I met up with Kyuu-san at 8am at 西门站. Her dad (Kyuu-爸) took us to one of their favorite breakfast stall, 米台目. It was delicious.. and it was only the start of our food-cum-prayer expedition of the day.. :)
Our first stop after breakfast was 龙山寺. We waited for Kyuu-san's friend, Jun, at the MRT Station. It was a few days before the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy, so there was prayer sessions going on.
Since it was still very early, Kyuu-爸 suggested that we go up 阳明山 for a spin. And so off we went!! Along the way, I saw many facets of Taipei.. from the glamorous downtown Taipei to the outskirts of 土城 and 板桥. Most of the places is a mixture of Malaysia and Japan.. the same narrow streets, small sized vehicles and omnipresence of convenient stores as in Japan; the same chaos, untidiness and ever-present eateries as in Malaysia.. And so far, I feel quite at home in Taipei..
When we got to 阳明山, we were very surprised to see the place crowded with people!! It was a Thursday, yet there are people every where.. We went around taking photos.. the weather were becoming very good.. in fact, a little too good, as everyone seemed to be over-dressed.. There was a flower festival, but it was ending in 2 weeks time, so majority of the flowers had already withered and dropped..
As it was almost lunch time, we decided to have lunch first before moving on to our next destination. So Kyuu-爸 took us to a restaurant that offers different dishes, much like the 杂菜饭 in Malaysia/Singapore.. I ate 2 bowl of rice! One is 卤肉饭 and the other 猪油拌饭.. They were delicious!! (Shall have a blog entry on all the food and their stalls, so I shall keep you in suspense for now.. :p) After eating, Kyuu-爸 asked me if I wanna buy their lottery.. They have so many different lotteries that practically there is a draw everyday!! So I spent NT$50 (about ¥140/SGD$2.30) for a set of system generated numbers for a draw on Friday night.. :p
First stop after lunch was 行天宫. This is one of the popular temples in Taipei.. Heard about this temple from many TV programs.. it is well-talked about by people from all walks of life.. The place was crowded, as it was still within lunch hour so many office workers are there to pray..
There were two lines at the side of the center praying area, as people queue up to get their blessings from a group of elder women, one by one.. These "aunties" would say some prayers, gesturing and blowing the joss sticks smoke at the devotees..
Another thing that I noticed is that there is a big container of 签 for everyone.. First, one needs to inform the deity (of his/her choice) about himself/herself, meaning name, age and where he/she lives. Then he/she would ask for guidance from the deity, a.k.a. ask a question regarding his/her predicament. He/she would need to throw a pair of “杯” to see if the deity is willing to answer his/her question. If the answer is YES, then he/she would proceed to the big container full of 签 and pick one. After noting the number inscribed on 签, he/she would put it back into the big container. He/she then proceed to throw a pair of“杯”to seek confirmation that the 签 he/she had just chosen was the answer for his/her question. If the answer is YES, then he/she would go to the counter and ask for the "answer sheet" that corresponds to the number on the 签.
After 行天宫, we went to 孔庙 next. With all the temples being so colorful, full of intricate carvings and impressive figurines of the deities, 孔庙 was kinda disappointing.. There were no statues of anyone, much less 孔子 (Confucius).. All it has are tablets with names inscribed on them, names of famous people through the history of China..
Just opposite of 孔庙 is 保安宫. It has 2 compounds, one is a garden with sculptures that tell stories of the background of the deities in the temple, while the other houses the actual temple..
Up next is 霞海城隍庙, a well-known and very "effective" place to pray for 姻缘 (marriage), at 迪化街. We were expecting to see a huge structure, but what greeted us was a small temple.. But there is no lack of devotees.. We went around the temple twice before deciding to also offer our prayers and "join in" the crowd to request for divine help on our quests of finding our significant half..
They even have a poster to instruct "newbies" (those who are praying there for the first time) who to approach to guide them through the process. It wasn't cheap.. the total cost was almost NT$500 (around ¥1400/SGD$23).. At the end, we were each given a sweets and a ball of red threads..
We walked along 迪化街 for a while before going for our tea break! :p Kyuu-爸 took us to a famous 蚝仔面线 which also sells 香肠. There was a queue for take-away and those who wanted to eat at the shop had to hunt for a place in the shop premises..
Inside the eating area, it was jam-packed with people.. everyone sitting shoulder to shoulder, back to back.. yet, everyone seemed contented to enjoy their 蚝仔面线 and 香肠 that way.. Kyuu-爸 ordered 4 bowls of 蚝仔面线 and 3 香肠, and were given the following tags..
It was almost 4.30pm when we left the place.. Kyuu-爸 had wanted to take us to 林家花园, but unfortunately no more entry was allowed after 4pm.. :( In the end, Kyuu-爸 sent Jun back home and went to pick up Kyuu-妈 for our final destination: 士林夜市!! :)
We went to the streets first with many alleys zigzagging and crisscrossing among them.. Along these lanes were many stalls selling clothes, bags, shoes, caps, belts and other accessories. There were only a hand of stalls selling food.. Then we came across a temple, 慈诚宫.
After praying and using their washroom, we went looking for food!! :p First we had 润饼, which is somewhat similar to our popiah (薄饼) but bigger and with thicker skin.. the ingredients used were slightly different too... Then we walked towards the 剑潭 MRT Station where a temporary food center was constructed, housing most of the food stalls that were scattered around the old 士林夜市..
We went on to eat 蚝仔煎 and 大肠包小肠.. Had wanted to eat 宜兰葱饼 but the queue was too long, so we gave up.. The gentleman posing with a V sign is Kyuu-爸. :)
Lastly for desert we had 绵绵冰, which was similar to our ice-kacang but much nicer, as the ice used were kinda creamy and much softer than normal shaved ice.. It was the perfect ending for the day.. :)
Kyuu-爸 then sent me back to 西门町. Yet, I was so full that I didn't go back straight to my hostel but walked around the streets of 西门町 for more than one and a half hours for me to digest!!! :p
Summary of what I ate for the day:
米台目，猪杂，卤肉饭，猪油拌饭，扣肉，蚝仔面线，香肠，鸡蛋糕，泡泡茶，润饼，蚝仔煎，大肠包小肠，绵绵水果冰
Again, I can't help but proclaimed that this day was by far the best day I had in Taiwan.. Experienced the hospitality of the locals (Kyuu-san and her family), the vast varieties of local food and the magnificence of their temples... :) Both the mind and the body is aptly satisfied.. ;)
Click here for more photos..
Same photos uploaded to Facebook too..
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