Tochi's Hut

During my vacation, I had opportunity to visit Kung and Ender's homeland for a few days. Short summaries and miscellaneous thoughts. Tried to keep everything concise, but there's just so much I wanted to record for the history books. Beware, it's a fairly long and dry post.

Flight & Airport
Took EVA Air from Hong Kong to Teipei's Taoyuan International Airport (桃園國際機場). I was very impressed with EVA Air. New and clean aircrafts, very pretty air hostesses, super fast service (I understand why air hostesses hate the Hong Kong / Taipei route - only 1:20 hr to do everything). Taoyuan is a decent airport but is showing its age a little. The airport is quite a distance from downtown Taipei. I took the bus to the city at 2pm and was stuck in traffic, ended up taking 1 hr to get downtown - not cool at all.

Traffic
What is up with ALL the motorbikes/scooters?!? The traffic looks quite chaotic to the untrained eyes. Everyone drives pretty aggressively, and I managed to see 5 accidents on my trip - quite a high rate, but not really surprising. At times, I'm afraid to cross the street even with the green pedestrian signal. The traffic reminds me of Guangzhou from a few years back - but even Guangzhou is fazing out bikes and scooters now.

Currency
The New Taiwan Dollar (NT) was about 4.1 times that of the Hong Kong Dollar. I had a lot of trouble getting used to NT. I would see something selling for 100 NT, then think, OMG, who would pay 100 dollars for that, until I realize I need to divide by 4 to get the equivalent ~25 HKD.

Night Markets
Probably everyone's favourite aspect of Taipei's night life - the night markets. Visited ShiLin (士林), XiMenDing (西門町) and HuaXi Street(華西街). The most interesting thing I found is that each market had their own "feel". ShiLin was the oldest and biggest with lots of local delicacies and stands selling all sorts of crafts. XiMenDing was more shopping district, with lots of movie theatres and shops geared towards the younger generation of the crowd. My sister said, "I really like XiMen (with an Anglo-Cantonese accented articulation)". Come again? I could have sworn she said something else. HuaXi is the true night market around the XiMen area. Kind of similar to ShiLin, but the streets were packed with more people, and seemed more lively. Saw a couple XXX shops with the toys of their trade in open display. WTF.

Just off of HuaXi was LongShan Temple (龍山寺). The front walls and entrance of the temple were adorned with beautiful lanterns. We got there at night, and the temple were still bustling with worshippers. We had intended to come in the next morning not expecting it to be open this late. But since it was open, we went to pay our respects to the Gods. I've hardly seen this many people in any temple except during important holidays. It was quite a sight. There was this BIG "Main Peace Lantern" for which people were lining up to stand under and pray/make wishes. Yeah, as I said, since I'm here, I got in that line too.

Tried pretty much all the various kinds of food here. The ones I can remember are: 蚵仔煎 (Some egg with squid or oyster? I didn't like it, but it's suppose to be a local favourite), 臭豆腐 (Stinky Tofu), 肉骨湯, 魷魚球, 蔥抓餅 (very good), 雞腿, 鱔魚妙麵, 炒蛇肝 and 八寶冰. Most of the time I'm just picking what looks good on the spot, which works out well. One thing I was interested in, but didn't end up trying was 七里香 (not the Jay Chow song). It was the most expensive item on the menu. I asked "什麼是七里香?" "雞屁股" came the reply. I exclaimed "!". By the last day, I was getting quite sick of the oily foods, as good as they were. I could only stomach non deep fried items, like corn on a cob (i didn't like the sauce they put on it), fresh papayas, watermelon juice, etc.

