First Time Outside Taipei / 第一次在台北郊区

 With the help of the beloved Ji-san (Dr. Huang's friend) we ventured outside of the city! We went to Yilan City, to a traditional art museum, a brewery, and a bakery! At the art museum we did some indigo dyeing which was very fun, and now I have a new handkerchief! At the bakery I wasn't planning on buying anything, just planning to try as many samples as I could, but I saw something so delectable and cheap I couldn't resist! It was a strawberry sort of bun, like a pineapple bun you may get as dessert. It was so good, with a kind of cream cheese frosting on the inside, and it was only 35 yuan!

Later in the day, back in Taipei, we took the gondola up to Maokong (猫空), or as I like to call it, Maoshan (cat mountain). The gondola was very enjoyable, as I've been on quite a few in my life. In fact, I showed everyone an old picture I have of my dad holding me as a baby in a gondola! I'm not entirely sure why the mountain was named for cats as I didn't see any, but Dr. Huang said that it is named that because of the feral cat population there. I also asked what "kong" (空) meant. It seems that it's a sort of placement word, as when combined with 天，"tian" (meaning sky, but used for day) it means "the sky". So perhaps 猫空 means "place where cats are". That's a lot more fluid than 猫在地方。

Me in a gondola as a baby.
View of Maokong gondola from tea restaurant.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

So long.../再见...

Image
It has been a fantastic conclusion to this trip. I finally met my family friend, Sophia, and her brother Bruce, along with her husband, Bruce's wife, and Sophia's daughter Linda and three granddaughters! Sophia was so sweet, she was tearing up when we met at the station. She took me to see her and Bruce's office for her business, Yutop, and it was a very comforting place. It was nice to be surrounded by biking paraphernalia, it felt like home! Me with Sophia and Bruce. The painting in the background was made by their mother! We then went to have lunch with their family. Funnily enough, this was the same place that we'd have dinner later as a class! It was nerve-wracking to meet the rest of the family, I didn't want to seem like I was intruding. They were very welcoming, though, and Linda was very nice to talk to! (From left to right): Peter, Sophia's husband, Linda's three daughters, Linda, Bruce, Me, Becca, Bruce's wife, and Sophia. After lunch we went ...
Read more

Natural Taiwan / 台湾的环境

Image
Yesterday we entered Kenting National Park (墾丁国家公园)! It's a national park that extends the whole lower peninsula of the island. It's truly beautiful and makes me appreciate this country so much more. Although I do enjoy the city life and all its spoils, returning to nature really helps set me back to ground zero. One fascinating thing about a beach here is that it's I believe 97% seashell sand! That's the highest percentage in the world! Because of this, they have the area fenced off, for conservation reasons. The way the mountains border the ocean here reminds me of home in a way, although it's much more tropical and warm than Seattle. The museum at the Kenting visitor's center was fascinating. It had lots of information about current ecological threats to the park, conservation efforts, and indigenous history of the area. It makes me think that maybe my next global perspectives paper should be on the indigenous history of Taiwan... We went snorkeling at part o...
Read more