Christmas Eve in Taiwan

I got off to a slow start this morning.  I'm here for ten days and have no real plans, so there's no reason to rush.  I'm sure tomorrow will be a late morning, too.

Eventually, I headed out toward Longshan Temple.  I intended to get something in the market for breakfast, but nothing caught my eye.  Near the station, there was a place advertising brunch, so I stopped in for the french toast, but was taken in by the hand-made spaghetti.  The place was decorated for Christmas, which was cute.

Cute little salad.  Thousand Island dressing goes great on a salad with a bit of corn and pineapple.  It was nice.

After my salad, they brought out the bread, which was odd... because it just sat there getting cold.  Then I got my pumpkin soup which was yummy.

Handmade spaghetti noodles with mushrooms and cream sauce (and other bits of stuff in there too).  It was REALLY GOOD, but I couldn't finish it all.  D:  I tried, but I had to leave some.

Next stop, or my first planned stop of the day was Longshan Templ.e.  It's one of the first things shown in tourist guides and stuff, so I thought it would be a good place to start.  I got off the MRT (metro) at Longshan Temple Station and hoped it would be easy to find.

Hoo-ee.  I can handle this.

There was an underground shopping mall/arcade which sold mostly religious paraphernalia.  These balloon-sculptures decorated it down the middle.

Because when I have a 100-year old temple, what I like to do is put a big electronic SIGN in the middle of the front gate.  GOOD IDEA.

Stage left of the front gate is this sign.  They sure don't make it sound impressive, calling it "a grade two historic site" and saying it's "worth a look".  C'mon guys.  SELL IT TO ME.

Inside the outer gate are some pretty waterfalls.  I guess to make it feel less urban, or something?  Maybe it's got something to do with the original Longshan Temple location?

The inner gate.  Pretty, except for the PAINT CHIPPING OFF ALL THE DECORATIONS.

Inside the inner gate, facing the main shrine.  People burn candles and incense and leave offerings by various statues.  There were lots of people praying just to the left of this picture.

The main shrine across the inner courtyard.

At least the sculptures on the inner shrine are well-maintained. 

Behind the main shrine.

Back/inside of the inner gate.

Me in front of the inner gate.

My over all opinion: It was okay.  It was crowded with patrons and tourists.  They played music, which was weird.  I'm sure it takes a lot of work to keep up the painting on all that detailing, but I wish they would.  I was probably there for less than an hour (forgot my watch).

Moving on to the next item on my list the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.

The signs at the station reminded me of funeral parlor signs.  Fancy, gently lit... <_<

Out of the station, the first thing you see is this fancy-pants theater.

Across from it is another fancy-pants theater.

The main hall is under construction/restoration.  I don't know why.  It was built in the late 70s, so it's not like it's old.

The first vending machine I've seen in Taiwan!  I wanted to buy something, but nothing looked good.

Dang.  I really wanted to kite today.

One of the ponds in one of the gardens surrounding the memorial.  

I liked this white pigeon.  He had some spunk.

The bridge was pretty.

The image you see in the tourism guides.  Since the metro station exit is on the other side of this gate, I had to go out of my way to get this picture.  GOSH.

Next on the list of tourist attractions was The Shrine for the Martyrs, which has a fancy changing of the guard.  This place generally baffles me.  Why have a shrine for the Chinese Revolution and Sino-Japanese War or whatever: all stuff for CHINA.  I didn't see a single name there listed as 'Taiwanese'?  Why was it considered a holy war, therefor making these people 'martyrs' instead of something more like 'heros'?  Why do they have a guard at a shrine?  It's not like Arlington's Tomb of the Unknowns where they're actually guarding something.  As far as I understand, there are not physical remains at the shrine.

According to the tourism info I've read, there are three guard-changing ceremonies that can be seen around Taipei (apparently, their military has nothing better to do), and this one is the fanciest.

There are lines on the path where the guards have walked so much.  They change the guard every hour between 10am and 5pm or something like that.  The various military services alternate throughout the year.  I guess when the gate isn't under construction, they start there, but for the time being start at a side building which isn't open to the public.

Let's start with the front gate.  Under renovation until December 30th.  Great.  Of course it is.

Down the long courtyard, the shrine is on the other end.  They really like these grand courtyards!  Note the brownish lines from the right corner from where the guards step.

