January 29, 2009
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Ox
Gong Xi Fa Cai. Happy Lunar New Year.
Apparently for many people, the Ox Year will be a tough one. Typical then that those born in the Year of the Monkey (such as myself) are not predicted to have such a tough time as those born in other years. In fact, predicted for me is the more I travel, the more money I will make. Now all I have to do is persuade El Presidente to get the products ready so I can head out to all corners of the Earth to sell our stuff, and make that wonga.
I had not been to the temple for some time, so I went for a short time to the Tai Tien Temple on Guanyin Shan. I like this temple - the people there seem to like me as well, as they welcomed me back, saying "hao jiou bu jin" - long time no see. So my bai bai was a little interrupted - I hope the spirits and ancestors understand that was not my fault. As the incense smoke swirled in to my lungs, I asked for protection during these tough times for my family, friends and loved ones, and hoped that they would guide me through this year.
I headed down to Hsinchu on the Sunday evening - which was New Year's Eve in the Lunar calendar - after cooking soup and curry, just in case there were not enough veggie things available for me, that Linn's sister in law prepared/ordered. The plan was for me to stay until Tuesday, after which Linn would go to the south of Taiwan with her friends, and I would tonk back to Taipei County. It did not - of course - work out like that.
It was an honour to have been invited down, and spend the festivities with her family. They have treated me so well over the last year, and that comes as somewhat of a surprise, given the reputation that Caucasian men have over here. I have pretty much been welcomed in to the family, despite various issues and reservations that certain members of the family have about me.
I got to the family apartment, and it was cold. We watched some TV, played with the baby for a while, ate masses of mushroom-based veggie meat dishes, so my curry was left in the fridge for another time, until I was stuffed, much like a mushroom, and then we went for a walk through the city, where half the population was shopping still, the other half playing with fireworks and crackers! IT'S A CRACKER! I was surprised at how many shops were open - with the Lunar New Year festivities being such a family-oriented time, I would have thought there would be more people spending time with their families than actually was the case. Perhaps the Chinese culture is changing more rapidly than I thought. Such a shame it is not in the right way.
After walking and talking for maybe an hour or so we decided to go to Nanliao (see post passim) which is right on the coast and has a harbour area, to watch the fireworks. By the time Linn had made it upstairs though, her short-term memory had forgotten all about it, and so we didn't.The bed I slept in was uncomfortable, and hurt my back, so my sleep that night was broken and I woke up the next morning in more than just a little pain, deciding at that time to return home that evening. I have become used to the comfort of my own bed, especially since buying the new mattress last year, which is mega comfortable and gives me painless nights of sleep.
The plan for the day was to head to Nanjuang, a town on the border of Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, which was famous for having an old movie theatre (or cinema!) and an old market. Figuring that the traffic would be bad, we took the Skywave, which turned out to be a great idea. With kilometre after kilometre of cars travelling at single digit km/h, we weaved through and got to Nanjuang in pretty much quick time, found a place to park and took a walk around, in to the market, to the temple, where Linn decided to talk, thus interrupting my opportunity to bai bai. Another chance came later though.
We continued walking, testing all the different teas and ginger candies and stuff that the locals were selling to unwitting tourists. I bought a pack of ginger candy for me, and another one for the mother, knowing how she likes ginger. A propos, when I was on a Cebu Pacific flight some time ago, I met this young lady named Ginger - a flight attendant - who was wondering what book I was reading. As I had just finished it, I handed it to her so she could read it too. She was nice. I like Ginger. And ginger.
We then decided to take a ride up towards Lions Head Mountain, which we did not make, because your humble chronicler decided to take a couple of adventurous turns, on to roads that went ever higher in to the mountains, and thus also the clouds. We found sakura trees in blossom, which would have been even more beautiful had the sky been blue and cloudless. By this time hunger was setting in and so we looked for signs of a place where we could eat. We made it to the end of the road and had a choice of up or down the mountain. I chose up, higher in to the clouds, up the steep slope, which the Suzuki did not like too much.
This turned out to be a great decision. Ending up in a small village, it seemed like hundreds of people had all had the same idea - because there are two temples there, so we parked the bike once more, and I headed to the temple, got some incense, and did my bai bai. The temple was for the gods of the kitchen, and with Et starting his own business soon, I asked the spirits for help for him, as well as to protect the people who eat food I make and prepare.
There were a few roadside restaurants on the other side of the road, so I headed towards them, hoping there would be something veggie for me, not realising that I was walking straight towards a veggie place. Class. I know the character for vegetarian (素食) but this was in a font I could not really read well. We ordered some soup, fried rice and stinky tofu, which was awesome.
After lunch we headed back down the mountain, in to Judong, where I decided we would not go home just yet, but instead turned south towards Beipu, where I was hoping we could get a cup of tea or something. Linn is a big tea drinker, and it was time for some liquid. Half of Hsinchu county was also in Beipu (the other half being up the mountain) and so we found a place to park, only to be asked by the old man who lived in the house there that he did not like us parking there, despite the fact that there was a car right in front of me which had parked. Idiot. So I found another place. No worries.
The market was selling a load of stuff - the smells of so many things wafted through the air, nice pleasant smells, sweet smells, stinky smells, all combining in to a melange - but we were after persammons which seemed to be rather expensive. We tried negotiations, but no one was interested, although they gave us free samples to taste. Nom nom nom!
Having walked around the town we found a tea house that looked tiny from the outside, and massive from within. I had a caramel milk tea, which was more milk than tea, and certainly not in Cafe Monet's league (see posts passim). There was also a temple which had an entertainer, a one-man Chinese band, who was rather amusing, for about a minute.
The buildings in this town were old and traditional, and despite being dirty, it was almost like being taken back to the birth of Taiwan as a nation. Finally we found some persammons that were acceptable in price (I also tried to get something for free, but the vendor was having none of it) so we got 3 packs, and also some Aboriginal orange sauce, which apparently goes well with chicken, so I will try it with my veggie chicken.
Then it was back to Hsinchu for dinner with Linn's family - Thai curry being heated up - before the ride back to Taipei County. All in all it was a wonderful experience - there are so many places in Taiwan that just ooze tradition, and all the places we went to on the Monday reinforced the love I have for this country.
Gong Xi!
