Our spring break has been an absolute cracker. Check the slide show above and all the photos, you'll get the idea. We went to the Taipei International Floral Expo, had Cassy's birthday out, went to the coast a couple of times, saw a lot of Taipei street theatre etc. I'll blab on at greater length sometime tomorrow, but for now, I'll let the pictures do the talking.
The highlight for our Spring Break was definitely the amazing weather. Taipei really turned on a show, which we fully appreciated and reveled in for the duration. While other friends travelled down south or mostly off-island to exotic locales such as Thailand, Vietnam or Bali, we were pleased to be able to enjoy some of our own home-grown exotic Asian island weather!
We walked around the river many days and just enjoyed the bursting spring blooms, light winds and a sun just kissing the skin rather than blowtorching it (which will happen all too soon…)! We got across to Ilan through the tunnel on the off days, they being not Tomb sweeping day or the one prior, as the byways and highways are all choked with traffic as the ancestors are honoured by the surviving relatives, and gravesites scattered throughout the island are tended. It’s a beautiful tradition and one that most seem to adhere to “religiously” (!)
We had Cassy’s birthday dinner out at a very up market little hideaway restaurant down in the Ren Ai road area of downtown. Nestled in a tiny lane in the general area of Taipei 101’s high end shopping district, “Flavors” restaurant is Swedish and chef Ola is a bright and bubbly and very talented Swede determined to bring fine Swedish dining to the Taipei restaurant scene. We had an amazing selection of foods, caviar and salmon for Cass and I had the Swedish meatballs and the slow cooked steak. Their apple pie for dessert has to be experienced…words failed us: just melt-in-the-mouth bliss bombs! We had fun on the way there and back as well: the train always provides a slice of Taipei life and the back alleys showed us hidden away champagne house, bars, restaurants and sleek metal sculptures on the way back to the station.
We thought we’d be very clever and avoid the two “big” days where people would be off work, so had organized to travel to the Taipei International Flora Expo on the Wednesday after Tomb Sweeping. Well, best laid plans and all that! Although the crowds may have been down on the previous two days, we still experienced a massive press of humanity and were actually unable to enter any of the big pavilions. All the pavilions had huge lines of people snaking away from their entrances with signs indicating “120 minutes wait at this point” with people stretching well beyond these on many occasions. However, the outside plantings and flowing fields of flora were just magnificent: even I was very impressed! We took lots of shots which can be seen in the slide show above or at this link when I remove the slides above. We hopped off the train at Yuanshan station before walking through the park and stadium close to here. Crossing the new pedestrian bridge across Chung Shan road to the Taipei Fine Arts Park, we were able to see all the international exhibits, some slicker than others. Thailand and Bhutan were standouts, USA and Holland less so, and some countries hadn’t even bothered (like Australia). All in all, in typical Taipei style, the logistics, transportation and displays were uber-professional and sensationally well organized. After checking out this park we caught a shuttle bus to Xinsheng Park where there were even more magnificent swathes of flowers and floral sculptures. Once again, the pavilions were super crowded, but we found heaps of stuff to look at outside. We didn’t even make it to the biggest area of the lot down by the riverside park on the opposite of the Neihu bank, and as the Expo ends in a couple of weeks I don’t think we’ll make it either!
Apart from those days, we spent lots of time eating hot white toast really late in the morning after big sleep ins, went out walking in the sunshine in the day and stayed up late going to movies or watching TV shows at home. We ate out at lots of our favourite or newer restaurants, also having a few decadent lunches during the week. I went out a couple of times with Wol for a beer and both Cass and I went over to his place to see his haul of pots that he purchased on a trip down to the middle of the island through the week with some of his horticultural interested friends and teacher (see photo above) Photos are an eclectic mix of street theatre, people and places we saw through the week.