Tripping Over Taiwan, Days 5-7 (aka Wrap-up)

Me protecting a fake Venus statue's dignity at HaiBao Pearl and Jewelry.

Dad staring at the Spring and Autumn Pavilions. I entered the Dragon's mouth and climbed all the way to the top (or at least up to the floor where the gate wasn't locked) before getting tired of the view and exiting via the Tiger's mouth.

A view of the ceiling of the Confucius Temple across the street.

Old lady selling magic disappearing coins. Once you see how the trick's done the only real coins disappearing might be from your wallet, followed by disappointment.

At first I thought Falun DaFa was similar the oft-persecuted Falun Gong religious sect, in that they set up a lot of protest placards in public places, showing pictures depicting the violence and beatings they've experienced from Chinese authorities. Turns out they were Falun Gong (aka Falun Dafa). I was wondering, "What are the odds there would be 2 quasi-religious sects Mainland China has a bug up their butt about?"

Fruity-colored map at the fruit market we stopped over on the way back north (we're somewhere in TaiDong). I think if we stopped at a slaughterhouse and saw this map, Taiwan would look more like a carcass of beef.

The lobby of TaiTung Hot Spring Resort where we stayed the night before. As the only one who brought swim-trunks I was the only one who got to use their Ace Water Spa-like facilities. While I had to shell to 50 bucks for a mandatory swim-cap, I swiped a discarded one for that 2-for-1 feeling. The best feeling, however, was after swimming laps for an hour and soaking in hot pools, getting to stuff myself at the buffet tables afterwards.

One of the safer spots (at least to Pa) to pose for pictures at Garoko National Park. After seeing news of the tsunami hitting Japan yesterday, Pa got paranoid about aftershocks reaching Taiwan. Before this picture our stops at earlier gorges was met with Pa yelling for us to get back in the bus ASAP, much to my and tour guide Tommy's annoyance.

Finished marble statues on display depicting Chinese Zodiac animals. They didn't allow picture-taking inside the marble/jade manufacturing building, so this'll have to do.

The above pictures were from Day 5 and 6. The reason for the lack of pix from Day 7? Food poisoning. The one time I decided to mix raw shellfish into my cream soup, this happens. The fact that the symptoms I experienced (aside from that bloated feeling that wouldn't go away) were eerily similar to my bad doobie experience coupla years back (bad diarrhea and even worse nausea) led me to believe perhaps it wasn't Mary Jane that made me sick before.

What sucks about puking, aside from the obvious? The way your lower jaw involuntarily distends like those Reavers in Blade II. And then there's the headaches. It got so bad that I couldn't even hold down the next morning's light breakfast of bread and water and was throwing up bile. A couple of Dietabs managed to save me with that... other problem, or at least delayed it, from the express train back to Taipei up to the plane back home. For the next day and a half I was in bed-and-bathroom-mode, dreaming (for some reason) that I was a secret agent.