OCT. 31: LUODONG TO TAIPEI

Yes, they ate the stinky tofu

The last morning in Luodong includes an early-morning walk in the park across from Robbie's house and then a mad dash to clean the house. (Robbie and Samantha are traveling to Taipei to return with the group to America.) After an uneventful train ride from Luodong to Taipei -- well, except that Jennifer tries to maim Donald with her luggage -- it's dumplings, the Taiwan Handicraft Center and the crush of the crowd at Taipei's famed night market, where Donald and Olga eat an odoriferous local delicacy.

HIGHLIGHTS

* Oops, we forget to hang the wet laundry -- can we do it in 30 seconds before making the mad dash to the train?   * Jennifer becomes Donald's sherpa, lugging around his backpack because of his sore shoulder due to the overhead luggage incident getting off the train. (He milks it for all it's worth.)   * Taipei traffic: And we thought there were a lot of motor scooters in I-Lan. (Olga almost gets grazed by one, much to Bob's annoyance.)   * More dumplings! Shrimp, pork, special cabbage.   * Taking the MTR (subway) to the might market, where we eat lots of treats: fluffy salted pancakes, meat and rice sausages, glazed strawberries on a stick.   * Donald and Olga follow through on their vow to eat chou dou fu, or smelly tofu, which is soaked in a particularly pungent kind of tea. Though it smells like a mix of rank athletic socks and wet dog hair, it doesn't taste nearly as bad. Bob has to excuse himself from the restaurant premises because the smell is too much.   * The best taste of the evening: bao bing, or shaved ice with such toppings as mango, strawberry and red bean.

Top of page: Tofu madness at the Taipei Night Market. Above, views of the Luodong sports park. Left, Robbie at his hometown train station. Below, more tofu in all its smelly glory.

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