Weng Ching Wen( 翁靜雯), a Deaf native from Taipei City, and Lam Heung Ling (林向玲), a Deaf visitor from Hong Kong,  agreed to join with me for a day trip to Southern Taiwan, and help me with the Chinese language through interpreting for me with the local Deaf natives.  We decided to take some Business Class seats on the THSRC, due to the special rates for disabled people.  Why not grab it as a great opportunity, we reasoned. The compartment had very nice seats, like as if you were in business class on a plane.  Coffee, tea and snacks were served.  The ride was smoother than I expected, especially when we were going at 180 miles per hour!

After the ride down, we met Weng Chung Ming (翁崇銘) and his wife, Tsai Chien Fen (蔡倩芬) at Zuoying Station (高鐵左營車站), in Kaoshiung ( 高雄). Weng’s family owns a big pig farm ( 福川畜牧場) in PingTung (屏東縣), which was our next destination, via a 45 minutes long drive. Weng said the farm had around five thousand pigs.  We had to put plastic bags on our shoes, wear a special blue jacket, and have a mouth-nose mask and hat to keep our germs away from the pigs. If we didn’t have this protective gear on, then they would lose their pigs to our germs, and lose a lot of money in the process. It’s a very dangerous business!

WATCH THE VIDEO OF PUNG TUNG PIG FARM
We went through several barns as they set up each group of pigs; mothers usually get litters of 10-20 babies.  The young pigs are moved to the next barn over after they become 10 weeks old.  I went through another barn, this time with just only male pigs. It was so big, like 3-4 feet tall, when you consider the size of the pigs and the size of the barn!  Weng took us to his other business, which was a chicken farm with over 800, 000 chickens, spread out in 16 barns.  I couldn’t believe my own eyes, watching them run free around the barns.  They assured me that all animals are allowed to roam freely and be fed well to maintain the quality of their meat.

Next, they took us to a world-famous place nearby which specialized in pig leg meat (豬腳大王). It was very interesting! We resumed our trip to Khaohsiung Wharf, which is best known for harvesting world-famous black tuna and other types of tuna.  I walked around the wharf, mingling with lots of people bringing tuna from their boats to the pier to be prepped and then sold to the best bidders. The tuna meat looked so good to me! Tsai suggested going to one of the best restaurants in the area, Toro-Pro ( 張家食堂), so I could taste their black tuna.   We ordered sashimi (sushi) black tuna and other parts of the tuna meat.  I was really stunned by the tuna; it tasted great, going down smoothly and with great texture. I couldn’t stop eating them!

After the great tuna meal, it was time for us to take a 90 minute long drive down to Kenting (墾丁), a city in the southern part of Taiwan. Kenting is known as a popular beach area, located next to Taiwan’s tropical region.  We stopped by Starbucks for cold drinks, and then went on to Eluanbi Park (鵝鑾鼻公園), which is on the southernmost tip of Taiwan ( 台灣最南點), to see the Eluanbi Lighthouse (鵝鑾鼻燈塔). The lighthouse is one of the few historical fortified lighthouses in the world.  We also went through one of the most beautiful places in Taiwan, the Kenting National Park ( 墾丁國家 公園), which included stops like Longpan ( 龍磐), Fongchuesiha (風吹砂), Gangkou ( 港口), and Hengchun Ancient Town ( 恆春古城).

We returned to Kaohsiung for their nightmarket before catching our train back to Taipei. We got off at a street corner, and we realized that we needed to go to the bathroom. Some local deaf people were sitting in the café above the street, and saw us signing “WC”, for washroom.  They waved and got our attention. It was a hilarious moment for all of us.  We chatted a little, and the locals were stunned by my being able to use some Taiwanese sign language. They were thrilled to have had the chance to communicate with me.
Then it was time for us to go through the nightmarket! I saw a vendor selling some wheatgrass drinks.  She squeezed some pure 100% wheatgrass juice into a cup for me; the juice felt so great going down. We kept on, walking through countless food stalls.  The group and I picked one stall for our dinner, ordering some noodle soup made with shrimp, prawn, fresh noodles and vegetables.  After the dinner, I grabbed one more cup of wheatgrass juice, instead of coffee.  It was a delicious way to end my day in Southern Taiwan, as we caught the train back to Taipei.

