Tuesday was Taiwan's labour day. Though kids don't have school off. Some people say it's really a holiday for parents because most work places have the day off, but kids are stuck in school. I spent the morning at the Mohzy office doing some furniture re-arranging, and then went to Mao Kong in the afternoon with Johan and Rebecca. It was a hot day out and we went up to Mao Kong to have a look around.
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| Riverside Path on the way to Mao Kong. We had to park about 2-3km away because all the parking nearby was full |
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| LOL'd at this basketball court. Can you figure out why? |
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| For those of you who don't know, Mao Kong is hill in Taipei accessed by Gondola |
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| To go to the top costs only about $1.60 |
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| The ride is around 20 minutes and there are 3 stations you can get off |
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| View from the gondola |
We hung out in Mao Kong for most of the day and I had a really nice chat with Rebecca. We don't talk very often because of our language barrier but we sat down at this tea museum (free tea!) and chatted about my father-in-laws dogs, brothers and sisters, and eastern vs. western family culture. Very fun and I was really happy to talk with her! Johan was there to help translate a few times but other than that Rebecca did a great job with her English.
After tea it was getting later in the evening and I zipped home on the bus home to get changed in order to go out to Muzha to meet Damien and friends for dinner. Muzha MRT is located on the brown line of the MRT and to get there via subway takes about 45 minutes, but by bus, I can go directly to Muzha MRT right from my apartment and it's only an 18 minute ride. I'm happy I've figured out the bus!
Damien met me at the MRT and we rode back to his apartment on his scooter (fun!). I met his roommate Leia who was eating plain yogurt and granola. I immediately asked her where she got the yogurt because you can't find just regular yogurt here in Taiwan. It's always "yogurt drinks"... sigh. She said that she made it herself and showed me the yogurt machine. I think I'll invest in one (only about $45) because Eliza and I are both fans of yogurt. Damien offered me a beer and we chatted on his rooftop for a while while waiting for our other mutual friend Rachael to arrive. We'd met Rachael at an InterNations event the week previous and she has only been in Taiwan 1 week longer than me. She moved back for family reasons and she doesn't know anyone in the city because she's spent her entire adult life in London, England.
Rachael arrived and we headed off to B & O Burgers which was close by. The place sells delicious burgers (mostly western style) but I was drawn to the obscure "Peanut Butter Beef Burger with Cheese". I had to try it so here it is pictured below.
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| Peanut Butter Burger |
It tastes exactly as it sounds. Like a burger, with peanut butter. Not bad and I'd have it again, but not before I tried some of their other food as it all sounded tasty.
I should mention that I also met 3 of Damien's friends: Dale, Fifi (married to Dale), and Matthew. Dale is from Ohio, Matthew is from the UK, and Fifi is a local from Taiwan. All very cool people.
Okay so the cool part about this place is that they have a whole cupboard full of board games that you can play for free! We chose Settlers of Catan because it was something most people knew how to play. It was a close game and the Dale/Fifi team ended up taking the win while team Rachael and Justin ended up with the silver medal. Rachael didn't know how to play so she was on my team.
After Catan we headed over to the local bar for a few drinks. There was a "Honey Cream Beer" so Matthew and I ordered it. We don't know exactly how it's made, but it's essentially cream, half a beer, and honey that is mixed together at a high frequency to generate an entire mug of white foam. The foam tastes a little bit of beer, cream, and honey. It was pretty good and surprisingly refreshing! I'd order it again.
After drinks, Dale, Fifi, and Matthew headed home and Damien, Rachael and I sat by the riverside. Rachael had brought a bottle of whiskey so we drank a bit while watching a large team of about 50 students doing a dance/cheer leading routine. It felt a bit like we were teenagers ourselves because we were sitting down by the river, almost under a bridge, in the dark drinking alcohol. lol.
It was close to mid-night so we all shared a cab and went back to our respective homes. Pretty fun day and I met a few really cool new people! Dale mentioned an outdoor trance music festival happening later in the month which involves camping in the woods. I think Damien and I are going to check it out. I'll keep you all posted.
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