*Names of sites were not written down in my trip through Tainan, please excuse my ignorance as I work through memory*
Day 8
The road to 臺南 (Tainan) involved a lot of slowly elaborated Mandarin and chilling on a bus for God knows how long. What was nice was all the sleep recovery on the ride. Traveling can really poop you out and the bus ride was a comfort in disguise.
What did suck was the awkward 10 minutes I faced when the terminal of my ride was into a relatively empty parking lot. There were a couple old men chewing tobacco waiting to pick up passengers to help them get around but the extreme language it was very awkward in convincing one of them to let me use their wifi-enabled phone to contact my Tainan hosts. Luckily, Chad, a Tainan local and friend of Frances, arrived just seconds after so I would no longer have to struggle. (I still was impressed by the trust by the taxi drivers to help me out.)
We went over to Wei-Ann’s car. Wei-Ann, like Chad, attend the Taiwan-American Student Conference (TASC) with Frances during the summer. They were both quite welcoming and a wonderful asset to have considering my lack of Mandarin and Taiwanese. As soon as we hoped in the car, we were off to 黃金海攤 (Golden Beach) to catch the sunset. I think we managed to as the oyster fishermen were just reeling in their final hauls for the day.
Following the sight, my stomach signaled it was time to chow down. Wei-Ann took us to a special hole-in-the-wall for a real taste of Tainan’s culinary talent. What surprised me was the restaurant was quite literally a giant hole in a wall. I knew I was in for interesting meal and we ordered a bunch of local eats that really just killed the game but the biggest winner was something I never thought I would try: frog legs. I have a grade school friend that I used to pick on for loving for frog legs but now I understand. I repent.
So we took a post meal walk through and around 台灣孔廟 (Taiwan Confucius Temple). The temple itself was much smaller than I expected but it was nice to see the small school houses scholars used to work. In fact, the Wen Miao and Guo Xue compounds of the site became known as the First Academy of Taiwan. The walk around the area really got me thinking that the placed offered a lot of creative capital and within moments, we walked into an art cafe that cemented that belief. It housed some of the more intriguing pieces I have seen in my lifetime but below is table from their third with a walrus that was just begging to be photographed.
To end the night out, we got some of the nicest gelato I have ever had in Asia and probably ever especially considering my trip to Rome last summer. As sweet as that was, I enjoyed my night even further after we returned to Chad’s student apartment that really humbled me and made me appreciate my goshiwon more. I got to meet two of his Taiwanese friends and got to discuss with all of them on the upcoming election, which held so much significance to students. What struct me as even more intriguing was their thoughts on whether or not giving back to the country was feasible. They posed some strong arguments and contrasted against the American mentality. These kids cared; it made me care more about America.
Day 9
We woke up relatively early for another treat. Wei-Ann said although breakfast is not the staple meal of Tainan culture, a lamb soup was actually as local as the meal could get. I got one made with half-tendon, half-meat and got a little spicy kick out of it. I will find out how to make the dish in the future and treat my friends to it because this was simple and delicious.
For today, we decided to spend the day tripping at 安平 (안핑, Anping). Our first stop was 安平開臺天后宮 (Anping Matsu Temple). The interior of the temple was quite beautiful and told a story with every inch of wallspace. Although I could try to elaborate the history I found a quote that did it better:
“This temple has a tragic and bloody history. It was originally built by the Ching Dinasty in 1668 and dedicated to Matsu, housing the 3 god’s statues from Fuchien brought by Koxinga. In 1895, during the colonization wars the Japanese killed many Ching’s soldiers in the temple and buried them inside. Until its rebuilding date, in 1966, the temple and its ghosts were feared by the locals.”
Anping’s history continued further as I got to see 安平古堡 (Anping Fort, formerly known as Fort Zeelandia). Set up by the Dutch that colonized Tainan during the 17th century when the East India Tea Company basically cornered the market and the Taiwanese people. A local attribute of Tainan was actually used heavily as a figurative middle-finger to the Dutch with 劍獅 (sword lions). There are three versions:
When the swords crossing gave strength to the household and framed them as warriors.
When the sword had this orientation, it brought luck and happiness to the household.
In the opposite orientation, it defended the household from evil spirits by barring them entry.
Anping was as old as Tainan could get, but it was beautiful. It was also much quieter than many other parts of Taiwan I had been in thus far. When you travelled through the alleys you could just come upon an emptiness that seemed like so much than the rest of the town.
My time in Tainan ended with a Skype call with an aborigine courtesy of Wei-Ann and beef noodle soup. I can elaborate how grateful I am for my time in words but I learned so much in a under 24 hours and got an incredible fill on good eats. Tainan, I’ll stop by another time when I am wiser.
