I've been told, if you haven't seen Taipei, you haven't seen Taiwan.
Now as Taiwan's biggest city with more than 2.6 million people, it better have a kicking
night scene.
Hey, I'm dancing, I'm dancing!
Dancing.
Something for everybody.
Whether you're young or old, highbrow or lowbrow, local or a tourist.
Now exactly what is the definitive Taipei experience, at this point I have no idea.
Let me tell you, I have a feeling that the locals are going to help me out.
We all know the stress relieving benefits of foot massage, but the Taiwanese have taken
their love for foot massage to new heights.
As a fact, the Taiwanese hold the Guinness Book World Record for the most people receiving
a foot massage at one time, which is an amazing feat, ain't it?
So I guess it's safe to say that the Taiwanese have a healthy foot fetish.
Now I had heard the Taiwanese could be pretty adventurous when it came to drinking and
eating anything that moved, but I had no idea just how far they would go in the name of
health.
Mr. Luo's job includes taking people to Snake Alley all the time, but today, he says he's
feeling thirsty.
Can't wait to tell me the secret to the youth.
What is all this?
Explain to me, what is this?
This one is a snake nomen, a snake breeder, this one was some kind of wine, this was some
kind of wine, but this is a gensen, snake piss, gensen, oh, what's that?
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Gensen.
Can we do it together?
I guess so.
Okay.
We just like a master, right?
Okay.
Like a master.
Okay.
I'll just follow you.
We have to drink half.
Half of the snake blood and honey.
Yes.
Honey.
Honey is mixed into the snake blood and wine, but it doesn't make it any easier to
swallow.
You tell me this, right?
We have to pour this in.
All of it?
No.
Yeah.
All of it.
All of it.
Yes.
Mr. Lu on the other hand can't seem to get enough.
Oh my God.
This.
Everyone else seems to be enjoying their snakey treats, maybe because all of the snake
killing has been sanitized and done behind closed doors.
The snake venom tasted like vodka, maybe?
The rest of it?
It's hard to explain it, so it seemed very alcoholic.
After midnight in the warm Taipei summer, I've gotten my feet wet, down some liquid
courage, busted a move with some b-boys, and found a piece of my mind in the midst of
it all.
I'm going to sample some smelly streets next, and get myself into more hot water.
10, my after 12 Taipei adventure, I thought I'd go out in style, Taiwanese style, which
meant hitching a jaw ride from the last friendly taika I would need.
You know what's funny?
The city boys yesterday were saying taika, taika, but this guy is from the country, and
he's like no, no, no, no, no taika, taiwan ren, as if the people from the city have this
nostalgia for everything old, traditional, and country like, whereas the people from
the country that have moved to the city, they have this feeling that they would like to
be more refined, they feel like they've come up in life, and I think you can probably find
that sort of phenomenon all around the world.
You know what I'm saying?
Now it's been said in this world, if there's one thing that's constant, it is change, and
Taipei is no exception, with the young and old joined at the hip side by side.
Since I've been here, I've been surrounded by the friendliest of people who have kept
me well fed and entertained.
I mean so much so that I almost forgot to sleep.
Taipei has shown me so much heart that it is definitely deserving of its name as the
heart of Taiwan.
