A little while later...

Well, I've now been here for a whole week and thought I should probably give you all a little update.

I'm now pretty able to find my way around the local area and through introduction to the bus sytem I feel relatively confident in being able to get to places and (more importantly) find my way home. It's pretty complicated though as I don't really know any characters yet and as such can't really read the signs to find my way around, so I have to keep an eye out for memorable landmarks (weird buildings, even weirder signs) to know where I'm going. I'm definitely getting there though!

Ok, well where did we last leave off.... Hmm. I think I'll start with Danshui. It's a town to the north of Taipei which is pretty touristy. After getting off the train, we decided to have a wander around. The first thing Mike and I both were kind of bemused by was a sign for a food place that said this..

Neither of us were sure what "saporous" was, or even it was a real word. Apparently it is, which makes this considerably less amusing, but we found it funny until we decided to look it up!

We then turned a corner as directed by Vincent

It was cool to see and try a lot of local delicacies like these weird boiled eggs that were sold everywhere. I'm not really sure how they were made, but they were kind of black and chewy on the outside and that bit tasted a bit like bbq glaze. Very odd. Hmm, anyway...

*Continues writing after about a week of avoiding it*

Where was I... Ah, Danshui. Lovely place by the sea, home of fresh seafood, beautiful river views and hilarious signage. Due to numerous requests (well, one) I shall post some of my favourite...

Pretty straight-forward

An international view of the Irish

Not so much a mis-translation, but I found it bloody funny

And now, because I've left it so bloody long, I can't remember what else I was going to write....

Oh wait, yes I do. (Sorry for lying) We also went to investigate one of the local night markets. For those who don't know about them, they're partially what Taiwan is famous for. They are exactly as they sound - ie. markets, at night.We mostly just wandered around but I had the chance to try the delightfully named "stinky tofu" which smells like a combination of, "Smelly socks, No- drains. Imagine a drain full of smelly socks." (Mike Hanson, 2010). Sounds horrendous, right? It wasn't too bad, actually, but it definitely isn't my first choice.

I was then introduced to a drink (I have no idea what the Chinese characters are) called jen ju nai cha or 'black balls milk tea' as Mike sang to me to get the right tones when I was ordering it, causing mass hysterics for the both of us. It's sweet, cold, milky tea with these weird chewy ball things in. I really like it. It looks a little like this...

It's kind of weird having to chew your drink, but it's very nice, yum yum, and is one of the very few things I can order in confidence at drinks places. Huzzah!

I am very sorry but because I left it so long that's all I can remember for now. More updates to come soon.

I promise!