Spring Break in Taiwan: Day 8

Yesterday the Park Bruin Pack went on a whirlwind tour of the area around Taiwan’s famous Sun Moon Lake, a gorgeous, jewel colored, man made lake in the Nano area in central Taiwan. We stopped at a mix of small shopping districts (each looking like they were carved out of a major city and moved overnight) and century old Taoist and Buddhist temples.

The first stop was one such small shopping district, where I ate Taiwan famous number 18 black tea ice cream and a strawberry mochi-esk doughnut. I had to force myself not to buy more tea, and instead tortured myself by browsing a local pottery store (again, the itch to get back in the studio came back so strong, but this time it was more like a perpetual creative hunger). We then briefly visited the Sun Moon Lake visitor center, which I had also visited last summer with NSLI-Y. I was particularly excited because I had promised myself that I’d get the chance to buy the matcha ice cream, but as luck would have it, our stop only included time for about 2 pictures and a bathroom break. So unfortunately I’ll have to return to Taiwan specifically for this place’s matcha ice cream. Sorry.

We then visited a small Buddhist temple that I had also been to last summer. Again, our stops were quick, but the views are gorgeous and I had some wonderful introspective moments about creating new memories with different friends. Again, I’ll have to come back to Taiwan to really understand how those things stuck in my memory. We then went to the shopping town/district where the NSLI-Y cohort last summer spent our night. It was interesting to come back in the day to explore where I had really only been at night as almost every shop on Main Street was different. But again, it’s so wonderful mixing old happy memories with new happy moments. Next was another NSLI-Y visit, to one of the most large and gorgeous temples I have ever seen. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves, but I also bought a lovely pair of earrings.

And just like that, we were homeward bound. Each stop we took couldn’t have been more than 40 minutes, and I am so lucky that I had the opportunity to explore these places in more detail previously, because really I was having memory lane trips instead of trying to cram as much history and culture into my head as possible.

After the two hour drive back to Taichung, the excitement didn’t stop. Instead the entire group and our host buddies went to hotpot together. The food was excellent (and seemingly endless) and afterwards we hung out at one of the tables. The afterwards was brief because the meal itself took just under three hours, which was honestly perfect. Meals eaten out here are usually very, very long, but in my opinion there’s nothing better than food and long conversations, so mixing the two is divine.

Catch up writing is no fun, but these last few days of the trip have been amazing, and really have cemented the need for me to return to Taiwan. Goodnight and good morning.