Yesterday, Saturday, was the last sunny day, with today and the next few days to be cold and rainy, It was also the first day of this year’s official sakura festival, so we decided to visit Chiang Kai-shek’s old summer home in Yangming park and called an Uber (along the way we saw a man and a pigeon, as already recorded).
The spot was a pretty little park, part wild and part cultivated, going to a hillside. There were some waterfalls, a sakura park and a sort of pavillion constructed to commemorate the 1911 revolution and containing a very large gift shop. There is also a flower clock and a statue of old Wang Yangming himself, plus another of something which we couldn’t make out if it was a horse or a dragon.
We walked around a bit, enjoying the moss and greenery, and occasional glimpses of sakura below us, though it was far from being in full bloom, certainly. As we gazed into Chaing Kai-shek’s summer house, an older woman approached us – this was a favourite haunt for her and her quieter husband, and she wanted to tell us a bit about the history of the house, which she did. A pleasant little encounter, and when we parted we decided to go into town for lunch.
Lunch wasn’t very successful as various dietary limitations clashed and we found ourselves at one of those health food bowl places where the meat eater could choose a meat, the vegetarian could choose tofu, and I was grumpy at the over-priced low-taste food that characterises such restaurants. That grumpiness stayed with me the whole day and is still there – not so much the lunch itself but how it represented how living on my own terms at times feels limited. We walked through the area a bit more – this was in the Songshan district, ending up at a cafe near the Tobacco Factory.
The Tobacco Factory itself reminded me of how I love Taipei. It is a beautiful space, perfectly judged: a Japanese-era factory with a wild park behind it, and inside a lush garden dotted not-quite-baroque sculptures. It hosts the design musem, as well as small local design stalls with really beautiful wares.
The off to dinner where again there was a hitch. We first thought to go for hotpot but there was a long queue so instead we went to a Szechuan place where it took extensive discussion to order food everyone could eat and the result was a not terribly harmonious meal.
Then back. By this time I was exhausted and fled to my room and hid while the rest had tea and some of the bread we had purchased whilst out.
Today I am working. Outside a cold, wet wind is howling. The others have gone to Xinbeitou to sample the onsen and I am enjoying my solitude.