Going out onto the street, I was stunned to see so many stores doing fish-based business. There were many plastic bags holding fishes, because the tanks were so full. I even saw some live baby turtles in some bins, too. My curiosity got the best of me, and I entered one of the stores. Boy, it sure was a sight I didn’t expect to see. There were live coral, baby giant clams, and even more exotic fishes. I’m a scuba diver, and I’ve dived off Fiji, in the Red Sea, and in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, along with some dives in the Caribbean Islands. We were taught to respect creatures like these, and never touch them, so it’s kind of amazing to me to see these stores sell them. There was so many shrimps, lobsters, and prawns that it made me think of setting up an “ocean farm” in my backyard, alongside my garden!

The next place I went to was a shopping center filled with only electronic stores. The sizes of each of the 200+ plus stores are similar to what we have with our Best Buy stores here in the United States. Pretty huge, huh? Different kinds of electronics are sold there, and the prices were dirt cheap, about 30 to 70 percent lower than back in the United States! The center’s hallways were very tight, however. It was incredibly packed, and the halls were only about 8 feet wide.

I discovered that it was time to meet some of the Deaf Hong Kong locals, so I left the arcade. We met at this old Chinese restaurant that served delicious dishes like dim sum (點心), chicken feet (鳳爪), rice noodle rolls (腸粉), char siu bao (叉燒飽), siu ba (燒賣), beef balls (牛肉球), and vegetables. Time passed by, about 3 hours’ worth, while we had our meal and some great conversation. Many jokes were shared, and we had a great discussion about different issues affecting Deaf people in different countries. We always talk about how we Deaf people should be working together to improve our standard of life, and not get sidetracked by the crab theory. But yet we do get sidetracked by crabs. Isn’t it amazing how we do face it everywhere we go in the world?

After the delicious meal, I returned to Mong Kok, searching out some toys for my kids. There were so many people out on the street it looked like all of Hong Kong was coming out to do their evening shopping at the same time. I stood in the middle of the street, looking up at the massive signs above me. I had read about the signs in the local newspaper, discussing the signs’ causing air pollution by blocking the flow of clean air through the city. The signs are really beautiful, but I think there should be more attention paid to having healthy air for everyone here. As for the shopping, it went on until 1 or 2 AM. Certainly unlike the United States!

It was a great feeling, exploring the street during this massive night shopping spree in Hong Kong. And it was certainly a surreal and gorgeous way to end the night, and my time in the Far East. Hong Kong should be the first place to visit on your list should you ever come out to explore Asia. Full of great and lasting memories and delicious Asian cuisine, I took my 16 hours-long flight back to the United States, looking forward to being on American soil once again.

The first destination of the day, after leaving the Grand Hotel, was the 2009 Summer Deaflympics offices, where I observed the volunteers’ meeting. They had over 500 volunteers show up for the meeting! I was told that the organization had just met their goal of getting 3,000 volunteers, which amazed me. In fact, this upcoming September will see the kickoff of the official preparations for the Deaflympics – 365 straight days of planning and preparations for the event. You can check it out at their website, www.2009deaflympics.com.

From there, it was on to a weekend street market right below a busy highway, on parking lots usually reserved for the week. Browsing around, I found 14 deaf vendors there selling arts and crafts. My eye caught on to a framing of some beautiful scenery in Guilin (桂林), China – the famous Li River (漓江). I went there last year while on assignment for DeafNation, and I can say that the Li River and its surroundings is definitely one of my favorite places to be, worldwide. Beyond that, there are also some beautiful mountain peaks near Yangshuo (陽朔), China, as well. I was really thrilled to be able to have something to remember China by, so I purchased the painting, which was done by an artist named Mike Liang (梁光榮), who is Deaf, too. He’d never visited the place before, but saw a famous picture of it in a book and painted it. He did a great job with the painting!

I met more of the local Deaf Taiwanese, people like Ching-Hsien Peng (彭欽賢, “幼靜”). One of the artists around here, she does some very beautiful art. I couldn’t resist buying some more of the art work here, and bought a framed painting of 9 goldfish (九條金魚), which in Chinese lore signifies that you will have great wealth and a long life. Another work of art I got had a small boat on a river against a background of a waterfall and a mountain range. To me, the painting represented the safe return home of a traveler, after having had a long journey.

