台北游记12 Day3 － 七彩屋

七彩屋 － 窗外景色

Day 3 - I browsed through the internet using our paid TW 3G SIM (No WIFI at home stay) to check out any nice food to eat. Little did I realize that this district was previously occupied by immigrants from China and they appeared to originate from Burma, Laos and Thailand or carrying some of their culture.

Interestingly, we checked with home stay owner if they could ferry us to sample nice food - and they recommended "Seven Colours" House. http://7colors.okgo.tw/index.html

It was slightly further down from the famous "Ru MaMa" which I read from internet. Homestay owner said it was opened by his friend and it was as nice though not as famous. We could also ask the owner to send us back and got a 10% discount too. So, we decided to keep that as an option and roamed around the old district there - it was supposed to be settled by old soldiers and the town was quite quiet that day. There was a museum but it was quiet when we found it. We wanted to "venture" in it to see old photos displayed in the museum but when we "on" the power for the lights, we heard a lot of buzzing bees' sound and we decided not to "risk" it especially when I spotted bees flying around at the entrance. Decided to "fly out" as fast as the bees, or rather before the bees found us. A mini-episode we have there.  

At "Seven Colours" house, the atmosphere was nice and cozy like a house. Makan for lunch starts at about 1100hrs and we were a bit hungry by then as we didnt have breakfast. Asking the waitress to recommend and she explained that the dishes were usually spicy, and some were like Thailand pancakes and delicacies.  It is interesting to know how YunNan culture actually slowly immerse into Taiwan Nantou. One of the favourite dish was this cauliflower packed with spicy meat ("Jingli" I think it is the name). The spices were very nice and unique. The background music from Yunnan let us immerse into the "mood" of border culture.  I like border culture as it usually shows the interaction of two or three countries.  I recalled going to Thai-Cambodia border and could see the mixture of goods and people from both countries. I could get a preview of the neighbouring country. 

The food tasting spurred me to find out more about the culture.  The owner drove us down to "Swiss Garden" and on the way, he shared that he was actually the chef for the food we ate. My dear said that guys were good chef usually and I felt proud hearing that as she has said I could whip up a good meal without me knowing too! The owner used to work in restaurant downtown and he decided to open the shop and could keep his family company as well without the need to travel up and down the mountain. Indeed, his roots were from Yunnan though he has not visited Yunnan before. It was still a new business for him and I could sense that he was working hard and also enjoying the birth of his baby soon (The wife was PW and still helped out in the stall).

I like talking to locals and I am more sociable when I am overseas. Interacting with them allows me to know more about local life so as to inspire me in taking better pictures. Similarly to what we experienced in France, the people at countryside seemed to be more friendly and helpful. They were not "petty" and quite sociable.