It's anathema to put fingers to keyboard on a day off, but I've decided to yield to the greater good, and despite being one day late, here is a truncated entry on the Ten Ten national holiday.
We've run through from August with nary a spare breath so everyone was hanging out for this national holiday extended weekend. We luxuriated in our usual Friday evening activities of leisure with the knowledge that four days with no timetable beckoned. We had a sleep-in on Saturday before pottering around, reading and watching some TV series' episodes. We decided to motor across to Shinkong Mitsukoshi mid-afternoon to see the long awaited sequel to Blade Runner after being fairly unimpressed by a dour dark and rain-filled original back in the 80s. This version was similarly dark and rain-soaked but was graced with slicker acting, modern CGI effects and a bigger budget, all of which made this version extremely enjoyable. We timed it well to make our booking at the ever reliable Spice Shop for an Indian feast. Our favourite grilled and spiced fish dish was missing but we tried a possible replacement which might do the trick in future. After promenading and scootering out in the nightlife for a few hours we felt a part of the big city on the holiday break!
On Sunday we embarked on a huge loop of the northern tip of the country starting along our Wenlin Road before cutting through the Guandu nature reserve towards the Red Bridge over the Damshui River. The car was purring along after we'd retrieved her from her new home in the bowels of the Taipei P.E. University building. As we traced the river along the MRT line, we realized that the MRT extensions to cater for the mass influx of apartments and people beyond Damshui had caused quite the traffic trauma along the Number 2 Coastal Highway. The elevated tracks need support of course, and the mammoth concrete legs of the track plonk themselves down right in the middle of the highway. All fenced off for endless kilometres the traffic crept, then jerked, then finally stalled in the seeping coastal rain, only occasionally starting up to edge just another few metres forward. When the opportunity arose, we cannily escaped onto a peripheral country road which wound through the mountains. We stopped for a quick 7/11 lunch before making it to Sanzhi and joining up again on a much smoother running coastal route through to Baishawan and Fugui Cape (more commonly known as Green Ball to us).
Housing a government run radar station (hence the giant "green balls"), Fugui Cape has a lighthouse destroyed in the war in 1945 and re-built in that same year. We parked, then hiked through some amazing "wind-cut" trees to an exposed trail near the beach and headland. When it started to rain we aborted our walk and made it back to the car, but it looks a fascinating area to return to on another occasion. We eventually made our way through to Jinshan then began the trip home via the Yangminshan switchbacks, whereupon the mist and fog was so pea soup, I half expected Heathcliff to come lumbering from the moors or Kate Bush in her red dress to come singing and dancing from the sodden shroud. As quickly as it descended, the fog lifted as soon as we dropped down the other side of the mountain towards home: a phenomenon we'd witnessed many times but never quite got used to.
The decadence of not working on a regular working day cannot be overstated and it can be heightened considerably by doing something equally dissolute. How about going to one of Taipei's trendiest and newest hotels, whizzing up to the 31st floor and booking a glass-encased private corner of the building to drink gin and tonics, snack on finger food and while away the afternoon gazing upon the architectural marvels of Taipei 101 and other sights of the HsinYi district? Well, Cassy suggested just that, so even though the spot wasn't yet open when we arrived, we managed to book the prime spot successfully, then went to mess around for an hour or so till it opened. Yet another glittering shopping palace has opened in Hsin Yi, a new Breeze centre just a short stroll from another of its stores. High-end fashion brands are ubiquitous of course, but there were a few other interesting, new players. Japanese lifestyle store Muji has a gigantic presence as does a new American outfit, Crate and Barrel. We wandered around C&B yet couldn't quite place an equivalent we know: it's way more upmarket than many lifestyle stores as evident by the joinery, and finish (as well as price!) of some of the furniture, but it also seems to have "everything" as well. At the appointed time around 2 o'clock, we arrived back at the Zen Bar in the W to begin our blissful afternoon. We ended up staying for a couple of hours: it's the second time in the past couple of years we've managed to snag this spot, and it really is a little hidden gem. We'll be back!
After a lazy day at home today, doing a little food shopping, typing up blogs (!) and marking a couple of essays, we're ready to hit the rest of the week with some energy. We've almost decided our itinerary for Christmas: it's loose at this stage, but it does include The Netherlands and Belgium...more on this later! Photos: We've just started teaching our new novel Fahrenheit 451, Cass modelling her Brazilian bracelet (thanks C&V), ordering the Indian food, 7/11 in the mountains, wind cut trees, windy Fugui Cape, mural round the corner, turtle in the creek, Crate and Barrel, Tiffany and Zen Bar shots.
P.S. It's still crazy hot...check this out.