Awed by all the great art, I stopped by yet another Deaf vendor’s stall. Flashing back to my time in Northern Taiwan, I got a painting of the Queen’s Head rock (女王頭石), from Yeliu Geological Park (野柳地質公園). Painted by yet another Deaf artist, I wanted the painting because it would remind me of that gorgeous rock, which may disappear all too soon from the earth. Looking at all the art I got, I realized I needed to stop burning away all the Taiwanese cash I had left, so I took my leave of the market, and went to my next destination.

That destination was south of Taipei; Yingee (鶯歌) was the name of the town. It means “parrot” in Mandarin, which certainly was a unique town name for Yingee! I had heard about some more famous Taiwanese cuisine there, and Kang (陳康) and Gates (許庭榮), two Deaf Taiwanese friends I had been with earlier in the week, surprised me there. That famous place I had heard about is actually named “Grandma’s Sushi” (阿婆壽司). It was a very puzzling sight upon arrival, for there were so many people outside the restaurant. I was left wondering how they could fit everyone in, but it turned out the restaurant had five floors, including a basement, with the staff making the food in a setup similar to Japanese sushi bars, right down to how they did their sushi. Some differences were had, however; they use tofu, vegetables, pork, and rice, with all covered by some tofu skin. They also served the best Miso soup that I ever had, with an amazing amount of tofu. I never saw that amount before, with this soup.

While eating, we observed the staff of more than 20 cooks preparing the food. They serve everyone in the restaurant, and do deliveries in the region around Yingee. That restaurant was incredible, because of their limited menu (only five choices!), and very low prices (going from 50 cents to $1.40 US dollars, which in Taiwanese dollars goes from $15 to $20). It was a perfect and delicious ending to my time in Taiwan! On my way back to Hong Kong (香港) tonight, I’ll be thinking of Kang (陳康), Gates (許庭榮), Chao (楊疇英), Chou (趙建南) and all the others I met while in Taiwan, due to the potential typhoon. Of course, they all are being positive about the situation, being that they’re used to typhoons coming their way. Amazing people, them all!

Once back in Taipei, I met up with Kang (陳康) and Gates (許庭榮), two Deaf locals whom I’d been with at the start of my time in Taiwan. They were very excited about taking me to Northern Taiwan, but also apprehensive, since they had some bad news for me. A typhoon was on the way to Taiwan in about two or three days, and I realized that would affect my schedule. We went to the airline ticket office, and I grabbed a ticket that would send me back to Hong Kong one more day earlier than expected, because I didn’t want to get stuck here for a few more days or even weeks. I would be flying out of Taipei tomorrow night, but in the meanwhile this setback didn’t stop me from exploring more of Taiwan in the little time I had left here.

The first destination on my tour of Northern Taiwan was Jinsan (金山). We stopped by a famous duck stall, which was located in a very packed small market. I was struck speechless when I approached the stall, because it was a very surreal sight: fresh duck meat being cut up for the customers. We had to get in a very long line for the duck meat, along with some vegetables, soup, and so on, and then find a table along the street where we could eat this delicious meal. The duck was very good!

We continued on our tour, driving on to Yeliu Geological Park (野柳地質公園). Yeliu, located in Wanli (烏來), a northern Taiwanese town, is the most important sight in the region, because of its unique landforms. Wind erosion gives the coastal boundaries of the park a gorgeous physical look, because of the shape of the coast and the rocks within the area. There are rocks, ditches, cliffs, holes, and capes everywhere, caused by erosion. It’s a really beautiful area, with its azure sky and aquamarine-shaded sea. The view from the edge of the cape, while on the coast, is awesome. You can see many different kinds of rocks, noted in some peculiar shapes by their names: mushrooms, to-fu, elephant’s nose, fairy’s shoes, and queen’s head. These rocks look so amazing that you actually wonder if they’re real or not. Whenever you’re in Taiwan, I suggest grabbing the chance to see this beautifully diverse array of rocks before they disappear into the sand, as erosion claims more of the coastline.

Our last stop was Keelung (基隆), which is located at the northern tip of the island. It’s a busy city, with its own busy shipping port and seafood market, and is renowned in Taiwan for its Ghost Festival. I saw how the alleys were used, packed with street stalls selling seafood-based snacks, and many customers snapping them up. With the sun setting over the horizon, we joined up with a squid boat, curious to see how they worked. There was so much light in the darkness out on the ocean, all from the boats. The crew members showed us how they used the net to catch squid, and we saw how much they could get. Unfortunately for them at that time, they didn’t catch all that many due to the waves and the high tide.

