Living in a Kindergarden 幼稚园

I spend the last 3 days (and the next day) living in a kindergarden -- literally inside one. My friend Vicky (also a Canadian) and her family live in a nice cozy house in the suburb town of Wan Dan (万丹), nearby Ping Dong City (屏东市), in Ping Dong County (屏东县). They are the mastermind behind these seriously playful grounds, home to some hundreds of pre-school kids and their midget play things, as well as a sizeable farm area where kids are taught to grow vegies and fruits (corns, mango, etc). Rabbits, frogs, geckos, also have their homes here.

I had eaten so much here! Look at all these dishes! Vicky's family sure treats their guest well! Taiwanese vegetables are incredibly tasty. In fact I never knew Bambooo shoots (竹笋) and baby asparagus can taste like that. Especially those bamboo shoots -- the texture is more like very soft radish, but slightly sweet and with a touch of bamboo taste. Only in Taiwan have I tasted bamboo this tender.

So these days at Vicky's house my life resembles that of a pig -- eat-sleep-repeat -- except I also blog, get massages, watch movies. After work each day Vicky drives me arount to try local delicacies. Like this local version of (1 of 1 million versions of) Taiwanese "Ice". A so called "Cold-Hot-Ice", where ice crubs cover an inside core of hot soft, round thingies -- Taiwanese are especially good at making things of this shape and texture!

One particularly interesting experience is Vicky's taking me to her grandparents Bing Lang (槟榔) farm. We went there to take all the left over food (too much food due to my presence) to feed their dogs.

Ok what is Bing Lang (槟榔)? I suspect it doesn't grow in many places, if any, outside Taiwan. It's a tiny little fruit/seed like thing (likes of a lotus sead) with green enclosing, and green leaves. The way they prepare it is spread some magic white spread (supposely slightly alcoholic) on the leaf, fold the leaf, then wrap the "fruit". How does one consume such a thing? Well, interestingly enough, you bite of the head then chew it. Yes, like chewing gum. The locals often explain it as Taiwanese chewing gum. Don't forget to spit out the first mouthful of juices 'cause that has some strong "effects".

This Bing Lang is known as one of the "miracles" of Taiwan. Truckers and construction workers who work the mountains especially love it: It's very light in weight; stimulates saliva (thereby relieving thirst); it's a stimulant; and, of course, somewhat addictive.

What I like most about Bing Lang is the very interesting fact that the juice from the "fruit" mixes with human saliva and creates a red substance. So in case you see a Taiwanese local spitting blood, chances are they're chewing "gum".

Chewing Bing Lang will make you feel warm. Kind of like alcohol. People tell me in the winter this is an awesome sensation, especially before jumping on you scooter in the moist coolness of January.

So anyways, Vicky grandpa and uncles grow this stuff -- lots of it. They even have big machines to sort and process them. Vicky tells Uncle that I'm curious about Bing Lang, and Uncle teaches me the know-hows. Ok... Then I pretend to be a vampire and took this photo.

Afterward I had a good chat with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma tells me to be careful wondering around like this ... I bid them farewell in a short while, leaving Uncle and the dogs to guard the crops from thieves overnight.

I want to thank Vicky and her family for a wonderful 4 days in the country side with the kids, especially with her 5-year-old little brother, who is so hyper even (actually, especially) after mid night, and always begs me to play with him. What does he want to play? It's usually either, "Let's fight!", or "Race to the kitchen" or, "Wrap me up in a blanket and move me somewhere else". Haha... Chi-An: I'll be back to play with you more soon.

And Vicky, thank you!!!

And, Happy Birthday!!!

And, let me show you around HK, Macau, and Mainland.

Heading off tomorrow morning to Taitung (台东), then journeying on to Green Island (绿岛)!