28th December 2007 in Taiwan

Chuifen filming site of the documentary movie [Sad City]

First thing in the morning and its a scenic bus ride up the mountains...
Itinery states "Chuifen filming site of the documentary movie [Sad City]" I think they meant "九份"... (Nine-share)... why the name?

Was told that region used to have gold veins, and people flocked to the place below the hills... many years later, the gold veins dried but people stayed on. However, there remains a fellow who will arrive each month with his bull and cart to buy a month's supply of food, wine, and necessities for this family.

The merchants below the hill sees him as a big customer, as whenever he comes, he always buy 9-shares of everything. The people though he was from another town and asked where he was from. They were however surprised to find out that he was from the same region too.

Curiosity got the better of the townspeople and some tracked his trail up into the hills... where they realised he was mining gold in the hills... words got around and people started to head for the gold up there as well... when asked where they heading for, the reply was "[九份]'s place..." ... and the name was born...

KEELUNG PORT (基隆港)
Behold... Taiwan's busiest port...
(friends in the shipping line will be familiar with this port...)
heres a close-up...
and a zoom-out...

九份基山街

and~ we arrive at this tiny little street...
was told its famous for its various types of tang yun (汤圆)... got to get a bowl and try~

I was, however, still full from breakfast I decided to give it a pass...

Was surprised to find a STARBUCKS joint so high up here in the mountains! Probably the coffee joint with the best scenary and working environment!
Black Squid Sausage anyone?
Lotsa shops to hop in and out of~and lotsa mochis for sale inside the shop! Oh, and the next thing to look out for is the ALMOND POWDER... the cheapest I could find inside is NT$250 a bottle BEFORE bargaining... (go buy more and haggle the price down)

also, dun forget to get yourself some OCARINAS! (See my earlier post). When you entered the shop, you will be treated to a earful of melodicious ocarina pieces. So nice~~~
the next thing to watch out for is the vehicle traffic... I was by then accustomed to those little skipper riders zipping to and fro... but you will never expect these people to actually drive an entire van into the narrow street...
or even a lorry! Pedestrains had to really hop into the nearest shop in order to give way to the lorry...
and here's a 10sec video clip of the street outside....

the road was so sharply curved that our coach cut across to the oncoming traffic in order to complete its turn... it only takes a correct timing for 2 opposing direction coaches to meet head on at the sharp bend... (anyone thinking of Initial D?)

YEHLIU (野柳)

Next we arrive at this place near the sea.... many fishing boats berth in the vicinity...

and we stopped at a huge carpark to buy tickets into this park.... salty taste in the air there...

Bought tickets from here...

Here's a preview of what is inside~~~

I think I look fat in this picture...
The mandatory "V" sign...
and Kokuhen's mandatory "Victorious Pose"...
Jiawoei was shooting at everything he sees...

while Jerry was putting everything to his mouth... *nibble nibble*

We "played pool" here... reminds me of RANMA 1/2....

one last pose before I dive into one! Wonder what I will morph into...

(now where's the pool for Xiao P? Got to change him back... )

... and we guys started to fool around again... pose to the right~!

and pose to the left~!

was told someone fell off when the very edge collasped down some time ago... so them two didn't stand too far out...

Kokuhen found a nice Throne Seat for himself...
and Jerry decided to pose AV... They say its the "Cleopatra" head kinda thing... bleh~ I just care about having fun~

LUNCH TIME!

Hot pot, choose your own ingredients... I didn't manage to take every kind although I wanted to try a piece of each. There were just too many to choose from! Was happy to see "Maggi Mee"...

Oh! and that cute little piece of fish cake with Sakura design... xD Beef Instant Noodle! Presentation was nice, no? Itadakimas~!

Author's note: I swear by "No flash" for camera shots...

And the rest of my ingredients stewing away in the pot... Best lunch so far...

YANG MIN SHAN NATIONAL PARK (阳明山国家公园)

This landmark-oh-I-can't-be-bothered-to-take-picture-so-let-my-friends-take-picture-flower clock...

