SATURDAY, MARCH 12, 2016
Transportation and Getting Around
The FETs in Miaoli wanted to do a trip together and they decided to go to Lukang. I went and dragged Tracy with me, haha. We met in Miaoli and drove down to Changhua County. It’s about 1.5 hours away. Public transportation to Lukang is not really convenient, so we joined the other teachers.
I had never heard of Lukang, but my co workers said it was a lot of fun and that there’s a lot to do there. She gave me this whole list. Once you’re there, everything is within walking distance.
Tienhou Temple
We get off the bus and immediately we hear bells and drums from a temple on Lukang old street. Old streets in Taiwan are like daytime night markets. There’s food, souvenirs, etc. So we’re at the temple, and there’s gods in all sorts of forms. There are volunteers holding “gods,” people on stilts, people pushing around carts. Definitely one of the strangest things I’ve seen in Taiwan. I have absolutely no idea what it was, but it was kind of crazy standing in the middle of it all. Behind us someone was setting off fireworks. There was a lady, man, and elderly man waving swords at one another, while people pushed a cart back and forth on the side.
After the “ceremony” ended and the area cleared a bit, we went inside the temple to take a look. It turned out to be huge with a whole second floor in the back.
Paper Lanterns
We continued walking down the street. If you ever wanted to buy paper lanterns, Lukang is the place to do it. We walked by the more famous shop, called Wu Tun-Hou Lantern Shop and got to see him paint a lantern. It’s so pretty! Tracy and I ended up buying paper lanterns at another lantern shop. They have all different sizes and colors. Some come with a tassle. I wished I had brought more. They’re great for decoration. If I remember correctly, I bought mine for 100 NT. Later on, Tracy and I painted our lanterns, turning our purchases into a fun activity.
Hot Pot
There’s a lot of food stands on the street and seafood restaurants, so you’ll love it if you’re into seafood. Tracy and I aren’t particularly fond of seafood, so we ate at this hot pot restaurant. It was pretty good. It was about 200 NT per person, depending on the entree you order. It’s not all you can eat, but they have a lot of ingredients you can use to mix your own sauce.
Breast Touching Alley
I can now say I’ve been to the narrowest alley in Taiwan. It’s very narrow that when two people passed, their breasts would touch. Naturally, Tracy and I had to try it out. It’s a pretty cool place to see. Halfway through the alley, there’s a space off to the right that was selling crafts and they had a couple of stamps for those collect them like I do.
Longshan Temple
I absolutely loved this temple. It’s a wooden temple, which is different from what we normally saw and I just found it really pretty. I guess the word I would use to describe Longshan Temple is “organic.” There were people playing instruments and singing.
Wenkai Academy
After Longshan Temple we walked to Wenkai Academy. The academy is connected to Wu Temple and Wenchang Temple. I don’t really know much of the area, but the buildings were interesting. I liked the circular doorways and the colors they used to paint the temples and the academy. Wenkai Academy is about a 20 minute walk from where we started at Tienhou Temple. We rushed back to Tienhou Temple to catch our bus.
Squares
For dinner, Tracy and I went to Hsinchu to eat. We ended up going to Square’s which serves the best hamburgers in Taiwan according to many of my friends.
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| Honey Mustard Chicken Tender burger 🙂 |