Taipei 101
The downtown civic and shopping core where Taipei 101 is situated is by far the nicest part of town. If Kung lives 10 minutes from 101, his family must be rich! All the brand name stores are there, even some of the Japanese retailers that have sadly left Hong Kong. I was a little annoyed at how far of a walk 101 was from the closest MRT station. Later found out there was a free shuttle bus service. At 350NT, the admission to the observation deck was rather hefty. Rest of my family were more interested in the shopping, but given Kung's high praise of the tower, I had to go up and see for myself. I got to Taipei 101 around 5pm, when the sky was rather gloomy. Night shots would have been cooler than gloomy sky pictures, so I waited till 6:30pm before heading up. The elevator ceiling was as cool as Sir Kung described (Tochi's really ghetto video here) Taipei's night lights were pretty cool, but there was really only one direction worth seeing - the other three were kind of bland - lots of dark non-lit patches, given the mountainous regions. I was disappointed with the dirty, non-anti glare windows at the observation deck. The gigantic stabilization ball was cool, but you need a wide-angle lens to capture the entire structure, which I didn't have. Fortunately, I did have my mini-tripod, so I was able to take some decent night shots.

Hot springs
What better way to relax than to sooth in a hot spring? Went hunting for a hot spring in ShinBeiTou (新北投) and YangMingShan (陽明山). We were told to look for fancy restaurants, where a meal would include a soak in their hot springs. Took the MRT to shinbeitou and walked around. It was 10am, so while we saw the restaurants, we weren't hungry yet. Decided to give a public, open-air hot spring a try. 40NT entrance fee. The hot spring consisted of several levels, with the top level being the warmest, and water cooling as it reached lower levels. The only sheltered part of the hot spring happened to be at source. For some reason, I didn't recognize this, went straight for the shaded area to get away from the glaring sun, and stepped into the 45C water. 45C is HOT. I eventually settled for the slightly cooler 42C. A lot of locals take advantage of this hot spring - I would too, if I lived in the area.

There was a old public bathhouse turned museum. The historic site wasn't that interesting, since I'm not very into bathhouses to begin with. The site was free, so what the heck. The most interesting thing I saw was this fire exit sign, which said: "避難方向". Amusing choice of words.

Also in ShinBeiTou, I saw this museum of my "tribe". It was quite funny - of all places, I'd stumble onto a tribe bearing my surname. As we walked into the door, the guides invited us in to sit down and watch a play re-enacting some history of the tribe. I'm like, those aren't my ancestors, they'll never dance around like monkeys. And yeah, outside of this museum was where I took the now infamous pig/boar picture. =)

Flower Festival
Went up to YangMingShan after the hot spring. This happened to be the last week of the 2007 flower festival at YangMingShan National Park (陽明山國家公園) - no stamps at this national park. I hiked a kilometer up the mountain to get to the visitor center (family waited at the bottom). 1km uphill is not the same as 1km on flat ground. Got a map, and found the flowers were at the bottom of the mountain, back the way I came. A group of French tourists wanted to see "waterfall". The visitor center guide could barely speak English, so didn't understand what they were asking. Tochi the interpreter came to the rescue.

Lots of pretty flowers. My visit was probably a week or two late, as some of the flowers were fading past their peak blossoming prime. Lot of very pretty flowers were still in full blossom nevertheless. Saw lots of 櫻花 (cherry) and 杜鵑 (??) in myriad of colours and arrangements. There were may other types flowers too, but I cannot identify my flower species as well as I should. Saw a few happy couples taking their weddings photos. In the end, we spent half a day here taking pictures and admiring the flowers and natural beauty of the park. I would love to see the cherry blossoms in Japan some day. Inside one of the forest trails, there were four old ladies playing Mahjong - not something you'd expect to find in a forest.

Ate my first Taiwanese yam 地瓜/番薯 while walking in the park. Pretty yummy.

YeLiou - 野柳
YeLiou is one of the truly remarkable sights of my entire Taipei trip, especially for a natural wonders buff like me. On a little pennisula sticking out into the ocean are these natural rock formations that look like rock mushrooms coming out of the ground. I've seen other weird rock formations around the world, but the human-size nature and the sheer number of these formations amaze me. I'm no geoloist, so even after reading how these statues were formed, I'm in disbelief.