They brought us some squid from their catch, for us to look over along with the other visitors on the boat. We were asked to try the squid raw, but nobody would do so, except for me. Sure enough, I ate it right away. The crew was excited, and screamed a lot. They even applauded me and gave me a plate of cooked squid. Kang, Gates and the other visitors were surprised! They normally don’t care much for raw squid, so that explained their surprise. The squid really tasted delicious, and I was surprised at being able to eat it raw. After debarking from the squid boat, we toured more of Keelung. We went to yet another famous nightmarket for some seafood and Taiwanese food. There were so many stalls selling good-smelling food, it felt like food heaven to me. I got a chance to try some dried squid, and it was just as good as the raw and cooked squid.

Not yet full, I went on to sample more of the local and exotic cuisine. I tried some tianbula, which is a Taiwanese version of Japanese tempura, some famed dough soup with vegetables, and then finally Pao-Pao ice for dessert. The marketplace was so packed, and it was only 10:30 pm. It certainly isn’t like our malls and stores in the United States! After having all that food, I couldn’t have anymore, so full I was. It was getting close to my bedtime, so we returned to Taipei. Tomorrow will be my last day in Taipei and Taiwan in general before flying to Hong Kong, so I couldn’t wait to find out what the day would be like as I went to sleep.

His store is located along a busy street, packed in with many other vendors, selling different items like fruit, vegetables, food, clothing, and so on. When Chou, my guide, and I came to the store, we realized we wouldn’t be able to park his car because of the incredible number of scooters on the street. We had to park the car elsewhere, and walk in from there. There were so many customers at the store ordering from Chao and his wife of 34 years, Li Shu-Chen (李淑貞), that it was truly a sight to behold. I decided I would just stay back and watch how they communicated with the customers and did their business for 15 minutes.

It was amazing! Many of the customers know basic sign language, and find it easy to talk with Li while making their purchase. If more in-depth communication is needed, Chao usually calls on his two hearing employees to help translate. The action sure was non-stop with the customers for Chao and Li. My period of quiet observation ended when Chao saw me and came over, thrilled to have me at his store. His welcome was very emphatic, as if we had known each other for years and years.

Showing me around the store, I saw how small it was, like 15’ by 15’, but the corner spot on the street made the size worth it. It’s a very ideal business location, and that really helps Chao a lot. From there, it was a mini-tour of his noodle-making machines, which were always working the whole time I was there. On the tour, I watched Li bring some boiling hot noodles from a pot into one such machine to cool down, before she could put them up at the counter. At this store, they make all kinds of noodles, including won ton, from scratch. Interestingly enough, they don’t use the local flour here; they purchase their flour, made of a higher quality, from the United States to make their noodles. Chao then asked me to try cutting some circles into a 3 inch thick noodle sheet, for dumplings, and also taught me how to fold and squeeze the circles into the shape of dumplings. He was very proud of me for getting it right on the first try!

Chao showed me a machine that made long sheets of noodles, before cutting them up into different shapes. He mentioned that it was his third machine in his 30 years of business, as these machines are always running 365 days a year without stopping. I got to see how the machine was run, and I even made some noodles and cut them! It got pretty crazy there for a few minutes, as I had to keep up with the machine by cutting 12 inch pieces of noodles quickly. Chao had a good laugh at my work with the machine, and even asked me to cut some more noodles. I kept on cutting, and he kept on laughing, surprised at my ability to keep up with the machine. Li, his wife, was stunned too. I kept on making more noodles, and I felt really proud of myself for having helped them a little bit with the noodles.

When Chou and I were ready to leave for Taiwan’s famed Taroko National Park (大魯閣國家公園), Chao excitedly wanted to join with us. He even pointed out that he had an American jeep, while Chou only had a Japanese jeep. I couldn’t say no to him, especially after the day we had together. He was so excited about coming with us. However, we had to wait until midday before we could leave, so he could finish preparing and packing the noodles for his business clients. When he finished, he took us to the Tzu Chi Foundation (慈濟大藏經), a massive campus that includes a university, hospital, temple, and school. I was very impressed by the size of the campus! We went through an exhibition of theirs that displayed what the foundation had done all around the world. One of the staffers were so excited to see an American, he even asked if he could take a picture of us. The staffer also wanted to show me the temple after our tour though the exhibition was completed. I agreed, and tagged along with him going into the interior of the temple. It was an incredibly gigantic temple, with over 2,000 seats! He had a good smile at my marveling about the temple, as we left the temple.

