets for diner! The place was crazy crowded with scooters and cars making their way through the streets jam packed with pedestrians. Out of the thousands of people I saw, I didn't see 1 foreigner! This was not surprising though because Jhong Li is a bit off the beaten path, and not really a place where foreigners go. For a video (to really capture the ambience) go here: http://picasaweb.google.com/justinliebregts/Taiwan2010#5497498517507330146
For diner we had: Green Tea/Yogurt Drink Bubble (delicious), Beef and Green Onion Steamed Bun, Yam Puff Balls, Tako-yaki (octopus balls), 5spice/cumin/corriander Lamb Skewers, and a shaved ice dessert. Each item costs around $1-1.25. Here is just a sample of the different foods that I saw. If you want to see more check out the Web Album.
And that was basically the day! By the time we left the night market it was 10:30pm. We were exhausted and I'm actually surprised I was awake enough to write this blog before I sleep. I guess I didn't want to keep my fans waiting! Well at least my 2 fans eliza and my mom ;) hehe
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