30 May 2010 - Tamsui

Back to Tamsui again!

Yesterday's weather forecast was rather disturbing- thunderstorms all over Taipei. Be that as it may, today's sky featured no cloud. But in Taiwan, those clouds appear as fast as they vanish...

via捷运we arrived at Tamsui station, then sought for the nearest site - 清水庙。Ching Shuai Temple. The temple itself is very unique, in terms of excessive usage of gold plating.

The ceilings are filled with gold plated ornamentations, featuring dragons and mythical beasts, the bas reliefs, the columns. It is like a golden temple. Perhaps this temple is designed to harnes

s the power of wealth.

This temple is a shrine within a temple. Inside, you can n

otice the old shrine being protected by another newer canopy.

Another thing about the temple is that the 'Door Saints', one holding a peony flower and the other a vessel. Instead of being carved onto the doors they are statues being stuck on the doors and covered in a plastic box.

Then we moved on, to Tamsui Church, or 礼拜堂。This church is situated on a small hill, and it appears to be very tall, with a flight of stairs leading to the church interior.

In 1872, a Canadian Presbyterian missionary named George Leslie Mackay arrived at Tamsui. The present Tamsui Church was reconstructed in 1933 to commemorate the 60^thanniversary of Mackay’s

arrival at Tamsui.

Then we went to the Fisherman's wharf. It had started to rain, and there

were little fishing vessels bobbling around the horizon. The way along the sea was a long one.

We arrived at Fort San Domingo later on. This is a model (unknown scale) of the fort.

The fort is now a gallery museum, housing various tools and miscellaneous used during it's heyday.

29 May 2010

ARGH@_@!!!! Camera lost scare! False alarm.

Renyai-renyai in the morning. Got a NT$119 umbrella. Didn't know that I was going to lose it during mid-day. =S

We went (w/o Teoh) to have some breakfast and went on foot to the train station. Our 1st stop was the National Taiwan University. One word: huge. I think i came across a thousand bicycles within the school compound. It was raining, and we only had one hour, so... nothing much could be done.

Then we went to have some lunch over to another street opposite the uni. Nothing special so far.

Next stop was 西门町。Ximen. a bazaar. Thought i lost my camera there; spent like 2 hours to find it, but couldn't. Only stumbled upon it in my own pouch that very night. lol

Summary for the day: not much into an academic trip, but more to a leisure one.

Losses: A pair of sneakers, socks, an umbrella, and a lot of spirit.

28 May 2010

1st night @ CYCU guest room. Woke up to attend their architectural crit. Students mentioned about the urban analysis they did, including the history, topography etc. They also discussed more on spatial strategies(entrance etc). Noticed a few plans segregating pedestrian and vehicles.

However unlike UCSI, I see the lack of research on designs and concepts, of course.

Then we went to explore the architecture school compound. They were much better equipped. Then the school of architecture belanja us a dinner at some famous duck restaurant. Pity we didn't even close to halve the food. Then at night we had sharing session.