First Day in Danshuei (淡水)

Just had a very tiring day. During the day, I strolled about a place called 8-miles (八里) at the
suburbs of Taipei. It was a sort of combined beach cum wetland park where locals spend
their weekend. There you find all sorts of restaurant, cafes, road side stalls peddling local
delicatessen, hats, handicrafts, children toys and can take your time to watch all kinds of
wetland flora and fauna, complete with bird observation posts and a yacht club.
As it was quite big, some locals would move around in tiny scooters, bicycles, two-person
bicycle or tricycles with hood and seats along the wooden plank paths which line the
coast. They rent the pedal power transport from the local stalls at very reasonable hourly or daily
rates.

By the time I was done walking through the whole length of the park, I had to stop by a
café for a much needed rest. It felt so good to be able to sit down in air-conditioned
comfort sipping a latté and watching passers by continue their Sunday stroll: young
lovers in their T-shirts, jeans, tank tops, hot pants and leather-strap or sports
shoes, young couples fussing over their baby or toddler in their prams, older couples
walking slowly by in their canes, holding hands or with the lady hand on her mate's
lower arm in loose fitting clothes.

Then I roamed along the old part of the coast on the other side of the wetland park.
It was completely different. It was a very special place, full of road side stall and
more formal shops and restaurant. It was a mix of Stanley market and Temple
Street, with all kinds of shops and stalls selling "touristy" things.

There as a Tin Hau Temple in the main street of the old quarters. What surprised me
was that even temple worship has become digitized in Taiwan. Right across the middle
of the temple and fitted on to one of the horizontal beams was a band-like LCD screen
across which are displayed non-stop from left to right the day and time of the Chinese
lunar calendar, their European equivalents, the type of services offered, including
blessings for academic success, for advancement of careers, for luck in mating, for
protection against bad health, for longevity, for smooth running of business enterprises
and all categorized and claiming that its goddess was most efficacious. It almost seems
that the Tin Hau has become their rock star.
 



The Welcome Sign outside the Tin Hau Temple

One of the young men I saw offering respect to his god. He is not alone. All the young people
and older people passing through the entrance all cupped their hands in a sign of respect
even if they did not enter the temple.

The old main street was lined with tiny little shops. If it were not for the Chinese characters
I would have thought I was in Japan. This one specializes in coffee.

This one specializes in tiny items of arts and craft for shelf and wall decorations.

This one specializes in Indian saris and other fashion from the Indian subcontinent.

Two adjacent shops, one specializing in arts and craft and the other in children's toys

A shop specializing in what is called "iron egg", seasoned bird eggs.



Another side streets selling all sorts of stuff. The one to the right sells all kinds of tea leaves.

Two roadside stall selling the favorite local delicatessen, octopus balls, hotdogs, shrimp
wrap and "sausage within sausages"

This one sells fried pork shops with cheese and boneless chicken

 

This one specializes in "black candies"

This one sells scallion cakes and the other friend "rotten" tofus.

This one sells "black " bean curd custard.

This one sells "black" glutinous rice cake

Another squid/octopus stall

Am old movie house

One of the stalls selling "Ah Ge", a kind of fried tofu stuffed with green bean pasta cooked with
a slice of fish-ball meat cooked in "nam yu " (sweet black fermented cheese-like tofu ) flavored soup.
 

A stall selling "pig's-blood" cake in the form of a "popcicle".

A stall selling oyster cakes.

A stall selling barbecued squid and lamp chops with another one selling barbecued
fermented bean curd.

More stall selling barbecued squid and bird eggs

A close up of the octopus, fish ball delicacy.

A stall selling double wrapped sausages.

Not much left.

A stall selling giant ice-cream cones.

Instantly barbecued squid!

A stall specializing in "red alcohol dregs" glutinous rice meat wrap.

The meat wrap

A stall specializing in potato cooked with cheese..

A close up of what is on offer

A stall selling a cheese snacks.

The famous black candy.

Snack galore

Caramel coated fried sweet potato.

A rice pudding

The famous "Ah Ge" or "arcade"

Red bean cake!