Art and stinky tofu

On another supposedly quiet day, I went to the Fine Arts Museum. It was only whilst writing this post that I saw the museum’s resemblance to the shipping container Starbucks I went to in Hualien a few days ago.

The highlight for me was a retrospective of René Burri’s work and life. The name rang a bell, but I recognised him only when I saw some of his famous photos.

There were other displays too, including one that, when you walked through it, felt like you were in the clouds or cocooned.

I was lucky to be ambling around inside in relative quiet and solitude on a Saturday. Then, at about 2pm, it got busy and suddenly there were many more people in the gallery. I decided to look around the rest of the museum and library then leave.

At the hostel the previous evening, Accordion Kerry, who I’d met during my first stay in Taipei a few weeks ago, mentioned the famous Shilin Night Market. I noticed on the map that it was quite close to the museum.

As I was walking to the market, I could hear someone singing country and western music. I went towards the sound and ended up in a park, where families were chilling out. I thought the singer was an American or European busker. I was surprised when I saw the pair. I wasn’t quite sure the singer knew English or had just memorised the sounds and melody.

Eventually, I got to Shilin Market and wandered around. There was a variety of stalls: food, clothes, shoes, and many others. There were also many fairground games, often shooting games (usually with a gun or bow and arrow) and other games seen by the British seaside.

I’d cooked at the hostel the previous two nights. Before I ran out of time, I wanted to try “stinky tofu”. I’d seen a veggie restaurant that made it and headed there on the metro.

The restaurant was small. The two people running the place (chef and server) were friendly. I ordered stinky tofu, kimchi, and noodles. When it came it was not discernably stinkier than normal tofu. It tasted good.

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