May I, Weeks 40 + 41: Montañas, mar, y Mazu

Writer's Note I: Thank you everyone for being patient with this blog post! As the semester and grant period come to a close (as well as graduations and goodbyes), upcoming blog posts may be delayed as well. Thank you again for being patient.

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Hello everyone! As May begins, I've spent it soaking up as much of Taiwan as I can: visiting local cafés, scootering up Yangmingshan, watching Mazu processions, flying to Penghu, and just taking time to decompress. Also, as of visiting Penghu, I only have one county left before I've visited all the counties in Taiwan!

Monday, April 29th, was another day teaching Kinmen at Budai. The kids learned about the different famous foods of Kinmen, then they played review Jeopardy for the first time. They liked it! The rest of the school day went pretty well, and we also had a ton of lunch so the ninth graders had enough energy to prep for their huikao (會考), which is the big high school entrance exam. In addition to our normal rice, soup, veggies, and meats, we also received steamed buns, zongzi, and unsettlingly large bananas.

The next day, I just lesson planned. I watched a bunch of movies while I worked, including Stand By Me and The Devil Wears Prada, then ran errands. Wednesday was much more interesting; it was both Labor Day (which teachers, sadly, don't get a day off for) and also the birthday of Puzi's own Mazu, the sea goddess. School wasn't bad, and I worked more on my new bird sculpture during pottery class.

After school, my roommate and I explored the Mazu parade going around Puzi. Both Tuesday and Wednesday were full of various processions and festivities, but the biggest celebrations were on Wednesday.

I think my favorite part of the day was watching the different deities pass by. Procession-goers heaped heavy red ropes of firecrackers together, then set them off to create billowing white clouds of smoke. Afterwards, the only things we could see were the outlines of the giant deity costumes emerging from the smoke, their arms swinging and their pinprick eyes glowing. Honestly, it was probably one of the coolest temple procession experiences I've ever had (not including the city god processions in Kinmen last year).

The two of us also watched various instrumentalists, carved wooden paladins of city gods, and parade floats go by, then went to Puzi Peitian Temple and the pop up night market. Even though we couldn't stay long, it was cool to see the birthday celebration. Then we hung out with some county and city cohort members at the Taibao apartment. It was nice to see people again and play some games.

Thursday wasn't super eventful. I had class, then rollerblading, then ballet. Unfortunately, the muscle I pulled in Changhua still hurts, so I had to mark some of the ballet exercises during class.

The next day, I did more teaching at Guogou. My ninth graders made egg tarts in their home ec class, so the whole school was flooded with them. Two of my students gave me theirs, and they were pretty good (if surprisingly lemon-y). Then after school, I went to Taipei and had dinner with my partner at a place called Shinken Ramen. The ramen wasn't bad, but I was unprepared for how thick the broth would be: it was practically a gravy.

I also spent a little time at a goodbye party some of my partner's Mandarin program friends were throwing. It was bittersweet to think that it might be the last time I see most of them, but I'm happy to think that I'll be able to see my partner more after his program ends.

On Saturday, my partner and I started the day with a crispy pork belly banh mi, then headed to Yangmingshan. We also stopped for matcha and coffee (both of which were pretty good) at a café called Grass Mountain Coffee.

My favorite part of the day was going to Qiantiangang Grassland, which is a tranquil grassland high in the mountains. Although the skies were thick with clouds and fog, the rolling hills were beautiful, and there were wild water buffalo roaming nearby. If it were sunnier out, I think it would've been a perfect place to picnic.

My partner and I spent an hour and a half walking around the grassland, and we even hiked a mountain trail called Zhugaoshan. The views were lovely, stretching all the way down to Tamsui, the rest of Taipei, and even Taipei 101.

We also scootered around and saw some of the sulfur vents from the Tatun Volcanic Group, which is the cluster of volcanoes just north of Taipei. I loved the views we passed as we scooted down into Tamsui, which included ponds, sunsets, and the leafy green mountainsides. We also went past Wuji Tianyuan Temple, which is the temple that looks like the Temple of Heaven (in China) that we visited back in November, then had some yummy Hong Kong food for dinner. All in all, it was a lovely day exploring Yangmingshan, New Taipei, and Taipei (and perhaps my last full weekend in Taipei ever).

