Japan/Taiwan Day 12
Day 12 - Rage at the Museum, with other stuff
This day was a Saturday, which I can remember because we made sure to go to Din Tai Fung, which is a famous restaurant which only serves a particular bun for an hour on weekends. Again, this was a family tradition of Angie's, which was super delicious. We ate here during our previous trip to Taipei, so I was looking forward to it.
Din Tai Fung has become a chain that specializes in buns but I guess Angie's family is like hipsters and used to go to it before it was popular. So we went to the original location and had breakfast. Its a multi-story restaurant, maybe 3 or 4 stories. Their most famous bun is the xiao long bao, which is a steamed pork bun in a super thin skin (and its very soupy). Its typically eaten with red vinegar and ginger.
Xiao Long Bao (https://goo.gl/photos/wguDKSEr9t3hFxW6A)
Ready to eat now (https://goo.gl/photos/gUrAZsu8VhYx9kkZA)
Eating instructions. The first time I had xiao long bao was at Angie's parents when we were dating. I just bit into the bun and had hot broth get all over me! (https://goo.gl/photos/1WU46Nyy4XUFxCsh9)
For one hour on the weekends, they make a mini version of the xiao long bao, which is also served with chicken (?) soup.
Mini-buns! (https://goo.gl/photos/TZyxmwH9pLUHMQfT9)
Some vegetables in the foreground (https://goo.gl/photos/hpLwbeXc3r2DMRnSA)
Some much larger steamed bun. I'm not sure if it was beef or pork though. (https://goo.gl/photos/K6bPwAQd6r3VZhfF8)
There's this cute bun serving itself outside. In Taiwan, it seems like restaurants are all about having cute cartoon versions of the food trying to serve you themselves or something. (https://goo.gl/photos/1xsbcEgfacAgPwZr5)
After breakfast, we made our way to Lungshan Temple, which is a more famous and crowded temple compared to the one we went to the previous day. Outside the temple, there was a pretty nice artificial waterfall. Inside the temple, there were various shrines and vendors selling things to burn or offer. We wandered around and looked at several shrines and temple features.
The front gate (https://goo.gl/photos/tvTtKmCjcvxLkvog7)
A waterfall (https://goo.gl/photos/K4cwQRwcTGZNHsPt7)
The courtyard of the temple (https://goo.gl/photos/Pzt79TEXp7eypdBv9)
A fancy ceiling which may or may not be famous. (https://goo.gl/photos/c9EsNP6ygcKQQRYT6)
Ornate pillars (https://goo.gl/photos/AJ8EjxA7nsxdgxz4A)
Another mini garden area (https://goo.gl/photos/6vsBAC8w1hYagt2n8)
After the temple, we met up with Angie's uncle who wanted to bring us out for lunch. So we made our way to his apartment. We picked up Angie's other cousin's family on the way. So in the car (an SUV at least), we had seven people crammed, and at least one was a child. Anyway, we headed to a fancy hotel, which is on a hill. Angie's uncle said the food isn't great, but its good check it out.
Anyway, the hotel was quite fancy and the food was just okay. It was pretty fancy and presented well, but not overly great or anything. But it had a nice view of the city. We had a "fancy" version of dim sum but it wasn't as fun without the carts or traditionalness. And Angie's uncle seemed to keep trying to get us (Angie, Ronald, and myself) to drink. I guess he should hang out with Mr. Wang (Angie's boss who always tries to get everyone to drink at office diners).
Taiei 101 through the smog/fog/something? (https://goo.gl/photos/EUG1byg2evJuvZdf7)
Dining room with a hilltop view (https://goo.gl/photos/1kEVdczu536R9tH38)
In the hotel area depicting some scene that I read the plaque for but now forget. (https://goo.gl/photos/VHMnKDhMmQDocSUk9)
After eating, Angie's uncle dropped us off at the National Palace Museum, which was nice since its apparently not on the subway lines. Angie often talks about a piece of meat and cabbage carved out of precious minerals. We joke around about how Taiwan's national treasures are all food based. Anyway, the museum is not a huge museum, but its 3 or so floors with many rooms of things.
One of their most famous pieces is the "Meat-shaped Stone", which looked actually really realistic and delicious. Normally, there's also a Jade Cabbage ("Jadeite Cabbage") but we couldn't find it. I asked museum staff about it and I think they said it was relocated to new museum, bummer. Oh, the staff also thought I was Japanese.
Another famous work is a super long painting, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Its over 15 feet (5 meters) long! Its one of the most famous Chinese pieces of art and this theme is used through many paintings. There was actually a special exhibit based on the painting, its duplicates, originals, sketches, and such.
