Today Mrs. Hsia and her boyfriend Uncle Lee took me to the National Museum which holds a lot of Chinese relics which the Nationalists took with them when they left the Mainland when the Communists took over. It was quite a nice collection. My favorites was a reproduction of a Chinese office, and also the collection of curio boxes, some of which fold up or put together in amazingly intricate ways. Uncle Lee bought some souvenirs for me as well, one a collection of postcards and another a set of stamps or various artwork.
To get there we took first a bus and then a taxi. The transit system is very good in Taipei, with bus fares at around US$0.50. Even taxis are affordable. On the way back we took a bus and then a taxi again. On the bus a Japanese girl tried to ask me for help. She spoke English very well,
After we got home, Bonita came home and then she took me to the Snake Market were we saw a live snake slit open and drained of its blood. The blood and snake meat was then offered for sale. We decided to have a less exotic meal which included snails, raw pickled fish, goose liver, and a salad of potato and asparagus. Fortunately there were no pictures allowed of the snakes, so you guys will miss out on that. The snake market is also close to the red light district and Bonita pointed out one of the prostitutes walking through the market. We also tried a Thai fruit (I think it is a Rambutan) which is about the size of a apricot, has a spiny reddish exterior and inside has something like a large grape with a nut in the center. We also had some fresh coconut juice.
On the way back home we stopped at a famous noodle soup stand where we got a big bowl of thick soup for about US$1. The stand is run by a former actor and dispenses soup to a long line of waiting customers. Apparently it was lucky that we went there when he himself was serving food. Bonita also got some takeout to take home to the rest of the family.
After a while we went to bed as we needed to be up early tommorow.