I can't remember how and when Lili, Joc, and I decided to go Bangkok in the last week of May and early June. It's dream come true for me to be able to travel with my 2 best friends that I got to know from different time/places.
Due to the political turmoil in Bangkok, we changed destination to Taipei 2 weeks before we were due to depart.
In the first 2 days in Taipei, it was mainly “买东西， 吃东西”. On day 3, we traveled to 北投. This is my first time here (unlike Taipei which I have been to twice before).
One interesting encounter during this day was that of a street vendor of chinese calligraphy. We saw a crowd, and we went up to take a look at what the street vendor was performing or selling. I was extremely shocked to see that the guy writing beautiful words with 毛笔 is doing so without hands/fingers. He is a middle age, soft spoken man with stumps for hands. He had a donation box in front of him, and quite a few completed scrolls on display. We read all of them, and I fell in love with one of it that says 为学持之以恒”. Both Lili and myself were interested in getting a scroll. We had already donated, and we stood there for quite some time, wondering if he sells his work.
Finally I went up to him to ask the price, and he said "随意”。We were still unsure how much is appropriate, and I commented a bit too loudly that "随意是多少呢？”. A Taiwanese thought that we didnt understand the meaning, so she said to us that it means up to us, ha!
We continued to stand there for some more time, undecided as to what to do. Then a tall Taiwanese guy went up, placed a 100 NTD into the box, and started reading every scrolls before finally selecting one that says "好心有善报”. He spinned around, walked to us and said to me "送给你们”.
I was so shocked that I almost forgot to thank him. When he walked far away, I told them "But.. this is not what I want.."
Eventually I walked up, placed another 100 in the box, and told the writer that I am going to exchange the one I am holding for the one that I like. Now the scroll is placed at my office cubicle.
That night, we ate dinner at 鱼人码头, took many photos (selfies), listened to the performances of quite a few street/pub singers, watched the sunset, and enjoyed the company of long time friends on the final night of our holiday. Hopefully our US trip next year will materialize!!
Here are some pic:
Selfie at Changi Airport while waiting for boarding
Day 1 supper, Ice Mango
Day 2 lunch, 滷肉飯
Day 3 noon, selfies at the train station
Roaming the touristy streets, we came across this pro independence parade
Hello Kitty shop!
His name is 袁熊
淡水漁人碼頭