Kokuhen, Jerry and I fast hike uphills to find....

SAKURAS! These fellows bloomed early! Quite sparse though... haha...

Author's note: I have absolutely no idea why these guys find this cluster of rocks to resemble 花果山... but they just decided to turn monkey... and Jerry looked more like a scare-crow...
then Jerry decide to pose for a picture like this... a "Proposing pose"...

Author's note: stay away from huge clusters of rocks and piles of dried leaves, especially in winter times... you dun want anything below to come out biting...

Squirrels abound!

Jerry managed to coax one down the tree... ha~

We ran up the hills... (*pant pant*) air up there was good. There was even a tiny natural waterfall of mountain waters oozing out... Jerry took a sip (yea, he got a tendency to put things to his mouth, haha)... raw taste he said...

Toilet in the hills...

We found a 亲子厕所! (Parent/Kid Toilet)! It was a huge cubicle with 2 toilet bowls and a basin!

Just look at that tiny little toilet bowl for the kid! CUTE~

Meanwhile... Jiawoei took a picture of this...

... Smelly Beancurd, Hot Dog, Pig Bloodcurd ...

YUCK~

Next, we were back in the city... was 5 plus pm... school's over...
I was in the coach... and traffic was dead slow due to the peak hours...
Here's 泰北高级中学...

Author's note: look closer at the picture... see those 2 long poles from inside the school compound? When school's over, they have these boys in uniform (NPCC I think) wearing white safety helmets and carrying these 4-5 metres long bamboo poles, coming out to the gates... the bamboo poles were attached with safety words (maybe "students crossing") and these "safety wardens" will block the traffic with these bamboo poles, so students can cross the road safety.... Interesting sight~
well, I was more interested in the school girls crossing the road... hohoho... weird hairstyles though...

Pi Xiu Place (貔貅馆)
This place is out of the Itinery (Tour Guide brought us here so he can earn some commissions... you know lah~... but our Tour Leader was showing a black face...)

Pi Xius has been around for many years but are only gaining popularity in Singapore these recent years... I had wanted to get one for myself and a big one for dad too... even before I stepped inside... I prepared NT$500 (S$25) for a keychain size... fair enough? I thought so...

This nice 师傅 inside gave us a very nice and hilarious presentation of the Pi Xiu information, its origins, purpose, how to touch, types of auspicious animals, and the importance in the number of strokes in your chinese name... then we are invited to approach his colleagues for a free consultation of our names.

They were so convincing; they asked for your chinese name, count the strokes, check your 8-Characters (Note: you are NOT suppose to divulge this information anyhow, or you can be at the recieving end of some black magic... or so I was told.), determine your 金木水火土 elements, ascertain which elements you are weak in, and convinces you that getting a certain colour of this Pi Xiu will help in increasing the luck or "Qi" in the required/missing element.

Then the price: For a tiny weeny little Pi Xiu, approx. 1 inch length... cost NT$8,888. After discount is NT$5,888... Thats approx. S$280!!! OMG! My intention of getting a big one for my dad busted... was told later that someone in our tour group bought a slightly bigger one for display, at NT$88,888. OMG~ I ended up being the richest amongst us 4; Jerry and Kokuhen each bought a jar of royal jelly at NT$7,500 (S$350) some days back, and Jiawoei got this NT$5,888 Pi Xiu~! I slipped out of the shop... relieved I wasn't ripped off.

Author's note: Information of Pi Xius abound on the Internet, and various versions exist, I dunno whether the version I was told was accurate or not. But if you are interested, I can share them with you when you see me ya? Just treat me to coffee~

SHIHLIN NIGHT MARKET (士林夜市)

And the ever so looked-forward to place... Shih Lin Night market!
Was amazed to see such a huge cotton candy... almost wanted to buy one... hee hee~

豪大大鸡排~! Mandatory shot of this stall!

This stall has the longest queue! Easily 30 people in the queue. And there will be an uncle there distributing plastic bags for those in the queue to carry their purchases. Caution of bones ya! And no cutting of the cutlets will be entertained.

