We'll stop the flames at dawn, but I keep burning on and on....

The finest line divides a night well spent from a waste of time....unless you're in Taipei for the first time. Then you can do pretty much anything you want and your time spent is worthwhile.

Also I don't have wireless internet access, so I won't be able to upload pictures yet. But I have plenty in mind for these posts, and will have to retroactively add them.

Making a long story short, I made the 13 hour flight just fine and didn't sleep at all. I then went to my host family's home in Taipei and met them for the first time. They prepared a lovely meal of Thai style soup, Lamb Leg, pasta, and other sides. Then the drinking began. I probably had five or six beers, and began mixing them with Sprite and some sort of Chinese spirit, though I was unable to read the bottle. Met my family and met some of their friends, so it was a good night. I then slept a very short while and woke up at 6 AM Taiwan time ready for more.

We went to breakfast and then the famous museum. I learned about the event where the GMD and Chiang Kai-Shek took the artifacts and rare treasures from the mainland when the CCP came to power under Mao in 1949. Before too long, I realized that I was looking at these treasures-treaties from the Opium Wars with European nations and the US, the Jade Cabbage, and other ancient priceless bronze works. Truly amazing. I even saw FDR's signature on a document from the US. Pretty remarkable.

In the afternoon, we went out to lunch and to a place along the river in the bay. We walked around and I tried strange new foods, almond milk, and then we caught the ferry to the other side, a place ironically called BaLi.

In the evening, we stopped for dinner at a Dumplings restaurant. There, I tried two new Taiwanese delicacies-Pig blood rice cake, and Duck Egg, also known as Century Egg to culinary enthusiasts. The pig blood cake really wasn't bad, mostly just tasted like rice. The duck egg tasted strange, but not really bad. Certainly unlike anything I'd ever tried before. Let's just say it won't replace bacon and eggs in my diet.

We then went to the Chinese Cultural University, where my host father works. He had the keys and the place was deserted, so I had a professional class spa to myself, complete with jet massage underwater chairs of various varieties. Oh and then I had a massage in a massage chair.

Then we went home and had some Jim Beam/coke and Bacardi/coke. My host brothers turned red in the face as they drank it, and then I fell asleep.

Today we are going to Wulai, and tomorrow to Ilan, Hsinchu. Time to keep this dream alive.