A Perfect P-Day

Saturday, our first P-day, or preparation day, was a perfect day. It started with breakfast with the Petersons of shao bing youtiao, an iconic Taiwan breakfast with a baked pastry shell wrapped around a fried cruller and dipped into warm, sometimes sweetened soy milk. It's a tasty culinary nostalgia for our returned missionaries. With satisfied stomachs, we headed to a nearby farmer's market, which was a feast for the senses. I wish that I could describe the wonderful sounds and smells, but I hope that you'll be able to imagine it as I share the explosion of colors and textures that surrounded us.

Cooked eggs

Purple dragon fruit

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Pork sausages and bacon

Salty pork "floss" in the barrels and bagged salads

Chicken feet and every other part of the chicken

Nothing is wasted

Honey cake

Dried fish is used as salt to flavor some dishes

Shellfish on ice

An assortment of snacks

The white squash-like vegetable intrigues me

Those are giant fish eyes!

I just couldn't get enough of those ENORMOUS eyes!

Even the locals stopped to take a look.

They love squid here.

Everything is super fresh. No fishy smells here.

Nóngmào shìchǎng = farmers market

A local butcher

Not your KFC bucket of chicken

After the farmer's market, we headed over to the flower market and also a craft fair

You could find trees, bushes, flowers of all kinds

And it went on and on and on

Artists and craftsmen sell their work across the street

President Peterson bought a wooden statue of a warrior

And then we headed for Daan Park to make our way back home. Daan Park is the central park of Taipei.

If you look closely, you'll see the turtles sunning themselves on the log

Of course, the perfect p-day for Rick includes a trip to Costco.
Taiwan has 13 total, including 5 in the city of Taipei. It was huge and it was packed! We'll definitely be heading back there soon on the metro for some seafood pizza and pineapple coconut shakes. Yum!!

And our perfect p-day ended with a delicious dinner at a local Vietnamese restaurant just around the corner from our new apartment with our friends and fellow senior missionaries, the Coffeys. 

Each of us may have a different idea of what makes up a perfect day. Mine includes simple things like being with people I love while exploring the beauty around me....... and watching Rick go to a Taipei Costco for the first time. 

The joy I found in this perfect day reminded me of a talk given by Elder Richard G. Scott in 1996 called "Finding Joy." In it he said, 

"Do you take the time to discover each day how beautiful your life can be? How long has it been since you watched the sun set? What of the wonder of a cloudless night when the Lord unveils the marvels of His heavens—the twinkling stars, the moonlight rays? When last did you observe a tiny rosebud form? You are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be."