Keelung: Night Market … Daytime

A quickie post to wrap up our short second day docked in Keelung.

Downtown once again after following the curvy road down from the Big Buddha Temple, I suggested we try to find the ruins of the old Khoo Tsu-song Mansion. Overgrown with vegetation, it seemed like it would make for a photogenic stop. Besides, it was close to the Night Market where we hoped to grab lunch before returning to Insignia.

With umbrellas open against the steady rain, we wandered into a narrow alley and walked up a number of wide steps that meandered this way and that. We were obviously in a residential neighborhood, so we were careful not to veer off into anyone’s property.

Finally we found the ruins of the house … dating back to 1913. It apparently belonged to a local politician who served during the Japanese colonial period. Mui and David braved the overgrowth to go inside the ruins … Younga and I opted to photograph what’s left of the mansion from the courtyard.

It was barely 10:00a when we left the alley and walked the short block to the night market.

What a difference a night makes. Where it was packed with people walking shoulder to shoulder last night, today the street with the yellow lanterns was all but deserted. Most of the tiny eateries were closed … a few were cooking in preparation for the crowds that would be descending at lunch and later tonight. Having breakfasted early, we were hungry, so we went in search for a place that could serve us.

The plan had been to go to the kiosk from where Younga bought mushroom rice and vegetarian soup last night. It was still closed. Mui found another stand from which he got mushroom rice. The rest of us got noodles with garlic sauce from a nearby stand where we all sat down to eat. Younga and Mui also ordered the cuttlefish soup, which they proclaimed to be quite good. We were joined there by others from the ship when we told them the food was very tasty. In fact, our fellow-passengers found the noodles so delicious that they got an extra order to go. I was tempted, but with no means to warm up the noodles once on the ship, I resisted the temptation.

After lunch, we searched for a kiosk to get some fruit or dessert. But didn’t find any. So, we stopped into a 7-11 store — they are all over Taiwanese cities — to pick up some pre-packaged ice cream bars on our way to the ship. Not the wrap up we were hoping for … but hey, who can say no to ice cream?

Next up … we head to Japan!Read more