I spent Sunday mostly chilling. I met up with a visiting friend from the US, then went to a café for a little work and vibe time with my partner and his Mandarin program friends. Although I planned to briefly come back to Taipei for a final farewell brunch, this weekend was a bittersweet reminder of how little time is left in the grant period. As of the events of this blog post, I only had eight weeks left, and as of writing this post, I only have a month—哎呀!

The almost-end-of-grant stress started to get to me on Monday, and I couldn't sleep. I spent all of Monday and Tuesday doing a ton of trip planning and lesson planning, so much that I couldn't tell you how many flights, hotels, and spreadsheets I pored over (hint: it was too many). At the very least, driving through the countryside to and from school was somewhat relaxing. After school on Tuesday, my roommate and I also finished turning our Changhua dough figurines into keychains, then had ballet.

The next day, I went to Guogou and gave oral exams, then I went to a café in Liujiao called Chunkui (春葵). The café was cute and cozy, with lots of books and a little loft area. I ordered a passionfruit tea and a canele, then hung out with my roommate and got dinner in Taibao. I really appreciated having a chill evening, especially after such a stressful, sleepless week.

I didn't have classes Thursday or Friday thanks to exams, so I got to stay home and do productive things. I slept in, then went to a doctor's appointment. I also bought some cookies from a local bakery run out of a family's garage, did more errands, etc., then checked out some more cafés in Puzi: the Embroidery Museum Hall Café and Farmer Frank's Kitchen. Neither of them were really suited to doing work, but they were cute.

I did more work and watched Brokeback Mountain, then I went to ballet with the other county kids. I also received news that the poetry I submitted to Fulbright Taiwan's new literary magazine was accepted! According to the magazine, the poems won't be published until January, though.

On Friday, I went to Penghu for the first time. I landed around 3:30pm, then my partner and I rented a scooter and explored the island. Penghu feels surprisingly Taiwanese compared to Kinmen (as well as incredibly beachy), and Magong City (the most bustling township) was much taller and busier than I expected.

My partner and I met up with two Penghu ETFs for dinner at a delicious restaurant called 吉卜小麵 (Jibo Small Noodles) that reminded me of Kim's Noodles in Kinmen. Afterwards, we went clothing shopping at Penghu's one and only NET, had some excellent fresh grass jelly from a place called Yuguannen Grass Jelly, hung out at Guanyinting Recreational Area, and saw the famous Xiying Rainbow Bridge. As different as Penghu felt from Kinmen, it still had that classic small island vibe, which I've missed dearly. However, I do wish Kinmen also had a NET.

Saturday was jam-packed with Penghu sightseeing thanks to one of the Penghu ETFs serving as our personal tour guide. We woke up early and had some egg and fish congee with youtiao, then the other Chiayi ETFs, the Penghu ETF, my partner, and I started our counterclockwise scoot from Magong to Xiyu. We started at the Oyster Baby Statue at Chengqian Fishing Harbor, which was somewhat cute but mostly unsettling.

Afterwards, we explored the rocky coastline of Baisha Township. We waded out past the rocks, and the water was refreshingly cool, clear, and blue as we splashed around. Sadly, the tide came in (scarily fast too, I might add) while we were exploring, and we had to hold our shoes and socks in one hand while we slowly made our way to shore.

The five of us also went to Penghu Houliao Paradise Road, which was a skinny path jutting into the ocean you could take pictures from, then visited the Tongliang Great Banyan Tree. The tree was massive; its leafy canopy stretched across an entire public square and shaded the pathway to a nearby temple. We tried a little cactus ice cream (which is a Penghu specialty), then crossed the Penghu Bridge (which honestly was pretty mid—shoutout to the Kinmen Bridge for being the longest and coolest bridge in Taiwan).

We went to Erkan Historic Village next, which was super beachy and full of cool traditional houses built out of coral rock. We had some of Erkan's famous almond tea, plus a seaweed jelly drink, then wandered the village. Of the things we tried in Erkan, I think my favorite was a slushy drink made from a local Penghu plant called 冰花, which tasted pleasantly sweet, refreshing, and green.

