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July 26, 2008 - After my usual early wakeup, I checked out of the Grand Hotel (圓山大飯店) (www.grand-hotel.org), the only traditional Chinese Palace Hotel in the world. I reflected back on my stay at this gorgeous hotel, and I thought about how I really liked the feeling of being “back” in Ancient China through this hotel. It was one of several good ways to end my stay in Taipei (台北).
The first destination of the day, after leaving the Grand Hotel, was the 2009 Summer Deaflympics offices, where I observed the volunteers’ meeting. They had over 500 volunteers show up for the meeting! I was told that the organization had just met their goal of getting 3,000 volunteers, which amazed me. In fact, this upcoming September will see the kickoff of the official preparations for the Deaflympics – 365 straight days of planning and preparations for the event. You can check it out at their website, www.2009deaflympics.com.
From there, it was on to a weekend street market right below a busy highway, on parking lots usually reserved for the week. Browsing around, I found 14 deaf vendors there selling arts and crafts. My eye caught on to a framing of some beautiful scenery in Guilin (桂林), China – the famous Li River (漓江). I went there last year while on assignment for DeafNation, and I can say that the Li River and its surroundings is definitely one of my favorite places to be, worldwide. Beyond that, there are also some beautiful mountain peaks near Yangshuo (陽朔), China, as well. I was really thrilled to be able to have something to remember China by, so I purchased the painting, which was done by an artist named Mike Liang (梁光榮), who is Deaf, too. He’d never visited the place before, but saw a famous picture of it in a book and painted it. He did a great job with the painting!
I met more of the local Deaf Taiwanese, people like Ching-Hsien Peng (彭欽賢, “幼靜”). One of the artists around here, she does some very beautiful art. I couldn’t resist buying some more of the art work here, and bought a framed painting of 9 goldfish (九條金魚), which in Chinese lore signifies that you will have great wealth and a long life. Another work of art I got had a small boat on a river against a background of a waterfall and a mountain range. To me, the painting represented the safe return home of a traveler, after having had a long journey.
Awed by all the great art, I stopped by yet another Deaf vendor’s stall. Flashing back to my time in Northern Taiwan, I got a painting of the Queen’s Head rock (女王頭石), from Yeliu Geological Park (野柳地質公園). Painted by yet another Deaf artist, I wanted the painting because it would remind me of that gorgeous rock, which may disappear all too soon from the earth. Looking at all the art I got, I realized I needed to stop burning away all the Taiwanese cash I had left, so I took my leave of the market, and went to my next destination.
That destination was south of Taipei; Yingee (鶯歌) was the name of the town. It means “parrot” in Mandarin, which certainly was a unique town name for Yingee! I had heard about some more famous Taiwanese cuisine there, and Kang (陳康) and Gates (許庭榮), two Deaf Taiwanese friends I had been with earlier in the week, surprised me there. That famous place I had heard about is actually named “Grandma’s Sushi” (阿婆壽司). It was a very puzzling sight upon arrival, for there were so many people outside the restaurant. I was left wondering how they could fit everyone in, but it turned out the restaurant had five floors, including a basement, with the staff making the food in a setup similar to Japanese sushi bars, right down to how they did their sushi. Some differences were had, however; they use tofu, vegetables, pork, and rice, with all covered by some tofu skin. They also served the best Miso soup that I ever had, with an amazing amount of tofu. I never saw that amount before, with this soup.
While eating, we observed the staff of more than 20 cooks preparing the food. They serve everyone in the restaurant, and do deliveries in the region around Yingee. That restaurant was incredible, because of their limited menu (only five choices!), and very low prices (going from 50 cents to $1.40 US dollars, which in Taiwanese dollars goes from $15 to $20). It was a perfect and delicious ending to my time in Taiwan! On my way back to Hong Kong (香港) tonight, I’ll be thinking of Kang (陳康), Gates (許庭榮), Chao (楊疇英), Chou (趙建南) and all the others I met while in Taiwan, due to the potential typhoon. Of course, they all are being positive about the situation, being that they’re used to typhoons coming their way. Amazing people, them all!
