I woke up at my customary time today, but was amazed when I awoke once earlier during the night to silence. So there is a time in which motor vehicle traffic slows enough to not be heard. Regardless, today I was determined to get out on my own. The forecast was clear skies and in the low 70s, perfect for walking around. That plan almost came to a screeching halt when my dad told me that laoshi planned to take us driving around in a taxi to look at a volcano and the northern shore of the island. I felt terrible telling my dad that I really wanted to get out and look around Taipei at my own pace, and that I also wanted him to rest one more day, but there was no way in hell I was going to spend another full day looking at rocks and plants. Thankfully, he stood up on my behalf and informed them that I was going out on my own to look around. My primary goal was to attempt to look for a new backpack to use for carting around my camera equipment, and I had a few leads on where to purchase one. I thought I left my dad to a day of relaxing at the apartment, but it turns out that laoshi still took him back out to the flower expo. He doesn’t see the worse for wear tonight, so I guess he’s regaining some of this strength.
So off I went into the semi-unknown with nothing by some money, my camera (which I didn’t use very much) and the raw determination to finally get a personal experience without all the untranslated lectures. I navigated the rail system without a hitch, making all the appropriate transfers and transitions like a native. The pay card system they have is very convenient. You have a pre-paid card that you use to pass through a turnstile at what ever station you enter in. When you exit the station at your destination, you pass through another set of turnstiles and swipe the card again. The system deducts the appropriate amount from your balance and you’re good to go. Toll through each station probably costs around $0.10 USD, so it’s very inexpensive to travel around. Of course, not all of the city can be reached by rail, so there’s still some walking involved. If you’re looking for an obscure style of bag, that amount of walking is multiplied. My feet are sore.
After expertly navigating the labyrinth of streets, lanes, and alleyways, I found my first destination. An airsoft store which caters to a lot of foreigners. Taiwan prohibits private gun ownership, so airsoft stores are much more common here than in the U.S. For those of you who don’t know, airsoft guns are plastic and metal 1:1 replica of real guns, both modern and historical, that use electric motors to shoot plastic bb’s at high speeds. Associated with these guns are the gear, so finding a military style backpack at one of these stores was my best bet. Unfortunately, the store was closed. Okay…..
Off I went, back to camera street to look at all the stores I missed from the day before. 6 stations and a few blocks later, I was looking at lots of shuttered store fronts. Unfortunately, no one told me that many stores that sell non-food items don’t open until noon, so I had hours to burn before anything would be available. I spent the time hopping off at each train station and exploring the area, staying mindful of the distance travel as to not get lost. I wandered through a few shopping districts until I found that some of them were starting to open up, and headed back in the direction of the airsoft store. At one station, I found an attached Sogo shopping mall, so I took a quick look. High end clothing and accessories, 5 floors of women’s, 2 floors of men’s, nothing to hold my interest. Finally, I made my way back to the Jiantan station and found the airsoft store to be open. Thankfully, they had something that would work for the time being. It’s not exactly what I was looking for, but it will do for now. I also asked if they had an embroidered patch of the Taiwanese flag, but they unfortunately did not. The hunt for that continues.
Soon after I limped my way home, my uncle informed me that we were to meet up with my dad and laoshi or some dinner, so I crammed my sore feet back into my shoes and headed back out the door. Dinner consisted of some tasty noodles and miscellaneous dishes of vegetables and meat, and of course, nothing to drink but the hot soup. I avoided the pig intestines, but so did my dad. Of course the topic of conversation for dinner was food, and the topic arose about the Taiwanese Costco, thus off we went.
The Costco looked eerily similar to those in the United States. Almost all western foods, with the exception of some local fish and fruits. Of course, the DVD’s were of a different playing region and the covers were in Chinese, but there were lots of english books and magazines. They even had some Christmas decorations out already. Emulation to a “t”. There were two crazy things about this Costco. First, it was just about as large as its U.S. counterpart, which is wild considering the premium placed on square footage in Taipei. Second, it was jammed pack at 21:30, with an almost full parking lot. The foods you can order outside the checkout lines were the same; pizza, hotdogs, and chicken bakes, but the pizza had a seafood topping option and clam chowder was also on the menu. I got a large Coke and finally slaked my thirst. A fitting end to a long day.
I unfortunately didn’t hook back up with my cousin Geoff. He left out one number in his phone number and didn’t get a correction until later in the day. Maybe I an contact him tomorrow, however, I have a bad feeling that we’re going to do something educational.
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