Seeing Green

I woke up this morning with no idea what the agenda of the day entailed. I still wasn't feeling up to tackling the train again, and my body didn't feel like doing Yangmingshan. I decided to go visit the Presidential Palace, which has been on my list for awhile, and then look at the map and perhaps check out some destinations I had put under the 'maybe if there's time and I get around to it' list.

You know, it's funny. Sometimes the things you expect to have the least amount of appeal end up being the most amazing.

I visited the presidential building first. It was actually smack next to the 228 Peace Memorial Park which I had visited a few weeks back, which made me feel stupid for not doing it then. No matter, though, because I found it today and finally caught a glimpse. The parking lots and areas around it were comparatively desolate because it was a weekend and thus none of the government employees were around. I walked up as close as I could and took pictures, all the while the guards looking at me, probably more out of curiosity and utter boredom than suspicion. I was hoping there would be some kind of small tour or chance to go inside, but the absence of such opportunities was made pretty clear with the dudes holding guns and having high-tech mikes wired to their ears. Oh well.

View from across the street.

The main entrance. I couldn't get the whole building in horizontal view. If you want to see the whole thing, check out the video.

There's a flag at the very top, but it got cut off in this shot.

Dude, shouldn't you be looking straight ahead? Stop looking at me and start looking intimidating. And P.S., your pants are too short.

After visiting the presidential palace, I decided to backtrack on the MRT and get off at Zhongxiao Fuxing to see the jade market. It was a little blip on the map and something I had come across in passing on the Acadmia Sinica 'Living in Taipei' site, so I figured it would kill some time, no more than an hour. Boy, was I wrong.

Possessing the je ne sais quoi of chasing wild geese, my journey consisted of me walking many miles and doubting myself with each passing step. I finally found my desired destination, under a freeway, hidden from everyone except those in the know. There is no way one could just stumble upon this without knowing about it. Guess which group I fell into!

I think I ended up spending about 2-3 hours there, and when I left it was too late to really do anything else, so I headed back home. But the market was unbelievable. First of all, it was huge. I couldn't begin to see the end, but I looked up at the ceiling and saw the lights and electrical wiring go forever. It was almost like when you look into two mirrors that are facing each other and it seems like you can see one pattern forever. Except this time there were no mirrors, and it was all three-dimensional.

I walked past every table and of course couldn't escape without some purchases. But I fended off the overly eager, excessively irritating merchants who pressed their merchandise on me. I've found the way to exit is to say, 'I will consider it, thank you,' and promptly move on to the next table. Show indecision and you're dead.

Among other things, I ended up purchasing a $1000NT jade pendant necklace for $800. The vendor was quite a gregarious fellow and in total shock I could speak Chinese, so he offered it to me for $850 because I 'could speak Chinese so well.' (Riiiight. I may not be fluent, but I sure as hell am not stupid.) I was tempted, but I put on my stone face and played the poor traveling student card, and got him to come down to $800. Given the price was decent and the piece was one of the more tasteful and affordable necklaces I had seen all day, I jumped.

The under-freeway entrance to the jade market.

One of the first stands upon entry to the unbelievably huge collection of sellers, as well as the first casualty of my wallet.

Two rather large, carved pieces. Probably very pricey.

A vendor sells a bunch of necklaces. Plain beads were very common.

Also extremely common were baskets and baskets full of differing beads. You could buy them individually and take them home yourself, or buy a string and a certain selection of beads and probably have the vendors assemble your own custom necklace for you. There were so many types that it was a bit overwhelming to process it all.

Some super cool ying-yang jade watches. I didn't even ask how much these were.

Yet another collection of jade pieces, from jewelry to carvings to the unidentifiable.

This stand sold the little jade sculpture stamps in which you could get your name engraved. I bought a rust-colored one with a rat (for 1984) and got my Chinese name engraved and a pad of red ink, all for $1100 NT. What a bargain!

Rings for everybody!

As you can see by the lights, the market goes on forever and ever and ever.

Some potential customers check out the various necklaces and other trinket offerings.

One last picture of the variety. Notice the other colors of jade. I especially like the dark, golden yellow. I'm not really a fan of the white stuff or the pale green.

So for not having any plans when I woke up, the day took an interesting turn. I hope I can say the same for tomorrow, although whatever I end up doing, I do have to make some time for packing up for the move across the street. Rats.

Oh and a special shout-out and good luck vibes to my dear friends and kindred spirits taking the MCAT tomorrow (or today, in a few hours). You all will do awesome and I'm rooting for you!