Beach bison day today!!!
Got up real early to be out by 7:30am. 二叔 drove and took the coast line. There was a lot of wind turbines.
We left on time and arrived 20 mins before 9am.
The temple is so big! I wasn't expecting such a big temple.
The Mantee Inn was right across the road. 二叔 parked the car and we got out. The toilet was a bit hard to find as one end was under construction. I walked through a catering hall that had the lights off so it was dark and scary, but we got there lol.
After that I met up with 阿豪, a friend I made during the potehi fanevent last year. Hello!! We reported to the ManteeInn guys, but 阿豪's friend (a family of 5) were running late. There was quite a lot of people here today.
So we went out first. I paid for 二叔 $350ea. We got onto these 3 wheeled tuk-tuks that were very bumpy and very loud. Very loud... I now understand people in the military saying they ride a vehicle so bumpy it feels like their butt falls off at the end of the day. They took us to the beach which would have been about a 30-40 min walk. On the way you could see heaps of nets and oyster shells heaped on the side of the path, forgotten and no longer used.
When we arrived we got briefed and.... There was a bison at the beach! They told us to give them some personally space essentially. The one they did the briefing was a different bison to the one I rode on the cart later. The briefing was mostly in Taigi so I couldn't understand. 😭 阿豪 translated the main things for me. The first activity was that we got to dig for clams/cockles. They gave us these tools that looked like smooth rakes.
They told us to dig at the bamboo markers, about a fist size deep. I dug with 阿豪 slowly lol. We found quite a few! And ended up splitting up with 二叔. We took our time and ran out of untouched poles so dug at the ones a kid dug at cause they didn't dig deep enough. 😂 We found some that way.
Afterwards 二叔 found us and he managed to get way more than us???!?
There were heaps of like tiny crabs that we disturbed whilst digging.... Sorry...
After that ManteeInn treated us to seafood congee. It was really good. They were also roasting fresh oyster. They offered raw ones to some but I was worried I'd be allergic to raw, so only had the freshly roasted ones.
I noted that the frame they used to prop up the grill... Had barnacles on it so they must leave it fixed in place??
There's also a loo lol, to act as a washing bowl for the cockles. That's actually really smart cause it'll still retain sea water even if the tide goes out.
There's also dong gua cha, which which was lovely and sweet.
Then they started offering rides on the bison cart?? But I'm still not finishing eating! Felt so much pressure lol. I hurriedly finished my bowl and went for a ride.
Soooo cooool it's smoother than the tuk tuk (probably, since the beach is smooth), and we just went around in a small loop.
The bison is a 黃牛 and not a 水牛, as water bison are black. Their name is Coffee in Taigi! They are more tolerant so you can part their head... Pat their neck... Pat their back. Ahhhh I pat the head. They are so cute...
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| Bison at briefing (not Coffee) |
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| Bison at briefing (not Coffee), back shot |
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| Coffee |
And then they pissed. Hahahahha it was like a mini waterfall!! Quite a lot. What a rare moment. XDDD I got onto the cart and rode twice hehe hehe. The handler staff took photos of me.
Then I went back to have more congee and oyster lol. Yummy. Yummy.
We stood around and chatted for a bit, at some point the organiser asked about the other 5 people in our group (any later and the tide will come) and they tried to call the phone number I registered with but no answer. Sorry mate... Calls won't connect cause my parents swapped the Sim to a 5G and didn't tell me. 阿豪 called them and they said not far away. Must be the 3 kids made them late.
They came as the last group and they pretty much got a whole small section for clam/cockle digging all to themselves lol.
We stood and ate and chatted and then the organiser came back asked us how many people in our group, and to put us back onto the tuk tuk. Aww already? Okay...
The ride was as bumpy as we came. Once we got back they had provided us with several barrels of fresh water to rinse off and clean our clams/cockles. Thank youuuuu. Once we dropped our cockles off in the car, 二叔 said he'll sit and rest whilst 阿豪 and I went to have a look at the 普天宮.
阿豪 gifted me the 3D Pili Shang Bu Huan figure and the Maken Mokuroku from the special fan meeting event for the Finale. I thanked him awww and but didn't tell him I already had SBH. Maybe I can stick him in my car lol.
Since 阿豪 is an expert he lead the way to offer incense to the various deities. The lady at the service desk said that there are 5 incense pots so light 5 incense sticks. We went to each one and bowed/prayed. I don't know what you're supposed to say... So I just said hello and asked for health and peace. There are 3 floors but the 2nd floor doesn't have a hall for a deity. We finished on the 3rd floor, which was decorated in gold for the Emperor and Empress of the skies, the Sage of the Northern dipper and Sage of Southern Dipper. The 1st floor had Mazu, Wenchan, and Guandi, and a couple others. The only nd floor hallway had Guanshiyin.
