i moved from kaohsiung to taipei on the third day of my trip. this was also the day i took things easy. woke up late, had a heavy breakfast, watched tv and checked out the hotel at 12pm. once again, ryan offered to pick me up and send me to the high speed rail.
the journey took a little longer than the first day as taipei was 2 stops further north. by the time i reached taipei, it was 4-plus in the afternoon. decided to book the same hotel that i stayed the last time round. it was located right in the center of ximending area and was very central and convenient. checked in, got my phone charged and headed out. i only have one evening here and decided that i should do something familiar. and so in the end, i headed to dongmen for a good dinner. this was the same place i ate with bee the last time we visited and this time round, i surprised myself by downing 3 dishes (of chicken, pigs liver, and asparagus) and a bowl of rice. and i down it with a large bottle of local beer. yumzzzzz!
the thing about dinners at familiar places is that it is as much comfort food for the stomach as it is for the soul. there is minimal stress about wondering what to order, what to eat, where to go, etc. you just need to remember where to go and just do it. and after that hearty dinner, i headed to danshui - another familiar place. i had visited the old street market there a couple of times and i liked it. but my previous visits were in the day and i thought it would be nice to visit at night this time round. i reached danshui at about 7pm and was kinda surprised to note that there is new a newly build underground road that begins at the start of the old street market. and with this, the previous all rounded access to the old street was no more. but what's most striking to me, much like kaohsiung, was the lack of crowds... it was almost dead. such scenes was almost unheard of just last year.
and i was reminded of what ryan told me - that after the new president came into power, the chinese tourists disappeared. and with that, many businesses failed, and many housing estates that was in the midst of constructions stopped. it was rather sad to see such drastic change in taiwan but i supposed that was what the locals wanted. ryan made a comparison with brexit and said that that was what many taiwanese wanted as they feared the lost of their taiwanese identity given the influx of chinese tourists. hmmm...
there was one single event that stood out for me this trip to danshui. i had just walked into the old street market when i saw someone really really familiar. this guy was tall, fair, handsome, and struck a commanding figure amidst the crowd. he was walking with a kid and a woman, supposedly his wife. i recognised him as norman straightaway, a student of mine when i was teaching in the command and staff college in 2006. he looked at me, nodded at me and smiled at me. i guessed he must have caught me staring at him. i smiled back but did not call him. it couldn't be norman. it was against all logic. norman had died from cancer in 2007. i walked on, dazed, and i kept turning back to look at this norman-lookalike. it was just too strikingly similar.
i ended the night back in ximending and decided to check out a taipei gay sauna. another disappointment. not worth writing. and in the end, i decided to catch a midnight show - la la land. that was how i spend my third day in taiwan.
:-)
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