Like any good host, I started off the next morning by introducing my brother John who was recently here in Taiwan for a visit, to some of Taiwan’s famous breakfast foods before shopping.
We decided to circumnavigate the entire island. We left Hukou and headed south, toward Lukang. The first thing we did was visit a tourist information center. Notice the cards with the QR codes on them. If you click on the photo above and view the larger size on Flickr.com, you can actually scan the QR codes yourself (provided your phone as an appropriate app) and view the website information (in Chinese).
This is the main street of Lukang.
Lukang is famous for old temples, and since there aren’t really any temples like this in the US, John found them very interesting.
The name of this temple is “Tienhou” and it is dedicated to Matsu.
This is the view from the balcony in the previous shot.
John officially becomes Taiwanese by having his photo taken in front of something (although he didn’t give the “Asian Sign Of Picture Taking“).
John wanted to get a cute outfit for his (our) great-niece.
Of course, before long it was time to eat! This is one of the many seafood restaurants common to the area.
Oyster soup.
One of my all-time favorite Taiwan dishes: deep fried oysters.
Fried rice.
After I post this article, my wife will read it and then tell me what this is.
Sweet potato leaves. Yum!
Some kind of fried pancake thing with scallions and oysters in a brown sauce. It was great!
This is a shot of the outside of the restaurant, featuring many of the fish and crustaceans they serve.
We went into this very talented artist’s shop.
He asked John to sign his guestbook, which he did.
I thought this sign was very interesting….
…. as it showed construction details about the old houses in the neighborhood.
I wish we could have toured the inside of some of them!
A famous part of the old street….
A rich family, surnamed “Wang” had a well built on their property that was constructed half-inside, and half-outside their home’s wall. They shared the water with the neighborhood.
This is the front gate to the Wang family home.
This plaque details the history of the well.
We continued onto this very old temple. Out of all of them, I like this one the best.
Whenever I’m here, I expect to hear a movie director say “cut!” because this certainly feels like a movie set.
Recently the temple was renovated, and these sign boards document the reconstruction process in great detail. There was earthquake damage that was repaired, and that alone was quite impressive.
The inside of the very front gate.
As I was shooting this photo of the very front of the temple, this girl decided it was time to start jumping and dancing right into the frame. If you improved my photo, I suppose I should pay you.
Not far from the last temple is the famous “Gentleman’s Alley” also known as “Breasts Touching Alley” which is so narrow, that women passing back-to-wall on both sides, literally touched breasts, so the story goes (I didn’t name it, so don’t blame me!).
After Lukang, we headed down to Kaohsiung to meet Hui-chen’s family and hang out there for a few days. This is John and HC at the famous Western Cowboy’s Pub.
The food at the Western Cowboy’s Pub is always delicious.
Western diners may recognize this dish as “Sweet & Sour Chicken” and except for the fact that there isn’t any thick red sauce, the flavor is basically the same as the version typical of US Chinese restaurants.
Former field engineer MJ Klein now lives in Taiwan, and writes articles that primarily feature photographs of travels of MJ and wife Hui-chen, plus daily goings on in the bustling island nation of Taiwan, and other places in Asia. Articles feature people, culture, food, situations and sometimes the trials and tribulations of traveling in places such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and of course Taiwan.
