Hi there loyal readers and also those of you who are just now discovering this travel blog. Not too much happened today, but there was still some exposure to interesting places that the average tourist might want to visit.
When I left the apartment near Nangang MRT station at 9:18 AM, it was lightly raining . . . really more of a drizzle. The collapsible, baby umbrella I had bought on Day 1 was just perfect for this. A short walk later at 9:33 AM I was already inside the station swiping the transit card which Haowen had lent me, and then immediately headed to platform 2. The wait wasn’t long, and at 9:36 AM I was in the uncrowded, comfortable subway car.
It was just fifteen minutes to go the 9 stops needed before exiting the transport. Looking down at the readout while swiping out, I saw it had cost 30 NTD ($1.01 USD). Getting out of the station itself was also fairly intuitive, and at 9:54 AM the baby umbrella once more went up as I walked towards the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, where I arrived at 10:11 AM. The gardens were very nice, and unsurprisingly, the central building itself was particularly imposing.
I was a bit surprised when I entered at 10:17 AM, as it in some way sort of has a mini-mall vibe, despite still being a bit more reserved. There was a bank branch, a post office, multiple gift shops, various levels of eateries, and a scale model of the whole complex. I am not sure what was originally intended when this was built, but it now seems to be more of an upscale community center. Entrance is free, so if money is tight, that alone is mentionable. There is also free internet here, as well as QR codes to help you explore. I forgot the cost, but one could also checkout a free audio guide, which I declined to do . . . if I really wanted more information, I could look it up later.
Moving on to the actual display area of 10:29 AM the ground floor struck me as being more about the Tiananmen square event/tragedy/protests and Hong Kong democracy movements than about Taiwan. However, they do attempt to make a more direct connection, placing emphasis on how Taiwan has increasingly gone in a different political direction from China since splitting off.
Heading into the permanent display area of the ground floor just ten minutes later, I could see that there really was a lot of valuable historical information. For those who read Chinese, it was nice to note that many original writings of special significance were on display. While this room was overall positive about Chiang Kai Shek, there was also definitely an obvious, strong undertone of criticism, even for a foreigner. It is clear that he is a figure much admired and even loved, but also strongly criticized by modern Taiwanese. I wondered, was the period of “repression” necessary in order for Taiwan to get to where it is today?
I did appreciate the ground floor display, but having learnt my lesson the previous day, decided to head up to the fourth floor at 10:57 AM so that I could see the central statue of Chiang Kai Shek. It was clear that they had planned on having huge crowds here, but there weren’t that many people today. Putting aside the statue, the view from this vantage point was also notable. For those of you who have been to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., there is an obvious, similar vibe in the statue area. I did however find it a tiny odd that even right there very close to the statue there was a gift shop.
At 11:03 PM I went down to the third floor. Here there were various art exhibits and a human rights multimedia exhibition. I felt like the democratization exhibit which I saw at 11:06 AM was the most openly critical part of the memorial, but it covered everything from the Japanese occupation, up to the transition from martial law to modern democracy in Taiwan. nevertheless, there was almost no mention (none that I noticed) of the specific struggles of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. However, not understanding Chinese, maybe I just missed that.
The exhibits here were rather small, and at 11:11 AM I was wondering through a different area where they were putting up a new exhibit, using green laser to ensure that the paintings were hung at perfect angles. Next to that was a room with an already established exhibit which was fairly enjoyable. I suspect that like everyone else, I particularly liked the painting of the cherries which seemed to spill out of the painted frame. Not to be overly critical, but several of the paintings were not at all that impressive, but there were clearly some better pieces (as if I am some sort of a highly respected art critic).
Just outside the hall with the cherry painting, there was a very nice couch for resting. I also saw that there were several classrooms in the building, presumably for workshops and visiting school groups. I hadn´t felt like I was really rushing the visit, but also didn’t feel that I needed to stay longer, so at 11:20 AM I was outside again, walking towards the Lungshan temple.
At 11:35 AM, on a completely separate note, some very nice ladies asked to speak to me about Falun Dafa, a religious group which is outlawed in China. Rather than speaking much about the religion itself, they were quite upset about illegal organ harvesting in China. If outrage was their goal, then keep it up, but if they were looking for converts, I felt that they needed to redirect their messaging. Maybe they feel that this group in particular is being targeted for this practice? Or maybe their religion is really against organ transplants? Regardless, you can guess how it went, but they were still very nice ladies. Having promised to immediately address these issues (but intending to do nothing) I continued walking at 11:36 AM, noting that even more frequent than Falun Dafa tables were the Ubikes.
I felt that it was a wonderful day for a walk in the city, with a pleasant temperature and light breeze. Adding to that enjoyment was the nice-looking older brick building I saw at 11:41 AM. I was tempted to walk closer to see what it was, but not that tempted, so I continued on my way.
At 11:59 AM I arrived to the Dongsanshui street market. I may be wrong on this, but it appeared to just be a neighborhood market rather that a tourist spot. They had everything from cheap clothes to fresh meat and jewellery.
Then at 12:07 PM I arrived at the temple. It was evidently founded in 1738, but the main building was accidentally destroyed by the USA in 1945. Miraculously though, the main Buddha statue was undamaged. According to the signage, this temple is sort of like a national cathedral. Notably, unlike similar temples, here they don’t burn incense, instead focusing on “prayers from the heart”.
Just inside the gate at 12:11 PM I saw that there was an artificial waterfall and Koi Pond with some very large fish. In case you were hoping to do so, feeding of the fish is prohibited and it is also prohibited to toss coins into the pond.
