Taipei Temple Trip #3 台湾台北聖殿



Bright and early Saturday morning, seven of my friends (Annalisa, Erin, Katy, Kristi, Laura, Liz, and Whitney) and I departed for Taipei via bus.  First destination was the Taipei Temple.  I love going to the temple!  It is where I feel the most at peace.  I was able to witness a physically disabled brother participate in baptisms for the dead.  It was beautiful to me.  I could tell that the motions were uncomfortable and maybe even painful for him, but he had so much determination to do the work.  It was a good example to me to overcome trials press forward with faith and righteousness.

Laura, Annalisa, Liz, Kristi, Whitney, Katy, Me, Erin

After the temple, we walked to the National Museum of History.  On the way, we briefly passed through the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park.  We stopped at a strip of stone-studded pathway which is thought to have healing powers if you walk on it barefoot.  Tolerable, but not comfortable.  Was not healed.



The National Museum of History had over 10,000 artifacts, including: jades, pottery, textiles, inscriptions, carvings, calligraphy, coins, porcelain, lacquerware, paintings, photographs and bronzes.  It was just really cool.  I really like museums. 

Whitney and I playing with Shadow Puppets

Right next to the museum was the Botanical Garden.  It was huge and it was raining, so we didn't spend a whole lot of time there.  But, we did visit the "important woody plants".  No joke, that is how it was labeled ont the garden map.

 Erin, Kristi, Me, Liz, Annalisa, Whitney, Laura

We ended the delightful day with a delightful meal at the Macaroni Grill.  It was so delectibly delicious.

 

To get back to the bus station we decided to take the MRT, Taipei's subway system.  After we got off at our stop, I noticed that the majority of our group was going one way and two people were going the other way.  I left the group and went back for them.  One person heard my calls and joined the group.  Katy did not.  So I ventured further away to get her attention.  When we went to go join the group, they couldn't be found.  They didn't know that I went back.  There were mobs of people at the station and it was a little overwhelming.  I didn't where to go and we were lost.  I knew we needed to get to the bus station, but there are a few in Taipei and I didn't know which one was the right one.  I just started walking.  I felt scared for the first time since coming to Taiwan.  Our bus was to leave shortly.  I had little money on me.  And I didn't know where to go.  This wasn't a good sign.  It occured to me that I could not figure this out on my own.  So, I prayed and continued walking.  My fear and anxiety immediately diminished.  After a while, we ended up outside.  And I saw something that looked familiar.  I had been there before.  When Kristi and I went to Taipei last month, the taxi driver dropped us off in front of a mall when we asked to go to the bus station.  This is the same mall that Katy and I came upon.  My prayer had been answered.  Katy and I got to the station with less than 5 minutes to spare.  Heavenly Father is a God of miracles.

Dracula/Beuford

After I got done with my Friday evening class, I was relaxing in my room.  Whitney knocked on the door, and said that something was on the ceiling in the hallway, just outside my door.  At first I thought it was a snail.  As I looked closer, I realized it was a bat, which I promptly named Dracula!  (It was the first thing I thought of.)  How exciting!  We took pictures and pondered what to do about it.  I decided to tell a secretary about it.  Sharlene started laughing hysterically and asked Andy to come and help us.  He said he was busy teaching a class.  Sharlene suggested that I tell Frances.  I went to the first floor to find her, but she was gone.  I told the other secretaries.  The talked back and forth in Chinese.  I got tired of waiting and headed back up to the fourth floor to come up with my own ideas on how to free it.  Soon after, Andy showed up.  His attempts with a box were unsuccessful.  I got a pretty fun video.  Dracula freaked out and flew back and forth down the hallway, then flew up another flight of stairs and nose dived into a large pile of stuff.  Andy went back to his class.  But I spent about 10 minutes moving things to try and find the bat.  I never did. 



Apparently, on Saturday, Devin came home to find Beuford (same bat, new name) flying back and forth in the hallway again.  He was successful in freely the little cutie via basket. 

