台北補完之旅札記 – Day 2

九時多起床後,便出門到鼎太豐去吃早餐。

在古亭站下車後,走了一段不短的路程。上一次來台北的時候,因為人多,所以動不動就召計程車。一個人就不能這麼奢侈了。

點了酸辣湯,豆沙包,和當然少不了的小籠飽。鼎太豐的小籠飽依然好吃。皮薄而韌,肉汁鮮美。但是,一籠有整整十個,吃到後來也沒甚麼感覺了,更別論嘗試其他食物。

這又是一個人旅行的壞處。

吃飽後,穿過大安森林公園(第一次知道這地方,是看藍的《琉光紀事》),沿著新生南路往南走,便來到台灣大學的校園。

我喜歡逛大學校園。香港大部分的大學我都到訪過。若我是跟朋友一起到台北來遊玩的話,他們大概不會奉陪吧?

這就是一個人旅行的好處啊。

不知怎的,台大給我的第一個感覺,就是像改篇自經典漫畫的經典日劇《愛情白皮書》裡所描述的大學校園。網球社的學姐監督著社員對著牆壁練習(還是這是體育課,我白目看錯了?),兩個女生一邊聊天,一邊騎著同一輛單車,一個在踏,一個站在後輪的軸上。再加上台北帝國大學時代的舊建築,都給我一種異於香港或北美大學校園的感覺。

穿過行政大樓,為了在7-11前邊表演的結他手們略為駐足後,邊繼續往南走。

但走著走著,卻發覺自己有點迷路的感覺(路人:迷路就迷路,甚麼是「迷路的感覺」?)。台北街道有一個壞處(只少在於我到過的街道而言)。在街上鮮見到路牌顯示該路的路名(除非在巷口)。我走到一條大街上去,也不知道自己身在何處。

繞了十幾分鐘之後,終於找到公館捷運站,便乘捷運往中山站去了。

 

一點半左右,我和Tina在中山站見面後,一時間不知道到哪裡去好。
我正想提議找個地方喝茶聊天的時候,她卻提議要到台北101的觀景台去。

「可是我昨晚才去過啊!」

「可是我想去啦!」

我拗不過她,便跟她又到台北101去了。

 

我姐半年前到台北去的時候,覺得入場費太貴所以便沒有上去觀景台。想不到這次我連她那份也一併上了。 orz

還好一次是晚上,一次是白天。

我在台北的四天,天氣都不算好。冬季的台灣北部是不是都這樣的呢?從觀景台看過去,遠方的山水都被雲霧遮蓋,一片白濛濛。

在玻璃前向下望過去,只見街上都是黃色的計程車。原來台北有這麼多的士啊。

觀景台的東,南,西,北方都設有廣角圖片,指出那一個方向的地標。但是那些圖片的角度跟觀景台上看到的不同(那些圖片應該是在從一個較低的高度拍的),影響了圖片作為「導遊」的功能。

我們多付了一百塊到戶外觀景台去。那裡的溫度和強風讓人置身於溫哥華的東季那般。我們匆匆繞了一圈便躲回室內去。

「白天的景色是不是比較漂亮?」Tina促狹地問我。

「真是謝謝你啊。」我瞇著眼回道。

 

從觀景台下來,我們就趕到台北車站去,搭電車到基隆。

在電車上,我才發覺自己早上問Tina要不要去基隆的時候,只跟她說是要跟網友見面,沒有跟她說我要見的是huey。

「喔?你的網友是女的啊?」Tina瞪著眼問我。

「是啊。」

她大概是覺得,一個香港人,可以透過BBS認識萬里之外的台灣的朋友,還可以見面,是件不可思議的事吧?

到了基隆,Tina卻一時間找不到去程的車票,不能過集票口。當我在等她的時候,huey就在我的面前出現了。

「我沒認錯人吧?」她問我道。

我…變老了,都認不出來嗎? /_\

事後huey說我是變成熟了。是客套說話吧?orz

混亂間,跟huey介紹了Tina,卻忘了跟Tina介紹huey。我真是失敗啊…

 

一行三人在基隆的街道上穿插著。走了十幾分鐘,我們便來到基隆廟口夜市。

第一站,huey帶我們去吃鼎邊趖。正當我們吃得津津有味的時候,居然有記者來訪問我。

「請問你是專誠來這裡品嚐鼎邊趖的嗎?」記者問道。

「我是從香港來的遊客。」還真的是一口廣東腔的國語。

「你是怎麼知道有這麼一個特色小吃的呢?」

「是朋友介紹的。」

「你覺得味道如何?」

我略為語塞。吃是好吃,但我可不知道怎去形容那味道啊,我又不是蔡瀾。

「很特別。在香港吃不到這樣的味道。」我擠出這麼一句話來。

記者走開之後,Tina說道:「人家看你的樣子笨笨的,就知道你是遊客啦。」

亂說話的小孩當然是被揍了。

我看那記者手持的麥克風是寫著簡體的字。我心下一定,就算我口齒不清的幾句話被不幸播出了,也不會有認識我的人會看到。(路人:就算播,大概會被刪剩幾秒鐘吧?)

