Well, what a fillip it was for the mind and body to luxuriate in a four day weekend. Taiwan's national 10/10 holiday and America's Columbus Day combined to give us this refreshing oasis in a semester one desert, completely devoid of breaks or holidays. We not only caught up with body and soul in terms of sleep-ins and lazy house time, but got out among the population and flora in both city and country during our time off.
Cass had her regular book club gathering on Thursday night, but this was a bigger affair than the usual for her as she had hosting duties. After a gargantuan and, at some times, torturous lead-up involving the visitation of multiple markets multiple times to source all the special ingredients, the evening of course went off brilliantly. Cassy tweaked a special recipe from her Italian American friend Robin of a creamy smoked salmon pasta dish for main, accompanied by crisp German style sourdough, sparkling waters and champagne and wine from Australia, along with various other accompaniments such as nuts, cheeses and guacamole. Her signature pavlova rounded out the meal and all were left well satisfied. It also forced us to do our annual spring clean, the house left sparkling and fresh and bereft of clutter.
We whizzed across to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex on Friday and watched "The Martian" starring Matt Damon. It was a triumphal celebration of all things scientific and nerdy and managed to tread that sometimes awkward line between cheesy and funny/quirky quite deftly. There was some pathos, some cheer, some heartbreak and inevitable triumph, but it was an interesting and entertaining few hours. We capped the day off with a late (for us) dinner at the twin tower in the complex at the top floor Thai Town and supped on all our favourites.
We gorged on the end of our latest TV series Bloodline on Saturday, before I went up the Tienmu Gudao steps, dodging a monkey troop on my way back down as they foraged and guffawed in the bamboo forest just off the path: always a little unsettling! When I returned, Cass and I went down to Sogo to get some supplies and stroll in the plazas in the crisp early Autumnal temperatures and clear evening light.
Sunday morning started with our tradition of waiting till the ABC's Insider program is posted online whereupon we sit down to watch enjoying a lateish breakfast. We'd decided to get on down to the eclectic, dare I say, bohemian indoor/outdoor arts hub of Huashan 1914 Creative Park to check out an extended section that had always been there but we'd never discovered! Two MRT sections later, we were spat from the underground to a bustling section of the south-eastern end of town. A hop and a skip away is an amazing sprawling complex of reclaimed warehouses and Japanese era red brick, low rise barns that have been converted into an extremely interesting mix of art galleries, restaurants and cafes with the occasional pop-up shop selling all sorts of cute and arty wares.
After a wander around our favourites we scouted further afield to a verdant inner city pasture with kids flying kites and families picnicking in the cool Autumn breezes. A wander through the park, spying the elevated roadways just a few metres away and the city hum droning in the background, we escaped back into the creative park to art spaces with unique (and sometimes quite weird!) offerings, coffee spots and our destination restaurant, "VVG Thinking". What a space this proved to be! Every detail of the interior has been artistically styled and preened, lounges and traditional seating strategically placed and thought-provoking art lined the bare brick walls. The food was superb and we had appetizers, mains and cake and coffee to finish. After a metaphoric sigh of contentment, we again braved the hectic spaces of the Taipei underground to wend our way home.
On Monday, I had great hopes of cracking some surf on the northern coast, but the huffing gusts of wind on our side of the mountain didn't augur well, nor did the meteorological forecasts on various websites. Nonetheless, we loaded the car with surf paraphernalia and back-up walking gear to take the super highways out to Damsui and beyond. Baishawan was a wind whipped mess, Green Ball was flat. and the various northern rock shelves didn't appeal, so we kept going round on the coastal highway all the way to faithful Jinshan. Not to be outdone, it too was a sloppy soup. Plan B kicked into action and we headed to the mountainous promontory poking from the Jinshan harbour calm.
To our amazement, we realized we'd never ventured out from this trailhead, likely as we'd always been distracted by the "search for surf" on other occasions. The carpark and trailhead were well maintained and educational maps and signs abounded so we struck out for the tip. What a revelation to find incredible panoramic views and beautiful rock formations as we got further out towards the tip. A little gate warned us not to venture further in typhoons and dangerous seas, but we continued through and beyond as it was an idyllic day and conditions. The twin candlestick islands were quite spectacular closeup and our wander round the eroded sandstone and coastal detritus was lots of fun.
We went home "a different way" as is always my desire, and wondered at the landslides ripping great sections of the mountain from their moorings as well as the burgeoning pink mountain grasses just coming into season. Taking advantage of the civilised car transport (!) we even managed a supermarket run to finish back near home before the car was cloistered in her little house in the school's basement carpark for another stint.
What a long weekend! Photos are fairly self-explanatory I hope and a slide show is on top for a while as well as a link below for the long term. See ya!
Here's the link to the 10/10 holiday album.