Sunday was meant to be a day of practicality. I went out with the intention of purchasing three new tops, one of them black, cleansing oil, face wash and a few other bits and pieces. I returned with a black linen top and the intent to return and buy a linen shirt. Plus two bowls and two small plate, the sorts used for a dipping sauce or a square of chocolate. This was from Zhongshan, a downtowny sort of bit with some big malls, but which soon turns into small streets thronged alternately with hipsters and Harajuku-types (Google Translate would say, Harajuku-no-hito, but I’ve been burned by Google Translate so won’t trust it). There was a stunning over-supply of coffee shops and lots of stylish little shops, ranging from expensive Taiwanese design to inexpensive Korean imports. We got a bubble tea in lieu of the usual coffee and had a nice long stroll, and eventually found ourselves on a street corner that was instantly familiar. We’d come there on our last trip for an oyster omelette and also entered a tea shop where we had a pleasant chat with the owner, who told us how the demand for Taiwanese tea from the mainland had priced out the locals. Lunch was in Zhongshan, an area with many Japanese restaurants, at fast paced unagi specialist. Very pleasant, though not a patch on the far less fast paced unage specialist in Singapore.
We ended on Dihua street, where we popped into a couple of art and design places – again one which we realised we’d visited on our last trip some years ago, with the same metal hooks etc for sale. The prints were, I’m afraid, greatly inferior to those in Oaxaca. And then back.