10/20/10 - 10/22/10 (luzhou)

Luzhou – Sun Moon Lake – Taichung – Luzhou

With the typhoon passing through it seemed the only place least affected by it was central Taiwan so we decided to take a road trip to Sun Moon Lake, another popular destination among the tourists. Arnold was able to get a few days off work and navigated the three and a half hour drive down south.

Before we reached Sun Moon Lake we stopped at a temple that worshipped Con Ming. Grace and Arnold have been coming to this temple for over ten years and are avid believers in Con Ming. This is the only temple in Taiwan that is dedicated to worshipping Con Ming. He is known for his cleverness and intellect and was a key strategist in many battles during the dynasty era. Whenever Grace and Arnold are faced with a serious dilemma they will make the drive down to the temple to seek Con Ming’s advice. Jon decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask Con Ming for some career advice. First Jon had to write his name, contact information, and question on a sheet of paper. Then he stated his question at an altar to a Con Ming statue and placed the paper over some incense three times clockwise. Then he burned the paper, which symbolized him sending the question to Con Ming. We waited five minutes before Jon approached the altar again and shook a can filled with wooden sticks, each with a number. He picked a stick and dropped a pair of crescent shaped wooden blocks on the floor. He had to get one block facing up and one facing down three times in a row. If he did so then that meant the number on the stick was Con Ming’s answer. If he got both blocks facing up or down then he had to shake the can and select another stick and repeat the process. Jon went through the process several times before he received an answer. By this time he had drawn quite a crowd since there aren’t many foreigners who visit the temple, let alone ask Con Ming questions. The answer was a bit puzzling and we learned that there is a certain way we are supposed to phrase the question so Jon decided to ask another question. This time he received an answer rather quickly. By this time we had spent a couple of hours at the temple so we decided to head to the lake allowing Jon to ponder the answers he received.

We grabbed dinner at a nearby restaurant before checking into a hotel. Then we visited a matchmaker temple where we distracted Jon with filming opportunities while I secretly asked if Jon was a good partner. Luckily the answer came out to Jon’s favor. It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel. Earlier in the day we stopped at a convenience store and bought the game, Uno. Grace and Arnold had never played it before. We spent the next few hours having a great time playing Uno and Jon learned how to say red, green, blue, and yellow in Mandarin.

We woke up early the next day to head to the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village featuring all fourteen Taiwanese tribes. The village also included a small amusement park with water and roller coaster rides. To get to the village we took a boat crossing the lake and then a gondola over a mountain. The ride provided a beautiful view of the lake. By the time we arrived at the park it was drizzling so there wasn’t much opportunity for photos. The upper portion of the park was divided into different areas each featuring a tribe with artifacts and life size manikins illustrating tribal life. We were able to catch two shows featuring tribal music and dancing. We have been introduced to various aboriginal tribes throughout Southeast Asia and have noticed that many, if not all, use bright colors and similar patterns on their clothing. In the afternoon the sun peeked out for a little and Jon and I relived our teenager days by riding on a few roller coasters. Our last ride was the Mayan roller coaster, which included some corkscrew and upside down turns. We both left the ride with headaches and feeling nauseated. I remember those rides being fun but not anymore.

We were planning on staying at the lake for two nights but after a day we felt that we had explored the area. The constant cloudy weather and rain wasn’t helping Jon’s filming so we decided to visit my aunt and spend the night at her house in Taichung, which was on the way home. I hadn’t seen my aunt in several years and it took her a minute to recognize me. She, on the other hand, hadn’t changed a bit and looked great. She is my mother’s sister and an exact older version of my mom. While we were catching up she brought out a 30-year old bottle of wine made from grapes for Arnold and Jon to taste. The wine is clear and very strong. The grapes came from her orchard and she has been aging it in her closet for the last 30 years.

The next day she insisted on cooking an early lunch for us before we headed over to my other aunt’s house. For someone who just turned eighty she certainly hasn’t lost her cooking skills. We decided since it was still early in the day we would take a short drive with my cousin to check out their orchard. My aunt has been a farmer ever since I can remember. They used to grow grapes and oranges and now persimmons. Grace remembers playing in the orchard as a little girl. As we were leaving our aunt’s house she gave Arnold the bottle of wine, which was very sentimental since it was her last bottle.

We tried contacting our other aunt but she wasn’t home. It was a last minute decision to visit my aunts so they didn’t know we were coming. We decided to head home and called her in the evening to catch up. It was wonderful seeing my extended family and makes me want to return home more often.