On Tuesday, the silver bullet picked up the party of Williamson for the drive to the old village of Jiofen and the Gold Ecological Park on the hills in the hinterland of Keelung. As we wound our way up, Jiofen’s houses seemed to be gripping claws into the hillside, jutting out over each other at impossible angles, defying gravity. The steps up to the main road/alley were heart starters and we passed eateries enticing us with views, artisans fashioning product on little ledges and quaint B&Bs touting their charms. The main walking road was filled with tiny shops in the old, preserved buildings selling all manner of product and food. Cass and I had never been there, so all four of us were experiencing the same wonders. The smells were strange, the sounds weird and the sights unusual. Cass chose a restaurant that reflected all of these senses for lunch, some of the meals being more edible than others: I’ll leave it at that! The Gold Ecological Park was equally fascinating. We toured a completely (beam by beam, tile by tile) renovated Japanese house, a house built for the Crown Prince and then descended into the depths of a restored gold mining tunnel resplendent in our hard hats after taking a safety oath in Chinese which meant nothing to any of us! After all that trekking we’d worked up an appetite, so motored straight through to Thai Town at Shinkong Mitsukoshi for tea. After a delicious feast, we were ready to watch an episode of Grand Designs, have a bit more of a chat and head to bed.
A bit of a lay day was in order for Wednesday, so Cassy took Val down to see Joe the Jeweler with Val's new black pearl burning a hole in her pocket! They spent a good while talking tactics with Joe about settings then had an upmarket lunch at the Regent’s Azie café. Chris and I had to get to the mechanics to see about fixing a side mirror I’d snapped off on a parked scooter some days before. We did that, went off to school to try to order and print some train tickets, and then wandered across to Sababa for some Middle Eastern style pitas. On the way home we checked out the big electrical store on Ker Qiang and made a few minor purchases. We weren’t home long before the girls arrived and Joe had worked his magic. Cass cooked up a super big batch of her signature spaghetti bolognaise for tea which was a real treat and we washed it down with some fine Aussie red.
The world wide tour of machines based on designs of Leonardo Da Vinci has hit Taiwan, so we took the MRT down to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall on Thursday to check it out. Fortuitously we arrived right at the changing of the guard and were nearly run down by the high stepping crisply uniformed ceremonial guards on their way to the upper chamber! There was also a display of beautiful lanterns the entire length of the lower hall and some Chinese calligraphy displays. The main event, however, was fascinating and we marveled at the mind that created such a disparate and brilliant set of designs. We headed back to Taipei main station to get some tickets for Chris and Val’s upcoming trip to Taroko Gorge and decided to eat again at the 2nd floor Breeze Centre food area. We chose a teppanyaki restaurant which did not disappoint: flashing spatulas cut, seared and flipped the great fresh ingredients before depositing them expertly into tiny plates in front of us on the hotplate: these guys are real artists. We were fuelled up on a set of beef, chicken, fish, scallops, asparagus and other veggies along with soups and drinks, before going downstairs to the central hub to buy the return tickets to Hualien. Chris and Val are booked in to the renovated Silks Place at Taroko Gorge for three days this week…it should be an awesome experience! We eventually made our way back to the MRT section of main station, and travelled past Mingde to Qiyan and the Lacoco clothing outlet. This is a cheap clothing superstore, but the stock this time was a little underwhelming. Chris sniffed out some good buys however and was fascinated when the lady whisked his new pants off to alter them on the spot for no extra cost! It had turned freezing by this time, so we headed off to a nice warm apartment.
Wendel’s siren call sounded on Friday morning and we were all showered and ready bright and early to sample the gourmet breakfast. It really is fit for a king and possibly because of our unheralded status in the world, it stuck with us through to tea time! The Williamson clan stayed in and watched some movies, Bright Star and The Reader, while I went off to the golf driving range to hit a few balls with Wal. In the evening we had Cassy’s famous pumpkin soup and the equally famous Hirota Puffs for tea!
Yangminshan’s Buffalo Meadow was the attraction on Saturday and we got up there mid morning courtesy of the silver bullet. The walk is always beautiful but we decided to do just ½ the loop before tackling the highest point to check the 360 degree vista. Even though the Gobi desert sandstorm restricted our vision a little, we were able to spot Taipei 101 through the haze in one direction and Danshui in another. Down the hill and we forked off to a trail leading to a waterfall, supposedly just 1.2 km away. After a very steep descent of at least 2 km we arrived at a beautiful little natural fall, the water fresh and cold, the backdrop dripping with lush growth and mossy rocks. We had a sandwich to fortify ourselves for the trek back up and I have to admit the oldies did extremely well as even our relatively young legs were aching by the time we got back to the carpark! We visited the area around the floral clock on the way back and there were some pretty good floral displays. By this time however, once again the weather had turned for the worse, Cassy’s teeth were chattering and we made a welcome retreat back to the car and back down the hill to home. Scootered off to get some Spice World Indian takeaway, some more Aussie red and we were all a bit drowsy and ready for a sound sleep!
SOGO beckoned thew travelers on Sunday morning as well as the Carrefour store and C&V had a great time checking out all the product and wondering the same thing that we often do, “Who on earth buys all this stuff?”! They too saw a lot of lookers and precious few buyers, but I suppose someone must buy it. They got themselves some lunch and ate it outside on the polished granite seats in the pedestrian boulevard out front. Later in the afternoon, we headed off to Shilin nightmarket, the acclaimed big daddy of all of Taipei’s famous nightmarket culture. It really is quite and extraordinary place and we wandered around as the sun was setting and traders set up: it was still hectic and exciting but not quite at the claustrophobic point it would reach a few short hours later. Both Chris and Val got some groovy sneakers and Cass and Val got some reading glasses for the “eyesight infirm”! They were pretty jazzy, but not over-the-top as you might expect from this area. It’s probably because the clientele of most of the product is not in need of eyesight-adjusting specs at their tender age. We walked through most of the main thoroughfares, gawked at the weird foods yet settled on the far more sensible option of Café Onion up the road. We had a 6 course dinner and Cass and I marveled at the fact that the menu has not changed a bit in the last 8 years! Chris enjoyed his snails and chicken, we other three had the New Zealand fillet, although I’m not quite sure that a “well done steak” should be still bleeding! Our visitors are off to Taroko Gorge for three days on Monday and we’re back to school…sob! Photos are a real mix, but you'll get the idea from the text. The slide show is here when I take it off the site.