Favorite meals

Keeping on the culinary subject, I'm gonna recall here what my favorite meals have been so far.

1. Parrot fish: it is a common fish, I had it in Xiaoliuchiu island.
It was cooked with pineapple and vegetables and is served on a hot dish that keep it warm for a long time... Delicious.

2. Mango sugar ice: very refreshing desert, is made of mango fruit cut in small pieces on top of a lot of ice. Then, add special brown sweet sauce and enjoy it!

3. Noodles mian xian: cold tasty local noodles.

4. Kinmen candies: similar to moroccon sweets. nice ones!

Food

Now that I've been in Taiwan for about a week, I feel a bit more prepared to talk about food. These are my main thoughts about food:

1. Is cheap: in night markets specially, where you can try most of local specialities for less than 2 euros.

2. Is tasty: peculiar flavors will fill your mouth and will inspire your imagination, most of them very different from what I am used to eat in Spain.

3. Is diverse: from Chinese imported noodles to local aborigine barbecue meat or Japanese influenced varieties of sushi, there is little you cannot find on a Taiwanese table at lunch time.

4. Is optionally spicy: "la bu la" (spicy?) is one of the most pronounced questions related to eating. You can choose not spicy, of course, but I would recommend "yi dianr dianr" (just a little bit), as gives the food another perspective, also because there are many types of spicy here, and none of them taste the same. This is amazing, coming from a culture where spicy rarely exists.

5. Is a lot: always get full before the food is over.
Then, say "chi bao le" before somebody fills your dish again.

6. It is funny and surprising: nothing is what it looks like.
Sometimes eggs are black and carrots look like meat. Sometimes you think you're eating pork, but what really is in your mouth is tofu. Sometimes seems like aubergine, and the taste tells you that is fish.

Funny quotes

Question 1:  What is now?
Answer:  Now is the place where past and future meet each other.

(Taiwanese girl looking at a picture of herself)
Question 1: Where are my eyes?
Answer from her cousin: Come on, you're Chinese, you don't have eyes!!!

Life is too short to waste it sleeping.

Describe the country in a word: taiwanderful!

This is too good to be true (right after trying the first bite of mango sugar ice)

Xiaoliuqiu

Take the ferry in Donggang Wharf. In about half an hour you'll arrive to this secret tiny  paradise. I am here for the night, but I may change my mind and stay for good. I wish. This is the first thought that comes to my mind after leaving the ferry.

From the island I see the coast of Taiwan, framed with the sunset light. Some skyscrapers and the mountains behind them. I feel happy to be here, surrounded by nature instead of there, in eras in a bubble of cars, noise and pollution.

It is the only coral island near Taiwan, so is a national treasure. A very small one, less than seven square kilometers and 13.000 inhabitants distributed in eight villages. Xiaoliuqiu lies like a pearl among Taiwan offshore islands. I am ready to experience the fantastic rock formations and the amazing landscapes.

Best option for moving around is riding a motorcycle. Also the funniest. There's almost no cars in the "highway", only more motorbikes, so it is a very pleasant feeling. No need a helmet tho they provide me with one. More than a hundred temples can be visited along the way.

The sea is calm, perfect for snorkeling. The underwater life is surprising. Thousands of small fishes swim peacefully among the coral formations, a rainbow of colors in front of my eyes. I can almost touch them. It feels like being part of a discovery channel documentary. Like living in a giant fishbowl. I see the biggest turtle ever. Laughs of joy come to my face from the deepness of my heart.

Eating here is a must. Fish is of course unmissable, as most of the population make their living with fishing. The island has the chance to be located right at the joint of two branches of the Japan current, which makes the fish that come to its coast abundant and diverse. Seaweed and other unknown - and better not to ask what is it - animals are also recommendable and leave the unforgettable flavor of the sea in my starving mouth.

This has been, without any shadow of doubt, the highlight of my trip. And the only thing i can think of is that the best is still about to come.

Kenting National Park

Things you can do (and we did):

1. Visit  Hengchun city center and attend the Ghost celebrations

2.  Eat the local dessert, a cup of ice with gelatin and honey flavor.

3. Have a look at the temple, and receive an answer to your prays from
the fortune telling box. The ritual works this way:
     - On your knees, with your hands in praying position, talk to god and ask your question. No general issues, but concrete questions.
     - go to the fortune telling box and take one stick.
     - every stick has a number written on it.
     - go back to your knees in front of god, and ask him if this is the right number, the one that is gonna give you the right answer.
     - take the two pieces of wood with half moon shape and throw the on the floor three times. If they fall one with the face up and the other with the face down for the three times, then the answer is yes, you can get the answer to your question. Otherwise, go back to the box, take another stick and repeat as many times as necessary.
     - go to the fortuneteller box and find the case with the same number as you stick.
     - open it and get the answer from god. Good luck!

4. Enjoy a fabulous sunset in front of the sea.

5. Listen the voice of the jungle while you spot at monkeys, squirrels, lizards and other incredible animals. Keep your eyes open and your mouth shut.

6. Get amazed by the impossible tree shapes that nature produces. There is that tree which roots are air open and wich branches grow vertically, so one only tree can become a whole forest by itself.

7. Discover the astonishing 360 degrees view that is accessible from the park tower

8. Get to the heart of the mountain. Walk inside a cave and feel the mountain beating from the inside.

9. Put a feet in the southernmost point of Taiwan. Eluanbi Park in Kenting National Park.

10. Drink coconut water from a fresh coconut. Also at the Eluanbi Park.

11. Attend a tea ceremony.