When I first started planning this trip I never even thought about Taiwan but how glad I am that I'm here and in the second biggest city of Taichung. I have been getting over food poisoning contracted in Malaysia and struggling since then to regain digestive normalcy and although the workaway project is beset by problems which I'm unsure how they are going to work out, the nine days that I have been here and able to get out and wander about have been very positive and enjoyable. The Taiwanese as a race are unbelievably hard working but once work is over they appear to be as determined to enjoy themselves as they are to work. Having lived in France for the last ten years and appreciated french cuisine it has come as a surprise to find that the Taiwanese have just as much appreciation of food and eating as the french albeit their supply method is street vendors rather than restaurants but for just a few euros one can eat really well with a wide variety of choice and tastes. (interestingly I have read that the Taiwanese diet is very low in fibre although generally they have a slim physique) As a race they are very much family orientated as were the Malaysian's and the phrase "the English prefer their pets to their children" has often gone through my mind! ..so far I have never seen a child being smacked shaken or scolded and yet children generally are extremely well behaved and polite to the extent that two young men of sixteen or so who I had approached to ask help with a map insisted on showing me to the bus stop ... getting on and then off when we had reached the appropriate street and then walking with me until I recognised the building where I am staying. Two days later I happened to get into conversation with a local man who was teaching at the high school where these two young men were students and I related this story to which he commented that their actions were not unique and the level of helpfulness they had shown was only what he would have expected them to do.
Today (Sunday) I have been to the Taichung botanical gardens which to quote a phrase has been "like an oasis of calm in the urban jungle" ... on the way I walked through a back street market with a difference being that not only was it jammed with people but scooters as well!
Three lanes of traffic on either side!
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