More activities

The thing about these tours is that they try to pack in as many activities as possible, get your money's worth. We toured Shihlin Guan Di (the resident of former President Chiang Kai-Shek), Chung Shan Lou where the former parliament used to meet, and Yang Ming Resident, another home of Chiang Kai-Shek. It was pretty interesting, especially since this all seemed really mysterious when I was growing up. Strangely, Chungshan Lou was built on top of an active volcano, directly over where sulfur is released from the ground. The stream that runs right next to it is hot enough to boil an egg. The sulfurous gas has eroded the floors of the building and is destroying many pieces of artwork. Now, why on earth would they build this thing here? Blame it on feng shui. Apparently, this location and two other official buildings form a straight line. It's on a mountain, good. Overlooking Taipei, good. So what if there's stinky gas and boiling water underneath? Besides, it made the representatives work that much faster so they could get out of this hell hole. However, the feng shui of this place isn't so good after all. The parliament had been done away with long ago. We also got to see the Palace museum, a must see, I think, but we were a little rushed and the crowd was overwhelming. There was a whole lot of standing and walking. We also went to Shihlin night market, the biggest one in Taipei. We had a couple of things to eat then we started eyeballing this shaved ice stand which had chocolate shaved ice! Woohoooo! But we were hesitant because we got so sick drinking that orange juice last time. We had been trying to stick to cooked food. Finally, we decided to succumb. It was yummy and I'm happy to report no ill effects (knock on wood).

Most people on our tour are older. And some of them have a bit of a temper. A couple of them had a misunderstanding and started arguing over seats on the bus! One guy just would not let it go, kept hollering and cussing even when the other party was quiet. Jeeeez! Guess this just adds to the experience. Most of our group is very nice and friendly. I admire their stamina because all this running around is tiring. If I'm pooped, I can't imagine how they must feel. Having fun is hard work. I'm going to need a vacation after my vacation.