Lukang

Yesterday was our biggest sight-seeing day yet. We traveled to Lukang and saw the Matzu Temple, one of the oldest in Taiwan, the oldest Buddhist temple in Taiwan, the Museum of Folk Art, walked down Breast Rubbing Lane, purchased a lantern from the lantern maker who made a lantern for Lady Gaga, and had the BEST food of the trip so far. We managed to cram all of it in with the help of Sammi and Alan.

Sammi, Alan, my girls and their daughter, Sophia

Sammi was our first of 23 exchange students that we had while we lived in Cottonwood Heights. Alan was her boyfriend then, and now he is her husband and they have a beautiful 5 year old daughter named Sophia. We were able to follow them in our rented van from Zhongli to Lukang, and after parking, walk around Lukang ALL DAY with them, and then follow them to our current digs. Truly, I don't know how we would have managed without their help. I don't know how we will manage without their help this evening when they head home to Taipei and we head off to Sun Moon Lake.

But the tales of how we tackled THAT feat will be tomorrow's entry. I MUST record yesterday's highlights.

The Toyota Hi-Ace loaded to
high heaven with our stuff

Renting the car had a small blip because the boss of VIP Car Rental only carried an old carbon paper credit card copier to process our payment. Thankfully, we DID have a card whose numbers were distinct enough to read, but it wasn't the card we intended to use. His business wasn't even equipped to take a payment online. Shocking. But he was kind, and shortly after we loaded the car and walked to the 7-11 for a haul of the delicious sesame cold noodles (liang mian), Sammi and Alan arrived and we were on our way.

And here is the view from the inside.

The drive to Lukang took just over 2 hours. Stew slept a bit in the car, but everyone else sang, listened to Chinese people singing on the radio, or looked out the window. In many places there wasn't much to see. The jungle grows right up to the edges of the freeway. But the freeways are large, open roads without scooters, so aside from the jungle, we might have been driving in Utah. As we approached TaiZhong, our views expanded and we were surprised by all the wind generators along the coast. Huge wind turbines were humming right along, though being so close, they were a bit unsettling to me. Maybe it's seeing something so industrial and massive and it's moving....? I guess I wasn't the only one who didn't like them. When Stew woke up from his nap, he looked out the window and exclaimed, pointing to the wind turbines, "Oh. Dang it. Those."

The weather in Zhongli had been beautifully sunny and breezy. (Thank you, primary class for your prayers that we wouldn't get dumped on on our sight-seeing days in Taiwan!) It wasn't raining in Lukang either, but boy was it HOT and muggy. Kai remarked as we walked around that he had never sweat so much in his life. I think the last time I sweat as much as I did was when I was in Taiwan, walking around in the heat and humidity! Our first destination was the Matzu temple.

Q perched on the temple like a god, himself.

It was large and built in the mid-1600's. It was incredibly ornate and filled with all sorts of gods and deities.

Here, Veeve and Weese smile in front a few of their favorite gods. (Chosen for the gods' fashion, I'm sure.)

An example of the ornate-ness. This is just a tiny section of ceiling in what seemed to be a storage room.

Stew and Rachel in front of an ancient, painted door.

We saw plenty of worshipers praying/bowing for more money or to find Mr. or Mrs Right (all different god's with different shrines all at the same temple). 

One of the most fascinating things was to see a mother with her young son in front of the god who helps with one's education. The mother was instructing the son to be very diligent about his bowing. Sammi pointed out the box of tests, complete with students names and testing dates near the god, so he could know just who to prosper and when. We through coins at the mouth of a dragon fountain for luck.

(Weese, pictured below, was bigger than the praying student. Her expression captures my vibe at this temple: interesting, fun, and a little creepy.)

Leaving that temple, Alan took us to get an AMAZING ice cream creation. It was like an ice-cream burrito - the scoops served in a thin skin made of flour. Into the burrito was also wrapped shavings from a large block of peanuts stuck together with a hard carmel candy, and then, most surprisingly, sprinkled with cilantro. Wow, was it GOOD! We each devoured our own, because it was simply too yummy to share. Sammi and Alan also scored us pork steamed buns (Q loved), guava with sour plum powder (one of my favorites, but not a hit with the kids) and juice made from some flower which Rachel liked. I couldn't walk by donuts without giving them a try and so indulged in 3 of the best donuts I've had in my life. They were made from croissant dough and had a sweet, nutty glaze. We all agreed they were better than any donut we'd ever eaten in the states. The girls also had cooked robin eggs on a skewer. They just tasted like tiny eggs. (pictured in the first pic of this post) They also shared bright red, candied strawberries on a skewer. Finally we convinced Alan that we truly weren't incredibly hungry and we moved on the lantern shop.

It wasn't incredibly impressive. To me, one Chinese lantern is pretty much like any other.The funniest part about this stop was the laoban (boss) who kept interrupting our questions to hand us magazines with his picture inside, or a letter from Lady Gaga, Mercedes-Benz or the president of Taiwan. What a character. He acted shocked we didn't intend to buy anything, so rather than hurt his tender feelings, I chose a small lantern and had him paint in red the words peace and happiness. I think Sammi payed for this souvenir.

I think 2 steps from Lady Gaga beats 7 from Kevin Bacon, don't you?

From here we walked down Nine Turns Lane and found the Folk Art Museum.

 We arrived 30 minutes before it closed so were given a late-comers discount and whizzed through. Our speed worked just fine for the kids. Most of the info about the artifacts was in Chinese. The house itself was what I loved. It was built in the 1800's with an addition added in the early 1900's. The gardens were just lovely.

