So the last couple days have been difficult because I've been sick since Sunday, but it got very interesting. After Saturday night at a Taiwanese Dance club (strange experience in its own) I got sick and had to stay home from our group excursion on Monday, but forced myself after those days to go to a few night markets with the group, to work out, and to witness one of the strangest places I have ever been to.

The night markets are fun, especially if you force yourself into the underground sections and explore the traditional Chinese fare available. You can see pig's feet, tail, chicken's feet, watch a fish get killed and descaled, watch shooting shrimp hang out, and then I watched them execute a chicken. Debating becoming a vegetarian it was pretty awful. The other place I went to alleviate my cold and throat issue was the Traditional Chinese Daoist Master/Doctor. It was cool, but something beyond anything I've experienced. This guy asked me a few brusque questions about my symptoms (luckily I had a translator), then asked about any other health problems I may be having (sleep issues, some back soreness). He had me sit down, take a powdered medicine and prescribed more of it for later, and had his assistants tape small amounts of powder to my acupressure points and then taped sensors with flashing lights over those spots. The different frequencies that the lights flashed at were supposed to activate my Qi and special internal organs since all of the frequencies of the modern world can block my Qi-flow. I walked out feeling less congested though I'm unsure of whether it was from his treatment or the medicine or from simply being dried out by having to sit still for an hour during treatment.

Jake