Ching Ching Island

Ah, I’m home and I survived the outing. Didn’t get home until 11:10 p.m. Yvonne called to see where I was right as the elevator reached our floor. So, the activity was fun. I got on the ferry and crossed to the island. (That is my guess at the spelling. I tried to get Yvonne to spell it and she wouldn’t.) It took a while and some walking to realize I was at the wrong part of the island. I had the cell number of a guy named James. We talked and he said someone was coming to pick me up. So I took a seat. I was right by the fresh fish market. Yum! It actually didn’t smell too bad.

James arrived on a scooter and we rode back to where everyone else was. I was happy to be found. It’s scary to think you’re lost somewhere and have no way to fix the situation. I could have gotten back on the ferry, but how would I call a taxi once I was back on the mainland? Yeah, small problem. Plus I’d paid $100 NT for the activity.

The activity was fun. We rode double bikes around the island and tried to find things that someone had taken a picture of. A “where’s this picture?” game. I shared a bike with Thomas (see pic). Oh, I was about an hour and a half late. Not fully my fault! Here’s something interesting: James came to Taiwan for a year to practice his Chinese. He’s been here for 7 years and just bought a house. Wow!

Once it got dark, well at 7 o’clock the entire group met back up. There were about 70 people, James guessed (he helped organize it). Then they gave us a traditional Taiwanese dessert. Boy was that interesting! It had a bitter taste and I nearly gagged on every bite. James was a good friend and walked away from the group with me so I could dump it down a drain. :)

Then I left with 3 people who are in the 6th ward. They were my ride home. And again, an interesting experience. They said we were going to dinner. I figured I’d be home by 9 or so. Wrong! We didn’t get to the restaurant until 9:20. I felt like we were driving in circles. We did pass the Love River which is the famous tourist site in Kaohsiung. Cool. Dinner was Japanese. I had soup. The meat was good. I barely ate half of it, but said I was full (I was just tired and ready to be home!) So around 10 we left the restaurant and headed home. Sorta. We had to drop one girl at a bus station (at least I think that is what it was) and 2 others at their apartment. Then the guy drove me home. I was totally dozing and woke up a few blocks from my apartment.

I was home! Yeah. One more tidbit: During our drive to the mall, Yvonne invited me to Kenting the first weekend of August. She’s going down with some friends to support a BYU-Hawaii friend who is competing in a surfing competition. Should be fun!! It is in the south and is a popular beach area. Yvonne knows how to boogie board and I’m game to try it out.