Lantern Festival

A few scenes from Fēng​yuán​'s 豐原small Lantern Festival 元宵節​. I can understand the bunny motif with this being the Year of the Rabbit 卯 and all, but the Alice in Wonderland connection seemed a bit of a stretch:

Before going out to Huludun Park, we had dinner at one of those Japanese eateries where the 漢字 in the restaurant name doesn't seem to match the 平仮名 written on the sign:

Lantern Festival 元宵節

The Kaminoge family went to see the 2010 edition of the Lantern Festival in T'aichung 台中 on Saturday evening. Here's a view of the streets of the big city on our way to the festival site:

Because this is the Year of the Tiger 寅, and tigers are one of the world's most endangered species, the festival organizers decided to draw attention to the great felines' dire situation by having all the displays of lanterns incorporate a tiger theme...not.

No, because this is the Year of the Tiger, the main motif was that traditional tiger character from the legends of Chinese history, Tigger. Amber, however, insisted on having her picture taken in front of Piglet:

For my wife, the primary point of interest wasn't what could dazzle her eyes, but what could fill her stomach. For her, the highlight was the walk through the many food stands, seeing, smelling and tasting what was for sale. 屋台 and people everywhere you turn.

Feeling a little 懐かしい in Dairi

The cold spell we had been having for the last two weeks seems to have lifted this weekend, as sunny skies and 20-degree Centigrade temperatures (68F) returned to central Taiwan. The family took advantage of the break in the weather by going for a Sunday drive to Tali (Dali) 大里, a city with a population of 190,000 southeast of T'aichung (Taijhong) 台中. Once there, we parked our car along a riverbank, and let Amber stretch her young legs. The area beside the river was bleak, to say the least. The combination of dry brush, weeds and dust, not to mention dirty water and typical Taiwanese urban surroundings, doesn't overawe one with the wonders of nature. But I felt a strange twinge of nostalgia being out there, as it reminded me of the times I went biking, walking and just generally hanging out along the banks of the Tama River 多摩川 when I was living in Setagaya 世田谷区 and Komae 狛江市 in Tōkyō 東京. Amber didn't seem to mind the surroundings, either, as she kept herself busy examining sticks and stones, and making footprints in the sandy soil. Pamela, however, who seems to find open spaces a source of mild anxiety, felt otherwise, and it wasn't long before we were back in the car, and headed towards Taichung and its one million residents.

A teenage couple enjoys a private moment underneath a small bridge, while Amber makes friends with a woman's pet rabbit ウサギ.

The best cure for those who don't like having personal space is to go somewhere everyone else is going to, and this weekend the place to be in Taichung was at the Lantern Festival 小正月, being held at the Wenhsin (Wunsin) Forest Park 文心森林公園.

 

While searching for a parking space, I managed to capture a shot of a restaurant sign boasting of having Chinese noodles with the best taste 味一番ラーメン. Once at the park, we walked around looking at the lanterns on display, which this year have a Mickey Mouse ミッキーマウス theme. Surprisingly, and somewhat disappointingly, there were fewer lanterns than we expected, and overall, everything seemed more like a county fair or 祭り - lots of food vendors, souvenir stalls and rides for the (bigger) kiddies, but not much in the way of decorative lights. Even Amber eventually lost interest, and wanted to go home.

When you're trapped in your mother's comfort zone, you need a doughnut ドーナツ to keep everything in perspective.

Lantern Festival 元宵節

元宵節：正月イベントの締めくくりである新年最初の満月の日。提灯を飾る風習があり、各地でランタンフェスティバルが行われる。家族団らんの願いを込め、丸い団子、元宵（湯圓）を食べる。

（地球の歩き方台湾）

The Lantern Festival is the last event of the Lunar New Year celebrations. In Taiwan's major urban centers, hundreds of lanterns are put on display in public spaces, and thousands of people converge to see the spectacle. Here in Fengyuan (Fongyuan/とよはら) 豊原, however, it's a surprisingly simple, low-key affair, probably because T'aichung's (Taijhong/たいちゅう) 台中 Lantern Festival festivities are so close by. Tonight, Amber, Pamela and I drove over to T'ienhsin (Tiansin) Park 田心公園, opposite Fengyuan City Hall 豊原市役所 to see the pig-themed lanterns on display (this being the Year of the Boar 亥年, after all). While the lanterns themselves couldn't hold a candle (so to speak) to those in, say, T'aipei (Taibei/たいほく) 台北, they were colorful in a subdued sort of way, and combined with the comfortable temperature and the small number of families on hand to see them, made for a relaxing atmosphere that is usually sadly lacking at public events in Taiwan.

この着物を着ている豚は大好きなものだった　

After leaving Tienhsin Park, we stopped at a roadside food cart 屋台 to pick up some kushiage 串揚げ. Kushiage is fried meat and vegetables on skewers. While the kushiage at this place wasn't as good as what you'd find in Japan (もちろん！), it was popular with the punters. The name written on the 暖簾 and the signboard is "Kushiyaki", in both kanji 串焼 and hiragana くしやき. According to Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server, "kushiyaki" means "persimmons dried on skewers". At the top of the signboard are the characters 串串・串焼. Next to the character 串 they've written "kusu" くす in hiragana, when it should be "kushi" くし (as they have done with くしやき next to 串焼). Be it "Kusukusu kushiyaki" or "Kushikushi kushiyaki", either way it's still kind of strange. 台湾だから...(The Chinese, by the way, means "Japanese original taste, food cart prices")

On the way home, I snapped this picture of another food cart, not open for business on this evening. This one sells sushi. I know because it's written in Japanese on the curtain above - 寿し. At least they got it right.