Tainan

I liked what I saw when I walked out of Tainan train station. Because of Taichung, I was a bit scared of what was ahead of me considering Tainan was smaller and older than Taichung.

But wala! It was not messy! Bus stops were very neatly positioned and organised. The minute you walk out there is a huge 3D map showing you where the bus stop is, which bus at which bus stop. I didn't even need to walk into the visitor's centre at all! I did though to grab a map and that's it. 

Can't change angle - hence the stupid palm tree in the middle of nowhere. If I stood right centre, that means I would be standing in the middle of the road. and any angle also will have a palm tree. I tried. That is a statue of Mr Zheng Cheng Gong. (a hero because he kicked the angmohs out of Taiwan) 

Took a bus to my hostel - Iris Tower Hostel (actually 2 apartments knocked into one). The owner's nice, it's a nice place. She gave me a map and told me where to go and how to go etc etc. So I really didn't need any preparation at all! :)

My room at the hostel - you can choose to sleep with 5 or 11 other people - but they are a mixed dorm. Means u can get snoring old men (kidding) View from the room on the right picture. It's 14 floors up! 

For those who need a bit of orientation, Tainan is one of the 3 historical sites/location and it was actually Taiwan's old capital. It was occupied by the Dutch from 1622 till 1661 when they were chased away by Mr Zheng Cheng Gong 郑成功 or Koxinga (who was actually running away from the Qing dynasty government) in China) 

and then u can read on the link about the history of Tainan after that because if I were to write anymore, I can write a 2000 word essay man. 

So most of the attractions here are historical and old - which I like. I don't mean I like old things but I like the rustic-ness of historical sites and when I visit these places it's like wah somebody actually occupied this? used this? wah... I don't know how to describe but that's why I like to visit historical sites.

Before I start, I think  I completed my whole month's quota of walking in this 2 days I spent in Tainan. 

Bus intervals here can be quite long - almost 50 min. max/min. The hostel lady just told me to walk, much easier. 

The sun was not letting up man. So walking in the sun no joke - thankfully it's not as humid as Singapore.

So I trudged across the city ( not really la) maybe about 4-5 blocks away to the oldest Confucius Temple 孔庙 in Taiwan.

 

Frankly, I don't know what the temple worships. It was built in 1665 by Koxinga. 

 I like the middle picture.

There's another part of the temple where you need to pay to get in... pass lah. I don't even know what is inside that is worth paying.... 

This was a huge  botak banyan tree in the middle of the courtyard but I couldn't get it nicely against the bright background oh well.

There was a little street opposite the temple and no, that car wasn't trying to enter that street..it was making a U turn. 

Had my meal there - it was interesting - actually fried instant noodles 炒泡面 (we will call it 炒快熟面) and I saw how they put the packet seasoning into the wok...hmmm idea! of course there was veges and meat and all that and a fried egg. Next time I can try this. 

View from the small shop. 

Actually I walked past a shop before reaching the Confucious Temple - selling 碗米果 (it's like our chwee kway but much BIGGER) if I'm not wrong it's on 国华路/街- that road is the food road. anyway, that stall had a huge queue. I wasn't quite willing to do so cos the sun was really in my eyes. (Tell you after that I had tan lines and my nose was tanned black...)

Random pic. That street had quite a few shops/cafes. At the end of it there was a popular eatery - if I remember correctly either sold ；卤味 or grilled stuff on stick kind of shop. 

Retired for the day and the next day, I set off for Anping! 

Now Tainan is more geared towards tourists - think it's because of these historical sites. So I walked about 2 blocks to take the bus service that the Tainan government has set up - these buses 88, 99 go to every single attraction available in Tainan

 

Yes, I took my bus from Chihkan Tower (which I will come back to later)  You can't walk to Anping. Esp in the hot sun. You will then fulfil your 2 month's quota of walking if u do.

 and i waited for at least 30 min. -_-. 

Anping district is where the Dutch set up a fort here and also the Dutch East India Company set up shop in, so you can expect a bit of history here as well.

Dropped at Anping Tree House 安平树屋- it used to be a warehouse of one of the English/dutch company. It was abandoned and neglected and obviously the TREES took over. The banyan trees... and now the house has become an attraction! 

Then it was off to the the Anping Fort. 

It was obviously restored because paint was nicely done and bright. Not so rustic.. :( I don't like.

But this fort was also called Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over 10 years 1624-1634 but in 1661, Mr Koxinga (Zheng Cheng Gong) attacked and took over this fort. 

And hence, his statue has to be here

See the words 民族英雄? He was deemed a hero as I said before cos he chased the Dutch out! You see him everywhere - one of the main roads in Tainan city is also called ChenGong 成功Road. 

The only 'old' thing around (besides the canons) 

At least they decided to retain something.

After walking around for a while, I left the fort.

Erm. I think. I think it's天后宫hehe told you temples all look the same to me after a while. It's just next to the fort see. 

Went to the old street 安平老街- Yanping st. 延平街just a 5 min walk away and looked for my lunch.

I had Danzai 担仔面noodles and fried prawn rolls 虾卷 (pictures later la) 

I wanted to go try the famous beancurd which proved to be quite far away - walked and walked until I gave up. Think it's called 周记豆花 along Anbei Road 安北路- found the road but the road is very long. hehe

Tainan is also famous for oysters 蚵仔 esp when it's next to the sea. So u get a lot of oyster related food. I don't eat oysters so I didn't bother even looking ...

