Dan Shui with Hong Yi and his family & Shilin yeshi (night market)

So I went to Hong Yi's place to worship wo de zu xian (the Yu ancestors), hence the first couple of incongruous photos in that Google pics photo album. My aunt told me to lie to get out of it bc she said it would be really boring and that the food would be contaminated by incense ash...her being catholic probably had to do w/ it also.

Anyways, after a huge feast I fell asleep in bed while watching "Castle in the Sky" with Hong Yi's two little girls. It felt so nice to sleep on a real mattress. And it was the softest mattress I've ever slept in! It was a slice of heaven. When I was in my fog of sleep the girls were going crazy (feng kuang). They kept saying lou dian (opening?) and trying to lift each other skirts. They would fight to keep it down while trying to pull up the other's skirt. They woul tickle, punch, slap, kick, basically use any means necessary...it was both shocking and funny to watch these girls play/fight. You Kai Qi would start to punch at her sister's legs and stomach and arms and You Luo Li (who takes Taekwondo) would kick her sister in the head, chest, etc and then tackle her. Anyways, it was very amusing to watch. Those girls are tough!

Later they took me to Danshui but You Luo Li, who is older, had to go to class so she couldn't come and I heard she started to cry. So it was just the 4 of us. It was so muggy out there at Danshui. When I stepped out my glasses instantly fogged up and didn't get better until several minutes later.

After strolling around we took a boat to Ba Li where I ate A LOT...sigh...Hong Yi never believes me when I say I am full....

After dinner I ate these tie dan (hard chewy eggs, that have been marinated and then laid out in the sea air to cure, and then repeat this process many times, during which the egg actually shrinks to more than half its size). They also sold small sparrow (?) eggs.

Then we all got foot massages. Most of the ppl working there were blind or nearly blind. The foot massage was PAINFUL. It's supposed to be medicinal rather than relaxing like in the West. It was a wake-up call bc the masseuse told me that I had bad circulation due to lack of exercise, I had a bad digestion, and I had a bad back...Well I injured my lower back in Europe during the attempted mugging (the guy had a running start and then kneed or kicked me in my small lower back). I've been doing nothing but eating for the past week and half so I guess that explains the bad digestion and bad circulation. Oh and when I go out w/ Hong Yi he only orders the DEEP FRIED and super SWEET stuff loaded with carbs or he gets the strangest parts of the animals stuff..that my aunt said is unsanitary and has high chances of getting you sick (ie snails carry some virus)....GREAT...I told her what am I supposed to say? It's what my dad's side likes to eat..

After eating another gazillion things, we left to get my replacement cell phone (which had none of my numbers on...even though my SIM card was switched?? i don't know why i thought all my contacts would stay on my card...)

Then we went to Shilin ye shi (night market). Where Hong Yi bought me MORE food...despite protests and of course more drinks bc it was so hot outside. I had this limeade but it was made w/ tiny little limes. I also had an ai yu (I love ai yu! it's clear gelatin usually had with syrup and lime juice) drink. At the night market I got a pair of jeans and since my waist is small but I have a "big legs" they gave me a size up and then altered the waist but cinching it. They also changed the length and they did this in like 5 minutes....at no extra charge. I told them that in America they dont' really do this...you just have to find a size that fits you and that usually takes forever or it doesn't happen at all and you compensate with a belt or other means. The whole time the girl woudl bring me other sizes and make recommendations too so it made the process fast and easy. I didn't have to look for any jeans myself. Then I bought some other t-shirts, this guy told me the designs won awards in competitions...I didn't know they had competitions for t-shirt designs... Then I started looking through trucker hats since EVERYONE wears them in Taipei...and I felt weird wearing my cloth hat.

Anyways, it was sort of awkward shopping with the family so I said I was done shopping. It was midnight and he drove me home. He said the ye shi didn't end till about 2 AM and we had only see maybe 1/3 or less of it. It's a MASSIVE night market.

So I went home with so many bags bc in addition to the cell phone and accessories and my clothes they also bought me some a danshui bing (it's apparently famous and everyone who gets married buys one) and some other food to take home.

So my aunt always uses MSN...and she just told me that today I will have to eat lunch by myself; this will be the first time in Taiwan that I will order for myself haha it should be fine even though I can't read the menu.

I heard this on the radio last night:
Angela Chang "Aurora"