As I alluded to in this past Streets Saturday post, I had to make a brief emergency trip back to the States. I really didnt have the time to do the things that I would normally want to do with a camera, like walk the Venice Boardwalk or hit the Santa Monica Pier, but I did have my trusty camera and mobile phone with me.
So, photos were taken and here they are:
In Taiwan, strawberries are a winter fruit. Miaoli County, which sits south of Taipei, is the center of the strawberry universe. Every weekend dozens of tourist busses leave from Taipei Main Station filled with agro-tourists ready to strip the farms bare of anything with even the slightest red tinge followed by a stop off at the center of Miaoli City for some strawberry wine, strawberry ice cream, strawberries over shaved ice drowned in condensed milk, strawberry smoothies, strawberry candies, … you get the idea. There are even strawberry-flavored corn dogs and Taiwanese sausages.
Ximen Market (a.k.a. Hsimen Market, Ximending, ???, Hsimenting, etc…) has been a shopping center in Taipei since before Taiwan was a country. It was first designated as a shopping district by the Japanese during their rule of the island prior to World War II. For Chinese or Japanese-language linguaphiles this explains the ding character, which doesnt make a ton of sense in a Chinese context because it is a direct transfer of the same character in Japanese (cho), which does make sense. There have been shopping or entertainment venues in Ximen for over a century including the Red House Theater, which has been standing since 1908 and still stands.
Pictures from a recent visit to the Swedish McDonalds with an Allen wrench that is IKEA.
On the way back home from the firefly farm in Wulai this past Saturday we stopped in the center of the town so that we could grab a bite to eat on the long ride home. We had 15 minutes, then we had to get back on the bus.
So heres pictures of Wulai, late at night, in 15 minutes.
Every generation has a toy that is easy to pocket or throw into a schoolbag, is cheap enough to be bought with an allowance, and can be used in an easy to set up and uncomplicated game with schoolmates. With my dad it was marbles. With me it was pogs. For my son, its Beyblade fighting tops. This past weekend a toy shop in the local shopping center held a Beyblade tournament activity.
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