Pretty tower.  I don't know what it's for.  It's off-limits.  There's an identical one on the opposite side.

The guards use a very slow, stiff step and swing of the arm.  Foot up, fist out.  Foot up, hand down.  It's weird and almost overly ceremonial because I doubt it's done for any other occasion.

The new guards approach the steps.  Note the people working at the shrine are in black suits and ties like they're at a funeral.

The guards leave their pedestals and descend the steps.

And this point there is much stamping and swinging around of guns.

It's really more like a dance than anything.  It feels like an over-wrought performance and I didn't like that.

Seriously.  What practical purpose could this maneuver have?!

 Eventually, the new guards took their posts and the others left.  More slow walking.  I'll spare you.  Once they were gone, the shrine was unblocked and we could enter.

Uh.  Pretty plant?  XD  It was really vibrant, so I wanted a picture.

The main shrine.

In the hallway, they had paintings and descriptions of the heroic deeds being represented by them.  From various Chinese wars.  The signs were in Chinese and English.

 I found it interesting that although the signs mentioned Chiang Kai-Shek being made 'commander-in-chief' they never called him that on the plaques.  It was always 'late president Chiang Kai-Shek'.  Never just 'president' either.  It was a bit strange.

Back of the main shrine. 

Guards at the gate.

What I don't have pictures of are the two side shrines flanking the main shrine.  You can't take pictures inside because they're full of memorial tablets for the people who died.  Aaand that's about it.  I wanted a better picture of the guards, but the undertakers were shooing people away so the guards could change again.  I wasn't in there THAT long.  So, while it's admirable that the guards don't move at all while they're at their posts, they don't even do it for a whole hour.  <_<

After that, I was pretty toured-out for the day.  I wasn't really enjoying any of the things I'd seen and very quickly, I went through three of the major tourist attractions!  What am I going to do the rest of the week?!  So I headed back to my hostel.

Taipei 101 changes the luminary colors based on the days of the week (I learned in a guidebook), but for Christmas, they add a little something special.  I took a few pictures on the way back from the metro station.

After I'd been back at my hostel a little while, I was thinking I should go out and get something to eat.  I'd really only had some fruit from a vendor since brunch and I was a bit peckish.  Angela's sister told me there was a Christmas tree over at Taipei 101, so I went to check that out and I swung through the night market on the way.

Supper was more fried mushrooms (I LOVE FRIED MUSHROOMS.  This is actually not new, but I like this kind a bit better than the ones at the fair at home) and fried sweet potato balls.

I guess the sweet potato was made into a paste then cut up and fried, based on what I could tell from his stand.

There were buildings lit up in Christmas colors and festive patterns down the street toward Taipei 101.

Demon Santa was my favorite.

More Taiepi 101.  Santa and his reindeer flying around the building. <3

I didn't go up into Taipei 101 to see the night view.  Angela says she hasn't been, so I'm waiting to see if we can do it together.  If it doesn't work out, I'll try to make it before I leave.  I did look around the mall a bit.  It's full of luxury brands (who else could afford to have a store in Taipei 101?!) and the mall was also full of Japanese.  I laughed.

Plastic food in the food court.  Can you imagine lunch like this at a local mall at home? 

A Taiwanese specialty.  Shaved ice topped with mango and ice cream.

I thought I was ordering bubble tea, but ended up with chocolate milk.  Haha.  It was tasty.  Can you see the special 'Taipei 101' cup it's in?

Decorations in the mall.

Outside, I found the Christmas tree.  Can you tell who sponsored it?

You guessed it - Cartier.  Who wants you to propose even more than your girlfriend does.  <____<

Lights, flowers, banners, and bulbs!

The stores all had ruffles around their names.

I suddenly noticed this photo-opp floor art!

Some people taking advantage of it.

Some people totally ignoring the awesomeness they're standing on while obstructing my photo.

Cartier had the most festive store-front.

Outside the mall, a bunch of Buddhists were praying.

Demon Santa ho-ho-ho-ing down the street.

One of the photographers from yesterday sent me some unedited pictures as a glimpse at what he got yesterday.  I love them so much (and that cafe!)  I did a quick (poor) edit to make a little Christmas card.  Hope you guys like it.  ^-^  Angela and me.  <3