I went to a Buddhist temple!

Last night we went to Danshui- which is a fisherman's wharf in Taipei. It smelled just like the bay/fisherman's wharf at home! Go figure : ) There were tons of shops lined up and down the bay. They had a huge white bridge built across the bay from wharf to wharf that we took pictures on. We ate dinner at a restaurant as well as street vendors. Eileen tried birds egg (and loved it), pigs blood (didn't particularly enjoyed it, said it tasted like rice but she prefers just eating rice). I tried a sort of dried plum tea that I immediately spit out by accident, because it tasted like the smell of old asian people's houses (to some people that made a lot of sense). We also had a soft serve cone that was about a foot in length. We played balloon darts and I hit 2! As a group we won two plastic blow up hammers that Eileen is going to give to the kids she babysits ( I kept hitting her with it, it makes a squeaky noise). I bought really cool wooden postcards that have images on them, they can actually be mailed! Before we went to Danshui we went to a mall that was shaped like a huge ball. It is the largest ball-shaped mall in the world. It is actually really cool and I bought an awesome sword there!
Today we went to Longshan temple which is Buddhist. Everyone was burning incense and walking around with it and praying. There were seperate statues at different places and each statue was for a different purpose. One was for education, and there were others but the most crowded statue was the one you pray to to find your soulmate :) We arrived at the temple during a mass time so everyone was chanting/singing/praying and kneeling. Eileen and I played a game in the temple which is where you have two red crescent shaped pieces of wood. You put them together, make a wish, and then drop them. If they land a certain way then your wish comes true. I got it on the first try! Eileen didn't. : ) haha, later we went to a museum of sorts called "Taiwan Storyland." Its an underground museum built to show the way Taiwan looked about sixty years ago (when Japan still ruled it). There were old shops, old toys, classrooms, an old movie theater, and old games they used to play. We played a game of darts, ring toss, and one where you pull a string with toys attached (the strings look all tangled), and you get the toy at the bottom of the string you pull. I kept winning dried fish and it looked gross so I gave it back and got candy instead : ) After the museum we went to the Shilin nightmarket. It is the first and biggest night market in Taiwan. They have tons of shops, food, and tons of people! It was super crowded. Afterwards we went to get mango shaved ice (our favorite), and I rode on the back of her cousins scooter thing. We went about 25 mph, it wasn't that scary because everyone else in the city was on one too! Now we are at her cousin's house about to go to bed. Tommorow we are going to an outdoor waterpark.
Zai-jian! Love, Kristen : )