Chao’s jeep was at his house, so we went by to switch jeeps. He wanted to take us out to lunch, before the park, and mentioned that the place, a famous restaurant north of Hualien, he had in mind used his noodles. We went there, and I ordered the Beef Noodle bowl. It was a great lunch, and we had a good talk! Bellies filled, we got on the road for the national park.

Finally, after a long and fun morning, we arrived at Taroko National Park (大魯閣國家公園). Taroko (大魯閣), in Mandarin, means “magnificent and beautiful”. The road through the park is very tight, tight enough to only fit two small cars or one bus. I got out of the car and walked on the side of the road, at the Tunnel of Nine Turns, and looked over the tunnel and mountain, amazed at how they were able to cut a 19 kilometer long tunnel through the mountain in only 4 years. The gorge was very beautiful, and incredibly deep, all the way from the top of the mountain down to the river. I came across one area that looked like the face of a Taiwanese native, practically showing two eyes and ears each, with a long and strong nose. Chou laughed, and posed for a picture with me, acting out what the area looked like. We went through more tunnels, and parked alongside a sector we wanted to explore. The trails, like the roads, were also really tight, and it felt like I was falling down a deep cliff with each step I took. It was a great hair-raising experience. This is definitely a sight you should take in next year when the 2009 Summer Deaflympics take place.

And of course, you should visit my friends Chao and Chou’s shops. Trust me; the trip is really worth it! To end my time in Hualien, I took Chao to a sushi bar downtown in the city. He was happy that we had a chance to get together to have my interview, after getting to know me better over the last three days. I asked him about visiting Taipei for the Deaflympics, but unfortunately, Chao said it would be “almost impossible” for him to come because he’s always taking care of his noodle shop. I could feel my heart ache a little bit since he’d be missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity for all Deaf people. So, maybe while you’re here for the Deaflympics, you could pay him a visit and try some of his delicious noodles. Show your Deaf pride!

After the detour, we finally arrived in Guanshan, eager to be out of the car. It was then that I learned about the meaning of the town’s name. Guanshan, in Chinese, means Closed Mountain, and describes the area around which the Beinan River flows through, in between Coast Mountain in the east and the Central Mountain Range, in the west. Looking around, I could see how beautiful and geographically diverse the region was. It was a nice beginning to my day in Guanshan. Chou’s older Deaf sister, Yue-Mei (楊月梅), met us at the intersection, on her scooter, and signaled to us to come and hurry up! But she disappeared on us, going too fast for us, and we had to catch up to her at our destination, which was one of the rice paddies in the Guanshan area. Catching up with Yue-Mei, we met 3 other Deaf locals, one being Yue-Mei’s husband, there.

At the rice paddy, I got to understand how technology changed the way they worked the paddy. It was incredible luck for me, because today was the day for rice farmers to plant rice seeds. I hopped onto their tractor, and rode it around the paddy. I even had a chance to put some rice seeds into the machine that planted the seeds all around the field. Back when technology like tractors and rice planting machines didn’t exist, rice farmers had to plant each seed by hand. It would usually take them 1 to 2 days to finish the planting. It was extremely exhausting for them, and they had to deal with their backs hurting from bending over all day. Now, they can do the whole field within 2 hours without hurting their backs. However, they still do some “manual” hand work for some “missing” spots that the machine missed in its seed-planting routine, which usually happens in the corners of the field.

Leaving the first rice paddy, Yue-Mei once again told me to hurry up, and pulled me onto her scooter. Riding behind her, I saw firsthand how she drove. She’s a very aggressive driver, let me tell you! And so we went to yet another paddy, which was in the process of being harvested. There, I saw how they cut apart the 3’ tall stalks in a machine, and then dump the rice from the stalks into a truck. I definitely can’t wait for my videos to be posted when I get back, because then I’ll be able to share with you the fascinating process of where rice begins and ends!

The last stop on the tour was the processing factory (關山鎮農會製造米廠). The factory’s task was to process the rice one last time before they go into the bag and are exported out to other countries. I bought a small packet of rice, for me to cook when I return home. Rice wine was also another purchase, for me to celebrate our time together with Chou-Ying and the Hualien noodle store owner, whom I met yesterday. I wanted to show them how much appreciation I had for them being my guides and giving me a whole new experience, before I returned to Taipei (台北).

