Shopping

22 August - 7 September 2007

The next few weeks trundled along without anyone really noticing that they were passing. Colin was working and saving money and he had found a friend in our new neighbour, so he was happy. Rose had finally figured out what her job entailed, so she was happy. and i was feeling much better, averaging about 2 spasms a week, which meant that i could suntan on our rooftop, read on our balcony, take my photos and enjoy the peace, so i was happy.

Our rooftop

colin and i had also found a fantastic night market near our flat called RaoHe. it was big enough to have all the things you would want to buy, but not so big that you got lost. raohe is an old and famous night market as it has the three tiered temple at the one end of the night market, which is a beautiful sight. colin took me shopping there a few times, which always made me happy. he would push me in my wheelchair and then we would stop at stores or stalls that interested us and sometimes i would get out of my wheelchair and go inside a store (especially for shoes ;-). i managed to buy some cheap and pretty shoes and clothes there and i also found all the christmas presents that i would need to take back home with me.

Huaxi night market

night markets are everywhere in taiwan and they are a great way of shopping, which is uniquely asian. basically a night market is any open area of the city that has been designated as a shopping area. some night markets are just a few streets like the night market we used to live near called ShiDa and some cover many blocks of the city like ShiLin night market, which is the biggest in taipei. many of the night markets are near temples and have become historical landmarks such as Huaxi night market or Snake Alley. it is called snake alley because that is where snakes are gutted and bled so that people may drink their blood - this is done in full view of the walking area and is not for the faint-hearted. but right next to the restaurant where a snake is being gutted is a sex store filled with dildos and porno DVD's with all the naughty bits covered up (what's the point? ;-) and next to that are clothing and traditional ornament stores. and to complete the hilarious incongruity of this particular market; it also happens to be next to one of the oldest temples in taipei, LongShan temple. religion, porn, clothing and animal torture/blood drinking - these are not oxymorons in taiwan and that is what makes it such an interesting and crazy place ;-).

Ximending shopping area

but back to night markets in general; as their name suggests night markets open late and close late, so most stalls would open at about 6 pm and close at around 10 pm or even later. (there are also markets that open earlier in the day such as WuFenPu - a huge clothing market - and Ximending, which is a more upmarket shopping area. oh and let's not forget the stunning, sunday flower and jade markets right next to da an forest park) there is nothing quite like shopping in a taiwanese night market. one has to shuffle along with throngs of people past millions of brightly lit stores selling everything from bags, shoes and make up to children's toys. in amongst these rows and rows of clothing stores are food stalls that sell everything from milk tea to chicken feet and stinky tofu.

Sunday flower market

the assault on one's senses is enormous:

sounds: most stores play extremely loud techno music to attract customers, but once inside the store it is pretty much impossible to hear yourself think. then there are the salesmen who stand outside their stores shouting repeatedly into a megaphone about their great prices, and anywhere that sells clocks will have all the clock alarms ringing constantly. all the millions of people shopping in the night market then have to shout over this cacophony to hear each other. this extreme noise can be both energising and hugely irritating.

smells: most taiwanese foods have very pungent aromas; whether it is frying chicken feet, stinky tofu (which smells like sewerage, but doesn't taste that bad), boiling intestine soup, durian fruit (which smells so bad that it has been banned in hotels throughout asia!) or sickly sweet drinks like hot almond milk. all those smells combine with the sweat of millions of people, the trampled dirt of dropped food and packaging, the belching fumes of buses and scooters on a summer night with a temperature of 36C and 80% humidity. it sounds disgusting, but i enjoyed it for a long time. the smells are real, human, they smelled like home to me.

Clothing store

sights: every colour you can imagine lit up against a black sky lure shoppers to different stores and then one has to try and look inside the stores to see if they have the hair accessories, clothes, shoes or jewellery that you want. each store normally contains one type of item so that one will have to peer into a huge store filled with just bags from ceiling to floor or a store filled with rows and rows of underwear, any colour and design that you can imagine is there. you cant blink in case you miss something. after a few hours of shopping like this you will have the driest eyeballs ever, but tonnes of packets filled with beautiful things that hardly cost you anything.

so, everybody was happily occupied for a few weeks and then suddenly it was colin's birthday!