Trip To Taiwan – Day 5

15^th October 2016

After getting up from bed, I took a stroll around the vicinity of our hotel. It had rained during the night and the streets were wet with little traffic.  The hills were shrouded in early morning mists.  I felt a deep sense of calm and peace as I stared at the shrouded hills. I like the cute telephone booths in front of the Jiaosi Tang Wei Gou Park and the chilli statues in front of the world’s hottest chilli shop right next to the park.

After the walk, it was time for breakfast at the hotel.

Our first stop was the King Car Orchid Farm, a large commercial orchid farm owned by the King Car conglomerate. The name “King Car” sounds strange. Its Chinese name, if translated into English, would be Gold Car. It is the name of a company that started its business in soft drink, making the well-known brand of canned coffee called “Mr. Brown”. We wandered around the greenhouses where we saw lots of orchids plus some cactuses and fern plants. I took quite a lot of photos of the lovely orchids.

Our next destination was the Mr Brown Castle Café in Toucheng, an urban township in the northern coast of Taiwan. Mr Brown Cafe can be found around Taiwan but this particular outlet is located in a castle with great views. There is a big windmill near the castle.

 

On our way to Taipei, we passed through the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道) or “Snow Mountain” tunnel, the longest tunnel in Taiwan and the fifth longest in the world, located on the Taipei-Yilan Freeway. The 12.942 km tunnel was bored through the Hsuehshan Range to connect the city of Taipei to the northeastern county of Yilan (Ilan),cutting down the journey time from two hours to just half an hour.

On reaching Taipei, we headed to Taipei 101 as my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law Shirley had never been there.  We spent less than an hour there before Ah Mang Ker decided to bring us to Taiwan Democracy Memorial Park for a visit.

The Taiwan Democracy Memorial Park, also known as Liberty Square, is home to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, one of Taiwan’s most iconic landmarks as well as two national art venues, the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. The blue roof of the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall stands regal against the Taipei sky. Finished in 1987, the National Theater and Concert Hall, or NTCH for short, host a variety of performances by both local and international artists, including styles like Beijing opera, kabuki theater, puppet shows, Russian ballet and frequent musical performances by orchestras from around the globe.

The first thing that struck us when we walked into the park was that it was huge. In fact it covers over 240,000 square metres. On a normal day, you can hear upbeat pop music and groups of school-aged kids practicing their moves.

We were lucky as there were plenty of activities going on. A band was playing very upbeat music. Some school bands were also practising in the area. There were interesting floats, a couple of which were a bit grotesque. The activity that attracted huge crowds was a costume festival of some sort that also featured a mini samba parade. Malaysia also had a team in the festival that featured fish flags. We had a field day taking lots of photos.

After leaving Taiwan Democracy Memorial Park, we were ready to proceed to Ximending to check into our hotel for our final night in Taiwan. On the way, we stopped for lunch at a braised pork leg restaurant. I did not much like the food as it was too sweet.

After lunch while on our way to Ximending, we passed by Yi Ping Yuan, the luxury condominium tower where superstars Jay Chou (周杰倫) and Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) both own condo units. Jay reportedly splurged TWD300 million (RM43 million) on his 18^th floor condominium unit in Yi Ping Yuan.

After a short rest in the hotel, we were soon roaming the streets of Ximending (西門町), the development centre of fashion and subculture in Taiwan and one of the most popular tourist spots among both local and international travelers. Ximending features a wide selection of fashionable clothing and accessories in many styles including Japanese, Chinese and Western.

Shirley wanted to buy barbecue pork (bah kua) that her father-in-law had asked her to buy from Yun Lai Siang(永来香). It took us quite a long while to find the shop where we all bought some of the bbq pork. Then we hunted for the 86 Shop as a niece had asked us to buy a certain cosmetic item for her from this particular shop. Again it took us a while to find it.

We then went to the Red House. Although it may appear out of time and out of place, the Red House (西門紅樓) has been an anchor for the Ximen area and bustling shopping streets that have grown up around it over the past 100 years. Its name owing to the instantly recognizable red brick construction, this octagonal building dates to the early years of the 20th century. The area now known as Ximending was, during the Japanese colonial period, a residential area for the city’s Japanese population. As Taipei grew, so did the need for shopping centers, thus Red House was born as a fashion and goods market.

Later, as power shifted to the relocated Kuomintang (KMT) government and the newly arrived Chinese immigrants, the Red House played a different role as an opera and film theater. Western pictures were screened here, in addition to more traditional Chinese pictures, and would become favorite hangout of the younger generations. But as development of the city refocused residents’ attention elsewhere, the building fell into disuse, and would eventually be heavily damaged in a fire in 2000. After efforts were made to rebuild and revitalize the surrounding area, the Red House regained its former prominence as a centerpiece of Ximending.

Today, the building is a multi-use structure with the first floor used as a cafe and gallery displaying its history. The second floor regularly holds live performances by local bands, and on any given day, you may hear warmup performances in preparation for a lively night show. But we were disappointed on this trip as the Red House was undergoing renovation and was thus closed.

Behind the Red House lies a split level indoor market known as the 16 Creative Boutique. As an ode to its fashion centric past, it showcases some of the most imaginative of Taipei’s design world. From the recycled computer parts turned jewelry to the retro Taiwanese art accessories, visitors will be hard-pressed to leave empty handed.

After all the shopping, we were tired. It was time for dinner. We roamed around looking for a place to eat and finally decided to try out beef noodles.

After dinner, it was time to return to our hotel and call it a day.