But I'll have to start to complain about tourists, especially Chinese tourists, but also American tourists (to cement them as the two worst tourists). Anyway, Chinese tourists are the worst! First, its a museum and they're really loud and pushy. And by pushy, I mean they push their way everywhere. And its not even a "I'm a stupidly oblivious person and I push without knowing it". At one point, I held my ground while looking at a piece of art and the person who was pushing me just started pushing harder. I just shoved him back and he looked like he was super offended that I didn't just let him push me away. I thought I was going to get in a fight... in a museum!
And to make things worse, the Chinese tourists are all on large tours. And their tour guides are equally annoying. Normally, when I'm on a tour, it seems like the tour guides know they have a large group and try to not block out entire areas. Not these people. They'll plop their groups in front of art work and give talks. Then hop and bring their group to other artwork, cutting in front of anyone in their way. There was a point where Angie and I were looking at a small piece of art which had a little magnification lens so you can see details. So I was looking when a tour group plops next to me and the tour guide tells his group to look at it. They start to push us out of the way. Again, I had to basically push them back and make room for Angie to be able to look at the item. Its like I have to push and shove like I'm in a concert or something... at a museum!
This point is more of something that angers Angie, but I figure I'll state it to represent her opinions. But its basically the idea that these Chinese tourists are in Taiwan (which they don't recognize) to look at the art and treasure which Taiwan saved from China, because China destroyed much of their own art and history. So I can definitely see that complaint.
And I'll have to complain about American tourists before I just keep talking about the Chinese. Okay, there was that special exhibition for "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". So it was basically one big room with a large table-like display in the middle which has the painting with other paintings or sketches and analysis around it. So obviously the painting in the center was the centerpiece of the exhibition. So it seems like the standard correct thing to do is slowly walk along the display looking at it. If something is interesting, people stop and look closely and such. And if you're super interested, you typically let people past you while you gawk. But there was this American group which completely blocked a section of the painting. The tour guide seems to be talking about every single aspect of the painting while the group was listening and looking. That's all fine and good, but they basically blocked all people from looking at the painting near where they were. So for a while, we were just following them, but damn, they were really slow and somehow had to talk about every aspect. Its like, if you see you're the bottleneck, can you have some consideration and either step out to let me also look at the painting or maybe discuss your master painting class on a replica or copy instead of blocking the centerpiece?
I guess its a compliment that people think I"m a Japanese tourist.
View from the back of the museum, which was less crowded since the tour buses used a different entrance. People here were so much more polite and nice! (https://goo.gl/photos/qpbaz5EKUePUDMCG8)
The back of the museum (https://goo.gl/photos/Mt31V7c1MPTUSMq68)
After the museum, we went to another night market which was supposedly hip, the Ximending Night Market. It definitely had a different feel with a younger crowd. There was even a group of teenagers in some sort of organized dance routine near the metro stop. I want to say the streets were also wider and there was more shopping.
Lots of people, but no one pushing or shoving, unlike at a museum... (https://goo.gl/photos/7FGJPh5HXB3ru7QFA)
We got a pork and rice dish and some sort of drink. (https://goo.gl/photos/Ei9ZaszUgPMnvToD9)
We then wandered around for a while looking for an ice place, but couldn't find one somehow. So we went back to "Angie's Night Market" (Shilin) since I thought I saw a "correct" ice place the previous night. It turns out it was the one from Angie's youth and they had the proper ice that Angie was craving.
I got the peach one, which came with raisins, which was actually quite good. I'd say either this or the mango one in Kenting were the best. (https://goo.gl/photos/aDTBVKMGPrK9GDbc6)
Angie got her favorite which is with chocolate syrup and those pudding/custard things (kind of like faker creme brulee) (https://goo.gl/photos/qddveJfsRChgZzbL9)
So after being satisfied with milk ice, we headed back to the hotel.
In work news, I'm on "summer hours" now. Basically, its a flexible scheduling option for the summer. They typically go from Memorial Day to Labor Day, so most the summer. The idea is that you work an extra hour every Monday through Thursday so then you can leave at noon on Friday. I've heard of it at other companies where you instead get every other Friday off. But it seems to be the thing here to "work from home" on Friday mornings, which is basically getting a Friday off. I actually didn't do the "work from home" as often as others, but I'll try to do it a bit more this year. So in the summers, I also will meet up with Angie for a long lunch so we both feel like Fridays are extra short. The Mondays through Wednesdays are a bit tough, but Thursday then feels like a Friday and Friday is off, so its worth it.
