The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break." - Chinese Proverb
We went to the National Palace Museum which had a lot of pretty artifacts, but they didn't allow picture taking inside. :( I wish I could show you some of the ceramics, paintings, calligraphy, gems, jewelry, and sculptures they had inside. The place was filled with tourists, especially Japanese ones. I think I heard more Japanese than Mandarin while going around!
Ya-chen taught me this term while we were looking at the ceramic items at the museum: 陶冶心性 which means to cultivate or improve oneself. It could be a skill like playing an instrument or learning a new language. I will make this my everyday mantra - I should keep doing things that will make me a better person.
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| Food (from famous stores) in the Longshan Temple area |
We had lunch in the area surrounding the Longshan Temple. Interestingly, the place was also known for (old) prostitutes. In Ya-chen's words: "Young prostitutes advertise themselves online, while the older ones who don't know how to use the internet can be found here. Look for the girls who dress strangely and you'll know." And we really did see a handful of older women in disturbing (e.g. revealing, shiny, inappropriate) clothes even if we were just there for lunch. Let me share with you a trivia I just thought of myself. Longshan means "Dragon Mountain" and in Korean it translates to 용산 (Yongsan). It happens to be area in Seoul known for the US base, a spa, an electronics market and... its red light district. Is this coincidence or what? (I wonder if there's a place called Dragon Mountain/Hill in Manila...)
Inside the temple, there where lots of people who made offerings, burned incense sticks, asked advice from the gods and took pictures (well, foreigners mostly). At that moment I was really thankful that I went with a local, or I would just end up taking pictures and not understand what was going on. Ya-chen and I did 拜拜 (bai bai) or offering of incense sticks to seven different gods. They had different functions - from health to taking exams and love. We spent a little more time with the god of love 月老神君 so I can ask for a 紅線 (red string) which can help me meet "the one". I held the two red moon shaped wooden blocks and introduced myself and my situation to the god. I dropped them on the ground three times and got three consecutive "yes" (one facing up, one facing down), so I was allowed to get a red string. Thank you, god of love! I think the god showed mercy because I haven't had a boyfriend... ever. I also tried to ask for advice from another god, but I got a no. I guess you can't be too lucky in one day.
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| a "yes", me with my red string, the god of love's temple (so busy, right?) |
If you want to get your own red string at the Longshan Temple, there's a detailed explanation in Chinese here.
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| Sunset along the highway! |
After the trip to the Longshan Temple, it was time to go back home so I got my things from Ya-chen's house and took a bus to get back to the Guanxi Township area. When I got home, I watched little brother cooking and Uncle singing with a customer. Is it sad that the first time I get to "karaoke" here is with these two ahjussis? I did not know ANY of the songs they sang, but I just sang 3 modern songs myself, including "Listen to Mother's Words" which the ahjussi customer also happened to know! ㅋㅋ
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| The little brother's cooking skills |
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| A little karaoke session |
I do believe in that red string myself. Out of the billions of people in the world, it's amazing if you even get the chance to meet - just like how I ended up choosing Taiwan and becoming part of this family in the Cloud and Tea Leisure farm for two months. Do you believe in the red string of fate?
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