Sophie's fever was finally gone but my heart was getting heavier by the day. Papa's insect bites were getting worse and they kept him up at night. I was worried that Alfee might be sick next. I know I was paranoid but I was really bothered by such thoughts.
Our first stop for the day was a film location of a Taiwan movie many years ago - 'Hai Gang Qi Hao'. It was really just a little white house with a stall of merchandise from the movie. We had watched the movie but we forgot about it already until today.
Next, we were brought to the 4 ancient gates (North, South, East & West) into the town. You cannot imagine how uncultured and unappreciative I had become when it came to the historical or cultural aspects of Taiwan at that moment. But you can imagine travelling to the 4 corners of the town just to visit 4 similar gates, right?
The only excitement came when Ah Gong and Ah Mah disappeared for 15 minutes. We were initially joking that they took off to have some private romantic moments. Then we started to worry and went about to look for them. Apparently, Ah Mah thought she had lost her medicated oil and got Ah Gong to take her to some shops to buy ointment. As it turned out, her medicated oil got stuck in one of her handbag compartments.
After that, we were taken to some fresh market place for seafood lunch. The stalls were located behind the seafood market and you could choose what you want them to cook for you. Well, the kids fell asleep on the way there and I was reluctant to wake them up. So, CK went to check out the place to see if it was worth waking them up for. Well, we were not impressed. We told them drivers that we would like to go to the next destination and have lunch there since the kids were still sleeping. And we did.
We left the rest of the gang behind and went straight to the sea world. It reminded us of Sentosa Underwater World... just a wee bit. The kids were happy to see something they like and we were glad to get some typical tourist food, for a change.
The exhibits are not fantastic but the Coral World (or something like that) was nice. The sea creatures in the deep oceans are typically more colourful and interesting than those in freshwaters. The local fish are pretty much grey and ugly too. Other than these 'live fish', there were also sections on extinct marine life in simulated form. We weren't too impressed.
Anyway, the kids have been watching Octonauts so Sophie was very excited when she saw the kelps. She was eagerly explaining to us about what kelps are and whatever she knows about them. So I guess DVDs aren't always bad after all!
We were taken to some tourist spots after the sea world but I have no idea where. In fact, I don't recall these places at all. I think I was in the taxi with the kids and CK took the pictures.
Dinner was at an Italian establishment... or so we thought. We ordered lasagne, pasta and soup. They looked correct, but the spaghetti tasted like fried noodles. Unfortunately, the dinner, though costly, didn't work out for us. I wonder why everything seemed to work for my brother and his family...
We thought we could take a walk after dinner (maybe find some other food) but the cold winds put an end to our wishful thinking. We thought the kids shouldn't be put at risk especially since Sophie just recovered. Therefore, we did what we should... took refuge at KFC... and bought some egg tarts, corn soup and hot tea. Little did I realise that I would next in line for another round of health related misfortune.
That night, I got sick. Just moments before that, we were happily lighting fireworks bought by the drivers. I have never got so close to fireworks before and to be honest, I wished my kids were not there. I would have no problem lighting them without the kids around. With them, my mind was filled with morbid thoughts and I tried not to give them any reason to be close to the fireworks. In the end, Papa helped Sophie light up one. I was so nervous... Luckily, Alfee was also quite scared and reluctant to go near. Nobody would have guessed that I had to keep running in and out of toilet, alternating between diarrhoea and vomiting when I got back to the room. I took isotonic drinks and charcoal pills, but they all came out straight after. It was horrific and that was the beginning of our next nightmare in Taiwan.
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