I am the Lord,Your God!

Do you know what a night market is? They are like the lifeblood of die hard shopaholics and all those creatures of the dark who would like nothing better to eat,shop and party till they drop dead.Taiwan has got the biggest and the best night markets in the world.I just happened to visit the most famous of Taiwans night market today.
The Shilin night market is like a hub of activity on  Friday night, with the overcrowded streets,loud blaring music for the revelry which would be continuing quite into the night.

We were passing by the myriad streets when suddenly we saw …Wonder of Wonders! By the curb, A guy was spinning and twirling a Roomali roti in his hand with a skill that would put some indian chefs to shame.On coming closer we saw that there was a huge queue of people waiting to have their indian food.While we were waiting in the line, suddenly a white van arrives at the scene.A reporter & cameramen get out. They start to roll the camera around the crazy market.The reporter was trying to thrust the microphone into peoples faces;but for some inexplicable reason the people were turning their heads and raising their hands in denial.After a while they spot me and my friend Sumit & like every other taiwanese, stare at us. Seeing our eager faces she came running at us and started jabbering something in chinese while thrusting the mic in sumits face. Sumit replied “I dont know Chinese” She was like “Oh!” for a second.I made out from her gestures that she was asking us abut the food at that thela.Like good samaritans we replied “We havent had anything yet but it looks pretty authentic Indian bread!” She was like “Ok Ok good” . I wonder why other people were shying away from her…I guess in hindsight she was a bit ‘tharkee’ looking…Who knows on which tv show they would showing our shakals .

Unfortunately lately I have transformed from a stingy miser to a spender (Yeah You heard it right …I am one of the few people who are trying to bring the world out of its economic depression by spending more… Please thank me for that). So I am thinking not to visit Shilin again soon.A hole in my pocket I cannot afford.

Going on a hiking trip tomorrow to one of the best hiking trails in TaiwanThe Historic Caoling Trail is 8.5 km in length. At its highest point, Yakou, visitors encounter silver grass as far as the eye can see.

http://2008sg.necoast-nsa.gov.tw/video.asp

seems exciting

Shilin Night Market

I would like to narrate a very interesting experience that happened to me…

It was past midnight, and I had consumed two cups of malt flavoured milk, in about 5 minutes. Shortly, after about 15 minutes, I started to feel drowsy and sleepy. It was like I felt different. In a slightly different state. Like an mild high. My pupils started dancing around in my eye sockets like a pack of jelly beans. Random thoughts started flowing in my mind like a water in a turbulent river , and I almost felt like I was experiencing a sensation of floatlessness;Like I had become comfortably numb. I quickly sought my bed and was in dreamland before I even hit the sack.
Suddenly I felt an exhilarating sensation which i knew only flying could induce…I was flying in the deep blue sky … without a care for all things materialistic… only an overwhelming sensation of freedom and bliss…My joy lent me wings …Now i was flying at a breakneck speed , feeling the warm gusto of the high altitude winds and the tenderness of the sunbathed clouds. A flock of geese started cawing as i whizzed past them,breaking their ranks.  I felt utter liberation.

When suddenly out of nowhere,the blue sky turned crimson,my wings started fading into nowhere and all the happiness got sucked out of me …A sense of helplessness started creeping over me…I felt as if I was falling through a dark hole with no end, spiraling to my doom.

After what seemed like eternity,I finally hit something which seemed solid … It was only when I cut through that mass and started helplessly crawling back to the surface that I realized i underwater. The sheer physical force exerted when i hit the water took the wind out of me …The lungfuls of salty water I had in taken in my quest for Oxygen had me realize ; that Yes, i had indeed fallen into an ocean!

When i had regained my breathe and expelled the saline which had perforated into every orifice of my body, I started swimming towards the rocky creeks nearby. A seemingly endless journey ensued and I finally reached the shore. Land,Ahoy! Boy was I glad to be back on solid land.

I started looking around but there was not a single living soul as far as my naked eye could see.I could faintly make out some lights glowing in the distance. My soul was suddenly drawn to this light & I became inexplicably curious to what lay beyond that mysterious light.My feet started moving of their own accord; as if they were answering a Call from the paranormal realm,a Call which could not be ignored.

As I grew nearer to this strange light, I could make out the faint outline of a concrete structure with the words “Family Mart” printed beneath it. Even while I was trying to fathom their relevance, an imposing Iron wrought Gate came into my view.It stood high and sentinel like; barring my way to the unknown treasures beyond which I so desired. Suddenly there is a rattle of noises, a dull metallic clang and voila ! A Saint Peter like character (only with with much smaller slits for eyes) opens the gates & Greets me with the broadest smile “Ni Hao!” I could not help but acknowledge the smile. With a look of astonishment and childlike wonder on my face, I slowly enter through those hallowed gates taking in every exquisite details of my suroundings. As I ambled along I found myself in an underground community.My eyes fell upon a pool table ,where younglings were playing and having a blast pocketing the stripes and the solids , like there was no tomorrow.Further along the way I saw two angelic receptionists who greeted me with those two magical words “Ni Hao” . Now i was entering into a seemingly long cave at the end of which I could see a pool where everybody was having a splash.Exit Cave, Enter Spa.After relaxing myself at the spa, I was drawn to a weird mechanical noise coming from somewhere nearby.On close investigation i found that the “Chrr ..Chrr” noise was coming from a treadmill gone bad in the gymanasium . Pah! Hey …Look ! Whats that ?? Is that a Movie Theatre?? For goodness sake ! This place has everything! Wanna shoot some baskets ?? You got it! Floodlights adorn the stadium not unlike a football ground decorated before an Arsenal ManU matchup.A bar, karaoke tv, library are also visible but now I was feeling a sense of urgency …like I had to go somewhere else… I was starting to run cause I had forgotten about some important task … I am running like a bullet now & hoping to god that I am not late….. running running running to a road that leads nowhere…

Suddenly I wake up and find that I was breathing heavily and was sweating like an Indianborn-DubaiSchooled-TaiwanStudied girl.

The dream seemed like surreal to me till the time i went down to the community of my apartment. And then I thought to myself  “Is this Heaven on Earth?”

I live here! Jealous? & yeah there is the ocean on one side and mountains on the other!