This day was a Saturday, which I can remember because we made sure to go to Din Tai Fung, which is a famous restaurant which only serves a particular bun for an hour on weekends. Again, this was a family tradition of Angie's, which was super delicious. We ate here during our previous trip to Taipei, so I was looking forward to it.
Din Tai Fung has become a chain that specializes in buns but I guess Angie's family is like hipsters and used to go to it before it was popular. So we went to the original location and had breakfast. Its a multi-story restaurant, maybe 3 or 4 stories. Their most famous bun is the xiao long bao, which is a steamed pork bun in a super thin skin (and its very soupy). Its typically eaten with red vinegar and ginger.
Xiao Long Bao (https://goo.gl/photos/wguDKSEr9t3hFxW6A)
Ready to eat now (https://goo.gl/photos/gUrAZsu8VhYx9kkZA)
Eating instructions. The first time I had xiao long bao was at Angie's parents when we were dating. I just bit into the bun and had hot broth get all over me! (https://goo.gl/photos/1WU46Nyy4XUFxCsh9)
For one hour on the weekends, they make a mini version of the xiao long bao, which is also served with chicken (?) soup.
Mini-buns! (https://goo.gl/photos/TZyxmwH9pLUHMQfT9)
Some vegetables in the foreground (https://goo.gl/photos/hpLwbeXc3r2DMRnSA)
Some much larger steamed bun. I'm not sure if it was beef or pork though. (https://goo.gl/photos/K6bPwAQd6r3VZhfF8)
There's this cute bun serving itself outside. In Taiwan, it seems like restaurants are all about having cute cartoon versions of the food trying to serve you themselves or something. (https://goo.gl/photos/1xsbcEgfacAgPwZr5)
After breakfast, we made our way to Lungshan Temple, which is a more famous and crowded temple compared to the one we went to the previous day. Outside the temple, there was a pretty nice artificial waterfall. Inside the temple, there were various shrines and vendors selling things to burn or offer. We wandered around and looked at several shrines and temple features.
The front gate (https://goo.gl/photos/tvTtKmCjcvxLkvog7)
A waterfall (https://goo.gl/photos/K4cwQRwcTGZNHsPt7)
The courtyard of the temple (https://goo.gl/photos/Pzt79TEXp7eypdBv9)
A fancy ceiling which may or may not be famous. (https://goo.gl/photos/c9EsNP6ygcKQQRYT6)
Ornate pillars (https://goo.gl/photos/AJ8EjxA7nsxdgxz4A)
Another mini garden area (https://goo.gl/photos/6vsBAC8w1hYagt2n8)
After the temple, we met up with Angie's uncle who wanted to bring us out for lunch. So we made our way to his apartment. We picked up Angie's other cousin's family on the way. So in the car (an SUV at least), we had seven people crammed, and at least one was a child. Anyway, we headed to a fancy hotel, which is on a hill. Angie's uncle said the food isn't great, but its good check it out.
Anyway, the hotel was quite fancy and the food was just okay. It was pretty fancy and presented well, but not overly great or anything. But it had a nice view of the city. We had a "fancy" version of dim sum but it wasn't as fun without the carts or traditionalness. And Angie's uncle seemed to keep trying to get us (Angie, Ronald, and myself) to drink. I guess he should hang out with Mr. Wang (Angie's boss who always tries to get everyone to drink at office diners).
Taiei 101 through the smog/fog/something? (https://goo.gl/photos/EUG1byg2evJuvZdf7)
Dining room with a hilltop view (https://goo.gl/photos/1kEVdczu536R9tH38)
In the hotel area depicting some scene that I read the plaque for but now forget. (https://goo.gl/photos/VHMnKDhMmQDocSUk9)
After eating, Angie's uncle dropped us off at the National Palace Museum, which was nice since its apparently not on the subway lines. Angie often talks about a piece of meat and cabbage carved out of precious minerals. We joke around about how Taiwan's national treasures are all food based. Anyway, the museum is not a huge museum, but its 3 or so floors with many rooms of things.
One of their most famous pieces is the "Meat-shaped Stone", which looked actually really realistic and delicious. Normally, there's also a Jade Cabbage ("Jadeite Cabbage") but we couldn't find it. I asked museum staff about it and I think they said it was relocated to new museum, bummer. Oh, the staff also thought I was Japanese.
Another famous work is a super long painting, "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Its over 15 feet (5 meters) long! Its one of the most famous Chinese pieces of art and this theme is used through many paintings. There was actually a special exhibit based on the painting, its duplicates, originals, sketches, and such.