It's kind of funny how given the fragile nature of these rocks (fat top held up by skinny body), that the park allow people to climb all over them and touch them. Well, if others are doing it, I might as well too. There was one that was big enough to form a seat. Everyone was climbing into it to take pictures with the "emperor's chair". The most famous rock in the park is one that resembles a queen (lady with a crown). It only looks that way from a certain angle. There's a nice rocky path past the rock formations that goes around the peninsula below the cliffs. Took a quick stroll there and saw many people fishing with long poles. This place is definitely worth a visit for anyone in Taipei area.

WanLi - 萬里
Stopped in little town of WanLi (萬里) to pay Grandpas a visit. The town is so small that you can drive by and not realized you passed it. Not sure why the entire district is named WanLi. Stopped in a 7-Eleven to buy some Mentos. If you had a coupon, a pair of Mentos were on sale for 27NT instead of 34NT. Of course, we didn't have any such coupons. Seeing our predicament, this lady behind us whips out this tin can containing tons of 7-Eleven coupons. After a quick search, she hands us the coupon to save us a grand total of 7NT. We thanked her profusely for giving up a coupon from her prized collection. I cannot imagine how long she spent collecting them. Local folks from these small towns are super nice. Learned quite a bit about Taiwan's lifestyle - schooling, cost of living, etc.

DanShui - 淡水
A popular northern coastal town, accessible by the MRT. Visited the fisherman's wharf (漁人碼頭) - seems like every coastal city has one of these. The harbour has a beautiful little suspension bridge, which leads to a outlet lined with little shops, arcades and an roof terrace. Stayed a bit to watch the sunset and the lights of the bridge. This place is definitely very romantic, and a must to bring your gal when around Taipei.

Got back to the city and went fooding in 淡水老街. It was yet another night market. There were a lot more shops than food stalls on this street compared to the other markets, selling many different things - clothing, various accessories, convenience stores, etc. One thing I didn't like is that the scooters and even cars were allowed on these streets. They weave around all the people, and I'm always afraid of getting run over by one. Surely there must be a better shortcut than the night market street with all the pedestrians. Tried various food here including "Iron eggs" (鐵蛋) - shrunken brown/black eggs that are really chewy, and comes in various flavours. The lady selling these eggs gave us samples of all the different flavours, and wanted us to buy a big bag. All we wanted was to try these eggs, not really intended to buy any. We felt bad after eating all her samples, and ended up buying a couple individual ones. -_-

Finished off the night walking along the boardwalk. Lots of young people hang out around here, playing various games, singing and strolling the beach side. Quite a nice setting.

JiuFen - 九份
A former gold mining town on the hills near KeeLung (基隆). Apparently after the mine got depleted, JiuFen almost became a ghost town, until someone came up with the great idea to start mining gold from tourists. A very cute little town with tight, curvy roads. Many little shops and food stalls line the side streets, selling all kinds of goodies. JiuFen's market is unique in that JiuFen is built on a steep mountain. Little shops lined up even on the stairs up the mountain. It's also much more tourist oriented, as I doubt locals visit these markets often (unlike Taipei). We had lunch at one of the many tea houses in the area. The restaurant was five stories, with each floor like a balcony overlooking the mountain. Nothing really beats the experience of brewing your own tea, and relaxing in front of a beautiful view.

Overall Impressions
Taipei is a bustling metropolis with an almost industrial feel. There is a constant flow of people, traffic and dust. Aside from the downtown core and some of the tourist spots, the city felt a bit bland, in terms of architecture and infrastructure. I got the distinct feeling that people do the same thing everyday here. That being said, Taipei has many things that make her special, like the night markets, the fashion, and the pop culture. These alone make Taipei worth visiting. The surrounding areas of Taipei are awesome, and definitely world class attractions. You also have to give Taipei credit for their extensive public transportation network, allowing easy accessibility to all these sites. 4-5 days were necessary to explore and experience the Taipei region. I definitely want to go back to Taiwan and visit the rest of the island- want to go to 阿里山, 花蓮, 日月潭 and 高雄.