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July 25, 2008 – After my usual early wakeup, Chou (楊疇英) dropped me off at Hualien’s (花蓮) small airport for my flight back to Taipei (台北). It was a great experience with him, these past three days! He was certainly a great guide, and I’m glad that I’ll get a chance to see him again next year for the 2009 Summer Deaflympics. The flight back was pretty short; it took only 35 minutes. I did manage to see more of the beautiful massive mountain range leading to Taipei, from Hualien. Even though the view of the mountains is also gorgeous from the ground, I was thankful that I didn’t have to make the 5 hour drive back to the city.

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.