 

當晚,我們依次吃了鼎邊趖,海鮮,炸天婦羅,一口吃香腸,以及三兄弟豆花。

夜市美食的那種風味,在餐廳還真的是找不到的。

吃飽之後,我們往港口去逛了一圈之後,便是時候踏上歸途了。

真是很感激huey能抽空見面,還特意帶我到夜市去。對我來說,觀光是次要,跟朋友見面才是主菜啦!

 

參考網頁:

基隆廟口 – Wikipedia
http://tinyurl.com/2x6qxe

基隆廟口飲食攤販小組
http://www.miaokow.org/

台北補完之旅札記 – Day 1

當知道我又要去台北的時候,Leo的女友Rainbow姐對我說道:「你好像對台灣情有獨鍾。」

不是好像,是的確。認識我的朋友很多也知道這一點。從香港出發作短途旅行的話,台灣確是個不錯的選擇。航程短,言語通(至少看得懂字),吃喝方面也相對便宜。

為甚麼這次到台北去是「補完之旅」?因為這次我所去(或是想去)的地方,都是上一次兩年半前到台北時還未開幕或是沒有時間去的的。

在香港時,跟別人提起我會到台北去,最常聽到的問題是:「跟朋友一起去嗎?」

不,是一個人。所以飯店的租很貴。 /_\

在抵港的第一天便到了幾家旅行社去問價。最終決定購買團體票。團體票,即是旅行社先行預訂的機票,所以會較為便宜。但團體票的不好處有二:不能選航機班次(不能早機去,晚機返),以及要在去程班機起飛前兩個半小時到機場拿預先安排的登機證。

結果,我早上八時半便要出門到機場去。

中午的長榮BR866班機的乘客不多,大概不夠那AirBus A330-200載客量的一半。香港人都愛早機去,晚機返,中午確實是晚了一點。

飛機上的午餐是魯肉飯,不錯吃。

是誰說長榮的空姐不漂亮的?

 

跟上一次一樣,從機場乘國光客運到台北車站。車費比上一次便宜,只要一百二十五。

在客運上,看著兩年半前見過的城市,道路,和路牌,心裡的感覺有如上年五月重遊多倫多那時候那般。

下車的地點跟上次不一樣,當我正要走進車站大堂,找個地方看地圖找飯店位置的時候,赫然發現飯店就在路口。

因為上次也是入住同一個地方的關係,一切看來都熟口熟面。但飯店樓下的丹堤咖啡和涼茶店都不見了。

打電話跟朋友聯絡上之後,便獨自一人急不及待到重慶南路去。逛了幾家書局,準備晚一點到饒河街夜市去吃晚飯。

但是當我步出永春站之後,卻發現雨勢太大所以作罷。

從永春乘捷運到市政府站,到誠品在信義區的旗艦店。我並沒有在樓下的商店逗留太久,便到二樓的書店去。

相對於敦南的原旗艦店,信義店無論在裝修(書架,燈光等)都較為細緻,空間也較寬廣。

 

逛了半個小時之後,我卻覺得餓了,便步行到台北101的地下food court。結果,我吃了在香港也有的築地墨魚圓。當時是沒有胃口吃太多東西啦。 orz

之後,我便到五樓去買票,到101九十一樓的觀景台去。

在號稱世界上最快的升降機裡,耳朵可以明顯感覺到氣壓的改變(就像在飛機爬升或剛落時)。

可能是小時候爸媽很少帶我在晚上出去的關係,我對夜景還是有一種莫名的憧憬。

從香港山頂或是尖沙咀海傍看到的維港景色,是眾多高樓大廈的燈光所併出的光影彩圖。溫哥華的夜景像是點綴了星光的夜空(路人:這人怎麼忽然感性起來了)。台北的夜景卻與它們不同。

