Colours

It is a mere seven days away and the anticipation of being formally inducted into the civilian world is mounting. Even though the atmosphere has already been very much relaxed with so much time spent at home, but who cares, having a pink IC in hand is better than being treated like second-class citizens both inside and outside camp.

Spending so much time at home and kick-starting life as it was before enlistment has been ongoing for a few weeks with so much leave and off days to clear, but it cannot beat being formally outside the army to feel that way, away from, well, most of the stupid commitments. But life will be busier in another sense but in a more fruitful and meaningful manner.

ORD loh!

If you can remember in 2005 when the Pokemon theme song parody was unleashed and generated much viewership, so much so that the original copyrighters demanded it to be removed for infringement. Now they are back with a parody lambasting the producers for taking down such works of parody on YouTube. It is a tussle between creative holders of original works and people who make parodies out of them for non-profit purposes. But nonetheless it’s sweet revenge now that this song is available on iTunes too!

In a fortnight, I will be transiting from military to civilian life. Besides, from the various laborious work to a more conventional job of a part-time tutor, I will be getting more pay from performing a more willing and satisfying job.

Though it will be imperative to get a job to pay for various upcoming expenses for university, and the hours can be long at times, it is also another experience to see how a real-life, civilian job is like, as opposed to the frenzy and unorthodox workplace environment with idiosyncratic people in the army. At least there is dignity in being an employee for a civilian organisation, and pride and will to put in my best to test out how a real-life worker is like.

Continuing from the trip to Miramar’s Ferris Wheel, we headed to the popular and eminent Xinyi shopping district, where the formerly tallest building in the world, Taipei 101, stands.

One of the must-dos included a trip to the 89th storey where the observation deck is, some 384 metres above the ground. Though the Taipei 101 reaches over 500 metres, the 100 plus or so metres house the service levels as well as the spire. Nonetheless one can marvel a wide-angle panorama of Taipei City from all angles, to Songshan to the north to the mountainous east and southeast where Muzha is, as well as the more metropolitan and bustling west side towards Ximen and Banqiao.

The 91st outdoor was also opened but the view wasn’t as great as a great width of barrier cum grills were installed throughout for safety reasons. But it was an exhilarating experience to feel the incessant cold blast of wind at this level, so much so that certain areas were also cordoned of. Another engineering marvel is at the 88th storey, the tuned mass damper, which stabilises the core of the building in events like earthquakes and typhoons. Besides all the viewing, visitors could purchase some souvenirs, including a crystal model of the Taipei 101, as well as their highly publicised red coral jewellery.

Xinyi district is an Orchard Road-esque shopping area with high-end department stores and shops. Besides the buzz, there is the 24-hour Eslite bookstore which occupies some eight levels – akin to Japan’s Kinokuniya bookstore. Chinese books are aplenty in the bookstore, and yes it was difficult to source for English books despite its wide repertoire and shelves of books from various disciplines.

The next day we went visiting various temples from Longshan Temple to Confucius Temple and Dalongdong Baoan Temple, before having lunch and wrapping up the journey. An enjoyable trip though it could have been much longer.

Day 5 began with a trip to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, a good photo-taking grounds for its grandiose and magnifique structure that bedecked the area, together with the traditional architecture flaunting the Liberty Square, namely the National Theatre and the National Concert Hall. Besides being yet another tourist hotspot, the place hosted some locals who were there to do the morning taiji.

The trip continued with a visit to the elusive Danshui right at the mouth of the Danshui River. It conferred the feeling of travelling towards the seaside yet maintaining the nostalgia of the 1980s, with shops selling different types of snacks and food that are pretty different from those in downtown Taipei. A visit to Fisherman’s Wharf is definitely a must as it offered a breathtaking view of the entire East China Sea plus the rejuvenating sea breeze that came along. We had a scrumptious seafood feast at the place, and bought some local produce as well.

Danshui town does get crowded towards the afternoon as it draws more tourists as well as students who have finished lessons. Besides the twin flavour very tall ice creams sold, there were also the tie-dan (鐵蛋), the hard black eggs that are really as hard as they sound and look.

Next up was Shilin Night Market (士林夜市), which is arguably the most famous night market in Taipei and even Taiwan. Of course the most important mission there would be to test out as many local delights as possible, while trying to do some cheap shopping there. It is Ximending with much more food. It was where I got to try out my favourite mango shaved ice dessert (芒果刨冰) (see below), as well as savouring some oyster omelette and cabbage xiaolongbao. (Anyway Din Tai Fung is perennially packed and is located in the heart of Taipei city, so why bother trying it there) There are also some shops selling sports shoes at a lower prices than in Singapore. Other interesting snacks included a highly enlarged version of the takoyaki called 小炸彈, but stuffed with much more ingredients like cabbage and prawn in addition to the octopus.

Next, we got aboard the free shuttle bus to Miramar Shopping Centre, which featured the largest ferris wheel in Taipei (but not the largest in the world). It is a typical high-end shopping centre with established brands with the exception of the ferris wheel and a mini carousel on the rooftop. Though its size isn’t as impressive as the Singapore Flyer, it commanded a pretty decent view at the surrounding buildings and even the Taipei 101. Besides there are a few other shopping malls such as the Carrefour hypermarket that we visited but they bore too much similarity to Singapore’s to deserve much time and notice …

(to be continued…)