Jet lag struck with a vengeance, and I was completely awake at 4 AM. And hungry. One thing left to do : find a 24h open Soy milk. Lao's Jiang House was just a short bus ride away so I went there for a hot sweet soy milk, egg pancake, steamed bun with shrimp tempura and steamed bun with red beans. Not the best soy milk I ever had but still quite good. I was a bit disappointed to find one shrimp only inside the big bun.
The sun slowly comes up after my breakfast and a coffee I get at a 7-11 nearby. Early morning is usually the best time to go visit temples; locals come to pray on their way to work/study and tourists are not awake yet (except if they are jet lagged like me). More chances to see the temples being used as actual workship locations. I had two temples I wanted to visit : Xingtian (Hsing Tien Tong) temple and Jingfu (Ching Fu Kung) temple. Since this is my second visit to Taipei I already visited some of the more obvious tourists locations and will not revisit them this trip.
I first go to Hsing Tien Tong by MRT, to find a large facility very lively at this time of the day. Locals are seating down in a special enclosure with books to recite religious poems, lots of local come to pray and cast divination semi-moon. The prayers, sound of the wooden semi-moon on the stony floor appease me. I get another tea and sit down to relax and meditate a bit among the sound of the temple. From what I gather the temple administration is very active financing several community initiatives in culture, education and medical care (there was a free blood pressure reading in a corner of the courtyard for example).
After this I walk to Ching Fu Kung, a smaller temple but with several floor. There are no worshippers there but several priestess (?) singing and playing instruments. There is less to see in this temple and I walk around a bit before leaving. I notice then that the weather took a turn for the worst, it is now raining and the temperature drop significantly. Apparently I brought winter with me from Germany.
From there I walk to the Lin An Tai Historical Mansion, a house from the 1800s nicely preserved, with gardens. The house is now a small museum (mostly in Mandarin though) which is free of charge, the garden are a nice place to visit and relax. Since I am a flyertalker, my attention is taken by the planes landing at TSA nearby (and gave me an idea for a photo composition which I will execute if the weather gets better). I walk around the neighborhood a bit after and make my way for lunch in Zhongshan, before going to the hotel for a nap.
Mid afternoon I decide to visit the National Taiwan Museum Railway Department Park. Set in a former Japanese administrative building, this museum focuses on the history of the railway in Taiwan. It shows how the history and the geography shape the railway to its current form, the impact of the sugar trade on the railway and list all railway heritage point in Taiwan. Its main piece is a scaled model of the Taipei railway station and its surroundings as it was in 1990, before the tracks become subterranean. They also have exhibition on very geeky aspects, such as the evolution of tickets and ticketing, how font cast were created for tickets, the history of signals, the painting of the various lines in the country and what they represent. The shop has plenty of souvenirs with maps and books that look fascinating. This part here is only half of the museum, there is another branch in the city I will visit another day.
I then moved near Taipei 101 and the 44 South Military village to try to grab the contrast between former military barracks and the modern skyscraper but the light and weather are not good enough so after a bit of roaming I just make my way to what was my original destination for the evening : Linjiang Night market.
There are two stands I definitely want to try : 3 brothers Roujiamo and Yu Pin Yuan Iced and Hot Tangyuan (it rolls right out the tongue). The roujiamo is indeed really good, quite juicy but not better to what I had in Xi'an. The Tangyuan on the other hand is delightful, they have a Michelin Bib I believe. The contrast of the shaved ice with warm Tangyuan is both refreshing and heart warming, an interesting combination. Definitely a place I would be happy to come back to try different flavors (I had peanuts and sesame).
I went back to Zhangshan to explore the alley of North Linsen Road, the Japantown of Taipei where with a little imagination and the rain, one could believe he is in Tokyo for a bit. Until you find again another Taoist temple or a Cantonese restaurant with neon that seems to come straight from Hong Kong. This is one aspect of Taiwan I love : the melting pot of influence and culture.