大概是因為周圍都沒有其他高樓的關係,從觀景台望下去,台北就是像一幅平平的夜光棋盤。街道上一排排的商店的霓虹燈光,還有車輛的燈光,畫出一條又一條閃爍的光線。

因為之前下過雨的關係,觀景台的沾濕的玻璃都為景色披上了一層矇矓。

咳,好了,不玩感性了。

我在觀景台上繞了三圈,花了大概一個小時左右。

 

之後,回到誠品(之前的半個小時當然不夠啊),在地下的food court(路人:又food court?哪有人到台灣去會捨小吃而取food court的?)吃了個豆花之後,便繼續到書店去。

經過一個多小時之後,我買了三本書:

世界史圖解
http://tinyurl.com/25zhmg
日語翻譯本。這種日文圖解歷史書的特點在於善用線表和圖表來精簡地總結一連串的歷史事件,對歷史入門甚有幫助。

正妹大學摳男社
http://tinyurl.com/ynmw8q
我也覺得自己有時候蠻摳的。 orz

達令是外國人 2
http://tinyurl.com/yvsstr
日本漫畫,關於作者和美籍同居男友在日本生活的趣事。

拿著書本,準備回到飯店去的時候,忽然覺得,只有書店可以逛,就可能令我很高興了。

當然,在書店遇上美女的話會更加高興啦!

From 18C to -8C

After 25 days, and lots of money spent (for my richer readers, I may not have spent a lot of money, but it’s enough for me to have Starbucks coffee every afternoon for a year), I have finally returned from my “holidays” in Hong Kong. Nothing much to write home about (that’s why you didn’t see any new blog entries from me during those days). I will just briefly list off some of the things that I did and I will write about them later (if I have not forget the details).

– went to the Asian Game Show (coincidentally, I arrived just in time for that) with Frank. The photos from there are already up at my album. Some people complained that there were too few pictures of girls. Well, I am just not professional enough, I guess :p

– BBQed with friends from Killarney in Aberdeen. Haven’t been to a Hong Kong-style BBQ for ages, and haven’t BBQed in the dark before (you see, I’m not a very experienced BBQer)

– wandered around Tsim Sha Tsui alone on the night of the December 24th. I really should’ve cramped into Canton Road to see Wynners instead of doing that

– went around Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Chinese University of Hong Kong, but forgot to bring my camera when I go to HKUST, so no pictures from there

– counted down for the New Year at Veronica’s place. Waiting for a mini-bus at 00:30 in Stanley is certainly a new experience for me

– went to Taipei for 3 days and 4 nights. Highlights included: Taipei 101 Observation Deck (twice, thanks to Tina), Keelung (certainly not a place for people who hate seafood, thankfully I do like them), National Taiwan University (yes, I like visiting university campuses), Yangmingshan National Park (but not the coffee shops and etc. at the waist of the hill), lots of book buying, not as much eating as last time, though

– attended the dinner following Frank and Veronica’s marriage registration. I was mistaken as Mr. Chu (the one who got married) a couple times by the waiter and waitress. I bought a Hello Kitty wedding photo album as my present to them. Hopefully I will be rich enough to get them something more serious when they have their wedding banquet

– went to the Peak, but did not bring the camera (orz)

– a lot of my lunch were eaten at the Maxim’s below Leo’s place

– visiting book stores is still my favourite way to kill time

– things that I did not do: sing karaoke (actually, I did sing at Veronica’s place, but it’s different than going to a karaoke box), ride on Ngon Ping “saam luk ling” (too far + the news of its break downs put me off), go to Disneyland (never a fan of Disney stuff, and what’s the point of going alone/without a girl?) nor the Ocean Park (have been there before)

– friends that I did not get to meet: Chris, Leo, and others from my undergraduate years (with the exception of Ar Hang and Kelvin), Gilbert (add me to your MSN, dude) and…

I will just leave it at this for now. Will write more later (hopefully).