Yue-Mei then took us to her home, because she wanted to cook us a home-cooked meal using her own rice. The rice was amazing! It was very soft, and tasted so perfect. We chatted for some time about the rice I had in India and in the United States. When I talked about the minute rice from the United States, she became puzzled. I was asked as to whether the rice was “fake or real”, and Yue-Mei was like, “no way!” The collective opinion of the dinner guests was that the minute rice was a really dumb way to eat. When Chou mentioned how much I loved sushi, they asked me about visiting Japan, and I told them I’d never been to Japan. They were puzzled yet again, because they weren’t sure how I could love sushi and not have visited Japan already! We had a good time talking about that, and laughed really hard about the US using “instant” rice. She was disappointed that we had to leave so soon, but told me about how thrilled she was to have an American visiting her hometown.

To end the day, we stopped by the Li Chuan Clam Fishery (立川漁場), which is best known for its clams. In Taiwan, the essence of clams makes for a popular food supplement because of their proteins and minerals, such as calcium and phosphorus, and they’re sold in liquid, pill, and powder form. Chou and I had a heck of a time wading into the knee-deep pond looking for clams, but he found some right away while I vainly tried to look for them with my naked eyes. We had a good laugh, and he taught me how to locate the clams. I finally found some, using his special technology, and we brought our clams to a nearby restaurant so they could cook the clams for us. They added their special sauce and flavors into our clams, and the clams really melted into our mouths quickly, it was that good! We shared many jokes about our day at the rice paddies, and so on. Night was coming, and as we walked away from the restaurant, we found that it was so incredibly dark we could only see the light from the restaurant. And so, as our bedtime came for us, I drifted off to sleep thinking about how excited I was to have a chance to interview the Hualien (花蓮) Deaf noodle store owner tomorrow, and go on a trip to Taroko National Park (大魯閣國家公園), too.

As our plane took off and flew for less than 30 minutes, we looked out the windows and wondered what Hualien would look like from the air. But suddenly, the world’s tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101 (台北101), came into our view and we were baffled! We wondered if we had gotten on the wrong plane, or if something had gone wrong with the plane. We returned to Songshan Airport, and Kang asked the flight hostess what was going on; it turned out there had been a minor mechanic problem with the plane, and that we would have to get off the plane and switch to another plane. After taking off in the new plane, we finally arrived in Hualien, an hour late. I felt sorry for Chou-Ying Yang (楊疇英), a Deaf Hualien native, because he had to wait for us an hour late at the airport for us, but he didn’t mind.

Leaving the airport, I got to learn more about who Chou is and what he does. He’s a very well known stone carver in Taiwan, in general – not only do the Deaf come to see him, but hearing people also do business with him, as well. Chou drove us down to his shop, which was located only a mile away from the airport. We entered his workspace, right behind his house, and saw what he worked on everyday. He showed us all of his stone creations, made from marble, red stone, jade, you name them. The next thing we saw was how he went through the process of stone carving, with his carving tools. It was truly an amazing experience.

Chou then took us to visit a noodle shop owned by a Deaf Hualien native, located in the heart of Hualien City. When we arrived, the owner and his wife, an adorable pair, greeted us and brought us inside. The owner showed us the machine that’s used to make fresh noodles everyday. We were also introduced to the two staff members working at the shop. While there, we started thinking of food, and Chou said he really wanted to take us to a famous restaurant, in business for 70 years, with incredible won ton soup. He said that we would love the soup, and even say it’s the best won ton soup ever. Sure enough, it really did taste better than my favorite restaurant’s soup (that restaurant is in San Francisco)!

From there, we went on to the Hualien Fish Market (花蓮魚市場), in the eastern part of the city. Outside of the market, you’ll see freshly-caught fish be unloaded from the fishing boats, which was a fascinating sight for me. Inside the market, you can actually pick out your favorite type of seafood and have the chef cook it any way you like. We had a chance to stop by a local seafood restaurant to taste their ocean sunfish (曼波魚). It tasted so soft, like lobster meat! It was a great meal for us.

We went back into the heart of the city, where we dined some more at a sushi bar. To our surprise, the sushi there was really cheap! Just one order of sushi cost us only one US dollar, whereas in the United States it’d usually cost us four to six dollars. The sushi was definitely worth it! Then we went on to an amazing Japan-style guesthouse, where Chou and the noodle store owner joined me for a chat over tea. There I had the opportunity to tell them more about myself, which was quite a change for me because I’d spent the last few days seeing and learning about their world. I showed them my photos and videos, and described my travels around the world, what I had experienced on these travels. It was a very illuminating discussion, and a great way to end the night in Hualien.

