Sunday, Sept 30

Today we hired a driver, Nick Lee, to show us around Taiwan. We didn’t have specific locations we wanted to see, instead we allowed him to make recommendations. He took us to a coastal town called Keelung which is also his home town. We began at the Yeliou Geopark. The sand stones have been shaped by the salt water and weather. The resulting shapes are like mushrooms, honeycomb, and candles. It was beautiful! This was my absolute favorite spot of the day. Upon exiting we entered a “gauntlet” of stalls selling seafood and trinkets. There were many vats of a powdery substance. Nick explained that it was dried fish that had been pulverized. Then he had us taste it. He said “It’s good, yes?” I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. I held the rest in my hand until I could reach the restroom and dispose of the rest. This is where I had my second surprise of the day, squat toilets. I’ll spare you the details.

He then asked to take us to Dharma Drum Mountain which is a Buddhist temple and monastery. I had prayed about whether or not to attend these places ahead of time. We decided to go to see what these people do and hear what they believe. There was a meditation courtyard with a reflection pool. There were two separate halls with different gods. It seems that one Buddha can’t do it all. There are different kinds for different purposes. There was a tree where you write down your wish on a leaf and hope that it will be answered. Nick explained a few other beliefs, but it’s sufficient to say these people need to hear there is one true God who can be their ALL in all!

Our next stop was for lunch for shabu shabu or Japanese hot pot. You sit at a table and you each have a pot of broth. Each person controls their own pot’s temperature and what they add. We were given a starter plate of cabbage, greens, tofu, shrimp, tempura, pork ball, fish ball, and what we later found out was a fish egg pouch. Nick ordered additional plates of thinly sliced beef, pork, and a seafood sampler. We each created our own dipping sauce made from soy sauce, onions, garlic, peanut powder and something else I couldn’t identify. Tracey actually tried squid! Chris ate shrimp, oysters, clams, and a variety of ocean fish. Normally this restaurant puts LIVE shrimp on your plates because they believe in utmost freshness but realized this may be alarming to us foreigners.

Nick took us shoe shopping. We had asked Cathwel if they needed any donations. They suggested shoes for the 4-6 yr. olds. He even bargained on our behalf. Then he stopped and picked up some pineapple cake from the Lee Hu Cake shop. I guess it’s well known.

We then visited Jhongjheng Park. There is a temple and museum for the Ghost Festival. There is a Buddha who “chose” to go to hell to help those in hell try to get to heaven. I got to share how the Bible teaches that once we die, heaven or hell has been determined and can not be changed. There was another section in the park with a huge female Buddha statue, another temple, and a mini family fun park with children’s games and rides. Everything is entrenched with these Buddhist beliefs. The final stop within this park was a military stronghold. It shows how the Taiwanese held off the British and Dutch attempts to takeover Taiwan. The Taiwanese defended the port from the hilltop using cannons.

I think Nick was ready to keep going, but we were exhausted and asked to be driven back to our hotel. Our legs truly had a workout. I still feel the burn! We fell asleep around 7 pm and now we are wide awake at 2am. Somehow I don’t think this will be very helpful later on today! AND we get to finally pick up our son!!!! Today at 10am. Please pray that all will go well.