First thing in the morning: met up with my 學長 who is graciously letting me stay for a few days at his place when I stay in and out of LA over the next two weeks. We were to meet up at noon at Taipei Main Station, and it’s crazy to think that I got there in just 15 minutes from Shilin. We ate in the food court of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi 新光三越, grabbing some omurice with curry pork cutlet – one of my favorite Asian dishes…although the one we got was measurably ‘meh’.
Right after that, I met up with one of my apartment mates from this past year to head to Tamsui, spelled in the pinyi form of ‘Danshui’ the last time I was in Taiwan. Tamsui’s old town street and riverfront (Huanhe Rd) are the main attractions here, although more so in the evenings on weekends where stalls are thriving with people playing boardwalk games and enjoying desserts and small eats.
Closer to the port is a little piece of Taiwan’s history: Fort San Domingo and the British Consulate. Both trace the history of Ilha Formosa and its relations with European empires, including the French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish. Occupation by the Japanese throws in a twist as well. You can read more about it here (click ENGLISH at the top right if you’re like me and can’t read a bit of Chinese).
And then to close out the night I had dinner with some relatives for the last time at a buffet, 蓮池閣素菜餐廳 which was pretty good. I’d recommend it, although it is a bit pricey so I’ve been told? Their website loses me for a bit, but you can check it out here.
And…packing sucks.
Did you know? In Taiwan rather than you put in NT$1 coins, the machines take NT$30 (US$1) and has its own clean bronze coin which it inserts. The resulting “elongated pennies” are also 3D etched, rather than a more stubby design like the ones in the States.
