travel trails: November 2006

shilin night market

one of the great things about taipei is the delicious food available at reasonable prices. not unlike singapore, taipei has lots of good food to offer, especially the taipei 小吃 (snack food). being my first time in taipei, the much lauded shilin night market is a must-go! although i heard that it has changed and it was more fun when all the hawkers were out in the open air and not packed under one big roof of marginally ventilated area...

well, not too bad as the variety of good food there is still worth the experience!

it would be quite miserable to come to the night market alone looking at all these yummies but not being able to try more that one dish since the portions are reasonably filling.

the boys had a bit of difficulty finishing the chicken chop that is bigger than my face, and good thing i had niu niu to share with. amongst us we also tried the smelly beancurd (i like!) and the fried oyster omelette which is a little disappointing.

alas all is good once you have a gulp of this chilled light taiwanese beer in the increasingly swelling heat.
after the makan we cross the road junction to the night shopping area where there are retail stores aplenty that sells everything from dogs to socks, addidas to puma at irresistable price! it was also, as expected, extremely crowded.

niu niu and i were pretty taken by the very cute dogs at first sight. it didn't take me long to see the reality of their misery in those crampy cages. poor dogs... they were extremely cute nonetheless.

MOCA: Museum of Contemporary Arts, Taipei

a visit to the MOCA in taipei proved to be one of the best episodes of my taipei trip. previously the Taipei Government City Hall, it was refurbished in 2001 into this current exciting art space.

the exhibition i saw was 'Taiwan Artists Today' that featured 4 contemporary taiwanese artists: KU Shih-Yung, CHEN Hui-Chiao and the twins CHANG Geng Hwa and Keng Hau. i enjoyed in particular the interactive nature and humorous attitude of their work and the interesting use of space. i remember walking out of the museum feeling very happy from the experience of engaging with the various artwork. it was very uplifting and inspiring. and the work is so fun to engage with anyone can enjoy it.

the big balloon with a man blowing it, floating in mid-air outside of MOCA is one of the work by KU Shih-Yung called 'Bubble Man'.

the photo on the right shows the work 'Window-peckers' by CHANG Geng Hwa. the peckers are activated by a motion sensor, placed near the windows discreetly so that one unknowingly trigger the pecking, of which the rhythm and volume of the pecking is also controlled by. this is just one example of the many interesting interactive installations which i unfortunately did not manage to take photos of.

sihlouette of man looking at another of KU Shih-Yung's work 'Lightness, the Way to Let You Lighter'. it is a video installation that uses mirrors to create the illusion of the globe.

other interesting work include 'Black Gravitation' by KU Shih-Yung whereby a big black heavy-looking (marble?) ball is placed in the middle of a space about 4x4m on the second level, with the ground being transparent, one can see through the floor to the first level as you walk across to the next room. you are reminded of the law of gravity as you walk pass quickly feeling your legs getting a bit wobbly as you try not to look down but totally impossible to ignore the imagination that you are walking on thin air.

my words are weak in describing these artwork. if you are interested, do check out the website, there are more there as well. (www.mocataipei.org.tw)

cheap hotel in ximenting

after the show in taipei, we stayed a few more days on our own in this cheap lover's hotel in ximenting

guling street avant-garde 小剧场

after 4 days of set-up, and another 3 days of 4 performances in this little cosy theatre, our show is over and it's time to strike and pack up.

our translator, liu zheng and the theatre manager, mei wen

our techies, 小胖 (xiao pang) and 老鼠 (mouse).

再见了小剧场！后会有期！

kytv taipei rehearsal days

lunch during rehearsal days are a quick affair, usually it's a hit or miss of the many take-away lunch boxes of beef noodles, chicken rice, bento boxes... and the dish in front is taiwan's well-known dish: orhlua mee sua ie. oyster noodles, and tian bu la, an assortment of fish, soya, animal produce

a scorpion in the theatre! and rizman looking quite thrilled!

it was interesting observing the rehearsal process and see the concept evolve into a performance. it is also a long time since i feel so relaxed in a theatre space, having no specific duty except to help out here and there. it was a challenge for me to stay so hands-off!

ka5 directs and create the video visuals, while zul is the sound artist and woan wen the lighting designer, with rizman as the one and only solo performer. he is amazing, moving intensely for almost consecutive 30 minutes!