At 12:13 PM I saw that there was a scannable guide to the temple area, including worshipping instructions. This second part seemed odd to me. I mean if you are actually here to worship, shouldn’t you already know what to do. Furthermore, if you aren’t, then to my way of thinking it seems that you shouldn’t pretend . . . Anyway, I certainly didn’t fake pray. Similar to other temples I have visited in Taiwan, for lack of a better term, there seems to be these sort of dice sets which people would throw, presumably to communicate with gods? I really, have no idea, so feel free to correct me if you know more.
I know what generally happens with food offering when you go to a temple with monks, but at 12:23 PM I was wondering what was done with the plates of food and flowers which had been left as offerings. As far, as I could tell, this was not a monastery, but maybe the monks were nearby and could eat the food. I guess it would also be appropriate to give the food to the poor? That made sense, but what about all of the flowers? Many of them were very nice, and just tossing them in the bin seemed like it would be disrespectful, but again, I am definitely not an expert on the topic . . . as is obvious.
I really appreciated the stone-carved pillars at 12:28 PM, and I also understood why they had put up a sort of iron-fence protection around them. Despite being made from a very hard rock, it was easy to imagine that they could be fairly damaged over time, either by intentional miscreants or just the build-up of oils from hands over time. Off to the side of the main temple building there were various women reading books in a serious fashion, probably reading prayers or some religious text.
So, at 12:36 PM I was having my doubts about the sign which claimed that this temple was the spiritual center of the nation. I mean it is certainly worth a visit, but it’s quite small, so I didn’t see how any major events could happen here. I did however really appreciate how this was clearly an active worship site rather than just a fake tourist spot.
I left the temple at 12:38 PM and headed over towards Bangka old street. Along the way, at 12:46 PM I saw a very simple, old-school arcade. Maybe they somehow connect gambling with it as well? I was tempted to go in and play something, but it seemed weird since there was absolutely nobody else there, but they all looked like early 1980’s machines.
Bangka old street at 12:51 PM was a bit of a disappointment. As I had nothing else to do, it seemed fine that I had visited, but there just wasn’t much to see. Maybe later in the night or when it isn’t raining at all it is more vibrant, but I have my doubts. But sure, if you have time, why not go see it? There was certainly nothing “bad” about it.
Despite some doubts which were fueled by my visit to Bangka old street, at 1:05 PM I decided that I would also walk over to Dihua street. Worst case scenario, I would just get in some more walking.
However, in what I suspect was a fortunate intervention, Haowen called me at 1:12 PM and instead suggested that we go to a special Dim Sum restaurant which is rather famous. It seemed a bit far to walk within the timeframe allotted, so I consulted Google maps, jumped onto a bus, and headed over towards the restaurant which was located near Zhongshan market. Once I was on the bus, I once again reflected that people here were definitely still pro-mask. I’ve seen tons of people wearing them even out on the open street . . . quite a few people are even double masked with surgical masks. It’s not just the elderly but also younger people. However, this appears to be more of a personal choice thing, as tons of other people don’t use them.
I got off the bus at 1:30 PM and arrived in the building at 1:40 PM, much earlier than our programmed meeting time. Thus, I decided to take advantage of the time just wandering around inside. This was clearly some sort of a fancy shopping mall with many mini shops under one roof, for lack of a better term, sort of like a very upscale flea market sort of setup.
While certainly not a disaster, it was a bit funny when Haowen called me at 2:15 PM. Evidently, I had been in the wrong building the whole time. In my defense though, it was just the building next door. I went down to meet Haowen and we entered the correct building. This one seemed much more mainstream than the first one, but definitely still not a “cheap” place.
At 2:17 PM Haowen was unsurprised that we would have to wait, since the restaurant was very popular. She suggested that I might just wander around and wait for her call. There was all sort of delicious and beautiful looking food on this floor. Some of it was absurdly priced, but there was other stuff which seemed more like standard grocery pricing. For those looking to buy tea, they also had that. Again, even though much of the food looked like something which could be eaten right there, there was no clear place to do so. Thus, I assume that everyone buys and takes it home.
At 2:51 PM we were finally able to get a seat. The restaurant is called Din Tai Fung. While it hardly seemed necessary, there was a wheeled robot for us to follow to our seat. The food really was great, and it was just 1815 NTD ($61.26 USD) for both of us, including unlimited hot tea. I know that the cost may seem a little high, but it really was special, so I encourage you to try it if you even have a chance. Evidently there are branches of this restaurant in different places around the world, and the food is supposed to be of the same quality everywhere.
We finished up there at 4:34 PM and were outside walking within ten minutes. Despite having just eaten, knowing how much I liked shaved ice desserts, Haowen suggested that she share a Mango shaved ice at 5:30 PM for just 300 NTD ($10.13 USD).
From there we went to a nearby pier for the sunset and then decided to use Ubikes to get to the Ximen area where we would take the MRT back to Haowen’s place.
However, once we were there, we decided to have a drink at nearby Mudan. I had a zombie and Haowen a Piña Colada, with the cost for both being just 700 NTD ($23.63 USD). It was nice to just sit and chat some more. Coming on this trip has not only been great for getting to know more about Taipei but also for getting closer to Haowen, who is an outstanding person.
Alas, the night did need to come to an end, so we finished up at the restaurant at 9:21 PM, walking into the Ximen station nine minutes later, and exiting from Nangang station at 9:55 PM. The per person cost of the MRT was 30 NTD ($1.01 USD). Despite stopping briefly at a neighborhood convenience store, at 10:18 PM we were already safely back in the apartment.
It was a fairly relaxed day, but it was definitely good. I went to a couple of must-see tourist sites. I had eaten two types of iconic Taiwanese food. I had seen another beautiful sunset over the water. And I had of course spent quality time with an amazing friend. I really couldn’t think of how to further improve the day . . . what do you think?
Travels with Jay 