museums, move, thai

Saturday: Today I rode the subway to Jiantan to meet mom so we could go to National Palace Museum together. I think I always underestimate the time it takes to get to a certain place on the subway. When mom called me at 8:35am I was still getting ready. I'm supposed to meet her at 9. I tell her that it only takes 20-30 min from XInpu to Jiantan, which is in the northern part of Taipei. I get there at 9:15, and mom was angry because she says it takes almost an hour to get to NPM from there and the English tour starts at 10. But then again, she always overestimates the time it gets to somewhere in Taipei. So, at Jiantan station we wait for the bus that will take us directly to the museum. We board the tiny bus, which is smaller than the usual buses it's more like a private shuttle size, and we are literally all squeezed inside. Seriously, these people squeeze themselves in no matter how crowded it already is.

the entrance to Gu Gong National Palace Museum

Gugong is beautiful. I was here 8 years ago too, but don't remember anything because apparently Jeffrey and I were fighting the entire time according to Mom. Anyways, this museum was where I had intended to intern at. But because this museum is bigger, more well-known than NMH it's more competitive to aqcuire an internship here. It's like the size of the Met Museum, if not bigger. My grandaunt worked there for 40 years. She says that she will help me get an internship there next summer. Hmmm come back to Taiwan for another summer? I dunno, it's waaaay too HOT here, but if I can fit enough credits this year I most likely will be back. We arrive at the museum just in time for the tour. It is so crowded. NPM is a museum that every tourist stops at when visiting Taiwan. They have an extensive collection of ancient Chinese art representing all dynasties plus special (most of the time contemporary) exhibitions that would be rare to find elsewhere. I spot a lot of tourists, most from Europe and Africa it seems like. And girls [who obviously ai piaoliang love to be pretty] wearing clubbing clothes with black stilettos...and a girl wearing the shortest shorts that I could see more than I'd like ew. Ugh, no manners these people. NPM has three "Mona Lisa's": jade cabbage (see photo, not mine because photography is prohibited), Mao gong ding (bronze vessel from Zhou Dynasty), and something else both Mom and I don't remember. All three are worth millions of dollars, or rather invaluable.

We eat a quick lunch at the museum's 4th floor dim sum restaurant. We order xiajiao (shrimp dumplings, and named different on the menu bc xiajiao is the mainland Chinese name for it), a dish of sticky rice with mushroom, and mom gets a dumpling soup. Afterwards, we begin our power workout through the massive museum. We're in a hurry because Tony, my cousin, is picking us up at 3pm to go to Yingge (it's already 12pm at this time). My favorite exhibits are the Ming Dynasty porcelains, which are so vibrant - some are even bright yellow and magenta as opposed to the typical blue and white designs what they're known for, very modern for that time and a special exhibition showcasing a contemporary Chinese artist, Chen Chi-kwan (no relations). His art style is very modern and unique. There is a recurring theme of suns appearing in his paintings. Finally, we see every gallery in the museum a huge accomplishment to finish the rest of the entire museum in 3 hours! We make our way down to the garden that is adjacent to the museum. It's very peaceful and a nice getaway from the city, although it is in Taipei it's hidden in the hills far away from the noisy downtown.We meet Tony and A-yi in front of the museum and head towards Yingge - small town south of Banciao and still considered part of Taipei County--known for ceramics culture. It is International Ceramics Day, so the Ceramics Museum entrance fee is free if you donate your receipt (the receipts in Taiwan are basically lottery tickets each stamped with a string of numbers). We join a tour at the museum, which is in Chinese so I don't really understand most of it because my Chinese vocabulary of art-related words is not vast, but Tony and mom translate most of it for me. Tony buys me a croissant sandwich with lobster and mayonnaise and I eat it during the tour because I'm starving to the point that I'm shaking and sweating. He tells me that I'm allowed to eat in the museum, which I at first find very odd but I eat it anyways. Then 10 minutes later an old guy in the tour scolds me saying that eating is prohibited blah blah blah. Well, the tour guide saw me eating and didn't say a thing. Anyhow, after the tour we walk to Lao Jie, which is the old street of downtown Yingge. It is a cute pebbled street where no cars are allowed, and there various ceramics stores and slushie vendors...and a random German sausage stand, where the seller was a German guy.

in front of the Yingge Ceramics Museum

After Yingge we go to Ah-gou's to pick up my two heavy suitcases, lugg them down the four flights since there is no elevator in the building boooo, and bid our goodbyes to my aunt and cousin. We drop off the luggage at Da A-yi's house, pick up Judy--my adorable preggars cousin-in-law, and go to eat at a Thai place called Southern City that I ate at before with dad and Jiejie. We ate the 吃到飽 chi dao bao meal, which basically is you pay a fixed price 480NT (dinner) then order ANYTHING on the menu as many dishes as you want. Among the five of us, we ordered maybe 18 or so dishes. This was the best Thai food I've ever had. Not greasy as they make it in the States. Lemon fish (twice); soup with lime and rosemary (not but it tasted like it forgot the name) flavors; tofu in coconut milk (three times sooo delicious!); green curry beef (twice, and this is my only exception to eating beef); Taiwanese water spinach with little shrimp (twice); some kind of curry chicken in coconut milk (did not eat, but did try the sauce); shrimp pancake; fried shrimp balls slathered with mayonnaise; a pork intestine soup; cold seafood with fruits (twice); a papaya salad sooo incredibly spicy...and probably a couple more I don't remember. Oh yeah, and ice cream.

Then with my expanding stomach Tony drives us to pick up my suitcases and we move to Jojo's house for the night. He lives in XiZhi, which is a suburb of Taipei and quite far from downtown.