台北愛情故事

《台北愛情故事》的作者plover可以說是網路小說的開山鼻祖(他的第一篇作品是情色小說《往事追憶錄》)。第一次看他的作品,應該是二零零一年左右,在優秀網看他的作品的修訂版。前幾天,忽然心血來潮,登入很久也沒有上過的貓咪樂園BBS,從精華區找來《台北愛情故事》再看了一遍。忽然驚覺,兩次的閱讀,已經隔了五年。

五年來,我期待過,暗戀過,失落過,驚喜過,生氣過,愧疚過,無力過。(路人:怎麼講到自己歷盡滄桑似的)。但五年光境過去,我彷彿又回到原點。我還是單身一個人,還是在家裡同一個房間裡打著電腦,還是經常乘同一路線的公車,還是到同一間學校去(還好要唸的學位已不同了),還是會看小說,還是會寫小說。

《台北愛情故事》的故事其實很簡單:一個男生有一個很要好而且很難追才追回來的女朋友,卻因為後來分隔兩地而戀上另一個女生。當另一個女生決定退出的時候,女朋友卻發現了,決絕地和男生分手。三個主角就在寂寞和空虛中渡過了幾年。男生終於按捺不住要找他的女朋友,而女朋友最終還是決定原諒他。男生和女朋友在故事結束時結了婚還有了小孩。而另一個女孩則在天涯繼續闖盪。

故事雖簡單,但配上八十年代末,九十年代初的台北作為背景,再加上作者的筆觸,就成為了讓我印象深刻的一篇故事。尤其是作者那富詩意的文筆,和對場景的細緻描述,是後來的網路小說裡少見的。

看著文章的時候,想找首國語歌來聽。結果聽了莫文蔚《如果沒有你》。歌雖好,但覺得跟故事不太搭調。畢竟那歌跟小說是相差了十年的作品吧(《台北愛情故事》第一次發表於一九九五年)。我對九十年代初的國語音樂的認識,就僅止於《對你愛不完》,《今年夏天》或是《煙火》而已。

 

曾經,不,到現在,我還是很想寫一篇關於溫哥華的愛情小說,就像《台北愛情故事》甚至柴門文的《東京愛的故事》那樣。幾年前,還是在用舊筆名的我寫了半個名為《楓城愛情故事》的小說。故事的前半部完成之後,就一直沒有進展。相比起《台北愛情故事》這經典的網路小說,我那篇故事極其量只是中學生的寫作習作而已。現在看來,把溫哥華稱作「楓城」是太矯揉造作了。但《溫哥華愛情故事》這名字不好聽《溫市愛情故事》簡直就像本地中文報紙的標題。單單是想一個標題,已經是大費周章了。我究竟甚麼時候才有機會寫這麼一個故事呢?

或許,到有一天我離開了溫哥華,開始懷念這地方的時候,就會有動力去動筆吧!

Visiting Taipei

Someone I know is going to go visit Taipei for a weekend, and asked me where in Taipei that she and her friends should go. So I spent an hour typing everything that I know about visiting Taipei in an e-mail. I thought I should share this here as well and get some feedback from people who actually are from Taipei and correct any of my outdated or inaccurate information. My comments about various places are just my personal opinions, of course.

I can’t seem to find a good printable (e.g. pdf) map of Taipei. But you can readily find a detailed map of Taipei in the Taipei travel books sold in HK bookstores (cost: ~$40 HKD). I found those travel books useful for finding good places to eat, but not so much on shopping (I don’t think there’s much to buy in Taipei anyway, except books). As for the places to go, it depends on what type of places that you want to go (e.g. museum, scenery, shopping).

Museums: I don’t think it’s really worth the time (but a good time killer if you find yourself out of things to do). 故宮博物院 is okay (the things there are mostly small items, which is logical considering those stuff were scrambled out of Beijing during the civil war). But 中正紀念堂 and 國父紀念館 less so. And this is coming from a person who has interest in history.

Scenery: I’d definitely recommend going to 淡水 during late afternoon to watch the sunset. The bridge at the fisherman’s pier (you may need to ride a boat to go out there, even though that place is reachable by land) is beautiful. Places like 九份 is a 1 to 2-hour train ride (can’t remember clearly) away from Taipei City, but it’s worth a visit if you can spare the time. 陽明山 seems to be a good place for both day time (walking around trails and look at the scences) and night time (restaurants that overlook the city of Taipei at night). I haven’t been there (I went to meet with some local friends when my trip-mates went there on the last day of our trip), but I would like to go there when I visit Taipei again.

