Our first destination was the Confucian temple. It turns out this was right next to where we had the little crabs the day before. We had brunch in one of the food standד and walked in. The temple is very, how shall I say it - Confucian. I’m kidding, it’s very nice, but there’s not much I can say. Here’s a couple of pictures. That must be worth around two thousand words these days.
After the temple we continued to wander around. The area around the temple is very touristy, with tons of shops selling pretty much the same Chinese souvenir things, like jade jewelry, chopsticks and good-luck Chinese knots (about which we shall talk more in a few days). Julia found hats that used to be worn by Chinese officials. She and her sister have been wanting these since childhood, so we bought two. Black ones, not hideous red like this one:
We then found something I have never seen before - a leatherman-like multi-tool that has a hammer. I just had to get it. Now I am the proud owner of this strange contraption:
We then went to the presidential palace, which has a rich history that includes being the place where Sun Yat-sen, first president of the Republic of China, was sworn.
We explored the grounds for quite a while, until we were kicked out at closing time. Then we left to the hotel to chill for a bit, had dinner, and went back to the bar next to the university to see the show. The show itself was o.k. - there was a house band, which was pretty good and three singers rotated to perform mostly Chinese, but some American covers. The real attraction was, of course, the crowd. Right at the center of the bar, a group of some 15 people were definitely celebrating something. It was easy to tell because they were all drinking way beyond their capacity while taking turns to pass out on the couch or run to the bathroom to throw up. Those capable of standing were either singing loudly along with the band, dancing ridiculously, or trying very hard to get each other laid.
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