45 kilometers for ice-cream
Plus a side order of heat exhaustion…
![Half-eaten green ice cream with chopped peanuts and cilantro, and frozen strawberries, in a black wrap.](/content/images/size/w1200/2023/07/moose-peanut-macha-ice-cream-qishan.jpg)
Over the past couple of months, converging evidence has suggested that Moose Peanut (迷路麋鹿), a ‘spring roll ice-cream’ shop in Qishan township, sells exceptionally good ice-cream.
The first clue was the YouTube video Americans Try Weird Food In Taiwan by Cole Fogle, which I saw in early-June.
The second clue came from a local friend, who one day mentioned he and his partner had just traveled three hours (return) for ice-cream. When he described peanuts in a black charcoal wrap, it sounded immediately familiar…
Then, clue number three came two weeks ago: the YouTube video He Experiences Something New After 20yrs In Taiwan by Get Up. Get Out. Get Gone.
Today, 45km from home, I also experienced something new:
![A man standing in the shade outside Moose Peanut ice-cream shop, wearing a mask and sunglasses, and looking at his phone.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/waiting-at-moose-peanut-qishan-1.jpg)
I ordered a matcha ice-cream with strawberries, peanuts, and cilantro in a signature “bamboo charcoal spring roll skin” for NT$80 (NZ$4):
![](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/moose-peanut-qishan-ce-cream-1.jpg)
![Half-eaten green ice cream with chopped peanuts and cilantro, and frozen strawberries, in a black wrap.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/moose-peanut-macha-ice-cream-qishan-2.jpg)
Feeling satisfied with one ice-cream each (but also understanding why the YouTubers wanted two), my friend and I wandered down Qishan Old Street for a look.
It was 34ºC, sunny, and very humid at 12:20pm:
![Qishan Old Street, with scooters parked in the foreground and three-story buildings lining either the side. The road is almost empty, with only one car visible in the distance.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/qishan-old-street.jpg)
![A two-story historic building covered on top by a metal roofing structure, which has been installed approximately three meters above the building’s roof.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/two-story-historic-building-on-qishan-old-street.jpg)
![A historic three-story brown brick-and-concrete corner building with four scooters parked outside. Cars are parked on the street to the right, and a delivery van on the street to the left.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/three-story-historic-building-in-qishan.jpg)
![Three drinking water machines on the side of the road. Each looks a little like a petrol bowser, with a rectangular smiling face on the top. The machines are coin-operated.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/taiwan-roadside-water-dispensing-machines.jpg)
Around this time, my phone displayed a government warning that the “feels like” temperature would soon reach 38ºC. I was already overheating in my black shirt—moderately good at hiding sweat; not so good at keeping me cool—and suggested that we look for some shade.
Approaching a leafy neighborhood park, which may or may not have been part of an elementary school, I felt dizzy and looked for somewhere to sit while my friend wandered away to take slo-mo videos of butterflies.
I was sweating excessively. This was despite drinking the iced green tea I’d bought 10 minutes earlier, then stealing and drinking the one I’d bought for my friend.
Feeling progressively worse, I moved to a shaded bench where I could lie down before passing out.
![A large green tree, viewed from below.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/green-tree.jpg)
![Five short granite benches around a tree, with a public toilet building (and security camera) a few meters away.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/park-in-qishan.jpg)
Feeling okay, I got up off the granite. We walked to a 7-Eleven air-conditioned paradise we’d seen earlier on Qishan Old Street.
Half an hour and multiple bottles of ion water later, we got back on our scooters and started a cautious ride home:
![A scooter parked beside a small shrine and a swing-bridge over a green lake, with a forest on the other side.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/neimen-shunxian-temple-swingbridge.jpg)
![Neimen Shunxian Temple on the far side of a green lake.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/neimen-shunxian-temple-1.jpg)
![Statues of four colorful dragons beside a lake, with water spraying out of their mouths.](https://www.taiwanquest.com/content/images/2023/07/dragons-at-neimen-shunxian-temple.jpg)