Shopping: The 24-hour 誠品書店 is one of the most well-known place for HK people (you’ll find lots of them there, and according to some, they do not exactly behave very well), I couldn’t find my book there when I was there though (damn). Note that only the bookstore portion of the 24-hr 誠品 is opened during late night (there’s also a large gift and music section on the lower levels). There’s a new 誠品 opened in 信義區 (which is the new commercial/shopping district), which is pretty nice according to comments from visitors, but it’s not 24-hrs though. Basically you’ll find big and small bookstores opened left, right and centre. So you don’t need to worry about finding where to buy books. Other than books, I can’t really say much about shopping. The malls and department stores are pretty much the same as the ones in Hong Kong (both in terms of appearance, prices, and the quality of service). But I guess Taipei 101 (I think it’s currently the tallest building in the world after they put an antenna up top) is worth a visit. Going up to the observation deck of the tower is probably a good idea (it wasn’t opened yet when I went there). There is also the underground mall. I think I’ve been there but I didn’t remember much from it. 西門町 is kind of like Mongkok of Taipei, both me and my friends were not overly impressed.

Eating: Now to the best part. Lots of nice food to eat, especially at the night markets. I’ve been to 士林夜市 (which fit very nicely with a trip to 淡水, since it’s right on the way between 淡水 and 台北車站, so you can go there on your way back from 淡水). There’s also 饒河街夜市 which seems to be the new hot spot of HK tourists (and it’s near 信義區). I’d also recommend 鼎泰豐, the 小籠飽 there is the best that I’ve ever eaten (and I ate quite a few of them in Hong Kong, since Shanghai food is kind of in nowadays). But you’ll need to get there early (i.e. before 11:00am) or you’ll have to line up. Of course there’s bubble tea and 小吃, which is both cheaper and better than the ones in Canada (duh). Food is inexpensive compared to Hong Kong.

Getting around: The bus service from the Airport to 台北車站 is called 國光客運 (I think there’s only one company that does that line), which is convenient (and certainly cheaper than taxi) if you’re staying in one of the hotels near that area. The subway in Taipei is called 捷運 (or MRT in English abbreviation). It’s probably the easiest way to get around. But some stations are located in the middle of seemingly nowhere (e.g. 市政府 MRT station is 10-minute walk away from the newly built malls such as Taipei 101), and the stations are small (some are similar the skytrain stations in Vancouver in size), so expect to do some walking after getting out of the station. I only rode on the bus twice, and they are single deckers similar to the ones in North America. The way the bus fare is collected is different than it is in Vancouver or Hong Kong though. Taxies are not expensive when you have multiple people sharing the cost and they are no more scary than the ones in Hong Kong. Some taxi drivers would refuse to take you if you want to go to places that they don’t want to go though, just like Hong Kong. Traffic congestion is not too bad, contrary to popular perception.

Mobile phone: GSM phones from Hong Kong (and probably Canada) will work, along with sim cards from Hong Kong. Expect roaming charge though, of course. If you expect to use the phone a lot, you can buy a pre-paid card (預付卡) at a convenience store. You’ll need to fill in your address information, which is of course the hotel that you’re staying in.

Currency Exchange: From my experience and according to the Taipei travel newsgroup, the currency exchange inside the 禁區 in the airport gives the best rate (there’s another one outside of the 禁區 in the airport). You can probably also exchange money at the hotel, but of course the prices there is not very good at all. Of course there’s always Interact.

Internet: Probably not a necessity. I don’t know if the hotel would provide internet access. But I guess you can go to computer malls such as NOVA near the Taipei Train Station to get online to check web mail and etc.

Customs and etc.: No visa is needed for Canadian passport holders (there’s 落地簽證 for HK permanent residences).

General: People are mostly very friendly (to tourist anyway, Chinese people are always friendly to money) and willing to help when asked.

Judging from the length of this post, you might have guessed I like Taipei a lot :p (actually I liked most of the places that I’ve traveled to). I certainly would like to visit again when I go back to Hong Kong sometime in the future. The pictures from my 2004 Taipei trip is at: http://www.davidmak.info/album/v/taipei/?g2_GALLERYSID=5a09104f497f66ba727916b5e0a05658

And here are some links that I dig up which may be useful:

Taipei E-map:
http://addr.taipei.gov.tw/aspx/chinesemap.aspx

Scan of a map of Taipei, the most detailed one that I found:
http://www.cogsh.tp.edu.tw/benny/student/cp41/1/%A5x%A5_%A5%AB%A6U%A4%C0%B0%CF%A6a%B9%CF.htm

MRT Map with mini-map of the stations
http://www.himrt.com.tw/map-index.htm

Bus Service from Airport to Taipei Station:
http://www.kingbus.com.tw/

Taipei Travel Net
http://www.taipeitravel.net/en/default.asp?pcode=2

Taipei Traveling on Wikipedia
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%BA%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82%E6%97%85%E9%81%8A%E6%99%AF%E9%BB%9E%E5%88%97%E8%A1%A8