Seven days on Ilha Formosa

A temple in Xiluo 

Saturday

Amber and I arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport 桃園國際機場 shortly after 1500 hours. The highway bus would've been the quickest way to Fengyuan 豐原, but after nearly a month of traveling in Japan we were still in the mood for high speed rail travel, so we took the Taoyuan Metro 桃園捷運 to the Taoyuan HSR Station 高鐵桃園站, and from there caught the train to Taichung 台中:

The view from the train in the late afternoon 

Arriving at the Taichung HSR Station 台中高鐵站, where we were reunited with Shu-E, who then proceeded to drive us to her brother's house:

Our first dinner in country was Taiwanese Turkey and Rice 嘉義火雞肉飯:

Sunday

Danbing 蛋餅 for breakfast:

This day was spent catching up with my good friend Steve at his home in Taichung...:

…and concluded with dinner with his family at a hot pot 火鍋 restaurant:

A good time was had by all present:

Monday

Lunch with the wife and kid at a Taiwanese iron-plate steak restaurant. Taiwan is home to an incredible array of tasty food, but steak isn't one of them:

The street where my mother- and brother-in-law live has seen some upscale housing built along it since my last visit nearly five years ago:

With Shu-E and Amber busy with a number of adminstrative tasks, I was free for the afternoon and so went for a long walk in the heat and humidity around Fengyuan's small downtown area. The new and vastly improved Fengyuan railway station 豐原車站:

This former police station dates from the Japanese era, and was apparently converted into a restaurant that is now closed:

I used to work part-time at Global Village 地球村美日韓語-豐原校. The pay was abysmally low by the already poor English teacher salary standards prevalent in Taiwan, but the staff left me alone when it came to teaching classes, and best of all the students were all adults (with the exception of a handful of high school students):

Fengyuan Tzu Chi Temple 豐原慈濟宮-葫蘆墩媽祖:

A rather gruesome claw machine:

PACIFIC Fengyuan Store 豐原太平洋百貨:

TLC was a school where I briefly taught in late 2002, and would be one of the worst working experiences of my "professional career". It somehow remained in business in its downtown location until recently. I'm hoping the business finally (and deservedly) crashed and burned, but a small piece of paper taped to the closed shutter suggested it has relocated:

Fengyuan Miaodong Night Market 豐原廟東夜市, open every day from ten in the morning:

The "Huludun Ruins" 葫蘆墩遺址, now part of a small park called the Dunjiao Green Garden 墩腳綠園. I've never been able to piece together in what way this mound is "historic":

I was pleased to see this remarkable Japanese-era building is still standing. In its present incarnation it's a hot pot restaurant called Mi Tang 覓湯:

For dinner the family and the in-laws dined at a Teppanyaki 鉄板焼 restaurant called Rōnin 浪人:

Back at home, and lowering my standards considerably when it comes to beer:

Toasting my wife's niece, Dolphin:

Tuesday

The plan this day was to visit more relatives still living in Shu-E's hometown, but first we needed to make a stop at Daming Temple 大明宮 so my mother-in-law could implore the folk gods for their continued support:

Amber and her grandmother burn some "ghost money":

Crossing the Xiluo Bridge 西螺大橋. At nearly two kilometers, it was the longest bridge in East Asia when it opened in 1953:

Lunch after crossing the bridge into Xiluo:

With Shu-E taking her mother to the older sister's home to spend the night there, the younger sister's husband (my brother-in-law-in-law?) took Amber and I on a tour of some of the hometown sights, beginning with Xiluo Fuxing Temple 西螺福興宮:

We also visited Xiluo Guangfu Temple 西螺廣福宮, where my wife often goes to pray when she's in town:

Vats of soy sauce, a Xiluo specialty, across the road from the temple:

Yanping Old Street 延平老街. For years Xiluo resisted to the urge to turn its street of Japanese-era homes into a tourist-friendly strip of snack stands and souvenir shops, but that now appears to be falling to the wayside:

Did I mention Xiluo is known for soy sauce?:

Taiwan has long followed Japan when it comes to cute mascots:

A soy sauce-flavored ice cream. At least that was how it was presented to us. Actually, it turned out to be sweet rather than salty:

With Shu-E's brother-in-law, one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure to know in Taiwan:

