Taiwan, Hong Kong

昔日齷齪不足誇，今朝放蕩思無涯。
春風得意馬蹄疾，一日看盡長安花。

以上是唐代孟郊的名詩”登科後“， 詩人年四十六中舉， 其後士途也是一般。字面看， 孟郊的確是趾高氣揚， 洋洋得意。 再看他寫的"慈母吟"：

慈母手中線，遊子身上衣。

臨行密密縫，意恐遲遲歸。

原來孟郊屢考不中，中時已幾近知命之年，孟媽媽複雜的心情可想而知。再者, 京師豈容不善騎馬的南人（我們大同鄉浙江人）來”馬蹄疾“？想當然孟老漢是”打了個的“，讓馬車在長安走馬看花蹓躂一回。猜想”一日看盡長安花“ 不過是詩人時不我予之自譏也。

兩周前和妹自行車遊臺灣，青春小鳥早無蹤影，老妹說這樣玩下次可能無期了。聞畢漠然，無病呻吟，良有以也。

If you don't read Chinese, you don't miss anything. The above narcissistic preamble is just saying my sister W and I felt we might be running out of time (in life) when we started our bike trip in Taiwan two weeks ago.   

I didn't bring a serious camera on this trip,  but the compact and the cell phone were adequate for my purpose.  First installment of pictures:

（1）臺北市 － Taipei City

Sister W near the Taipei Train Station. 

Our hotel was only 2 block from the train station, when we got off the bus, it was obvious that the driver thought we were from Mainland China. Soon, we would not bother to explain because virtually all the Chinese speaking tourists were from there.  

  Xi Meng Ding 西門丁

The Time Square of the old Taipei City, it is now dated.

Our first meal in Taiwan

These are very typical local Taiwanese dishes. The USD exchange rate is about 1 to 30, food is quite reasonable anywhere in Taiwan. 

The establishment

The food

Nothing fancy, about 10-15 USD.

Another patron enjoying his minced meat rice.

All kinds of street vendors everywhere, this one was selling dumplings.

Grilled squid

Stinky Tofu

Stinky tofu was a disappointment. Sister W advised not to buy anything from youngish vendors, that advice turned out to be not as dumb as it sounded. 

The vendors running from the police

The police was a young man on scooter, driving around at walking speed trying very hard not to catch anyone. Ten minutes later, everyone returned to the same spot again. Some lady from the second floor apartment came down to complain about the stinky tofu stench was making her flat a living hell, apparently it had been going on for more than a few days. 

These scooter riders, male or female, would do well in Genghis Kan's cavalry. 

Even this demure looking young girl would ride aggressively in traffic. 

There are tutor (cramp) schools everywhere.

High schools students get additional after school classes there. The names of the top students, their scores, the schools they got accepted to, are posted outside to entice new customers. Talk about pressure!

 The Presidential Ofice  （總統府）

The two mornings I was in Taipei, I was up before 4AM, either walked or rode around on my bicycle. I Will always remember the feeling of having the city all to myself. 

Sitting here, looking at the Presidential Office Building, I thought about how the make-believe ruler of all China （小朝廷）here. How the very arrogant KMT learned their lesson (十年生聚，十年教训). How all the street names seem to yearn for a new beginning, and sadly, the futility of it all.

 Another early riser, a foot long rat that's not at all afraid of me.

February 28 Memorial Peace Park

February 28 Incident was also called 2-28 Massacre of 1947. An unspeakable taboo until recently. Today, this big city park is named after it. I was moved by the fact in some way Taiwan and KMT own up to its past. While waiting for daybreak in the park, I saw this homeless man meticulously going through his worldly possessions stashed in 4 shopping bags. I smiled thinking no matter how little or how much or how little we possess, we're all the same inside. 

I would meet him again on my last day in Taiwan.

 There is also a monument for the victims of White Terror following 228, incredible!

 We rented a U-Bike while waiting for W's rental bike in Taipei.

Rode to the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物館）. The museum has a collection of Chinese treasures unrivaled anywhere. Most of the tourists were either from China or Japan. Here's a group of Japanese.

 Looking down from the museum building. 

It's not as popular as I expected, the collection so vast that they could go for decades without repeating what they exhibit. I found the exhibits to be overly showy and not very stimulating.

 If it ain't broke, break it

While waiting for the Giant bike shop to open, we walked by a stadium call Little Giant Egg (臺北小巨蛋, there was a recreational area next to it. W wanted to walk to loosen up  and I saw these guys running track and ran 5 or 6 laps with them. I felt OK afterward, but my bad foot would act up after the hot spring 2 days later and hobbled me for the rest of the trip.  

 Buddhist nun  

 Street scene from our room. The yellow sign says "National Remedial Classes", another name for cramp schools parents would send their kids to after regular classes. The green signs is Starbucks coffee.

Once the rental bicycle was secured, we were reading to leave Taipei City.