[pinholecam] Taipei in Rainy Feburary

[pinholecam]

Starting this thread all over again as I found that I did not have enough pictures to form a coherent chronology of my week in Taipei.
Just want to share some of the places that I managed to travel.



#1 Taipei on a wet and cold February morning

Airfares are cheap after the CNY period, but tourist beware. The weather is temperamental and often wet during as I found out
the hard way, having jumped on the chance of a cheap ticket. Itinerary was a simple
"Here are the places we will visit in the week." and "Places to go if its wet; Places to go if its not."
It does not take away the charm of the places and friendliness of the people there though.




#2 SanXia Old Street

Taipei has quite a few of such old places. The thing is that they are usually off the beaten track from the international tourist route.
There are exceptions of course like JiuFen (old mining town)
This one is in SanXia, perhaps an hour drive from Taipei. The old street is probably only about 800m but there is an interesting local
market before this.
Its also next to YingGe which is famous for its ceramics.





#3 Typical street on a wet day in Taipei

I'm always under the impression that if Singapore was allowed a more no-holds bared way of development, we'd look like this.
Well, its not all bad imho. Many characterful places and no over sanitized streets and old places which locals actually 'use'
as compared to what we have over here.

 

[pinholecam]

#4 Another wet weather street -DaShi Street

This area is the 'chinatown' for Taipei. Well at least it functions like our version with the selling of Chinese New Year goodies
in the weeks running up to CNY. This place also features some of the old original Taipei city buildings.




#5 View from Red House (DanShui)

This is the spot to be for a nice sunset with a top view of DanShui. A drink here isn't too expensive (~$6.50 and above).
Too bad about the gloomy weather....



#6 Boatman heading out to sea (DanShui)

#7 Sculpture along DanShui waterfront

 

[pinholecam]

#8 Alley beside Temple (Danshui)

Alley beside FuYou Temple



#9 Sugar coated Haw sticks

Always in the wuxia period dramas... wonder how they taste..?
Nope, I did not try any since tummy capacity need to be reserved for other good small bites



#10 Red House on the outside

Also called 'Red Castle' this place is located in a hideaway lane beside the Danshui Old Street.
This colonial style building was first planned in 1895 and established in 1899 when Taiwan became a colony of Japan.




#11 Mooring line (DanShui)

From the many boats moored along the waterfront

 

[pinholecam]

#12 A Guardian watches over Taipei

ZhongHe Temple (Mao Kong).



#13 Hints to Spring

With the gloomy weather, the sign of cherry blossoms does bring up a positive glow of better things to come.



#14 Lighting display at Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall

#15 Lighting display 2 (Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall)

 

[campoes]

Nice series, pls post more

 

[tanwji87]

Nice series.. I like no. 1&3.. Continue adding!

 

[pinholecam]

Nice series, pls post more

Nice series.. I like no. 1&3.. Continue adding!

Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[pinholecam]

Lets talk about public transport
Most of my trip around Taipei was on public transport. Generally its as convenient as over here, in fact they have many good practices
that put us to shame. Reserved seats are really reserved, not a wayang to show that we are a 'civil society'.
There will always be people giving up the seat (my wife is expecting and my daughter is only 2+.)
My thanks to all the friendly ppl on Taipei :lovegrin:


#16 MRT Taiwan (Sun-Yet-Sun Memorial Station)

The Taiwanese call it "Jie Yun". The system works the same as ours. You can purchase a EZ-Link style card from the ticketing desk
or just use the coin-op ticket vending machines. Interval between trains is fast probably 3-5mins.



#17 Taiwan MRT "Jie Yun")

There is an MRT service and a train service. The train service runs out of the city, whereas the MRT is within Taipei.



#18 Queue

People in general do stand in queue and wait for disembarking passengers.

 

[pinholecam]

#19 Waiting for the bus

Of course there is the bus. The bus route is displayed on a panel at each bus stop. Distance between stops is no difference from here. It costs TWD15 per trip (ie. no 'fairer' charge by distance system)



#20 Journey by bus

Boarding is from the back. De-busing is from the front. Payment is at the end of the journey when alighting.



#21 Engaging a cab

Taxis are widely avaliable. They are neither too expensive nor are they cheap. Probably around $1/km.

 

[engta]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

 

[pinholecam]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the nice comment.

 

[pinholecam]

#21 Viewing the Narcissus (YangMing Park -YangMingShan)

This park is famous for its cherry blossom viewing in Spring. It is also characterized by a large clock made of flowers with a diameter of 22 feet. Water runs around the flower clock and music is played every hour. To get there, its much easier to take Bus#9 from Beitou MRT station as the park is located in the BeiTou area of YangMingShan.