Being involved in the local business community, he knew the shop owner (Xiluo is a township with a population under 45,000):

We were tasked by my wife with picking up some Xiànbĭng 餡餅 meat pies before returning to the second sister's house, but it later transpired that we had stopped off at the wrong stall:

Concluding our tour of the downtown area with a stop at the aforementioned bridge:

Dinner:

Beer was being disseminated from a kettle:

Wednesday

Before leaving Xiluo for the drive back to Fengyuan, we stopped again at the Guanfu Temple so Shu-E could beseech the gods within. The first thing I noticed after getting out of the car was this very Japanese-looking vending machine, complete with Calpis Water カルピスウォーター:

Picking up some drinks for the drive:

We stopped in Taichung for a bit of sightseeing. Audit Village 審計新村市集 was a group of old civil-servant dormitories that has been transformed into a trendy market, complete with a dope hostel:

I was taken with these modern-day condos overlooking the market, until Shu-E pointed out how much they would probably sell for (hint: not within our budget):

A 很可愛 knickknack that Amber picked up for herself in one of the shops:

Japanese-style curry for lunch at a restaurant next to the village:

Miyahara 宮原眼科 may look like something out of Harry Potter, but the building was actually an eye hospital during the Japanese period:

Now it sells many kinds of cakes and sweets in retro packaging:

Buying ice cream there is a requirement, even if it means having to wait in a long line:

Taichung Train Station 台中火车站:

Aspiring bus drivers honing their skills on a Wednesday evening at a driving school adjacent to Fengyuan Huludun Park 豐原葫蘆墩公園, where I went for a stroll following dinner at my brother-in-law's house:

Thursday

Shu-E and I are considering buying a house and retiring in Taiwan once I age out of the State Department (coming sooner than you might think). We drove out to Wufeng 霧峰 to have a look at the outside of one house listed for sale at a reasonable-for-Taiwan price, but the exterior didn't impress:

The long-abandoned dwelling attached to the house, and the sign in front indicating that property ownership in the immediate area was far from clear, were a pair of red flags:

Which was a pity, as the area where the house is located is quite green and pleasant. Nearby is the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan 921地震教育園區, where we took Amber, and where the computer graphics for one display were failing:

The museum is built on the site of an elementary school that was heavily damaged during the quake. Fortunately the quake struck in the early hours of the morning; had it occurred during class hours, the death toll would have taken a sad upturn in numbers:

A number of public schools were badly damaged in the quake, leading at least this conspiratorially-minded observer (according to my daughter) to wonder if corruption during construction also played a role:

After the museum, we stopped at the Minsheng House of Microhistory 霧峰民生故事館 to have lunch at the café there:

We had a companion during the meal

The building was once the home and clinic of a Dr. Lin, a prominent local GP:

According to the docent, 2% of Taiwan's physicians were killed in a single attack by American planes on a Japanese warship. Fortunately, Dr. Lin was not one of those present on the ship at the time:

Next door is the Wufeng Farmers' Association Winery 霧峰農會酒莊, specializing in Taiwan sake:

Our last stop was at the Democratic Times Museum 立法院民主時刻館, the former Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council, a useless layer of government meant to maintain the fiction during the Martial Law years that Taiwan was merely a province of China:

We didn't go inside the museum, but did enjoy the landscaped grounds in front:

That evening I would meet up one final time with Steve in Taichung. Getting there meant taking a train from Fengyuan. The current building is completely unrecognizable from the aging station I remember using often when I lived and worked in the area:

Arriving in Taichung, and its modern station building...:

…though at least the historic Japanese-era station building has been preserved:

Back at the in-laws' for my final night in Fengyuan:

Friday

A farewell photo with the in-laws, who have always been extremely kind and welcoming to me:

Back at Taoyuan Airport...:

…and a final lunch on the island before the flight back to China:

Counting down the time to boarding in a Hello Kitty-themed waiting lounge:

Arriving home and being greeted by the cat:

And that was that. 27 fantastic days in Japan with the daughter, followed by a further six in Taiwan with the wife and family - it isn't going to be easy having to start work on Monday, especially as I'll be on my own here in Beijing 北京 until the middle of August. At least I have Timi to keep me company until the girls return.