Our next stop on our whirlwind Penghu tour was an excellent gelato shop called 大菓葉 Italian Gelato. The gelato was wonderful! I had the cactus flavor, but I also tried some of everyone else's, which included tieguanyin, coconut, mulberry, and chocolate banana gelato.

We also visited the famous Daguoye Columnar Basalt nearby. The basalt columns were smaller than I expected, but I liked them; they reminded me a bit of the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Possibly because I don't know of any other places that have columnar basalt.

Our group got a late "lunch" from Waian Guabao, then headed to our final stop: Neian Rest Area. It was a stunning beach surrounded by a huge curved ridge of sloping green hills, and the water was brilliant blue. After some light swimming and floating, two of the other ETFs and I decided to go snorkeling around the area's coral reefs. We saw a bunch of sea cucumbers, some colorful fish, pufferfish, and even a cuttlefish while we swam around, plus some lavender and pale blue coral.

We explored the tide pools afterwards and saw lots of sea creatures, including a ton of tiny, sharp-shelled snails (ouch), then wandered the beach until sunset. The drive back to Magong was beautiful, and the sky turned striking shades of pink, orange, gold, and deep blue.

I fell asleep on the back of my partner's scooter, but woke up just in time for a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Sha Ai Zhuang with another Penghu ETF. We had lots of yum food, including seaweed, egg, and tomato soups, spicy ground pork, sweet potato pancakes, and the most delicious, fluffy, crispy fried egg I've ever had. Afterwards, we went to a shaved ice and dessert shop, and I had my third cactus ice cream of the day (plus tried some of the others' cactus shaved ice and pudding shaved ice). My overall rankings for the day:

1. Daguoye Italian Gelato

2. The shaved ice/dessert shop in Magong City

3. The Tongliang Great Banyan Tree ice cream

They all tasted great, but texturewise, I liked the gelato the most.

Sunday was our last day in Penghu, sadly. We woke up early for some shaobing, then went to a little village called Duxingshi Village. After trying a little of the famous brown sugar cake, we went to the oldest Mazu temple in Taiwan: Tianhou Gong Temple. It was under repair, presumably because the wood needs a lot of maintenance in the salty sea air, but the temple's art was unique. In addition to the typical temple roof dragons and deities, there were ceramic shard fish there too, and some of the immortals' statues were rendered in a softer, older-looking art style.

We also visited Zhongyang Old Street nearby to look for souvenirs, then chilled in a café for a little while. After such a high-energy Saturday, I think we needed it. I wasn't sure what to expect when I came to Penghu, but I really liked it! I was reluctant to fly back to Taiwan, especially because the island was so beautiful and I had such a good time exploring with everyone.

Despite the heat and our exhaustion, my roommate and I met up with an Yilan ETA-turned-Kaohsiung ETF, and we walked around Cijin Island together. We walked along the beach and climbed some jagged rocks to check out part of an old fort, then ended up climbing to the lighthouse again. The views were lovely from the lighthouse area, and it reminded me a lot of climbing the lighthouse and going to Cihou Fort last April break with the former Yilan ETAs.

We watched the sunset from Cihou Fort, then gradually made our way back into the city for dinner. It was a tiring evening for sure, but a nice one, and I liked catching up with other ETF. Soon, I suppose there won't be too many weekends left for us to catch up and hang out.

Looking back at the past two weeks, it's been busy (and a little stressful), but also fun. During the week, I've liked being able to get to know Chiayi better, whether it be by watching the Mazu birthday celebrations or checking out new cafés. I've honestly been pretty stressed watching the last couple months of the grant period roll through, but I suppose it makes me savor the remaining time even more. I still don't know if I've really adjusted to living in Chiayi, or if I ever will (especially with how little time is left), but sometimes, it's the little things.

As usual, I've loved being able to explore more of Taiwan during the weekends, and both Yangmingshan and Penghu were gorgeous. I liked the serene, top-of-the-world feeling from Yangmingshan and the grasslands, but also the laid-back, beachy feeling of Penghu as well. If I had more time, I'd've explored other parts of Yangmingshan or gone to the smaller, outlying islands of Penghu, but I suppose it just means I'll have to come back some day—hopefully, I'll have the chance to come back soon.

Until next time, everyone!

Writer's Note II: This blog post was originally written on Wednesday, May 29th.