danshui: a day of tourism

today mel's friends rae & an (both natives of Taiwan) took us to Danshui, which is a little city along the Danshui River in Northern Taiwan. it had the same feel as a boardwalk, with little arcades, food stands, & souvenir shops along the water. of course, the food was very different than cotton candy and candied apples and the souvenirs were mostly hello kitty, little buddhas, & jewelry (completely tailored towards tourism).

most of the food was seafood, but we tried some interesting foods

some kind of seafood

more seafood (squid?)

fruit>cotton candy

bird eggs: i think quail bc i used to eat this as a kid
whenever i was in London & it tastes really similar

hardened eggs 

rae bought a carton

stewed 7 times, actually really good :)

of course mel got a corndog 

baby yan-yan-so cute! 

apparently Danshui is famous for one dish (even though rae & an warned us it wasn't that good)...we still got it & yeahhh...not very good. it's those clear noodles inside a tofu cake in this broth that i didn't like. glad i tried it though.

don't know the name of the shop, but here it is

bleh, even looks weird

i can see why it's a touristy spot-such pretty scenery!!

on&off rain

love the clouds

creepin

dunno if he knew i was taking a pic of him, but i think he's posing

stray dog :((( 

an, mel, rae, & chris

even the bathrooms are cute!

praying for more fishies 

fishing is big here, so there is a ritual where fishers buy this "money" (not real money, but fake money for the sole purpose of burning) to call upon the ancestors to help them catch fish...sounds like something right outta mulan  :p

burning of this "money" 

grass for an ashtray 

clearly didn't see the "no photo" sign

just two kids, playing on the playground...

cutieeee

chubbay cheeksss

 taiwanese sex shop (obviously thought of you gianna...)

variety of flavors & colors

i guess this is a really famous pineapple cake box, filled with condoms

ice cube tray

thought this was cute :)

first time using a squatting bathroom :/

we then went to the hello kitty cafe, but i don't have time to write about that yet!! we are already late for Luxy (link to their fb page), one of the more popular clubs...not sure what to expect. tonight is electro night, big fan, but don't know if that means there is a dj or what. ferry corsten was there last month and paul van dyk is spinning in september, but don't think tonight is anything special. it is, however, lady's night so we get in fo free! it's times like this that make me thankful that i live in san diego (got to see both ferry corsten & paul van dyk @ fluxx)...ill write about it laterr!!! ill probably have a birds eye view, wearing heals n all hehe :)