ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB AND GONGGONG

Story #19: 10-minutes of mindless Pachinko for a good laugh and three small tote bags won for the grandkids!

Lugang Old Street, Taizhong City, Taiwan Province, China.

Dear Granddaughter Mila,

Like Story #18 (https://radiosinoland.com/2025/02/23/adventures-in-asia-with-ladyb-and-gonggong-story-18-yowzer-we-hit-the-mother-lode-for-beautiful-handmade-handicrafts/), our Taiwanese friend Jessie was our guide to visit Lugang (Lukang = 鹿港）Old Street in Taizhong (Taichung = 台中) City, about 80km to the west of us, on the coast,

Just with this one-afternoon visit, I could write a number of stories for you, as Chinese culture is so rich and fascinating at every turn. Or, we can at least say it is refreshingly different from France or America, depending on your point of view.

A gaming gallery caught our eyes, so Laolao and I sat down for 10 minutes for a few rounds of Taiwanese Pachinko, which originated in Japan. In Japan, Pachinko is more for slot-machine-style gambling, but here its for kids to win toys and stuffed animals,

You can see Laolao’s yellow troughs and steel balls waiting to be shot onto the playing table. Prizes to be won are hanging and presented everywhere. Laolao and I had 10 minutes of fun and laughter!

As you can see in the video below, the tables are like little pinball machines, but there are no flippers. You shoot steel balls onto the table and wait and see where they land in the series of troughs at the bottom. The more troughs you get a ball in, the more the tickets spit out below, where your feet are. Jessie took a short video of us being pinball wizards and at the end, she says, JIAYOU (加油), which means, “GO! GO! GO!”,

I got lucky and won a long string of tickets during one round. Combining our tickets, we were able to win for you and Laolao’s two grandkids, three little Chinese tote bags. I am mailing you yours,

BINGO! We hit the Pachinko jackpot! For the few coins we put in the machines, I’d say the gallery maybe broke even at best. Of course it does not always work that way.

Of course, LadyB was with us all the way, cheering us on!

Love, Grandfather Gonggong

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