Guanziling 關子嶺

At the train station

Amy, Me, Laura, Libby, Kristi, Erin, Devin

On Saturday, we had the most fun adventure.  Devin, Erin, Kristi, Laura, Libby and I went.  We departed Fengyuan pretty early in the morning, and took the train two hours south to Chiayi (嘉義市).  Upon arrival, we found a scooter shop and rented three scooters for the day.  I was delighted to be one of the drivers.  Kristi was my passenger.  When I first got on the scooter, I was a little nervous.  I hadn't driven a scooter since I was home, and Taiwan city streets are crazy with heavy traffic, and even crazier drivers.  Kristi's first experience on a scooter was an interesting one.  I misjudged how sensitive the brakes were and gave Kristi a bit of whiplash.  Not really, but it was not a proud moment of mine. 

So happy to be on a scooter!

Once we got out of the city, the ride was significantly more enjoyable.  Taiwan's countryside is gorgeous!  We rode an hour passing rice fields and palm trees.  I could have gone on forever.  We went up to 80 km/hour, but mostly stayed at around 50 km/hour. 

Some random temple in Chiayi

Beautiful Taiwan countryside

Pit stop

 

Our final destination was Guanziling (關子嶺), a small mountain town.  On the way up the mountain, it started to rain, so we pulled over to a restaurant to sit out the storm.  It was open air and under a tent.  Apparently Guanziling is famous for it's chicken.  So, that's what we ordered, and wild boar, rice, soup, and two plates of mysterious vegetables.  (I am not sure what they were.) 

We finished eating and waited.  The rain wasn't going to stop.  We decided to leave anyway.  Only two of our crowd bothered bringing rain apparel.  We must have looked like a pathetic bunch of Americans.  The people cooking the food took pity on us, and gave us each a plastic poncho.  I am so grateful for their kind gesture.

We look so hot in ponchos!

We went on our way, in the rain, and quickly found King's Hot Spring Villa in Guanziling.  This small mountainous town is known for its naturally cloudy white water, which can only be found in two other places in the world.  The minerals in the water are said to contain healing properties, and the mud left our skin feeling soft and smooth.  King's is a resort of sorts with several differnent pools to soak in at various temperatures.  My favorite was the milky white pool at a medium temperature.

Mud

Star

As we were going to change back into our street clothes, we came upon a fish pool.  We stuck our feet in and all the little fishies came to eat the dead skin off our feet.  Gross, I know.  But it was so cool!  It felt like the fishies were giving me tons of little kisses.

Guanziling

After the hot springs, we happened upon a beautiful temple, the Temple of Azure Clouds (碧雲寺).  It is situated beautifully on a mountainside.  There were lots of colorfully painted statues and carvings.  It overlooked the side of the mountain.  So pretty!

After the temple, we went to the Water and Fire Cave (水火洞), considered perhaps Guanziling’s most famous. Which I think is kind of funny.  It was much smaller than I thought it would be.  "The underground springs contain huge amounts of methane, which rises to the surface where it ignites and burns. At the Water and Fire Cave, the gas bubbles up through a pool of water. Despite the fact that the resulting flames are now fairly weak and less than a meter high (they used to burn as high as 3 meters into the air) the overall effect of seeing fire rise out of water remains both interesting and unusual." (http://www.chinapost.com.tw/) 

There is a legend posted near the spring: "A Fire Dragon and a Water Tiger did not coincide in opinion and caused much disputes, therefore they decided to make a final bid for the stronger but ended wearing each other out.  Eventually, the Fire Dragon became fire while the Water Tiger became that of fountain, thus the formation and coexistence of fire and water."

There is also a Scientific Illustration: "According to the natural laws, water and fire can't coexist, however, the geologic structure here is different.  As the spring water flows out of the cliff, its pressure diminishes, and the methane (CH4, namely, the natural gas) which is originally dissolved in the water turns into bubbles and rush out.  Once ignited, the flame will never die out.  A amazing water-fire coexistence scene comes into being."

The journey home was rainy, very rainy.  When you are on a scooter, rain feels like a ton of little needles pricking you.  Fun!  I love scooters, so it was okay.  By the time we got back to the train station, we were all soaked and cold. 

It was such a fun trip!  The best one to date!

Sorry Sorry by SuperJunior

Here is another song that my kids love. This one is in Korean.

Nobody by Wonder Girls

My kids love this song and spontaneously burst out into song and dance. Here is a taste of Asian pop culture. If you don't want to watch the whole video, start at 2 minutes.