We drove down to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館), where we saw quite a lot of the local people doing their morning Tai Chi exercises, plus some native dancing. It was a very overwhelming sight, because it was only 6 AM! As for the hall, the Memorial Hall itself is one of the most important sights in Taiwan, because it is the principal educational, cultural and social center for the Taiwanese people, and stands as a memorial for Sun Yat-sen (孫中山), who is the national “father” of Taiwan. The Hall is a huge building, and very pretty too.

Next on the agenda was an interview with Xiao-Shu Wang (王曉書), a famous model in Taiwan. But that wasn’t the most amazing thing about her, however. The amazing thing is that she’s deaf, and yet is a popular model in Asia! Xiao has even traveled around the world to perform, as well. She’s been on the covers of many magazines, and also has been in many articles, ads, newspapers and so on as a model. Currently, she is working for Taiwan Deaf TV as an anchor. During the interview, we exchanged our experiences about what it was like being part of the media. She was very friendly, and fun to be with. Just imagine if we had a model like her back in the United States!

It was now midday in Taipei, and Will Chin (靳武龍), a local Deaf native, was my guide for this part of the day. I finally had the chance to go to Taipei 101 (台北101), the tallest skyscraper in the world. Taipei 101 has some amazing features to it, including the elevators. Two elevators are listed as the world’s fastest elevators, and there’s even a car park elevator. We got to the top of the building within 32 seconds, from the 5th floor to the 89th floor. The 91st floor’s outdoor observatory was closed, sadly enough, but we had a chance to go to the 91st floor itself with a special guest. Will was very thrilled to have this opportunity since he had never gotten the chance to go up to the 91st floor before.

Then we went over to the Ximen-ding (西門町) shopping center. Ximen (西門) means “west gate”, and ding (町) is the Mandarin pronunciation of the Japanese character for “district”. When I exited from the underground entrance to the MRT (台北捷運) (Taipei’s subway system), I felt like I was in Tokyo (東京)! It had great shopping, food, drinks and so on. I decided to find some toys for my kids, like plush doll figures of Mario, Luigi, and so on. Another surprise came for me when Will brought me some local sweet and sour fruit drinks. They were very delicious!

Our next destination was the offices of the 2009 Summer Deaflympics organization, over at Taipei Area. I was very impressed by the setup of their offices, which takes up two stories in the Arena complex (台北小巨蛋). Of course, just like us, they do have cubicles. While there, I had a chance to meet the hardworking senior officials of the organization: Dr. Emile Sheng (盛治仁博士), the chairperson; Kuo-Jui Lin (林國瑞), CEO; and Chih-Ho Chen (陳志和), President. They’ve been really busy preparing for the special invitation games which will take place during the week of September 5-10, so they can have their staff and volunteers get some experience with running a major event before next year’s Deaflympics (September 5-15, 2009). Looking over the whole organization, I can assure you that they are definitely ready for next year. It’s the experience of a lifetime, so don’t miss out on the chance!

Now it was 7 PM in Taipei, but my day wasn’t over yet. I met again with Yu-Ping Chao (趙玉平), the Secretary General of the Chinese Taipei Sports Association of the Deaf (中華民國聽障者體育運動協會), and his people at an old Chinese restaurant. I was floored by dinner, because we had 12 courses delivered to us as a way of saying “good luck” to us in Chinese. They served us two different kinds of rice wine, from Taiwan and China. We had a lot of joy and fun, and shared many laughs for several hours. As for our meal, we completely finished off all 12 courses, and even had a plate of Taiwanese guava. When dinner ended, the association people invited me to come visit their offices, since it was only a few blocks away. I couldn’t resist an opportunity to see where they worked, so we went. Boy, what a treasure find! I saw all their medals, trophies, and awards from all over the world. It was a fantastic sight! They certainly accomplished what they wanted to do with their sports program. The association’s even surprised the Taiwanese government at times with their success. I’m very proud of these great people!

It’s almost midnight here, and it’s time for me to go to bed. I have to get up at 5 AM again to go to the domestic airport here, for a flight to Hualien (花蓮). I wonder what I’ll find there tomorrow!