Monday, August 7, 2006

(Not my) Memory Lane 懐かしい

We took Amber swimming this afternoon. As today was an important day of worship during Ghost Month, the pool was a lot less crowded than the last time we went. Afterwards, we went to a local teahouse called, if I'm getting this name correctly, "Taiwan Banana New Paradise"

 
Here's Amber reaching out to the Happy Giant Banana Boy.

I had tonkatsu とんかつ for dinner, and as is always the case with Japanese food in Taiwan, it was pretty mediocre. God, how I miss Tonki とんき in Meguro 目黒. RIP Mike - you're often in my thoughts. 

What was interesting about this teahouse was its interior. It was decorated with items you would've found in Taiwan in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Pamela was so inspired by the decor she took these sepia tinged-looking photos:


What piqued my interest, however, was this hanging on the wall:

 

It seems to be an old train station sign dating from the Japanese colonial period, and it gives the Japanese readings for Fongyuan (Toyohara とよはら 豊原), Houli (Kori こうり 后里) and Tanzih (Tanshi たんし). It also lists what I assume are the ticket prices to go from Fongyuan to Keelung (キールン), Taipei (Taihoku たいほく 台北), Hsinchu (Shinchiku しんちく 新竹), Taichung (Taichu たいちゅう 台中), Tainan (たいなん 台南) and Kaohsiung (Takao たかお 高雄).

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