Happy Chinese New Year: shinyi quiler

A happy Chinese New Year to one and all!
We spent this evening (CNYEve) at the house of Wallace - our friend and landlord, after narrowly escaping our excitable neighbour by promising to go for dinner there the next day. The people of Taiwan believe that the the dirt of the previous year should be washed away before celebrating the new year... not to do so is considered unlucky. And so on route to Wallace's house I was amazed by the fact that every car on the roadside was sparklingly clean... and the houses were opened out onto the street with small fires burning paper money and tables on the street laden with food as offerings to the Gods. Not being washed in a long, the Pascal van sped along the road: painting an unlucky streak across the town.

Wallace and his father were in the business of producing paper dyes. I'd seen his turbo charged Mini Cooper before and assumed that the house would be a palace. It was however a fairly modest flat... very comfortable. There were seven of us for dinner, his wife, brother and his parents. The evening started with intense Chinese tea in tiny cups. Then paper money was burnt in front of the house for a fortuitous new year. The family then went to their shrine (no house is complete without one) upstairs to pray before we joined them round the kitchen dinner table. Expecting Taiwanese cuisine, I was a little apprehensive as they opened up the pots... memories of my first 'Taiwan' meal last year at our neighbours house... not knowing what to eat how to eat it. However my fears were quelled when I realised i knew what everything was - that's a sign you've been in a country too long! I even answered one of Pascals questions.

Happily everything was chopstick friendly... so I followed suit and stuck in. Octopus, chicken, duck, shrimps, a medley of meat and veg soup, Taiwanese cake... made from rice and raddish, noodles, cauliflower (my first in a year), dried fish eggs, bamboo, washed down with a whiskey type drink and more tea. The whole meal went down without much incident... with the exception of our host offering soup; I held out my bowl and realised it wasnt the soup bowl... I made to swap - but too late - hot soup in my lap! Not to worry.
After dinner we went to see Wallace's wife's family as it was her first New Year away from home. Her whole family were there including her toddler nephew who befriended me and as an offer of eternal friendship made a growing pile of candy, nuts and toys until I was burried under everything he owned. I was touched.
The tradition at Chinese New Year is for families to spend the evening gambling. Fortunately for my finances - we have to get up early tomorrow, so we headed home for an early night.

Tomorrow: New Years Day

Well so much for the early night. Having done little but sleep, eat and drink caffeine yesterday; I think I may have got 2 hours sleep a most. Still after a shower and a coffee I perked up pretty quickly and was wondering what the Outdoor Shop guy had planned for our morning cycle.
Adam (American, works at Joy school with Sam) was joining us. We all met at the shop, each wondering how fit the rest of the party were... looking for tell tale signs: Adam and Hike Shop man were both kitted out in lycra and had obviously spent more on their bikes. On the way down I'd been thinking 'the Hike Shop man was over 50 - we can't be going that quickly!' However he turned up with rippling legs sturdy enough to stop a rhino charge.
We set off cruising at a relaxed 15mph. He led us down a series of raised interlinking roads through the rice paddies. As I got my bearings, I remembered a killer road that went up to the temple to the right... I told Adam about it and how I was glad we weren't doing that today.
On the flat I was trailing behind thanks to the friction on my mountain tred wheels... but as our guide turned without warning towards the temple road of doom the tables turned. We stopped to get a swig of water before we took on the climb, much to the enjoyment of many Taiwanese families who were pointing at and taking photos of us, they didn't bat an eyelid however at the black pig roaming the carpark... that was perfectly normal He let me past and agreed to meet us at the temple at the top. I paced myself knowing how it had killed me the last time I'd tried it... but my bike still got to the top first... I had planned to cycle and have a rest where i usually go... but Chinese New Year had turned the Temple into a Honey Pot to hundreds of Taiwanese who wanted to make the best start of the New Year. When the others caught up, we dismounted and pushed ourway through the crowds. A large stage and PA system had been erected where singers and minor celebraties were wishing the best for everyone as loudly as they could. To our delight, our guide informed us that free food was avaible as it is every New Year. It wasn't bad either... noodle medley. Hike Shop man then gave us two options: back to Yuanlin or on to Jiji and back via Nantou. We had the day to use, so we decided to go on to Jiji... he gave us directions but said he was heading back to Yuanlin: fair enough.
The road down to Jiji required little effort in the way of cycling: rolling rollig rolling. As we got closer we saw that a lot of people had had the same idea. The traffic was miles long and only in our direction. We stopped so that Pascal could get a coffee fix. Iced coffee: 2.50! What a rip off! Probably just New Year prices. When we finally got to Jiji it was so packed and full of cars that we decided not to hang around and started to head back.
We took a major road to Nantou which was a bit fumey from the amount of transport on it but when we turned off in Nantou onto the mountain road 139... it rose up out of the congestion and would have been a nice ride, were it not for the incline. I had to keep my mind off the road to prevent myself giving up... it just kept going... I'd lost the other two further down... my knees started to feel jelly-like and then on my left I recognised the temple that I passed on my morning cycles... before long I was sat on a bench and I could see the other two approaching... happily it was all downhill from that point.