One Squid, Two Squid...

I have returned from my trip to central-eastern Taiwan seemingly in one piece. I have yet to do roll call, but I am sure I would have noticed by now if something was missing. For those who did not read my last post, and are too lazy to scroll down and read it- Joe Larkin I'm looking in your direction- I took a 3 hour train ride to the fair city of Hualien.

Along the eastern coast of Taiwan, the train ride was spotted with dazzling cliff sides and impressive ocean vistas. The city of Hualien itself was nothing spectacular, in my opinion, but it did have a wide array of sites and sounds. In particular was a coastal night market, a pristine beach, and my favorite, a seafood/drinking hall. With beer bottles at NT$60, the evening was shaping up to be a birthday party part two. Only this time without Jeffrey.

After a few pints at the old beer tent, we stumbled over to another local bar and again found ourselves to be its only clientele. They told us they were having a BBQ in honor of the moon festival and asked us to join along! We delightfully accepted and ordered a few rounds of Taiwan Beer to toast the celebration. Well, the Taiwan beer was flowing when the owner asked us if we liked Taiwan food. Not knowing fully well what Taiwan food is, we said, "Yes, of course!" Well, plates came in our direction with fried squid balls, garlic raw oysters, pickled grapes, and BBQed chicken, beef, and tofu.

The land items were OK, but the seafood was NOT going to sit well with our beer. After a few nibbles on the squid ball, we knew we couldn't finish them. Creativity ensued. Our first attempt came when the owner wasn't looking. My friend stuffed a few balls into his shopping bag in hopes it looked like they were eaten. Next it was my turn, and I decided to take a more aquatic approach. I took two of the balls with me to the restroom (when the owner was out cooking, of course) and dropped the two squideroos down the John. I pulled the handle and sent those beasts back to the watery depths from which they came. Only, they didn't want to go back...

After creeping down the tubes for a few seconds, they popped back up to say hello. I tried again, but with the same result! Now what was I to do. Surely, if the owner came in a found his fried squid balls resting at the bottom of the squatter, there's no knowing the wrath of anger he would unleash. Suddenly, I had a flash of an idea. If you recall in my second post, I mentioned that in Taiwan, toilet paper is not flushed down the toilet, but thrown away into a garbage bucket adjacent to the hopper. Wonderful, if I could only figure out how to get those little squiddies out of the swirling crapper of doom. I reached for the toilet brush and was able to scoop them out with the poise and ingenuity of McGyver. I dropped the sea monsters into the trash and return to my table like nothing had happened. We escaped the rest of the evening free of any cultural faux pas (aside from taking the oysters out of their shells and putting them next to the garlic so it looked like we at them all.)

The next day included one of the most extraordinary sights I have seen to date. We arose early and took a bus to Taroko Gorge National Park. For those who have witnessed this massive gorge knows how hard it is to wrap one's mind around the sheer immensity of this place. I have included a set of photos, but it goes without saying that no photo can come close to capturing the brilliance of this natural resource.

After the gorge we returned home, which was good, because the following day a co-worker of mine threw a BBQ for the moon festival. Located in the northern edge of the city, in a section called Donghu, a group of us gathered on her roof for more food than one could imagine, beer, sparklers, and of course some moon gazing. Set against the Taiwanese city landscape, and among some of the finest folks I have met out here in the far East, I have to admit the moon watching was well worth it.

Well, that concludes my moon festival experiences. Check back soon for a very cool surprise. I will give you a hint- it's bright red and goes "vroom, vroom." Stay tuned.

From your squid flushing, barbecue bumming, seafood "gorging" traveller of Formosa, Michael.