Day 5: Beach and food

I'll start off with a night picture for the month long midsummer ghost festival.  This festival is very famous in Keelung.  It's a time for everyone to treat the ghosts, so people bring food, pray and celebrate the ghosts.  This particularly building shown below was set up for the occasion.

During the day, 6 of us went on a trip to Yilan, a popular beach where locals hang out and surf.  Here's the surprising thing.  Most of you know I don't know how to swim.  Guess what I did???  I surfed!!  I hung out where the water was about waist high, but it was just fine for surfing.  The waves were small, the water was warm and very salty.  I managed to catch a few good waves.  Standing and balancing isn't too difficult (to go straight that is).  The hardest part was finding the right wave and gaining enough speed to meet it.  It was fun and I never thought I would have ever done that (and not drown).

We had dinner at a traditional Taiwanese restaurant.  Lots of fish and different foods I've never had before, including shark.  The seafood is very fresh here and the price is low.

Sashimi seems to be everywhere for a fair price.  It's difficult to pass on such a delicious feast.

I also had taro, red bean and peanut ice cream, which is a special dessert in Taiwan.  Also on the list was Taiwanese sausage (super good, especially with a bite of garlic) and of course Taiwan beer and oolong tea.  There are lots of 'small eats' here for under 1 USD, but taste better than anything in the US.  I'm not sure how I'm gonna enjoy American food and prices when I return...