Going Back to Old Taiwan

If you're ever in Kaohsiung, there is this restaurant based on the nostalgia of old Taiwan. As it has been a while, my memory has decided to take the name of said restaurant and elope with it leaving me bereft and clueless as to the name. If this place looks familiar to you, feel free alert the world as to its name. I know, blogging fail.

I'll make up for it in pictures though - you know, they paint a thousand words and all... 

 Anchor sewing machine - I think my grandmother used to have something similar - these were used as makeshift tables in the restaurant.

Vintage signs

 Cool movie poster

 Old nick nacks

 Indoor lights

 An old post box. Cute!

 Loving the vintage green bottles in the crate

Taipei and Wedding Photography at Shilin Night Market

After spending a couple of days at Sun Moon Lake, my next stop was the capital of Taiwan - Taipei. Foodie that I am, my first stop was the famous Shilin night market, the biggest night market in Taipei. Compared to the other night markets I had been to, I would say that Shilin takes the cake for being the biggest. One could get lost amidst stalls selling takoyaki balls and deep fried chicken!

It wasn't the food, delicious as it was, that stopped me in my tracks at Shilin. A wedding couple did. There I was, happily meandering about with the locals, and what should I see but a couple in full wedding attire smack dab in the middle of a noisy, humid and crowded night market!

It was quite a bizarre, but pleasant sight. From what I can tell, Taiwan is a rather popular place for wedding photography and I was experiencing a personal encounter with a full on Hollywood-style photography team right in the middle of Shilin so I thought I may as well join in the fray and take some photos of my own. I hope the wedding couple doesn't mind!  

Shilin night market

Wife: "Let's get married at the night market, baby!"

Husband: "Anything for you honey, give me a minute while I get up on this stool..."

Close up of the wedding couple

I noticed many journalists and locals taking the photo of this person and was informed that she is some Taiwanese starlet. If anyone knows who this is, I would really love to find out!

My night at Shilin was turning out to be a paparazzi haven, what with wedding shoots and starlets officiating at the opening of food stalls. One can't help but get the sense that just about everything happens in Taipei. 

Sun Moon Lake and the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village

Right. Almost a year on out from when I first started this blog, I've decided that it's high time I finish what I started. My Taiwanese trip was a year ago, and it just got too busy for me to continue blogging - especially as we had many more commitments towards the end of the trip. With a European trip coming up in a few months' time, I thought it would be fitting to finish my Taiwanese chapter to make way for the recording of new experiences.

So I stopped last year just as I reached Sun Moon Lake. It was a beautiful, sunny day when I arrived and the lake could not have looked more beautiful. I was very excited about Sun Moon Lake for many reasons, but none more so than the ability to experience Taiwanese aboriginal culture as the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village was situated there and was on the very top of my must-visit list!

Upon arriving at Sun Moon Lake, I took a gondola to get to the cultural village, which I was rather surprised with. I was prepared for rustic little huts and dirt tracks, but I was instead confronted with clean, modern, gondolas. Slightly confused, I paid for my entry and made my way to the cultural village. Turned out the village was a bit of a touristy man-made attraction, which I was disappointed with as I felt cheated for not being able to experience authentic aboriginal culture. Having said that, what they did have was well worth seeing, and was still a good education on aboriginal culture.

Me on the gondola :) 

Bird's eye view of Sun Moon Lake from the gondola

Aboriginal craft

An Aboriginal hut. I wasn't sure which tribe this belonged to. There are officially 13 tribes in Taiwan, the biggest being the Atayal tribe. This COULD be an Atayal hut, but don't quote me on this!

The interior of an Aboriginal hut

Smoked bamboo rice - a typical aboriginal meal