Pigs in the process of becoming pork
Anna S. suggested that I take a long walk at night, and be sure to keep an eye out for people hauling half pigs. I assumed that the first part would be pretty simple, but I doubted that I’d see any pigs being carried around.
Well, as it turns out, I ended up spotting the pigs before I had even had a chance to take a late night walk! On my midnight scooter ride (#1) home from seeing Obnoxious (#2), I found myself at a red light next to a truck full of half pigs! There they are in the photo above – not a very pleasant sight, but fascinating nonetheless. In fact, I drove all the way around the block again just to get this photo, lest I not get another chance. Looking back on it now, I should have taken it a step further and spoken to the man shouldering the pigs and hauling them into the market building where he was parked. It would have given me a little insight into what kind of person does this job, and also a chance to see the gruesome pig carcasses up close. (Vegetarians, forgive me. I’m a fan of the grotesque.)
What’s strange to me about coming across these pigs is that, unless I’ve just ignored this kind of sight in the past, I had never seen this before Anna mentioned it to me. I wouldn’t have even known where to look for the pigs, but they somehow found me.
And as for the walk, I counted this task as only half completed as of last night, but I did get in a late night walk this evening to make up for the discrepancy. Walk + pigs! Mission accomplished!
ahhhh… so THIS is why you were still up at 4am! See ya near Taida in a few!
From what I’ve been told, I would have missed them had I gone by at 4am – they get slaughtered close to midnight, apparently!
The times I saw them was between about 3 and 4, I think, and I think you’ve been out and about at around that time, so you probably have been near half pigs, but perhaps you never realized it.
I have the feeling that this is the first thing ever written about Taipei’s midnightly half pigs, very cool