Delegation to Taiwan 2 !

by Kazu

The delegation from Hokkaido Sorachi Japan-Taiwan Friendship Association to Taiwan visited

国民革命忠烈祠

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine

-from Wikipedia-
 The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine a shrine in Zhongshan District of Taipei, Taiwan, dedicated to the war dead of the Republic of China.
Built on Chingshan Mountain and overseeing the Keelung River in Taipei's Zhongshan District  in 1969, the Martyrs Shrine recalls the architecture of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in Beijing's Forbidden City.The structure houses the spirit tablets of about 390,000 persons killed, among

other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and SecondTaiwan Strait Crises.

Besides, Yasunori YAMANE, Director-General for Sorachi Sub-prefectural area of Hokkaido is on the left.

 A changing of the honor guard from the various branches of the Republic of China Military take place at the shrine almost once an hour.

-My article-
The tourists were waiting for the  changing of the honor guard at  the gate of The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine.

 In front of the gate, the plants of curious design were there in the circle of rotary.

This is the right wing of the gate.

 The left wing of the gate this is.

The oriental design is almost common in east Asia but little differences can be seen in each design.

 All the tourist were invited to the inside of the gate before nine o'clock in the morning.

The honor guards took steps very slowly and solemnly.

 The guards showed almost no blink during their duty in front of the tourists.

The pose and behavior of the guards were completely synchronized with each other but I think it's a little bit decorative compared to that of occidental countries.

 It was so comfortable weather but I could easily imagine the toughness of their duty in so hot and humid condition in summer in Taiwan.

The honor guards went into the building of shrine and the tourists followed.

 It seemed that the season of cherry blossoms had gone in Taipei but other kinds of beautiful flowers could be seen on the premises of the shrine.

The lawn and the plants were well-treated.

 Everybody followed the honor guards and enter the second gate.

The honor guards went into the main building of the shrine.

 Almost nobody was left on the way the honor guards took steps.

The tourists were waiting for the new guards on duty.

It was like a dance but the action of the guards looked so tough for me.

The souls of the Taiwanese soldiers and citizens were  worshiped in the shrine.

 The souls of the soldiers and citizens who died in the war for the nation should be treated like this. Is it not be allowed in Japan ?

The new honor guards came out of the main building of the shrine.

 The relief that expressed the wars fought by the Taiwanese people was on the side wall of the second gate.

The opposite side of the gate is like this.

 A pretty arbor was on the lawn of the premises.

 My supervisor Mr. Yamane seemed to be so satisfied with the visit and be planning his next visit to Taiwan.

 Thanks to the cooperation that many people in Hokkaido provided us, we made the courtesy friendship visit real in this fiscal year.

Kudos to the supporters of our scheme for the quantum leap !

Delegation to Taiwan 1 !

by Kazu

The seafood restaurant "Umeko" is used by many Japanese and Taiwanese people in Taipei.
The display in front of the restaurant was so Taiwanese and good taste.

 After coming back to Ambassador Hotel Taipei, I had to prepare for the courtesy call to pay next day. The souvenirs to the authorities and private entities in Taiwan accounted for the most of space in my room.

It took not so much time to fill up the bath tub. The bathroom was so comfortable to soak my body in the hot water.

 Just after arriving in the hotel, my room was cluttered with souvenirs and materials for promotion of the tourism in Sorach sub-prefectural area.

I will come back to this Ambassador Hotel with my wife in not-so-distanced future.

This is the hotel I found on my way of jogging early in the morning on March 19(Wed.) . Our interpreter said that she had worked for this hotel before.

These sculptures were in front of the hotel. I think they contribute to the sales of the hotel based on Taiwanese feng shui.

 The morning of Taipei started very early.

This is the park that can be reached by jogging in 10 minutes.
Some of the senior citizens started Tai-chi exercise and I joined them with a smile. They received me very kindly without asking.  

The statue of a horse rider seemed to head to west but am I right ?

Golden Rendezvous in Taipei 3 !

 by Kazu

This is the sauteed intestine of the milk fish and shredded ginger. Can you imagine the taste?
It is like "Horumon" in Japanese BBQ restaurant.
On the right is Taiwanese omelet that contains oysters inside.  It gave me the ample power to go through the tough and long day.

To be honest, we came back to the hotel late in the evening the day before. Of course, after having the fourth meal on the day.

 On top of that, I had this buffet style breakfast before having the typical national breakfast of Taiwanese people with Taro-san and Franky. Even so, the Taiwanese national breakfast in the diner grabbed my heart and stomach.

These are the miso soup and con gee topped with pickled veggie, sour apricot, peanuts, seaweed and minced meat.
I could not believe that I had this amount of breakfast on the day !
Because I got no extra pounds in the business jaunt to Taiwan !

Golden Rendezvous in Taipei 2 !

by Kazu

What do you think this is ?
It is called "milk fish" in English.
My friend in Taipei Taro-san explained that it is so-called national fish as most of the nation eat this fish as soup or con gee.  

 It has so many bones in the belly that the staff of the diner takes time to take off the bones. The taste of the soup was so nice and very kind to my stomach, particularly the next morning of binge drinking.

This is very rare dish that can not be ordered late in the morning because the amount of the material is so limited. Thank you very much for so nice experience, Taro-san and Mr. Franky Hsiao !
This dish is fried intestine of the milk fish and shredded ginger. The president of Taiwan also has this dish in this diner ?

Sauteed veggie was also so nice that I was so impressed the way of Taiwanese cuisine to have veggies so nicely.
I was so energized with these Taiwanese cuisine and I am convinced of the source of the power Taiwanese people showed us.