Day 5: Who’s Who?

After having a talk with a group of translation students in the university, Solana and I have a lunch with Brigitte near campus. With the background from Malaysia and Canada, Brigitte is currently learning Mandarin in Taiwan. Thanks for introduction from a friend in Global Voices, we get to meet her and make a new friend. Luckily with a class of four (it’s normally up to ten), Brigitte’s Mandarin is impressive. With this speed, her friends in the United States may soon be surpassed.

As tourists, we visit National Palace Museum in the afternoon. Solana mentions a few times during this trip that she doesn’t see many foreigners, even tourists, on the street. It turns out that many of them are here in the museum. I tell her actually we have met quite a few travellers from Japan, Korea and Hong Kong during the past few days, but it would be difficult to recognize them from their appearances if not knowing their languages. After the museum, though, Solana can tell which tourists are from China: They are louder and in groups. Good eyes.

Night market is always a must for travelling around Taiwan & Taipei. It often reflects the energetic, diverse and vibrant side of local society. It provides cuisines, shopping, experiences, entertainment, memories and surprises. For example, an toilet theme restaurant.  Their seats, their menu and their food all represent the toilet environment. Too bad that I didn’t persuade Solana to taste poo-poo shape chocolate ice cream.

At the museum, seeing buses and buses of tourists leaving, we wonder where their next stop will be. It results in the same night market, and some of them are still louder and in groups.