Archive for April, 2012
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New eatery in ChangAn Road West is open 16 hours a day. Near Hyatt Fortune Hotel.
We old folk get a free eye test every two years in Australia. It’s common to get your prescription details then go to a cheaper store- or go overseas for the glasses. The first store knows this. The prescription I was given was not worth a pinch of sh*t. Wrong wrong wrong. Therefore I have lost trust with eyeglass retailers in Australia. They employ poorly trained staff too. I put faith in a Taiwan retailer who actually helps me and will not sell new glasses if the current ones are adequate. That would be a rare event in Australia. By the way, computer screens wreck your eyesight. Optometrists have a big future. Eye tests are free in Taiwan. Another example of better deals here for customers.
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Discovered this shop today – not far from Hyatt Fortune Hotel. Shop is in Chang-An West Road. The old Chinese vase may be the most expensive item for sale. The silver and ruby encrusted Triton Trumpet shell is amazing. About AUD $200 – HOWEVER, this shell is certain to be on the CITES list of endangered species and therefore, a sharp-eyed customs man might confiscate it upon your arrival home – in most countries. (Same could apply for the red coral jewelry mentioned yesterday). The cotton bag with what appears to be a religious object, maybe from India, is unique in my memory. The bag has a shoulder strap. The object it contains has a Buddha-like figurine behind a tiny glass panel. Maybe it was a traveling temple? Personally I have no need for objects such as these. They are good for anyone who plans to live forever – otherwise what is the point? Keep your life simple would be my suggested comment. However most like to collect a heap of treasure during their life of travels.
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YanPing Road was the original fashionable place to shop – starting from ChangAn Road West where there is a Five Ways of intersecting streets (a good roast duck shop and across the road, fresh orange juice 500 ml for NT$50).
Walking north on YanPing Road (east side) found a good variety of shop windows to browse. Plenty of jewelry, red coral, a couple of food places, combination safes, Korean red ginseng, dried sea horses, shoes, clothes, and finally upon reaching MinQuan Road – the usual lively fresh market that began on the street and went ‘inland’ to the usual vast variety of tables and vendors.
Intending to walk east along MinQuan Road I found one of the new MRT stations, with an unpronounceable name and opted for an easy ride back to Zhongshan Station and my hotel room nearby.
I had to eat all the Durian (AUD $9) as, the smell can ‘stink-out the entire floor of a hotel building’. Incredible that such an exotic taste also has such a powerful smell.
Have you seen how these fruit grow? They don’t hang from a limb, they are attached to the trunk of the tree! Very unusual. I am assuming these were an export from Thailand – maybe they grown commercially in Taiwan too?
The loquet were sweet and ripe. NT$150 is not cheap for a small quantity.
North Gate – when Taipei was surrounded by a wall, and when the city was far smaller. Thousands of people passed through this tunnel gate – many with hopes of a better life ahead. For some this was not going to be the case, for others – fortunes were to be made.
There is little doubt that the local Taiwanese had a rough time when Japan surrendered in WW2 and the Chinese Nationalist KMT government arrived and installed martial law for the next 38 years. How many Australians understand what martial law is?
Today Taiwan is the first Chinese democracy. View below is overlooking Liberty Square from the CKS memorial.
(Picture looks like a postcard with retouching by an artist….. it’s not).
I find an art form in old brick walls like this one near Guting MRT, this week.
Australian’s would go crazy for a pile of historic bricks like these, and use them to build a modern dwelling. Old Taipei will see more demolishes like this one near Zhongshan MRT on Nanjing E. Road.
Computer and Camera show opened today. Tomorrow and Sunday will be very crowded. Admission free is a tip they could use in Australia at these shows. Photographers like the free models to photograph and test cameras with. My 3.30 video an inspiration for those thinking of teaching English here (in Taiwan). I looked at new computers on special for about 25% less than list price or for AUD $1000 for an i7 4GB RAM. Some new computers have only one RAM slot – meaning if you intend to double or increase the RAM you need to dis-guard the original card. ha ha – Linda is a very pretty girl, Kelly and Jenny are both cute too.
