It's been a week since our return to Taiwan following our two-year tour in Vilnius, and my first visit to the Beautiful Island in three years. Unfortunately, thanks to a couple of factors, it has been less than a MacArthur-esque triumphant return. First and foremost, the weather has been awful, with rain almost every single day, and though not a constant downpour or drizzle, it has been pretty heavy at times, and has curtailed many of my planned outdoor activities. Secondly, there's my significant other. They say travel broadens the mind, but in my wife's case, it seems to have had the opposite effect. Despite having lived in Japan, the United States, China and Lithuania, the experiences haven't turned Shu-E into a cosmopolitan woman of the world. Instead, as she gets older, she appears to be becoming ever more so an Old Woman from Yunlin County© in her outlook on things. On this visit, at least, it seems as if she can't wait for the next opportunity to avoid spending time with her child and spouse. The woman who assured me with such confidence when we first set out on this lifestyle that she would have no problem living anywhere in the world now appears reluctant to try anything different or new, and visits back to Taiwan over the years seem to happen with greater frequency.
This particular visit is scheduled to last for three weeks in total, before we move on and do Home Leave in Washington state. We're presently staying with my in-laws in Fengyuan 豐原, and as noted above, it's my first time back since a brief trip in July 2015. Not much has changed superficially since, which isn't surprising as it hasn't been that long. Despite the weather, I have been able to get outside to do a few things, as can be seen from the following photos...
I was able to catch up with my good friend Steve, owner of Teacher John English in Taichung 台中, and was more than glad to see he and his family are happy and healthy:
My brood and I went out for hotpot (huǒguō 火鍋), my wife's favorite dish, at the invitation of one of her friends. The restaurant was, um, called 一鼎饌人文‧美食莊園 and is located in my old hiking grounds, Zhongzheng Park 中正公園. If it wasn't for all that rain I would be on the trails again...:
One big change since my last visit has been the elevation of the railway tracks running through Taichung. In addition, Fengyuan railway station is in the final stages of a complete rebuilding project, though the jury is still out on if the exterior is an improvement over the previous 1960 building (see Wikipedia image below). The interior is definitely better (in spite of the cheesy artwork in the new station, which might give you an idea of how dull and dingy-looking the previous station was on the inside):
New or old, neither trumps the 1905 original (photo courtesy of a Facebook friend):
During a break in the rain, my daughter and I walked to Fengyuan's small but lively downtown area, where we had lunch at a Japanese restaurant in the basement food court of the Pacific Department Store 太平洋百貨. The lower floors have been given a complete makeover, with the result being a more modern flair (including an international supermarket), but in the process two of our favorite establishments (Eslite Books and a Bob Ross painting workshop) have disappeared:
Fengyuan's center has always been anchored around the Fengyuan Tzu Chi Temple 豐原慈濟宮-葫蘆墩媽祖, one of Taiwan's many Matsu houses of worship:
Next door to the temple is the lively Miaodong night market 廟東夜市, but on this evening I drew Amber's attention to the small torii 鳥居 gate located in the rear of the complex. It's obviously been altered to give it a more Chinese appearance, but is still clearly a torii. I had always assumed this gate and the four Japanese stone lanterns in the front courtyard meant that the temple was now squatting on the site of a former Shintō shrine 神社 from the Japanese era, but further research indicates that the actual location of Toyohara-jinja 豊原神社 is now occupied by an elementary school located 700 meters southeast of the temple (see here and here). The torii pictured below is too small to have been the entrance to Toyohara Shrine, but may have stood in front of a sub-shrine located within. Which begs the question: were the torii and stone lanterns moved at some point to the temple downtown?:
Speaking of the
A collection of cute stone Buddha figures. I'm not sure who actually purchases these things:
My daughter visits our favorite tea stand. Taiwanese milk teas (nǎichá 奶茶) are a weakness of mine, and I've had several already in the week we've been here. I'm sure to be a little heavier by the time we get to the U.S.:
One of a pair of Malayan night herons spotted in a local park (though She Who Must Be Obeyed insists they are quails - while there are quails in Fengyuan, they tend to keep to the foothills overlooking Zhongzheng Park):
On the occasion of American Independence Day, the three of us made the short drive in the evening to the grandly-named Bāfāng International Sightseeing Night Market (or "Bar&Fun" in its English rendition) 八方國際觀光夜市. Back when we were living in the area six or more years ago, the site had been an empty concrete plaza suitable for young girls to practice riding their bicycles with the training wheels still on, but in the years since we left the space had finally been utilized for its original purpose. Even if there weren't many customers on this Wednesday evening:
My daughter tries her luck (unsuccessfully) on one of Taiwan's increasingly numerous claw machines. They may seem like harmless, albeit coin-eating contraptions, but Michael Turton speculates:
Hmmm.... cash business, open 24 hours, no way to count customers, almost no employees, divided into many small units, easily constructed and disassembled, rents rather than buys... almost seems like an ideal money laundering method...