I floated around it, imagining myself wafting from room to room with the muggy breeze in some silk robe.The vision held until we got to the room where they showed the shoes of the women with bound feet. I realized if I lived in such a house, as a woman, I'd be staggering from room to room. So sad. Many of the shoes were for feet smaller than Stew's. Talk about fashion-suffering!

(Below: a mannequin shows off the robes I was thinking I'd wear. I think she is in the wedding night room.)

From there, we found Breast Rubbing Lane (left) and Q successfully maneuvered the stroller through! Impressive! On the other side as we sought bearings for the Buddhist temple, a man with a large golf cart offered to give us a ride. Without bound feet, even we were beginning to hobble, so Sammi haggled a ride for all 10 of us for about $6. The breeze for the 3 minutes almost felt worth it.

The Buddhist temple was my favorite of the temples. There were similarities in architecture but a COMPLETELY different vibe. I don't know if it was because the light was fading fast, but where the other temple had been quite crowded, this one was graced by only one diligent devotee. I was moved by the focus and intention in his face as he bowed. In fact, I was moved by this place in general. It felt so open and gracious. There were a handful of god figures, and some incense.... The highlight was a beautiful courtyard all the way in the back. In it was a waterfall and a pond stocked with fish that the kids loved pretending to feed. Off to one side of the courtyard were Weese's "favorite bathrooms." She remarked about how clean they seemed and the "free toilet paper!" I liked those things too. I also loved the sinks - simple porcelain basins outside and overlooking the garden. Ah, zen bathrooms. They are the BEST! (I should note that most of the public bathrooms we have used have been squatty potties. Some also have regular toilets in them, but people rather wait in line to squat than use those disgusting western toilets. We agree!)

Ornate ceiling in the Buddhist Temple

Similar ornate shrines and prayer pillars and idols, though this temple had FAR fewer.

Below is what Weese HAD been up to before she was summoned to pose for THIS picture. No wonder she looks so sour!

My favorite part of the temple was this courtyard. The Chinese are EXPERTS at courtyards! Weese's favorite toilets are just off to the left. :)

By this point, the little people were tired (can you tell from the expressions) and getting wound up. Stew was playing his "escapee" games where he dashes off and we have to scramble to keep him alive. (He got grounded to a bedroom in Zhongli this same morning for dashing down the stairs in the apartment building. I sent EV to grab him and a few minutes later she showed up back in the apartment, nearly in tears and told me she couldn't find him. Naturally, I panicked and rushed down 6 flights myself, pausing at every floor to call his name and ask where he was. Never has the front desk guy earned his money better than when I found him at the bottom staring at his sercurity camera feeds. He told me Stew was in the elevator, but kept pushing one button so it wouldn't move. He told me to take the elevator up to the 5th floor and call Stew's elevator from there. By the time I got to the 5th, I heard EV call from floor 6 that they had him. He spent a good, tearful 20 minutes under lock, key, and under the eyes of his sisters and Rachel for THAT episode.)

So Stew was heading laps around the temple courtyard with Weese and Sophia close behind. He was scooped into his stroller (quickly going from piece of junk when the trip began to serious trash material from the wear and tear of Taiwan streets) and the girls took over the escapee games. But they were far more manageable because they would LISTEN. They were quite darling together. Sophia's English was decent, and Eloise was so happy to have a friend, they made a lovely pair. I heard Weese refer to Sophia as "my bonnie maiden." Where does she get words like that!? Anyway, they were a hoot and we're ready to have Sophia come to the US and be our little Chinese sister.

Three peas in a pod, or on 3 benches, whatever works!

(Sammi and Alan cracked me up as they told me of Sophia's love for America. Apparently she is VERY jealous her parents came, and without her. I told them she'd get there and be bored in 5 minutes with our rural life. They said they didn't think so, and that they really missed the beauty and quiet of Utah. They said they were sick of the noise and bustle of Taipei. This sentiment might seem understandable for us in the US, but for the Taiwanese to pine for quiet and peace is quite rare.)

From the temple, we began the long hike back to the cars. It was about 7pm.and we decided to hunt for food on the way. I requested dumplings, and Alan introduced us to the chain "Five Flower Horse." (The English names for businesses here are HILARIOUS! Q loved the drink shop "Super Duck," and the tea shop "What Tea" among others) Back to dinner, it was our best Chinese food of the trip so far. We feasted on dumplings, fried rice, fresh, steamed veggies, spicy-sour noodle soup (Stew's favorite) and a yummy tofu broth. It was so nice to have Sammi and Alan navigate ordering. As the food kept coming, I got nervous the bill would be outrageous. Stew was back to lapping the restaurant and shrieking for dramatic effect, so I scooped him back into his stroller and went to sit outside after handing Q a $1000 NT for dinner.Q told me this morning he tried to pay, but Alan said, "Don't you remember when I was in the US and you took me out to restaurants and payed? You told me then that I could prepay you when you came to Taiwan. Now it's my turn to treat." I wish I had been there to hear it from Alan's mouth. Even Q's retelling almost moved me to tears. I feel so grateful not only for the help, and the dinner, but that this idea we put out to the universe so long ago that we would come here ACTUALLY came to pass!

Finally, Alan helped us find our Airbnb homestay before getting a place for his own family. And here we are! Now the kids are awake, I'll go to be with them and record the fun of THESE digs later!

The whole crew in Lukang! What a day! What an amazing experience!!!!