Taipei day 5 - a trip to the sea

Today, 15 Feb, there was an organised trip to Tamsui for anyone of the, lets call us Hess interns. About 20 people took up the offer. We had two of the Hess HR staff take us there. It was a bit like a school outing all over again. We walked together to the station and there was an explanation of how to use the MRT for those who hadn't yet used it.

The Tamsui is a big river that flows through Taipei. We were to visit it's estuary and an old Spanish for there and of course to eat some more interesting food. It was another rather miserable day and I must say I am currently missing the sun. It's been cloudy and rainy since we arrived. We got off the train to no sea smell at all, but there was definitely the smell of stinky tofu, probably the one thing so far which I'm not so happy to try. It's like a mix between the smell of sweet and sour sauce and ammonia.

We did see some giant ice cream which we had to try. We weren't sure of the flavours, it was pink and green. The green was tea flavoured, I think, but what I really like about it was it wasn't too sweet! Renalda was in seventh heaven!

Renalda and Amy with a giant ice cream cone

We then strolled up to the old Spanish fort, Fort Santo Domingo, later renamed Fort Antonio by the Dutch. Seems it was actually the Dutch that started all this renaming nonsense 😉

Fort Santo Domingo

I always wanted to be in the artillery

Who can resist lighting a cannon!? Of course Renalda couldn't resist a boat cruise...in a clog!? What the...? I also managed to add to my growing collection of stamps in my "Taiwan passport"

Renalda and the Giant Clog...good name for a kiddies book?

We went into the old British consulate building inside the fort. Old English (Victorian?) furniture isn't particularly interesting to me as we seem to see so much of it at home. However there was an exhibition of work and poetry by William Morris, a most influential designer of the late 19th and early 20th century. It seems he invented wall paper. I really liked this quotation, food for thought...

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful - William Morris

And then there was this beatiful Tiffany Lamp which reminded us of Renalda's brother Waldo, who made his own!

A Tiffany lamp

Tamsui/Danshui estuary

View of the Tamsui/Danshui estuary looking out to sea.

On the way back we got, what we thought was our first taste of Chingrish, what do you think a Doggy Poo Poo Bank is? 

Doggy Poo Poo Bank????

I can't confirm it, but I believe it may be that the Taiwan government pay their citizens to pick up after their pets and deposit it in a bank, where they are either rewarded with lottery tickets or treats for their dog! What a novel idea!!

Next stop the ubiquitous food street, where we had squid balls with wasabi, I think they are called yuwan, only one left when I remembered to take a pic,

Wasabi squid balls , Yuwan?

And battered deep fried squid, yummy!

All sorts of wonderful goodies...and I SWEAR I'm losing weight!!

The picture doesn't do it justice

Renalda, not looking so sure, but she had her fair share!!

After surprisingly little to eat...even with the great food, I swear our stomachs are shrinking...we returned to the train with the Hess interns, but we had a plan. We had been eyeing the Beitou warm baths for a few days and had packed our swimming costumes, so we hopped off at Beitou station and went looking for the baths, got completely lost and had to ask a policeman for directions. We eventually did find the baths which were scorching hot, but fantastic! The etiquette was a little difficult at first. Renalda's hair had to be tied up and when I wanted to stand up, because it was getting too hot, the life guard said, please no "just dipping the feet". The baths seemed very acidic, and I had shaved earlier in the morning, so we didn't stay too long, but it was very good. We headed home and got our first definite taste of Chingrish.

I'm not sure if a pretty girl would want to be called eye candle??!!

That's a real piece of eye candle there!! We also saw the premises of the local Rotary club, so I took a pic for Tom and Donna, unfortunately it's little blurred.

Just for Tom and Donna

There was talk of going to a pub for some drinks and some dancing. Renalda and I can never say no to a dance floor, so we decided to go that evening. There was also a suggestion that all the best places are in the alleys, so we walked down some alleys toward the pub, looking for somewhere to get some supper. Unfortunately we didn't take a camera. We walked into a place that looked friendly and were welcomed by the owner who rushed off to find English menus, we immediately felt obliged to eat there, and we are happy we did.

When the waitress came to take our order, we made a selection of meat and vegetables with a wrap. She seemed unhappy with our selection and called the friendly manager over, who then made some strong suggestions as to what we should order. When the food came we attempted to make our wraps. This was clearly not to the managers satisfaction, because while I was making my second he bustled over noisily, took my chopsticks and spoon and deftly wrapped the most perfect spring roll you have ever seen. He did the same for Renalda! By then, because of our sloppy wrapping, we had a stack off filling left and no wraps, so there was a noisy altercation between the chef and the manager, and soon there were more wraps on the table, and the manager was making our spring rolls once more. This guy clearly wanted us to enjoy our meal, and he made sure we did. After the second demonstration to each of us he was finally happy that we should do it ourselves, which we both did, quite successfully! We will definitely go back! Pity I have no idea what the place is called, just a map and a business card.

The rest of the evening was something of a disappointment and we will have to wait a little longer to get our dancing fix. The pub with the dance floor was only open for sport that evening. We had a drink or two and went walking around town looking for a pool bar with a few other guys, got fed up, then went home to bed. 

Full day!!