Shu-E orders "night market steak", one of Amber's favorite Taiwanese dishes:
Another favorite is fried sweet potato (dìguā 地瓜):
Ordering a pair of lemon juices from this stand:
The award for coolest logo goes to this fried chicken stand, especially for the glowing red eyes:
Your humble scribe was more than pleasantly surprised to discover the nearby Family Mart carries Orion Beer オリオンビール!:
A goose meat restaurant located to one side of the night market:
Later that evening I took a walk around the neighborhood. The bright lights and Ferris Wheel in the distance are part of LIHPAO Discovery Land 麗寶探索樂園. What had years ago been a waterpark known as Mala Bay has since grown into a resort which includes an outlet mall. Once (if) the rain lets up, we'll head out there to enjoy the wave pool:
蛋餅 (dànbǐng), a Taiwanese breakfast treat, variously translated as "quiche", "Chinese omelet", "egg pancake roll" or "breakfast wrap with egg". Whatever you want to call it, like many Taiwanese dishes, too much of these good-tasting things is likely to have deleterious health effects down the line:
One way to beat the rain is to find an indoor activity, so on Thursday morning Amber and I spent a couple of hours at Diore:
Mother and daughter after a visit to a hair salon:
Ginger duck (jiāngmǔyā, literally "ginger mother duck" 薑母鴨) is one of my wife's favorite dishes, so on Thursday evening we went to a rather cavernous establishment called 三豐食補薑母鴨. I didn't take any photos of the meal as I fail to see what all the excitement is about:
One thing that hasn't changed is the tastelessness (and dominance) of Taiwan Beer 台灣啤酒, the island's equivalent to Bud or Miller. And, yes, there are still those sad foreign residents who claim to enjoy this piss-flavored yellow liquid in the misguided belief that by doing so they are somehow "fitting in" with a society still uncomfortable to have foreigners in its midst. The most comments ever received on my old Taiwan-centered blog were in reaction to posts in which I pointed out how poor Taiwan Beer was (and still is), and some were surprisingly (and stupidly) very abusive (I also generated a lot of hate for remarking on how if you were to drop the supposedly "hot" Jolin Tsai 蔡依林 in the middle of Dōtombori 道頓堀, you wouldn't even notice she was there). But change is in the air in Taiwan...:
My brother-in-law and mother-in-law in the background
Chicken rice (jīròufàn 雞肉飯), another local fave:
Friday turned out to be relatively sunny, meaning it would have been a good day to do something outside, like rent a bike and go on one of the local trails. Unfortunately, my daughter's MacBook Air developed a display issue starting the evening before, which necessitated a trip to the NOVA electronics store in Taichung to have the problem looked at (it turns out that the length of time involved in resolving things means it's better to wait until we get to the U.S.). It was nice to get out of the relative backwater that is Fengyuan and venture into the heart of what is now Taiwan's second-biggest city in terms of population. Evidence that the Korean boom that was underway when we left six years ago (fashion, pop songs, TV dramas etc.) hasn't completely abated:
Amber and Shu-E at the front of the queue to buy some scallion pancakes (cōngyóubǐng 蔥油餅). Tasty at first, all that oiliness started to affect my admittedly-delicate stomach:
A few doors down from my in-laws' residence sits a small Taoist temple (which itself is next to a traditional market). The morning stillness on Saturday was punctured by the sounds of firecrackers and fireworks going off as a procession made its way into the precincts:
That's my wife in black recording the scene on her mobile phone
The weekend started off sunny (as well as hot 'n' humid), so I tagged along as Shu-E dragged Amber with her to the department store downtown to shop for underwear. While the girls were looking for bargains on various floors, I took a walk around central Fengyuan. Another view of the railway station:
A trio of buildings on Yuanfeng Road 源豐路 dating back to Japanese times. This area was originally called "Haluton" by the local aborigines (or "Haloton" 葫蘆墩 by the Chinese settlers) but the Japanese changed it to "Toyohara" 豊原. "Fengyuan" is the Mandarin reading of the kanji (though written in the traditional characters 豐原):
Just off the main drag Zhongzheng Road 中正路 is this mound dating back to 1773 and which has recently been made the cornerstone of a small park (I remember when it just stood there looking forlorn):
But it wasn't the mound that drew me there; instead, it was the small adjoining temple. If my understanding of this previously-linked webpage is correct, the stone lanterns and pair of komainu 狛犬 found within were moved from the abovementioned Toyohara-jinja:
Returning to the Pacific Department Store, where a promotional event of some sort was being held on the street in front:
I was planning to take Amber into Taichung later in the afternoon to check out the American Independence Day event being organized by the local chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce, but the rain started coming down by the time we had finished at the department store, and neither one of us wanted to battle the elements.
And so ends our first week back in Taiwan. Speaking of battling the elements, my daughter and I are supposed to leave tomorrow for a week of travel to the east coast of the island, while my wife spends some quality time with family and friends in her hometown, Xiluo 西螺. Precipitation continues to be in the forecast, plus there are reports of a typhoon that might miss Taiwan but which would nonetheless dump a lot of rainwater on the parts of the country where we will be headed. Looks like it's going to be an interesting week...
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