Note: This post was written in early June but it hasn't been posted until today.
My Mum's friend, known affectionately as Aunty Anne scored a few cheap air tickets for us earlier in the year. Before I agreed to my current teaching gig, we negotiated with the principal that I'd be allowed to take a few days off in the last week of term to fly to Taiwan and she approved on the spot. So 3 senior citizens and 2 spinsters flew away happily on the 21st of May.
We flew with Air Asia and when we got to Tao Yuan airport, I declared loudly that I was ready for a bowl of Beef Noodles but it was not to be, we had to get on a bus to get to Tai Chung. We stayed at a place suitable to seniors who are super budget conscious - Taichung Hero House. On my first night, I prayed that the relationship between Taiwan and China remains stable during my stay in Taiwan because it suddenly occured to me that we could be bedding down inside a military installation. Yikes!
My first impression of Taiwanese Chinese people was that they were courteous. At the Zhongyou Department Store in Taichung, staff greeted us like we were high rollers. They were more than happy to step in when we requested help. After my short stay in Taiwan, I experienced quite a bit of culture shock shopping in KK. There in Taiwan, even staff at Daiso were polite and cheery.
After 2 days in Taichung, we boarded another bus to Kaohsiung. We got there too early to check into our Japanese room at the Kaohsiung Hero House. So we dumped our luggage behind the counter before getting on another bus to get to the ferry. We headed for Cijin Island for seafood. The place was sizzling hot. The ferry ride was short but it was long enough for me to feel quesy for the rest of the day. Back at the Hero House, our Japanese room was ready. This time, all 5 ladies bunkered down in a room with 4 futons on tatami. The 5th person slept on the sofa. On the 2nd day, we went to visit a Hakka Village in Meinong. We were fed the same story about the villagers' capability in churning out young people with PhDs. Kononya, some families were producing multiple PhD graduates! The competition to excel must have been fierce. I thanked God that I didn't grow up there.
The highlight of our stay in Kaohsiung was a plate of bacon and pineapple friend rice I had at a small eatery called 元宗小馆. When we were there, we were served by a friendly lady and even though we popped in just before closing time, she was happy to let us order. She informed us that the little eatery will be closed in June because they are welcoming a new grandchild. The place isn't fancy but the good food is worth another visit.
After two days in Kaohsiung, we made our way to Taipei. I had wanted to ride on a high speed train but a couple of seniors refused because they couldn't get concession tickets on trains. In the end we returned to Taipei on a bus. It was a long trip that flattened my bottom. The seniors had wanted to stay at the Taipei Hero House but we were out of luck as it was fully booked. So we ended up in two separate rooms at Red Cabin Inn and this is located in the very hip area called Shimending. In our room, my bed was in its own 'room' near the bathroom and there was a bath for me to soak in.
While we were in Taipei, we met up with my Mum's Taiwanese friend, SH Ah Yi. We dined at a nice restaurant (Hung Kan Restaurant) near Sogo with her husband, Mr H. It turned out that he was an army brat and left China at age 11 for Taiwan with his parents. It was the first time that I had spoken to someone linked to CKS and he seemed human and warm. His parents' properties in Nanjing were all confiscated after they left. On the last night of our stay in Taipei, we met up with SH Ah Yi again for dinner at a Japanese restaurant. This place is in the heart of Shimending and it was packed. 美观园 was established in 1946 and SH Ah Yi had been dining there since she was young. The food was good and the portions were generous for a Japanese restaurant. I ate as much as I could because it will be a long time before I get to taste such foods again.
Also while we were in Taipei, we dined at a themed restaurant not far from our motel.My Mum, her helper and I went without the other 2 seniors. I don't think the other 2 have the sense of humour to dine at such a place. It was called Modern Toilet.I first saw it on TV in Melbourne and had wanted to try it ever since. It wasn't a pricey establishment but the service was good as expected. Our meals were served in dishes that looked like Asian style toilets, Western style toilets, urinals, potties and basins. Even the hot bread were in the shape of poos! Our table was a thick sheet of glass on top of two laundry tubs and our seats were Western style toilets. Interestingly, the seat covers/lids were probably made in Carlton, Victoria. They were those transparent toilet lids embedded with either seashells, flies, spiders or barbed wire! Go google Modern Toilet and have a laugh looking at the images of their food.