#22 Small stream (YangMing Park -YangMingShan)

#23 Lone Tree (Taipei Flora Expo)

 

[limwhow]

#2 SanXia Old Street

Taipei has quite a few of such old places. The thing is that they are usually off the beaten track from the international tourist route.
There are exceptions of course like JiuFen (old mining town)
This one is in SanXia, perhaps an hour drive from Taipei. The old street is probably only about 800m but there is an interesting local
market before this.
Its also next to YingGe which is famous for its ceramics.

#3 Typical street on a wet day in Taipei

I'm always under the impression that if Singapore was allowed a more no-holds bared way of development, we'd look like this.
Well, its not all bad imho. Many characterful places and no over sanitized streets and old places which locals actually 'use'
as compared to what we have over here.

pinholecam, I like the way you showcased the two photos of the streets and they way you described them, as I feel that there is a lot of truth in the way you mention it "no holds barre...".

For a person like me who has never been to Danshui, your shots of the place certainly gave me a good idea of how this place that I have always wanted to go looks like.
Thank you very much.
And keep them coming. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:!

 

[pinholecam]

pinholecam, I like the way you showcased the two photos of the streets and they way you described them, as I feel that there is a lot of truth in the way you mention it "no holds barre...".

For a person like me who has never been to Danshui, your shots of the place certainly gave me a good idea of how this place that I have always wanted to go looks like.
Thank you very much.
And keep them coming. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:!

Hey! Thanks for the encouragement
Appreciate it.

 

[pinholecam]

#24 Still Life in Real Life (House along the road in YangMing Shan)

Chanced upon this display along a small gated house in YangMingShan.



#25 Cherry Blossoms in Bloom (YangMing Shan)

YangMing Park is the well know for its cherry blossom viewing in spring. Quite a sight. I was there 2 days before the weekend, which helped a lot with the sparser crowds.



#26 Cherry Blossoms in Bloom#2 (YangMing Shan)

 

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#27 Street Vendor 1

Street vendors are everywhere. It hard not to find one along the smaller streets beside a major road.



#28 WuFenPu street scene

WuFenPu is well known for its clothes whole sellers. The fashion here is mainly Japanese styled and for the young. As with all night markets, motorbikes serve a variety of roles. Transport, courier service, goods moving.



#29 Cramped street (DiHua street)

#30 Scene on the MRT

 

[pinholecam]

Some more people shots. The night markets provide no lack of opportunity for people photography.

#31 Stranger in DanShui

#33 Work Horse

Another motor cycle shot. Again a very functional aspect of Taiwan life. The scooter does all the practical day to day stuff. Over here I would think its not allowed.



#34 Trinkets vendor (Raohe Night Market)

#35 Night Market scene (Raohe Night Market)

 

[pinholecam]

#36 Accessories store (RaoHe Night Market)

#37 Stinky Bean Curd Stall (RaoHe Night Market)

To me, it smells like 'longkang', but does not really taste more than salted toufu. The deep fried ones are rather similar to deep fried 'normal' toufu except for a salty taste on the outer skin. The inside tastes rather normal. However, the 'wet' stinky toufu has more taste both in and out, since it has absorbed the flavors.



#38 At a stall selling small fishes

I did not ask, but looks to me that you pay a small amount and catch the small fishes in the tub.



#39 Street scene (old sir)

 

[supmylo]

Very nice photos , good narration .
Thanks for sharing .

 

[pinholecam]

Fair weather and some hints of Spring

Dull weather for 4days in a row can certainly beat out the vibrancy in someone. For a sun drenched S'pore fella like me, I was really feeling the depressing lack of sun by Tuesday. Imagine shooting at ISO800 even during mid-day, yup, that is how gloomy it was. Even worse, the itinerary had a fair share of poor and fair weather places to go, and we'd covered most of the 'poor weather' places. Fortunately, the skies opened for the day, and the obvious place visit and cheer up was the Taipei Flora Expo. :vhappy:


#40 Taipei Flora Expo (seen from the back of a expo volunteer)

This is a big event. In fact the tourist maps were updated with the expo location and such. Indoor and outdoor flora and landscapes are featured.




#41 Orchid (Taipei Flora Expo)

#42 White Lily (Taipei Flora Expo)

There were so many lily that the place smelled of them, adding more to the already cheerful weather.



#43 Narcissus (Taipei Flora Expo)