JINSHAN DISTRICT, KEELUNG, TAIWAN
2016-07-27, 23:08, JASON
BUDGET
If you haven't already, please take a look at the previous post on Jiufen and Jinguashi. This trip was the second day on a series of towns I visited in Nothern Taiwan (largely in New Taipei City). But, the order of activities for this day was a bit different.
Taiwan is easy to navigate, as in, you can take a bus and be in a completely different part, or take the high speed rail and visit another city relatively quickly. A funny way to guess where people are from is based on how they assess to them what is considered a "long journey." For Californians, you'll generally find them saying that is a 10+ hour journey is long. However, for Singaporeans, a much smaller country with access to much of Southeast Asia, a three hour journey is long. So perhaps my point is that timing is relative, but if you're able to hit up multiple cities in a few days with the ease of public transportation, you're doing alright. And, that's what you can do in New Taipei City.
I based this day completely on recommendations by Amy and Ann, the hostel owners I stayed with in Jiufen. A normal progression path is for tourists to go on the Pingxi railway line, where you can release dragon lanterns into the sky on the train tracks, visit a cat town, and do some great nature hikes along the way. However, as I only had one day, I figure I'd save those activities to when Thorin was traveling again with me (I'm already preparing the list of all the places I need to revisit with him). So, their other recommendation was to do some more local stuff, as the big city would always be around. First up, would be heading into Keelung (基隆) via another public bus, hanging around there for a bit for a bite, and then taking a bus into Heping Island (和平島). She said that a lot of locals will frequent Heping Island to climb on some of the unique rock formations, so that would be a good place for a resting stop. After that, she said to hit up Miao Kou Night Market (廟口夜市) and recommended some stalls to get local Keelung delicacies. To wrap up the night, I would take a bus into Golden Mountain (金山) to go visit the Juming Sculpture Museum (朱銘美術館) for a late-night event they were having, featuring the artist's work at night.
Safe to say, much of this journey entailed me riding on a bus, passing out, and checking my phone to see whether I've made it to the stop. Luckily, I didn't miss anything. But, before we get into it, I have to tell you about breakfast. Amy and Ann hand cooked everything, from steaming mantou (which is the Chinese equivalent to bread) into making green bean soup, to frying up some pancakes (savory, not your traditional 'pancakes' you get in the west) for us to eat. The meal itself was great, it had all the homestyle flavor that my grandma used to infuse into her cooking. I was joined at the table by two little Chinese girls from Zhejiang province who were traveling through with their mothers. They were great, one little girl was hitting on me and insisted on taking pictures with me countlessly even though I just looked like death from the wake up. They kept hovering around telling me about all the activities they had done the day prior, and how they were going to head into Alishan to go do some hiking for the rest of the week. The mothers were great too, such a lively sense of humor that you find often with the Chinese. They joined in the joking saying that their daughters were "liu kou shui" -- drooling -- at the sight of me. I retorted with some polite, humble phrase in Chinese but deep down I had found my calling: to be a Taiwanese popstar so I can scoop up the fandom of young Chinese girls everywhere.
Probably the most memorable part was the little girls calling me shu shu (叔叔), which directly translates to "uncle" in English. I don't know why I was so shocked. Perhaps it's a term that I've used to address people older than me the whole time, and never considered myself one since I've not got any direct nephews or nieces. But, the funny thing is, to these girls, who were probably no bigger than 6 or 7, I was a shu shu, and that term made me feel both old, but respected. In Singapore, Uncle is almost a term of endearment, some title status that you get people to call you out of respect. So, little girls, bow down bitches because shu shu is eating his delicious ass Taiwan breakfast. Go bring me some more. Anyway, after wrapping that up and sitting through a 30 minute lecture in Chinese from Amy about where to go and how to plan it, I set off.
Keelung is a harbor town, and the bus stop drops you off right at the docks. On a sunny day, you can look out into the harbor and just sit while the boats slowly bounce on the sea, and take off into it. I did not spend long here, just sat for fifteen minutes in the sun, and then was on my way to find the bus to Heping Island. I'd be back for the food anyway. When the bus arrives at Heping Dao, I was like, "Huh? Where are the rocks??" But, it turns out the place to go to isn't actually the island itself, as it is a shipping island. The place you're going to look for is actually Heping Island Park, which is a small natural park at the tip of the island. You have to work for your scenery here. After about a 10 minute walk, you finally hit the end of Taiwan, and lo and behold, some wonderful geology carved by the wind and rain. There were tofu-shaped rocks, mushroom-shaped rocks, and also small shrines nested into the cracks between the rocks. However, the tragedy was that we weren't able to climb onto the rocks due to safety reasons, so I could only observe from afar. There was a route that circled around the peninsula, leading to the salwater pools on the other side. Incredibly excited, I decided to loop around then go for a dip. On the way, I ran into a man that was traveling by himself, and he used to be a driver for the Taiwan KuoKuang Bus Company. He sang praises about how he "never missed a day of work in 10 years" and how he would always be taking over his friends shifts. He had a daughter in San Francisco, and briefly chatted to me about what he thought of America, and how he's going traveling around the world on a motorcycle.
