Barbecue, Racing and Karaoke?????

So, who would ever think these would go together, but in Taiwan, everything's possible.

About 15 minutes from our house is an old sugar factory (Taiwan was a huge exporter of sugar in the past). The factory is now a giant park with petting zoo, train, sunflower fields and bike rentals). It also has a really good GoKart track. We're not talking the kind of GoKarts where you press your foot to the floor the whole way and feel like you could still get out and push.

Anyway, somehow, Marion and Janice found out that they have a great package deal there. For about 10 bucks a person, you get a barbecue shelter/picnic area, a barbecue with charcoal, food, drinks, a Karaoke cottage and GoKarting. This sounded like such a deal, we organized a bunch of people and made our booking.

Now, this wasn't your typical barbecue. There were pencil fish, a strange variety of mushrooms, peppers, tofu, fish balls (balls made of fish), more tofu and pork (thank goodness). No burgers, smokies or chips. Sitting around barbecuing and socializing is a whole day affair for Taiwanese so we did this for as long as the food lasted. When you were ready, they would let you into a Karaoke cottage to sing your heart out. Unfortunately, the people across from us brought their own machine and were blasting it at 100 decibles, and boy, they could not sing. Fortunately, a few from our party, including Kris, the only white guy I know who can sing in Chinese, joined them and made it at least a little better.

They also had a cool maze, train and amazing mango smoothies. Finally it was time for racing. We had a fairly large group, so the kids went first and Makena was at the front of the pack. Unfortunately, her limited experience behind the wheel caused her to mix up the gas and brake, causing a very fast head on with the wall. That was the end of her driving career for now, but hopefully it wasn't a sign of things to come.

The racing was amazing. I felt I had found my real calling in life. The cars were super fast and you could actually spin out if you took the corners too fast.

It was a great, and very unique day.