This morning we get up and have breakfast, I don't fancy anything from the breakfast store and settle for a more familiar cereal option - Frosties. After eating (Chi Fan) we are going with Eve's mum to get some stuff for Connor. The preferred mode of transportation in Taiwan appears to be scooters as the place is full of them, if they are not buzzing around they are parked all over the place. It is the cheapest and easiest way to travel. I am given Jheng Shin's (Eve's brother) helmet and jump on the back of the scooter Eve will drive. We are to follow her mum. I grip the back bar of the bike and we set off, the engine buzzing like a super-charged lawnmower.
Here I will explain a wee bit about the road system in Taiwan. You know how in the UK we have lots of traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, right of way, signalling which way you will go, filters etc? Well in Taiwan it is exactly the same. Surprised huh? I mean exactly the same if you remove all of the things I mentioned above. People drive towards you, undertake you, overtake you, appear out of nowhere, weave in and out. If you stop at a light then you are treated to the constant whine of scooter engines, looking left and right you will now be closely bonded into what back home would be considered a motorcycle gang. Then the lights change and people whizz away all around weaving in and out, I am not afraid to admit it does get a bit scary how close they all seem to get. Sometimes people just suddenly stop in front of you or cut right in front of you if they need to turn. You need to be constantly vigilant on the roads here. To the outside eyes it looks crazy, it shouldn't work but somehow for the people of Taiwan it does.
So off we go traversing the busy streets of Tanzi. We go to a clothing shop and her mum talks to the lady about what she wants, she comments on my handsomeness and then compares me to her daughters husband who is Dutch, I am apparently more handsome, 1-0 to the Scots. Then we ride off into the dusty streets to another store. We have to cross a railway. Her mum again is negotiating for a cot and buggy. I have no idea what they are saying but after a few minutes we leave, Eve tells me her mum said "No we dont want them". Then we stand at the bikes for a few minutes and her mum goes back in. I watch the traffic, I see people on bikes with there kid basically standing in front of the parents and holding onto the handlebars or even one with a kid holding onto the adults back and another in the front. Looks strange to me. Also, you have to wear a helmet it is the law, but most people wear cheap helmets that don't offer much protection, lucky for me Jheng Shin has a full face racing helmet. Her mum appears and tells us that she negotiated a price with them and we ended up getting both a cot and buggy which are good quality for the equivalent of £150. Her mum is a good negotiator and now we just wait till they deliver it. Then we go to a supermarket to buy some stuff and head home. I am getting better at recognising home as we live over from a 24hr 7 Eleven, although to be honest it is quite difficult to differentiate between the streets for me at the moment.
At lunch, through Evelyns translation, I have a talk with her mum. It is the first proper chance we have had to chat. She is really interested in knowing about Scotland. I enjoy the chat and the food. I weighed myself recently, and notice that since coming to Taiwan I have lost 1kg. It is not due to lack of food there is always plenty and I eat a lot, I realise that it must be due to not drinking enough. Here they drink cold tea and that for me at the moment is not something I can drink so I start making sure I have plenty of water. Especially as I plan to start training again soon.
At night we plan to do lots of things, including training, when Eves sister Yen Zou visits our room. Eve is away at her parents (next door) and her sister brings me a gift from her and her husband Lee Yuan. They are vegetarian and it is basically vegetarian fish, it is a little slimy for me and I prefer the real thing but it is a nice gesture. We talk for a while, which is difficult as my Chinese is minimal and her English is decent but sometimes we get lost. Again, Eve and I sleep late.
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