A shame I didn't bring my swimsuit with me, and some shower gear, otherwise I would've stayed there a bit longer. The only thing about saltwater pools is that salty residue on your skin like after going to the beach. But hey, I'm here once, and it's a great day outside, so you can't live in fear of feeling dirty for the rest of the day. Instead, I put on my NUS track running shorts and some underwear, and then jumped into the water. It was great, you could swim laps in it as some people were doing, but I didn't bring my goggles (also a bummer). It was relaxing to be swimming in the ocean, and at some points too you would even encounter small fish that would be swimming right beside you since they could slip through the cracks. Just past the boundaries for the pools, some people fishing for the day. The best part of the entire experience that it was only Taiwanese people the whole way through. No tourists, just a local park that the Taiwanese went to for relaxing. I took another couple of strolls around the island, while stopping by to eat a piece of chicken chop and drink some fresh lemonade with seaweed kelp that was picked from the ocean. All of the locals were extremely friendly, and it's probably the most local and at home I've felt in Taiwan. Spent a good few hours here just soaking it in. I chatted with the lady selling lemonade and she was almost like a mother hen to the area. All the children were hanging out with her, she was catering to them, and also taking the time to greet other customers and take care of the place. It felt like a public beach, but then, almost immediately, walking into your grandmother's house.
Returning back to Keelung Harbor, I wanted to pop into the Starbucks to get a seat and write a bit on my trips. What happened later was, I got, it was a full seat, but the lady at the counter had already greeted me so it was too late for me to back out. I hesitated at the menu, "How the hell do you say Frappucino in Chinese?" So I just ordered in Chinglish, and she must have guessed that I wasn't from around there. So she asks me if I'm local, I say no, and go through the whole ABC shpiel. Schpeel? How do you spell that word? So I go through that whole thing and then she asks what my name is, and then I ask if you want just my surname (as is the custom in Chinese culture) or my English name, or what. It's a whole mess of a process for just wanting to write a blog in a damn coffee shop, but if that wasn't a sign from the universe telling me how much of an absolute prick I'd look like, I don't know what is. I got the frappucino anyway. It was delicious. But, I never got a seat in the Starbucks. Instead, I went back out to the Keelung Harbor and just sat there for an hour, looking out into nothingness and feeling the dock breeze on my face, watching a tugboat parallel park a Navy boat.
At about 16:00, when the Keelung Miaokou Night Market opened up, I decided to head in. Another tip, folks, don't walk into crowded places with a huge backpack. It puts a target on you, yes, but the worse part is that everyone bumps into you since you essentially have another human sized baggage on your back. During rush time when all the young people and tourists go to the markets, you do not want to be bumpin and grindin with everyone else, unless they're absolute hotties. Regardless, I knew the food would be great. All the stalls there are numbered for easy access, and so per Amy and Ann's recs, I hit them all up.
After stuffing myself and having it be about 18:00, I once again go back to the Harbor to chill. It's a bit weird for me to be so still while traveling, but I think there's a certain peace to sitting in a harbor, or in a park, while the city busily rushes by you. You just look out into the openness and exist for a second, and it's a sweet, sweet second. You appreciate all that you have in that moment, and then, your mind goes blank and it's this total moment of zen. The moment is broken with the realization that I would need another hour long bus ride into Jinshan to go see the museum.
Once I get up to Jinshan, I take the free shuttle which is another 10 minute ride into the mountain tops where the museum is. On the way, I meet two lovely Taiwanese guys who were just coming from a camping trip, and they made friendly conversation about my time in Taiwan. Another example of some great hospitality. As we pull up into the museum, there are hoards of families going in there to attend. Most people have taken their cars up to the mountain, but we roll out of this shuttle bus and then drop my stuff off at the counter, and proceed through the museum.
The museum is amazing. Juming is a famous Taiwanese sculptor and he manages to capture a certain rurality and spirit of Taiwan culture into his sculptures -- done in wood, stone, and with metal. I can't quite explain what it's like to walk through that place at night. Watching the statues and having the light cast on them in a certain angle seems to bring them to life in a different way than if I were to observe them during the day. The art pieces come in series, and some of the coolest ones were the army one as well as the Tai Chi one, in which he carves varoius Tai Chi poses out of rock. I think the most moving part was probably how quintessential these themes of the series were in constructing Taiwan life and identity (which I often find is difficult in art since, at least for modern art, it's quite influenced by education in the west). And, their faces are so characteristically unique too. Not much detail, but clearly Asiatic, which shows almost a simplicity in human emotion; how there doesn't need to be much there, facially, to tell us what the pieces are thinking and feeling. Much of it lies in the body language as well; the paralanguage that overlies the piece. There's a certain simplicity to his carving that carries a large message, and it's very moving to see. At the end of the exhibit, there was a jazz band from National Taiwan University playing, with kids dancing everywhere and parents sitting and watching. Overall, it was a good ending to the day after having traveled what felt like hours on a bus. The music slowly played in the background as I purchased my noodles from a small shop that was doing some fundraising there. The pictures will probably do his sculptures more justice, so I've included some here so that you could get an idea of what 'image' he was going for with his art:
Afterwards, I took the free shuttle back down the mountain, and then the public bus back into Taipei City. Another hour and a half of reading the marquee on the bus; my Chinese is improving slowly enough that I can read the fast scrolling text. For a day traveling on Taiwan public transport, I'm impressed by its connectedness. My eyes slowly drift off, and I wake up in the city center of Taipei and stumble into the hostel, having only made a reservation 3 hours prior. Finally, some shut eye.