We tested the car out in some dreary, squally weather on Saturday afternoon en route to the tiny historic village of Jiufen in the hinterland of the Keelung mountains. Our spur of the moment planning started out fine, but we decided to ditch it when the rain and wind started to beat down more ferociously as we got nearer the coast.We made a detour to the off coast near Wanli on the way to Keelung via a tiny winding road which we’d never travelled on before. Ostensibly surf spotting, we were able to find instead a very impressive coastal walkway which extends for many kilometers along the wild bluffs at the foot of the precipitous Keelung mountains which literally fall sheer into the sea. We stayed cocooned in the comfort of the car but were able to see the extent of the path as it followed the road on the ocean side. Colossal boulders and craggy sea caves added to the spectacle as the big swell bashed and crashed, great plumes of spray jettisoned into the air. On a calmer day it would be quite amazing, so we locked that away for further investigation. On the same road further along, we skirted a giant power factory with three impressive chimney stacks right on the coast. The walkway had stopped by then of course!
Swinging back onto the number 3 freeway, we made our way back via Neihu and decided to visit the Miramar shopping complex near the big wheel. After secreting Ziggy in a cavernous car park on the B3 level we made our way up only after carefully noting where we were! We spent some time wandering in the market stalls outside at first before going over to a nearby building that was advertising “international fashion” at warehouse prices. After perusing an endless array of doe soft Italian leather jackets, Cass settled on one which was a kind of aqua colour: I’m sure that description will be quite inadequate. It was indeed being sold at a bargain price…I was sure at first that I’d misheard the Chinese.
We then moseyed around the main building for a while and enjoyed some people watching. What a sight it is in Taipei when the weather just turns ever so slightly wintery. The mercury barely threatening the 20 degree mark, yet the parkas with fur lined collars come out of nowhere. It is always quite hilarious as Taipei’s young women seem very resistant to losing their signature mini skirts, so we often see girls tottering on their gravity defying high heeled knee length boots, micro mini skirts with bare legs and then the aforementioned Antarctic inspired jackets up top: weird, but always entertaining!
We stayed and ate an early dinner at TGI Fridays, which is predictable fare, but comfortingly familiar and easy to order. The ambiance in the restaurant is always fun too, with lots of rock and movie memorabilia displayed on the walls. After successfully finding and extracting the car form the depths of the basement, we made our way home in the early evening. I’ll stop raving about the car soon, but it really is quite satisfying to be driving such a comfortable vehicle at long last: it certainly adds to the driving experience here. The big city traffic can be pretty enervating especially with the strange driving proclivities of the locals, but a decent easy-to-drive car makes it much more bearable.
Today we had Wol around for a good chunk of the day as we watched a live stream of UFC 106. We had a great time talking about all the fights and even Cass came to join us to see the “Huntington Beach Bad Boy”, Tito Ortiz get his comeuppance in his comeback bout!
As threatened, I’m including yet more photos from last weeks temple visit and some from yesterday, Cass at under the Christmas tree at Tom Dragon, in front of the rows of leather jackets in Neihu, some kiddies trying to capture ducks at the outside markets and me in front of the old album covers at Fridays.