First weekend, part 2

Sunday 22 March 2009

On Sunday, Shane, Kun, and I went to the jade market. I went to see if there was anything else I could get. Surprisingly, I got two more necklaces: one for Tricia and one for Allison. Jade, though, was slightly too expensive. I wonder if the stuff I bought with Sarah was fake. There is no way for me to tell.

Shane was telling me that the right jade calls out to you, that it finds you instead of you finding it. It made me think of someone. Most of the stuff was way out of what I'm willing to spend. Still, I did one of the major tourist attractions.



Next to the jade market is the flower market. Lots of flowers and garden ornaments. I was bored quickly. Shane wanted to find things. He bought some orchids for the house.



We had lunch at a noodle stand. "Dry noodles" they call it, with sesame seed paste. It was an enormous portion. Because it was dry noodles, the woman gave us a complimentary bowl of soup. We were already stuffed.

There is a third market after the jade and flower markets. It's hard to describe this market. It's more general. There were paintings, calligraphy, crafts. Well looked at table runners. There was a miniature kimono I was tempted to get. I should have. I really should stop indulging in this panda thing.


We took a bus back to the Chaing-Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Before we went to the hall, we waled down the street and saw some typical architecture dating from the Japanese occupation. It looked a bit ramshackle, almost like a slum.




In the CKS "park", Shane tried to get some pictures of cherry blossoms. There weren't many; they had already bloomed and gone.

As we were climbing the steps to CKS Hall, we heard some martial music. They were lowering the national flag for the evening. Then the soldiers lowering the flag did some parade drills.




The inside of the CKS Hall is very much like the Lincoln Memorial. It feels like it's on a grander scale, though.

I just love the English translations on many of the signs throughout Taiwan. Here's just one example.

I tried to get some daylight pictures of the theatre and concert hall. I hope they turn out.



We walked toward the presidential mansion. Again, it was an enormous scale. I only took a picture from across the major road.

The old North Gate of the city.

We walked back through part of 228 Memorial Park.

A pagoda in 228 Park.

Within there was a "reflexology" path. It was a bunch of round stones "pointed" upwards. You're supposed to walk across them to get a foot massage. It was almost painful. The only pressure point that really hurt was my heal, which supposedly corresponds to the genitals. Hmmm. The endorphin flow was strange; my feet and calves really felt it, but I could feel the endorphins (or chi, as the local religion would call it) sort of throughout my body. Mom says there's one in the park next to the apartment, so I might give it a try.


Once again, it was another quiet evening at home.

Monday 23 March 2009

Monday I spent entirely in the flat. I was supposed to wheel my mother to her osteopath. She cancelled her appointment because she didn't feel well. I hope that's the reason. If it's because I was asleep, I will be very disappointed. She was feeling pretty bad. She seems to be on a down-swing again.

So, Monday was quality time with her.