The house
The view from the balcony
Another view from the balcony
Breakfast was delicious: Pork and vegetable bao (doughy dumplings), Sake crackers, persimmon, Asian pears, and grapes. We ate quickly in order to get to the Ma Do (Madou) Dai Tien Temple early. The temple worships five gods and is also called the Wu Wang Temple (Five Gods' Temple). It was built in 1955 on the cite of a temple from the 18th century which was moved following an earthquake. The temple is magnificent. Several things set it apart from most other temples. There is a large dome-shaped building in the front of the temple housing a gigantic Buddha statue. To the sides of the statue are large pillars holding gold-colored stands. The stands can be purchased for a small fee. People buy them to ask the gods to grant them wishes - to do well on an exam, for example. We walked through the temple and saw worshippers with incense and, interestingly, rolling dice.
Scott and me on the temple grounds
Worshippers in the main temple
The large Buddha in the dome - notice the pillars
The pillars contain stands which people can purchase
By far the most impressive and unique part of the Ma Do Temple is its rendition of Heaven and Hell. The rear of the temple has a huge dragon statue, the largest in Asia. Visitors walk through the dragon and visit Heaven and Hell. Scott described the scene as It's a Small World gone bad. Inside Heaven and Hell are animatronic figures depicting the respective wonders and horrors. Hell is full of grizzly punishments. There are eighteen levels of Hell. Everyone who enters Hell begins at the Court where they are tried, convicted, and sentence for their sins. Each level describes and, with animatronic figures, shows the various sentences. Bullies and lazy people are run over by steam rollers. Adulterers will be burned alive. Those convicted of corruption will be slowly eaten by dogs and snakes. The grizzly punishments continue as you progress through the eighteen levels. A disrespectful daughter-in-law merits the fourteenth level of Hell. At the end of Hell, the residents have the opportunity to be re-incarnated as start over - probably as a slug or rat. Hell was both disturbing and fascinating. Julie said that it used to be much darker and something jumped out at you at level eighteen.
The Heaven/Hell Dragon
The entrance to Hell
The entrance to Hell for the deceased
Punishment for extortion: Beheading by a tiger guillotine
The steamrollers await while the luckless soul is sentenced
After traveling through Hell, Heaven is far less interesting. It depicts the relaxing and luxurious life for those who lived well. You can have tea with fairies, play chess with the Gods, talk with the Gods, etc. These scenes are also shown by animatronic figures. Heaven also tells the story of Niu Lang, a shepherd, and Zi Nu, a daughter of a Goddess of Heaven. Zi Nu, her mother, and six aunts traveled down to earth for a visit. While they were bathing in a river, Niu Lang stole their clothes. When Zi Nu came to retrieve their clothes, Niu Lang saw her naked; because of this, they had to be married. Zi Nu apparently found Niu Lang's sense of humor charming; the story says that they both fell deeply in love. Despite their love and their marriage, the Goddesses called Zi Nu back to Heaven. In sympathy of their love, the Goddesses allowed Zi Nu to return to visit Niu Lang on the 7th day of the 7th month of the Lunar Calendar (a.k.a. Chinese Valentine's Day). The peak of Heaven is the top of the dragon. We walked outside and had a wonderful view of the Temple and of Ma Do. We left Heaven by walking down stairs through the dragon's mouth.
One of Heaven's rewards: playing chess with the gods
Another reward: Dancing with the fairies
Zi Nu and Nui Lang
Scott and I at the top of Heaven
[Pictures of Heaven and Hell at the Madou Da Tien Temple credited to http://www.filination.com/blog/]
On our way back to Julie's house, we stopped by a park showing how Ma Do used to be a great harbor. During the Qing dynasty, prophets foretold that a great ruler would come from Ma Do, because of the feng shui of its river. The river resembled a dragon's throat. The Qing emperors were not thrilled with the idea of Ma Do residents potentially usurping their throne. To prevent the prophecy's fulfillment, the rulers placed large stone in the river to disturb its feng shui. The Qing dynasty was lucky - no Ma Do leaders arose during their reign. However, the previous president of Taiwan, who is currently on trial for corruption, came from Ma Do.
It was nearly time for the family feast when we returned to Julie's house. The food was set up on an old ping pong table. There was a huge variety of dishes. As with all of our meals in Taiwan, the food was wonderful The dishes included: chicken sausage balls (good, tasted sweet); fried shrimp balls; fried potato cakes (very good); creamy pumpkin soup; chicken and rice in individual boxes; black cod and snow fish (fabulous); dough filled with chicken and beef; stewed pork with bamboo; cauliflower and carrots; shrimp and eggs with Taiwanese potatoes; small crayfish (surprisingly tasty); abalone, fresh tomatoes, and canned pineapple (I liked the abalone); mullet roe; chinese sausage; chicken with thai basil (excellent); fried noodles with vegetables (really good); mushroom soup (I did not partake); wax apples, grapes, Asian pears, and oranges. Dessert was mango milk pudding.
Setting up for lunch
My Plate (the first helping)
After lunch, the family split in two. Half went inside and continued the annual karaoke tournament. The other half went to the garage to begin the annual ping pong tournament. Julie's family takes ping pong seriously and some family members are quite good. We played a few games very poorly.
Scott and me play ping pong on the "practice" table
Julie and me playing ping pong against Julie's cousins
Scott and Julie playing ping pong against Julie's cousins
Julie, Scott, and I took a walk around her neighborhood. She showed us her grandfather's childhood home. The house looks like it was built a hundred years ago. It was in the traditional U-shaped Taiwanese style, centered around a large courtyard. Currently, it is separated into several apartments. It looked a bit run-down. A few rooms had not been modernized. We saw the old beds the family slept on (hard as rock) and the old stove/oven.
Later in the afternoon, we walked over to visit another relative of Julie - her great-uncle's son. Her great-uncle's son is now retired, but owned several factories in Taiwan that were apparently very successful. He had a beautiful, and large, home. We were surprised to see a giant log cabin in Taiwan. The inside was gorgeous and modern. The hardwood floors were imported from Canada. I would have loved to see the kitchen. We sat in the living room visiting for awhile. The hosts served us pineapple cake, puff pastry cookies, apples, and orange juice - as if we weren't full enough. At the end of our visit, we walked around the front yard. The family had just built a stream and fish pond with a bridge over it leading to a covered gazebo. It was lovely.
A gorgeous house (see the gate at the side of the photo)
The pond
The gazebo and the pond
Many trees in Taiwan have roots above ground
Julie's extended family in front of the big cabin
When we returned to Julie's house, it was time for dinner. I certainly was not hungry after our giant feast, but since we would be traveling the rest of the night, we ate anyway. We had leftovers from lunch. To supplement the meal (which was already plenty of food), Julie's mother made a fabulous fried rice and fried eggs. We had jujubes and other fruit for dessert.
Fried eggs and chicken sausage balls; Chinese sausage and crayfish in the rear
Yummy fried rice; potatoes & cabbage; fried noodles
Chicken with spinach; Pork with bamboo
Leftover cream of pumpkin soup
The inside of a jujube. I have the same Correl plates.
We left Julie's house around 8 PM for the drive up to Taipei. This drive normally takes about 3 hours. We assumed that we would avoid the mass numbers of Taipei residents returning home by leaving Wednesday night. Apparently, every other Taipei resident had the same idea. The drive ended up taking 7 hours! It was wall-to-wall traffic the entire way. John was getting sleepy around midnight, so we pulled into a rest area and slept for about an hour. It was 3 AM when we finally reached John and Julie's apartment. We stumbled inside and quickly fell asleep.
