We woke up really early in order to be picked up by Steph's godparents Heather and David. (like last year's cutest couple!). They both speak English really well, so it was nice for Steph not to have to translate everything. Heather's brother was driving, and we traveled to Yilan. It's a really small town, because until recently it's been isolated. Normally it would be a day trip through the mountains to get there, but a 12.9 kilometer tunnel that took ten years to complete is now open. On the car ride there I tried wax apples for the first time (good - but strange texture. The inside is fuzzy?!?)
heather and david decided to take us to a mountain where tea is grown. originally we wanted to visit aboriginal people, but it would take too long. and it's the same situation as the native americans in the early part of american history. they've been pretty much killed off. so tea was the more .. peaceful option. the mountain path up was really windy, i was getting so dizzy and slammed into kari and heather a couple times. they made me sit in the middle. *pout* however, it was worth it. the mountains go as high as 10,000 ft! (my ears kept popping on the way up) so we looked at the gorgeous view for a bit, and then bought some tea to sip while enjoying the view. it was great. so peaceful and just relaxing, which is difficult to find in a busy place like taipei. we ate a lot of peanuts (complimentary!) and kari tried a red bean pancake. i was a little nervous b/c i had given her red bean ice cream before, which she didn't like. but she liked this, so yay :)
heather and david decided to take us to a mountain where tea is grown. originally we wanted to visit aboriginal people, but it would take too long. and it's the same situation as the native americans in the early part of american history. they've been pretty much killed off. so tea was the more .. peaceful option. the mountain path up was really windy, i was getting so dizzy and slammed into kari and heather a couple times. they made me sit in the middle. *pout* however, it was worth it. the mountains go as high as 10,000 ft! (my ears kept popping on the way up) so we looked at the gorgeous view for a bit, and then bought some tea to sip while enjoying the view. it was great. so peaceful and just relaxing, which is difficult to find in a busy place like taipei. we ate a lot of peanuts (complimentary!) and kari tried a red bean pancake. i was a little nervous b/c i had given her red bean ice cream before, which she didn't like. but she liked this, so yay :)
Heather's brother had researched where to eat in Yilan, so after traveling back down the mountain, we ate in a little restaurant in the town that was really cute! All decorated in pink with interesting vegetable-shaped lights. The food was traditional Yilan-style, and as soon as each dish was ready it was brought out so it'd be hot. Each person helps themselves from the dish..difficult, in my case, because I had to use chopsticks. Stephanie videotaped me successfully (sort of) using them to transfer chinese cabbage to my plate. The food was great though. Afterwards Heather's brother and husband fought over who should pay the bill. It's tradition that the eldest person pays, but everyone fights over the bill anyway. Going Dutch is unheard of. Then we headed off to Yingge, a town known for it's pottery.
yingge is such a cute little town! it's got cobblestone streets and lamps and is just, so so.. Las Vegas-y? haha. there are palm trees everywhere. shops line the streets and are brightly lit, displaying all their ceramic creations. we couldn't believe that some of them were actually made of out of clay because of the paint details! first though, we found a place to make our own pottery!
the potter welcomed us and gave us each a long apron to wear. we seated ourselves on a long wooden bench were pottery wheels were lined up. he got us started by centering the clay (k is giving me the correct terms b/c i am not a potter) on the wheel. i needed a LOT of help. k's grandma is a potter, so she kind of knew what to do, so the potter mostly left her in peace. as for me? not so. it was fun though. i normally don't like getting my hands dirty, but the feeling of clay was pretty cool. we both made cups and then brought them over to a table where the next step, decorating, began. it took a really long time to think of what to do. kari was given a chinese name (ka-li; no 'r' sound in chinese, really) and she wrote it REALLY beautifully! we were all mucho impressed. i sat around for like 15 minutes trying to think of something. david took footage, and you can view me sitting there like a doof when we get our visuals up. seriously. every 5 minutes he goes "have you started yet?" and i go "hai me! [not yet!]"
Steph ended up writing her name in English really big on her cup, and then writing her Chinese name as well. Then we went into the town to look in the shops. We both loved the pottery that had this beautiful glazing on it that made fan shapes, so we each bought something. Steph also got a bowl that she wanted to be able to use to eat out of at home, and Heather's brother bought me a set of cups "for my parents" (they're really pretty!).
steph: they kept making fun of me for getting such a big bowl to eat out of because i'm trying to lose weight, and if i ate out of it, i'd be ginormous.
Then we drove into Taipei, where we met Heather's sister-in-law, and went to dinner. It was really delicious, and we both ate a ton. There were about five dishes, one of which I really liked with mushrooms and bak choy. We also ate xiao long bao, these dumpling things that you have to eat right away while they're hot with chopsticks and a spoon. I ended up making a mess eating the first one I had, getting juice all over my face (heather's brother laughed at me. I think they were all pretty amused) and Steph had to grab a couple more for me because I couldn't pick them up with the chopsticks. The next two went more successfully :-D. But I succumbed to using a fork for most of the night. After thanking them and bidding them farewell, Steph and I took the MRT back to Banciao and again conked out for the night.
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