1/6/23
Anyone who is sane loves a good beach vacay. There is something in it for everyone- water, sun, tourist shops, seafood, claw machines, or even just an air conditioned room where you can read a good book. From yesterday evening until late this morning we have gotten a mini vacation in Kenting on our research trip. At 9am we went on a short walk to a beach near the hotel. IT WAS GORGEOUS but I took only a few pictures because I was very eager to jump in the ocean. Sadly, the red flag was up and we were forced to retreat back to the sandy beach instead of enjoying the bath-like water. The baby sea turtles must have been thinking the same thing as us because we saw several of them walking to the ocean (SO cute).
After the beach, we ate lunch at a Tex-Mex restaurant called Smokey Joes. This was definitely an interesting experience filled with average “American food” and inappropriate caricatures (so basically could have been any restaurant in the US). I guess it was nice to eat some spaghetti.
The 4 hour bus ride ate up the majority of the day but was made the most of! Our newly formed traveling acapella group got some much needed practice in the back of the bus while our loyal followers listened up front. (shout out to Ellie for being the only one of us that can harmonize)
We landed in Chishang at about 4 and stopped in a little museum store that sold rice products. Chishang is home to many beautiful rice fields and has become known for their rice. They have a festival every year where they invite the dance group that we saw on 5/28 to do a rice dance. After the store, we got to explore the rice fields and met many snails along the way (some of us got closer than others).
To finish the day, we ate a delicious dinner with super special desserts disguised as mushrooms. In order to show our appreciation for the chef, our acapella group gave our first ever performance to an outside audience. In my biased opinion, it was a spectacular debut.
Thanks for tuning in!
