Friday 20th January 2012
Had a great day.
8.30am Chen Guan-Ru (my mate Chen) picked me up outside the hotel and we drove south to LuKang. Chen brought along his daughter, Sue, I think for support in English translation, really sweet kid. Chen apologised for his lack of grasp of English, I tried to explain that in that context I would be obliged to a jail sentence for my lack of Taiwanese!
I should say that Chen drove. I found this another very scary experience, Chen was a good driver but it felt as though I was in a “video game”. There were cars randomly changing lanes, scooters flying in from all directions……like you were meant to shoot them down! Everyone drove so close and so fast. For the first ten minutes it was completely unnerving, after that I was like….Chen, take him out! Mentally I was shaking my fist and gesturing to them, "Suckers……..you got nothing, with your scooter moves…..”
Chen lives in Taichung so he knows the roads well. In a completely delusional moment back in Wales I had contemplated hiring a car to drive from Taichung to Lukang (about 50 mins drive). I reckon I would have made about 170 yards before I would have been forced to pull over and sit shivering in the car waiting for assistance.
We arrived at the Research Station in good time and Chen ushered me into his office for a 'coffee', poor Sue had to wait in the car. I was presented with a can of cold “Dark Bean” coffee which was surprisingly nice.
For the next hour and a half Chen showed me around his research station including:
· Genetic research for breeding native endangered and commercially important species
· Research on domestic river populations and exotic fish species
· Breeding and stock enhancement for Japanese eel
· Development of aquaculture techniques
· Studies on fish nutrition
· Disease treatment
There are no doubt other things that I have missed out! We had a break for Oolong tea and then continued the tour.
Finally Chen suggested lunch in the centre of LuKang. He took Sue and I to a 'traditional' Taiwan restaurant. I really enjoyed it….nice dim sum, soup and a vegetable like choi sum. I tried to pay but Chen would not let me…..so kind.
I had a pleasant surprise in the afternoon ... Chen had arranged a 'practical' for me. He had arranged for his students (and me) to anaesthetise, tag and inject hormones into adult Japanese eels. This was awesome, what I had come to learn! I managed to tag the eel without any mishaps.
After the practical session we headed back to his office for some tea and wrap up sessions where I made some notes about everything I had learned. Chen was on the phone for a few minutes making various calls then he called me over and passed the receiver to me….. he had only arranged for the Director of the Institute, Dr Fu Gaung Li, to speak to me! What a lovely gesture.
At about 3.30 we headed home, Chen said we were going to stop at a famous glass factory on the way back ... the Taiwan Glass Gallery. I didn't know what to expect but it was a really interesting place. Every imaginable object or ornament you could think of were there, together with displays of all different types and shapes of glass. I bought a couple of gifts and then we headed off.
I thought Chen was going to drop me off at the hotel but he took me home to meet his wife, a very sweet lady who was a primary school teacher. The houses where Chen lived were packed tightly together but they had a lovely house in a nice area, in downtown Taichung. Sue, Chen’s daughter took me across the street to the bookstore to find some postcards and a couple of Chinese New Year lanterns.
After that, I thought we would be heading back to the hotel but Chen’s family came with me and took me out to their favourite Taiwanese restaurant!! The generosity was never ending. We had some 'carrot cake' starters….nothing like our carrot cake, sort of like a fried turnip cake and some kind of green beans. I had rice, a pork dish, some chicken and stir fried vegetables and another dish which Chen’s daughter 'Googled' on her phone for me. It was made of soft jelly like squares…..pigs blood…..quite tasty. We also had some Pearl Tea, a sweet sort of milky coffee with a very aromatic zing. It was really nice to have eaten some proper Taiwanese traditional food, apparently this restaurant is quite famous worldwide and there is one in London. But the worst thing was ... they would not let me pay again, so incredibly kind and generous to a stranger.
So finally the evening came to an end and Chen and his family dropped me off at the hotel at about 7.30pm. I was genuinely overwhelmed that he had given up his day for me and welcomed me with his family in such a generous manner. I managed to sneak some Lai See (lucky money) in to a red envelope (older folks give this to the young ones during Chinese New Year) and give It to Sue as a gift, they seemed very touched. Chen and I vowed to keep in touch and we definitely will, I hope he comes to the UK some time so he can meet my family.
Well I was so tired I watched a bit of TV and then crashed out, still not quite believing what a fantastic day it had been.
No comments:
Post a Comment