 

Empty oyster shells. There were a few shops I passed where I saw older ladies sitting down surrounding baskets full of oysters and they were busy opening and removing the flesh from the shell. Nice smell hehe.

There was a oyster shell kind of museum - think they used this to build houses with cement! :) didn't visit cos by the time I walked past all these the fishy smell was getting to me... 

So I went back to the old street because I had to have a bowl of beancurd 豆花.

I walked into a shop and had this.

 Just nice at the table I set was Mayday五月天! :) hehe. super young then. where was Masha马沙? 

You can choose different flavours with your beancurd if u do not want it plain. Coffee jelly was what I had - the syrup was also coffee tinged. There's red bean and others that I can't remember haha. The bean curd was ok, not too bad. 

I left the Anping district not long after and headed back to Chihkan Towers 赤坎楼 (or Fort Provintia)

See? Mr Zheng Cheng Gong's statue again. 

Chihkan Towers 赤坎楼 was built in 1653 by the Dutch and of course after Zheng Cheng Gong attacked it was also given up to him. Since 1945 the site has been known as 'Red-topped Tower' (赤崁樓). This name derives from the Taiwanese aboriginal word Chakam. 

I quite like this place - cos it shows history and of course, it has been restored in someway but still shows a bit of rustic-ness. 

 The blue sky is not edited ok. Nice? Ignore those people there, that guy was feeding the fish in the small pond/moat? and happened to stand up right when I clicked.. he refused to move after that... 

These are tablets placed in front of the fort - stone turtle tablets bestowed by the Cianlong (Qianlong) Emperor (1736~1796) to General Fu Kang-an. The inscriptions on the turtles commend Fu Kang-an for suppressing the Lin Shuang-wen rebellion. The inscriptions are in parallel Chinese and Manchu. Google if u wanna know more. 

Only one foot - don't dare to place two... too narrow already.

Think it was the God of Literature -can pray to it when you r going to sit for exams - hence the number of 福s (prayer tablets?charms?) or hung nearby.... 

The god looks very scary though. :S

 Left after looking around and decided that it was too early to retire so I decided to just explore the city. 

There are lots of temples and old things as well but I wasn't quite interested. 

Walked past a shopping complex with a Daiso sign. Just nice - was meaning to buy compression bags to pack my stuff.

Works out to be cheaper! ;) at that point of time it works out to be SGD 1.75.. haha cheap thrill 25cents cheaper only. 

But this Daiso is big and aisles are much wider. The luxury of space. And there were only a couple of people inside. Nice. 

Bought my compression bags only la. if u r wondering. I have very good self discipline HAHA. 

Walked around before walking back. Time for a food picture! 

Left to right: The Danzai noodles 担仔面I had in Anping, a 'donut' I had from Mister Donut; and BAK CHANG.肉粽- this is the traditional - that shop had peanut one, curry one and they served shark fin's soup...:S

When I was doing my walking, all I heard was the rubbish truck going around. In Taiwan, the rubbish truck plays music. The Taiwanese aren't so fortunate to have the rubbish truck people to empty your bins/chutes for you. They have to personally throw their own rubbish into the rubbish truck. So the truck plays music  to tell people they are coming and so anybody can prepare fast enough to throw their rubbish. I have seen someone running after the truck - funny sight... I think the Tainan one is extremely loud though (compared to other places)

Ok I must write this down although it may seem quite kaypoh, gossipy. 

When I got back to the hostel, I noticed an older lady with a young lady sitting at the TV area looking quite grump/tired. I thought it was the hostel's owner's family so I didn't bother. After showering and all that, I came out to watch TV (yes, I was following a HK drama) and I just sat quietly at my corner watching la. Then I noticed when ever the door opened, the older lady  would stand up in anticipation. 

After maybe half an hour, a girl came in and started walking towards the dorm area- and that lady yelled her name and started crying. After that all shuffled into the room...

Subsequently, at least 3 more people came - then the father came, minute father walked in, he started crying. Wah, I guessed he was very anxious and worried and all that just was released there and then. 

They left after a while - girl was still quite reluctant to leave. 

Hostel owner told me she ran away from home, dropped something downstairs, which then the security guard managed to find her parents. In the hostel owner's words, 'dumb right?' if she didn't drop it, her plan to run away could have worked! haha. so bad.

This girl watched TV with me the night before - and the impression she gave me was shy, timid, She didn't even look at me, when I asked her if she would want to watch another channel she only mumbled her answer. And wah, think something that made her so pissed off that she actually had the courage to leave home.

Yes, some drama to my  travels...hehe.

Well, end of Tainan time. There are other things to visit - esp if u r a temple person or like to really see the architecture of them. Tainan is easy to navigate - roads are more or less grid like -even if u are hv the worst sense of direction or are a map idiot, should be able to get around. 

Oh. I did something. With my 2 heavy backpacks - one big one at the back, and one smaller one in front, I walked for at least 30 min (say about  from Tanglin Mall all the way to Raffles City/Suntec?) to the train station just because I missed the bus. Not going to wait for 50 min for the next one. 

So I fulfilled at least 2 mths of my walking quota.... 

and all that walking in the sun? Burnt back of neck, black nose and a watch line.. (which thankfully faded after I spent a week in cold and cloudy Taipei)

Ok next up Kaohsiung!