We. Finished in the 3rd floor but had 1 incense left so asked the service desk lady on 3F where the last one was... It was on 1F on the side, for the 60 generals that take turns to be on watch, each year a different general.
Once done 阿豪 met up with his friend (the family of 5) outside and he got Bobby's old cage (his hamster) to pass onto his last friend. They chatted for a bit and said hi and introduced me to them. The lady chatted with me for a bit and then I excused myself to find 二叔 as he wasn't where we left him. He is in the car. I got my stamp book and went back to the temple to get the stamp I noticed on the way in. They have a stamp rally of the different temples in Fengyuan!
Then I walked back and decided to ask the Mantee Inn if they had a stamp, and 阿豪 joined up with me here. I told 二叔 still in his car and went across the road.
He asked for me and the staff asked the lead guide. Lead guide said he had one but will need to have a look for it.
Whilst we waited we watched the staff finish tie-ing the crab up expertly and neatly.
Lead guide came back out and said the blue ink dried out and had the red ink mud 印泥, and I managed to get a lovely stamp of the bison stop. The guide said stamps were trendy a while back and now they kinda died down. We thanked him and left - saying that I had heaps of fun. He seemed really happy.
We went back to car and discussed what next and where to meet in Lukang. We'll park at the 天后宮 and meet at big bil. 二叔 and I drove around a bit and decided to come back around to the first car park we saw that cost $80 for the whole day.
There was one park left under the canvas that's shaded and 二叔 had to park a few times to get the car in, it was a snug fit. Some staff doing work on the canvas helped direct him in.
After that, we met up at a big bil, and headed to lunch. I saw a shop called 品先蚵仔煎 with like 4.8 star rating on Google so we went there... And it was the worst in terms of covid safety. No HVAC, and the ppm was constantly in the 1800s. It was also smoky from the kitchen coming in. Dx
So I just did my best, didn't want to make too big a fuss. Minimised breathing and mask off time.
But the food was really good. The cockle soup was nice and clear. The 蚵仔煎 was a good balance of veges, oyster, and the starch was chewy but not tough or floury. Egg good. Sauce good. No wonder they have a high rating.
After we done we went to browse through the old street. But since it was a weekend it was sooooo crowded. I also got so overstimulated. We came to the first babu ice cream and bought it, then made our way to the little courtyard to eat it. I got mixed, plum, peanut flavour.
The babu kept dripping through the bottom of my cone despite me sucking on it continuously. There was a street artist performing, and 二叔 gave some coin.
After a break we continued, and got separated from 二叔 at some point. So 阿豪 and I just made our way slowly through.
The malt blowing candy uncle was still there!! A kid was having a go. It was so crowded I didn't get a chance to do it... Maybe next time. :')
We stopped at a couple of old houses and one was a tea shop which imported some really fascinating teas! Including one that was wrapped in balls within a bamboo leaf or similar. Different types of tea blocks.
Cool shit. The boss lady recommended a pu-er that doesn't stink, and it was glutinous rice flavoured. Since it was a small packet I bought one for $100 with 15 small blocks.
There were heaps of other souvenir type stores within old houses. One of them was an Old Timey Store. The shop lady chatted with us and told us a story about her toddlers when they were young, drawing on the painted walls and throwing talc everywhere "mum look it's snowing!" whilst being heavily pregnant with the next kid. She mentioned some of the woofer Taiwan shaped souvenirs were from a company that did production locally and from China, and then during the covid lockdowns the stock from China couldn't come in and the company went under as a result.
That's kinda sad, cause I feel like it's the same company that made my Sun Moon Lake souvenir.
We got to the end of the old street and I was pretty sore and done. There was a calligraphy art wall which we took a couple of selfies at, and started to head back. When we were almost at the parking lot, I wanted to eat 雞蛋糕，but there was none at the starting intersection. We found 狀元糕 instead and it was made fresh. They had a wooden mould hooked onto steam and pressure cooked. It's a rice cake delicacy flavoured with peanut or sesame.
At the same time a deity was being paraded and invited to a temple, and could see the line of worshippers were all wearing the same hat, so they must be from a society or group. They let off firecrackers 鞭炮 and it was SO LOUD especially echoing in the street in between the buildings. No wonder they used this to scare off monster Nian for new years.
The we headed back, and 阿豪 dropped me off at the parking lot. We said good bye! It was a fun day but I was tireeeeed. Saved 2 rice cakes for 二叔.
I feel asleep on the ride back home.
For dinner 二叔 took me a ramen shop... I was too tired to argue and hated the indoors, but the ppm was just below yellow - due to the kitchen keeping the big extractor fans on all the time, I bet! Ramen wasn't bad.
Then in the evening I finished my postcards and went to bed early as I had a fatigue headache!
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