Taiwan - Part 3

When our coach completed the round-island trip and returned to Taipei city, the typhoon had also stopped chasing us…what a relief. We got to 忠烈祠 Martyr’s Shrine just to see the change-of-guards ceremony. These two pictures were taken by KK as I probably would have been able to capture only pictures of the tourists’ heads.

We also visited 士林官邸 Shih-lin Official Residence of Chiang Kai-shek where a chrysanthemum exhibition coincidentally was being held. The flowers were quite lovely but we were unable to appreciate the entire exhibition as the guide gave us only 15 minutes there. We basically walked about 200m from the entrance, snapped some pictures and had to quickly run back to the coach. That limousine on display was supposedly used by Soong Mei-ling, Chiang’s wife.




The last item on our itinerary for the guided tour was a visit to 士林夜市 Shih-lin night market. This place is known for its food and night bazaar. As per the standard style of the tour, we also didn’t get to see much there because we were only given an hour to roam the place. We did get to taste the famous XXL chicken cutlet but the queue was ridiculously long…stretched over at least 100m. Don’t think it was worth the wait because we had sampled better ones elsewhere. If you do visit this place, I would say one item worth trying is 官財板 - a thick slice of toast deep fried and filled with chowder. But you got to eat it when it’s still piping hot.


When we were liberated from the tour group, the first place most of us wanted to visit (or rather revisit) was 故宮博物院 National Palace Museum. We went there in the morning and spent half a day there, totally fascinated by the vast display of intricate Chinese artefacts. It amazes me how all those treasures, 600,000 pieces of them were transported from the mainland to this island. I don’t think logistics management systems existed during those days. The chap who coordinated this must have been one hell of a genius! Photography wasn’t allowed in the exhibition halls so I can’t show you the “pork belly” or “cabbage”. I can only post pictures of the museum facade…hehe! Go see it for yourself, this museum is really huge and impressive. I would highly recommend it if you’re a first-time visitor to Taiwan…of course you must also have some interest in Chinese history, art and culture. The museum ticket also entitles you free entry to 至善園 Chih-shan Garden located next to the museum.




Below are some of the other pictures of Taipei city that I took. As with all cities, there are some distinctive buildings such as the Taipei 101 building, the City Hall and the Taipei Railway Station.
We stayed at a hotel near the very busy and happening 西門酊Ximen Ding. That is where the famous Ah Chung Mian Xian is located. We happened to witness an anti-global warming campaign on one of the mornings. People in Taiwan seems to be more aware and concerned about environmental issues. Taiwan friends tell me that many of them carry their own recyclable chopsticks and bags everywhere they go.



We also visited the upper-class 信義商圈 Xin-yi business district and 永康街 Yung-kang Street. In case you’re wondering what's that last picture, it says “There’s dog poo.” Some kind soul covered the dog poo on the pavement with a box and wrote the Chinese characters to caution pedestrians.