arch 10, 2011: Lots of walking done on this wet, chilly, and oh-so-nippy day. Or to be precise, little opportunity to sit and rest when we're not on the tour bus. Thank goodness for a filling Western-style breakfast to get me through the morning. The rains followed us to Queen's Head, the famous rock formation at Taiwan's Northern coast that, thanks to natural erosion looked less like an Egyptian queen's head and more a giant deformed chess piece. People still lined up for the ideal spot to photograph its deformed chess piece-shaped head, though.
Still raining. We had a dumpling lunch in Din Tai Fung, and the place was so packed we had to queue up outside like we were trying to get into a nightclub. I misheard that this place was so popular that a branch already opened in Greenhills, but they may have been referring to Shi Lin, located at The Podium. My last mostly-dumpling meal was in HaErBin, China, the highlight of w/c was the eating contest between Arsenio Rafael & Benedict Sun. (the latter won, and the former made the toilet his home for the next couple of days. Yes, TMI, I know, suck it up.) This xiao long bao had to be eaten on the ceramic spoon, lest the hot juices inside spill out, and assuming you haven't burned your taste buds from the aforementioned juices. The other thing my travel companions kept raving about was the hi-tech Japanese toilet seat in the restrooms, probably the other reason for the long line at the ladies room. The thing had more "comfort buttons" than you'd know what to do with to your butt short of sexual deviancy. This may be one time I regret only needing to use the urinal.
Still raining. After lunch it was on to Taipei 101, a building so high that from our street-level view we couldn't see the top, as clouds and/or fog covered the top floors, w/c probably sucks for the guys who paid for the office w/ the window view. I always thought the place was an office building, but inside was high-end shops and a food court downstairs. Another glorified mall. At least it had a Page One bookshop for me to kill some time in.
Still raining. Despite the presence of a British-style garden park outside, the weather and lateness of the afternoon limited my touring of the Taipei International Flower Expo to their warehouse showrooms, not unlike the SMX. This time the front of the line had a digital counter displaying how the maximum capacity of the place and how many people are currently inside. And what was inside? Bamboo. Tulips. Orchids, orhids and more orchids (and this giant goldfish sculpture made of you-know-what). They all looked the same to me, the way the Bored Girlfriend must feel accompanying Jock Boyfriend to a auto show. Naturally Ma could tell the difference between each yellow, white or purple petal she saw, but ultimately even she was a little disappointed at the overall display. Worse, my back started to ache from all the walking (or not sitting), and I was afraid all this would exacerbate my slipped disc. One of Ma's friends even bought a tall plant, though Lord knows how she'll pack it, much less get it past through Customs.
No more rain. We made a brief stop at a "tinycake" shop for some appetizers (they handed customers toothpicks and encouraged them/us to try out the bite-sized samples on display) and possible patronage. Dinner was at The Five Dime Boathouse, a restaurant that looked like it was made of rusted metal sculptures, and I wasn't far off. A 7-story "Iron Woman" was the facade. The interior (once you get past the automatic wooden doors) featured rough stone columns, tribal designs on the walls more akin to Australian Aborigine than Ancient China, wooden beams covering the metal structures, and oddly padded chairs w/ backs that looked like water noodles. It was as if H.R. Giger and Yoko Ono designed the Batcave.
The artist, Xie Li Xiang, admits in her free Chinese-English booklet (w/c doubles as an English vocabulary tutorial, w/ sidebars defining words like Daydream, Plank, and French window) that she "never attended a single architecture class" and is completely self taught, saying her designs come to her in her dreams. (Knowing that now, boy, does it show.) Her idea was to turn her first construction project into a restaurant so she could earn money to do future projects. That reasoning would also explain the fertility/ maternal-themed statues by the lobby sporting NT$220,000 price tags.
If I may offer some unsolicited advice, Ms. Xie: Actualized dreamy designs aside, good food would also help. It's only my second day and already I've experienced my first unsatisfying meal at your place.
One last image to scar you mentally:
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