Day 17 (1/14 ) Fulfillment

Instead of taking the metro into the 'city' today, I went the other way. First stop in the countryside: Shenkeng.


Strolling through the marketplace.

The area is known for their bean curd. Supposedly the water quality here is better, hence the tofu as well.
It actually was pretty good, very tender. I can't believe we finished all that.

Strolled around a bit more after lunch, came to a bridge with a majestic view of the water and mountains.


Down some steep stone steps and you were right at the water's edge.


Dad befriended a couple of sixth graders hanging out there... not sure what they were doing out of school at two in the afternoon.


Dad with Sam and Hugh (formerly Willie).


It really was the very definition of an idyllic, sleepy town.

Next it was off to Xin Dian to an area called Bitan ('dark green water').


It's a nice place, a large open space by the waterside with some little cafes and shops.


We sure could use some of these back in the city.


I'm working on being less stiff and unnatural in photos. It's mostly a software issue.


Across the suspension bridge.


The water seemed more light blue to me.

On the other side of the bridge we stopped at yet another temple. This one is known for its founding monk, who died in the midst of prayer/meditation and was embalmed and gilded in gold... or something.

The nice old lady who seemingly lives there alone welcomed us in and handed us 'blessed' tea bags and little packages of rice; first to dad then, "one for the lady."She came back moments later to apologize (must've heard my voice from the other room) and said that I really looked like a woman from behind... gee, thanks. She then had us change a light tube for her in the bathroom. Good deed done for the day.


While we were down by the water dad had mentioned to me that we ought to take a break at a cafe that was at the side of the bridge, that being so high up it must have a great view of the area--he even pointed out that there was a table right by the front window that was vacant, waiting for us. Now we were there and decided to go in.


I still can't believe they named the place in my honor.

Once seated we ordered our drinks.

A mango yogurt and a cappuccino. They were okay, a bit costly by Taiwan standards.

Then dad revealed that this was, in his words, a "dream come true," that he'd always wanted to try this cafe. That some 30-odd years ago when he was in his 20s, he had wanted come up and sit in this exact corner we were sitting in now and look out onto the water, but for whatever reason never got the chance to.


View from the cafe; worth the three decade wait.


That very corner.

I should've had the waitresss take our photo at the table but it didn't occur to me then. The wistful expression on dad's face, though, just made everything worthwile; made my trip. Sentimental shmucks, the two of us. The moral of the story, kids: don't wait 30 years to do something.

Day 16 (1/13) View from the top

The walk from where I'm staying to the 101 building is only about 25 minutes, surprisingly enough. I've been taking public transportation everywhere and forget how small the city is.


Today I took the 'world's fastest elevator' to the top floors open to the public, floors 89 through 91.


Before taking in the view, I had to check out the...

That's the scientific name.


Explanation


Giant balls.


From the outdoor observation deck.

You can't see really much past the protective barriers unlike say the Empire State building.




Before the security guard yelled at me for sticking my hand out through the bars.Met up with the aunt (with the monkey) for lunch at another noodle place. That's the great thing about here: everyone knows where you can get the best beef noodles, no two people have the same place in mind, but they're all good.


This place uses Chinese herbal medicines and spices in their broth. They said it was okay if you couldn't finish your noodles but to not finish the broth would be a waste.


Side dish. Left to right: assorted bean curd, chopped seaweed, and some part of the pig I'm not sure which.


On the right: a really exquisite roasted chili pepper paste. The yellow stuff is... coagulated butter I think.


Another visit with Mr. Bau'er.

We then met up with my actual aunt, dad's sister, to take care of some legal stuff at the district office.

This was quite an experience: a government office with greeters at the doorway, welcoming you and offering to help, offering you water, even.

Afterwards we roamed the nearby nightmarkets a bit.Assorted nightmarket fare.


Brother and sister share a pig's blood cake (rolled in peanut powder!).

Day 15 (1/12) Seeing stars

Spent the morning posting some of these past blog entries. Then the afternoon with my grandfather at the hospital for his test results.


Dinner... takeout. How cool is that?

In the evening I headed out to catch Stars play live at The Wall.

It was a spur of the moment thing, even though I'd actually known about this show weeks in advance, before I even left the States. Back then I didn't know how to get tickets, or if they were even still available (the venue's site is in Chinese), and figured I'd wing it when the time came.

I got a cousin to decipher the website for me, clipped out the address from the newspaper, and I was off. Total cabfare to and from the place came to under $7 US, no tip.

I waited on line from around 6:30pm till doors opened quarter past 8ish. I got all the way to the entrance just to find out that people buying day-of tickets had to wait till after all the ticketholders got in first. That's kinda... what's a politically correct word for 'retarded'? Silly. That's just silly.

I don't see the point in giving entry preference to the people who bought their tickets in advance. My money's just as blue as theirs'. And it was all general admission anyway. I waited on line just like everyone else, and actually was there way before most of the ticketholders. What's the difference? Okay, end rant.

So I waited at the bar while everyone filed in. My scotch and soda order turned into a Jack and soda. And I winded up from my deserved position near the stage to standing with the latecomers, back up against the wall.

Entrance silliness aside, it was really quite a good show. The band is pretty good live, the crowd of 300+ was surprisingly energetic, and The Wall had decent sound. Ticket was $2,000 NT, a little steep but life's short and it was a good time. Admission included a drink too, but they took my ticket stub for the drink, which is... silly.

So I realized early on in the night that my camera wouldn't be taking any decent shots of the show. I took a bunch anyway, hoping I'd wind up with at least a couple halfway acceptable photos, but to no avail. Most of them are awful. These are the best of the worst.
I'd love to know what I'm doing wrong. In fact, I'd love just to know that it is in fact something I'm doing wrong and not the camera itself. I realize I was shooting from a distance, in dim lighting, and without a telephoto lens or particularly stable hands. But there were people taking better--clearer, crisper--photos, on their iPhones. That's just recockulous.

I tried everything I could think of: high ISO, flash and no flash, night scene mode. I've read the manual; I'm usually pretty good about these things. The trouble is only with distant objects in the dark, like the New Year's fireworks display at 101 and the concert tonight.

It's a Nikon (not so) Coolpix S550. Any ideas?