But I'll have to start to complain about tourists, especially Chinese tourists, but also American tourists (to cement them as the two worst tourists). Anyway, Chinese tourists are the worst! First, its a museum and they're really loud and pushy. And by pushy, I mean they push their way everywhere. And its not even a "I'm a stupidly oblivious person and I push without knowing it". At one point, I held my ground while looking at a piece of art and the person who was pushing me just started pushing harder. I just shoved him back and he looked like he was super offended that I didn't just let him push me away. I thought I was going to get in a fight... in a museum!
And to make things worse, the Chinese tourists are all on large tours. And their tour guides are equally annoying. Normally, when I'm on a tour, it seems like the tour guides know they have a large group and try to not block out entire areas. Not these people. They'll plop their groups in front of art work and give talks. Then hop and bring their group to other artwork, cutting in front of anyone in their way. There was a point where Angie and I were looking at a small piece of art which had a little magnification lens so you can see details. So I was looking when a tour group plops next to me and the tour guide tells his group to look at it. They start to push us out of the way. Again, I had to basically push them back and make room for Angie to be able to look at the item. Its like I have to push and shove like I'm in a concert or something... at a museum!
This point is more of something that angers Angie, but I figure I'll state it to represent her opinions. But its basically the idea that these Chinese tourists are in Taiwan (which they don't recognize) to look at the art and treasure which Taiwan saved from China, because China destroyed much of their own art and history. So I can definitely see that complaint.
And I'll have to complain about American tourists before I just keep talking about the Chinese. Okay, there was that special exhibition for "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". So it was basically one big room with a large table-like display in the middle which has the painting with other paintings or sketches and analysis around it. So obviously the painting in the center was the centerpiece of the exhibition. So it seems like the standard correct thing to do is slowly walk along the display looking at it. If something is interesting, people stop and look closely and such. And if you're super interested, you typically let people past you while you gawk. But there was this American group which completely blocked a section of the painting. The tour guide seems to be talking about every single aspect of the painting while the group was listening and looking. That's all fine and good, but they basically blocked all people from looking at the painting near where they were. So for a while, we were just following them, but damn, they were really slow and somehow had to talk about every aspect. Its like, if you see you're the bottleneck, can you have some consideration and either step out to let me also look at the painting or maybe discuss your master painting class on a replica or copy instead of blocking the centerpiece?
I guess its a compliment that people think I"m a Japanese tourist.
View from the back of the museum, which was less crowded since the tour buses used a different entrance. People here were so much more polite and nice! (https://goo.gl/photos/qpbaz5EKUePUDMCG8)
The back of the museum (https://goo.gl/photos/Mt31V7c1MPTUSMq68)
After the museum, we went to another night market which was supposedly hip, the Ximending Night Market. It definitely had a different feel with a younger crowd. There was even a group of teenagers in some sort of organized dance routine near the metro stop. I want to say the streets were also wider and there was more shopping.
Lots of people, but no one pushing or shoving, unlike at a museum... (https://goo.gl/photos/7FGJPh5HXB3ru7QFA)
We got a pork and rice dish and some sort of drink. (https://goo.gl/photos/Ei9ZaszUgPMnvToD9)
We then wandered around for a while looking for an ice place, but couldn't find one somehow. So we went back to "Angie's Night Market" (Shilin) since I thought I saw a "correct" ice place the previous night. It turns out it was the one from Angie's youth and they had the proper ice that Angie was craving.
I got the peach one, which came with raisins, which was actually quite good. I'd say either this or the mango one in Kenting were the best. (https://goo.gl/photos/aDTBVKMGPrK9GDbc6)
Angie got her favorite which is with chocolate syrup and those pudding/custard things (kind of like faker creme brulee) (https://goo.gl/photos/qddveJfsRChgZzbL9)
So after being satisfied with milk ice, we headed back to the hotel.
In work news, I'm on "summer hours" now. Basically, its a flexible scheduling option for the summer. They typically go from Memorial Day to Labor Day, so most the summer. The idea is that you work an extra hour every Monday through Thursday so then you can leave at noon on Friday. I've heard of it at other companies where you instead get every other Friday off. But it seems to be the thing here to "work from home" on Friday mornings, which is basically getting a Friday off. I actually didn't do the "work from home" as often as others, but I'll try to do it a bit more this year. So in the summers, I also will meet up with Angie for a long lunch so we both feel like Fridays are extra short. The Mondays through Wednesdays are a bit tough, but Thursday then feels like a Friday and Friday is off, so its worth it.