I went to visit my 4th uncle and he was very nice and so was his wife. He took me to a hole in the wall place to eat and I have eaten there before. I went especially to eat a particular dish but he offered to order pizza for me instead. I reminded him that I come from the land of pizza.
Afterwards I went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial park. I needed to rest and laid on a bench to look at the sky through the trees. I used to just lay on the grass and watch the clouds pass by for fun.
One of the main streets here is known for all the wedding photography studios. So it is common to use this park for outdoor photography. I checked out photographer’s equipment etc.. It was fun to watch this one photographer work and have a stick of cigarette in his mouth unlit. Maybe it’s a style he was going for.
I then walked around the entire area covering 3 to 4 metro stops. I just wondered around without a map or anything. I stopped by Kuo Yu Re Bao bookstore and walked through a furniture shop street. I passed by a man from Malaysia called Beck who asked me for directions. Funny, I’m not from around here too but somehow people ask me for directions where ever I travel. I told him where I was from and what I was doing in Taiwan. Beck asked me what good deeds did my family do for my mom’s tumor to go away within a week. I told him it’s probably on mortgage, advance installment the good deed part is probably coming later. Beck is a performance drama theater director and is here to do a program that allows you to live in Taiwan for a certain period of time and in the end you will create a performance for public to view.
I stopped by a coffee shop and had “luo bwo si bing”. It’s one of my favorites and the filling was just right in the seasoning and the shredded daikon was just the right texture.
Then I wondered into a crystal shop and eyed for loose grain green crystals. The shop owner asked me what I wanted it for, I said for my lower back to sleep on. He said his father does the same thing and asked me if it really works. I told him I do find it helpful sometimes.
I asked him how he sells it and he sells it by a kilo quantity and it was for 150 yuan which was triple times cheaper than most places. I didn’t have any change but only 100 yuan and a 500 yuan. He didn’t have any change and said to take my 100 yuan and I am to give him the rest when I wonder back one day. I told him I wouldn’t and he said, “that’s fine by me I’ll take your 100 understand”. I think I was the only customer that day and the only business he had. But he was a nice fine person who was very humorous.
Then I took the metro to Xiao Nan Men station and walked all the way to Long Shan Si, Dragon Mountain Temple. I was aiming for Xi Men Ding but I missed it somehow and ended up at Long Shan Si. This was many metro stations worth of walking. Then I took the metro and exited Ming Chuan Xi Lu station. When I got onto the escalator the whole place was smoky. I ran out of there. Sirens were going off and the road was starting to get blocked off. I didn’t want to get trapped there so I ran the red light for my bus that just arrived across the street at the bus stop.