A couple of stalls to the right, some nice sausages were beckoning me to buy them... oh~ they looked so tasty! Sold by the Kilo, not the whole piece...

and just beside the sausage stall... we have the 冰糖葫芦(sugar-glazed chinese pear) stall... which do you think I spent money on?

The sweet 冰糖葫芦 of course!~ Yummy! The place sure~~~ is crowded... there was no chance to simply stop and gaze... I took this picture while moving... inching forward like a zombie as the crowd behind me closes in...

Found a table to sit down and ordered 2 different flavours of "Hao Jian (蚝煎)" ... NOT nice one~~~ *grumbles* the sauce tasted funky...sucks so much you got to pay me to eat it again...

Finally, I reached a cross-junction inside the market and I took a short 360 degree 10sec video-clip of the scene!

Author's note: Nothing really special of the Shih Lin Night Market; its quite similar to our Bedok Interchange Hawker Center, minus away the tables and chairs...




Betal Nut Betal Nut
We cleared the Shih Lin Night Market and decided to explore a bit before heading back to the coach. We passed by a Betal Nut stall and I decided to try Betal Nut for the first time. (No way I am gonna give this a miss since I am here in Taiwan, right?)

Believe me, I didn't buy this from some scantily clad girls, because if I did, I would have posed for a picture with them. Got a packet from an auntie at NT$50 (S$2.50).

Then I sheepishly asked auntie: How to eat one? - Was told to chew on the first piece until mashed, then spit everything out. Then you can start swallowing the subsequent ones.

I did for the first betal nut... chew~ raw fruit taste... like raw guava... then I spitted it out... sweet after taste... Then I popped the 2nd betal nut in... chew chew chew.... still, it doesn't taste like chewing gum... still tastes raw... and I spitted it out... quite disgusting taste... that's it! I ain't eating anymore! And passed the packet to Kokuhen to try...

Here's the actual photo of the betal nut, on Kokuhen's hand; Jiawoei took a picture of it.

By now, Jiawoei and Jerry had hopped into this .... ahem... DVD store featuring some Japanese imported "artistic films"~ I entered the store after spitting out the 2nd betal nut... with Kokuhen right behind me...

However, right after I snapped this picture, I started to feel dizzy and was beginning to lose my balance. It was barely 2 minutes from when I spitted out the last betal nut... Kokuhen commented my entire face being blushed. I told them of my condition and they escorted me out of the shop... took me 5 minutes to regain my composure...

I think I was poisoned by the Betal nut...

After I regained my composure... I was outside another DVD stall and that was the place I bought the uncensored version of Lee An's Lust.Caution...

Back at the hotel, I dragged Kokuhen out (again) to explore the other streets near the hotel. Jerry and Jiawoei decide to stay-in to watch TV and turn in early... (it was only 10pm). This time, we crossed over to the "arena" center with this gigantic TV screen... was featuring Stephen Chow's CJ7. Hahaha...

Further down the streets, came across this helmet store. Lotsa designs! Since Taiwanese mostly ride those skippers, such helmets are a popular choice among them.
Oh! We found this store with a huge 豆腐 signboard outside and popped in for supper! Very "Chi-Na" setting with antique tables and chairs. Friendly young boss (and probably his very chio wife) introduced me and Kokuhen a variety of Tau-Hway.

We didn't know how to begin ordering, so the boss guided us. First, we choose our Tau-Hway base: White Tau-Hway or Black Tau-Hway (Yes, BLACK). Then we select our toppings from a variety of selections... I wanted to try all the toppings, but I know it will taste like shit if I mixed everything in. So we had the boss recommend us something nice.

Below: mine's on the left, white tau-hway base, with sweet black glutinous rice, wolf-berry jelly and a 3rd ingredient which I had forgotten. Sweet~. Kokuhen's was black tau-hway base (greyish) with barley and bo-bo terigu (燕麦). Mine tastes better. xD