Mr. Tambourine Man: April 2006

Mykonos Cafe

I miss Mykonos.

It's been 4 years passed since I went to Greece in 2002. I still remembered how the whole Europe was crazy for the world cup and how the ocean on Super paradise smell like.

After I came back from Greece, there was someone who uploaded the photos he took in Greece on internet and it really turned Greece into a popular destination for holidays in Taiwan. A producer even decided to film a romace which was set in Greece.

This is Mykonos Cafe in Taipei. This is not the only one cafe which is decorated in Greek style, or precisely Greek Isles style, in Taipei. Believe it or not, just near Shi-Da area, there are 5 restaurants whcih were built in this way. Of course these so called Greek food has been changed to fit the Taiwanese's appetites.

Many friends asked me why I choosed Greece to go 4 years ago. The main reason is simple that because my favorite writer Murakami Haruki used to live there to write his most popular work. I believe there should be some magic power in Greece as it was also a root of western culture.

I tried to asked local people about one fishman which was mentioned in Murakami's journal. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to see him in person, but when the moonlight leaked in the room from the curtains and woke me up. I did find the magic power.

The cakes look better than they were tasted in this cafe in Taipei.

I just simply miss my trip in the other side of the earth.

This Rainy Afternoon

It was a rainy afternoon when I was waiting a movie in a Cafe, Mysterious Skin, which was directed by Gregg Araki.
The Latte was terrible and the salad sucks.

Mr. 7 (Qi Ye) & Mr. 8 (Ba Ye).

I took this photo in front of a temple while they happened to have a festival of the main god.
Qi Ye is the guy in back who have very long eyebrow and tongue, and Ba Ye is the guy who is in front of Qi Ye who has balck face and is much shorter than Qi Ye.
Qi Ye in Chinese means Mr. 7 and Ba Ye means Mr. 8. They are responsible for the human life as death messengers.
Most of the gods in Taoist system were human beings or other creatures in the world.
The story of Qi Ye and Ba Ye was interesting one.
Qi Ye and Ba Ye were very good friends when they were alive. They used to meet up for a tea together everyday under a bridge regularly. Qi Ye lived further than Ba Ye from the bridge even though he had longer legs than Ba Ye, it took longer for him to walk to the bridge.
One sunny day, Ba Ye as usual arrived early. When he was waiting for Qi Ye, the weather had changed. It started raining heavily. At the same time, Qi Ye was on the way to the bridge but he thought he's better return to take umbrellas for himself and Ba Ye. The rain had been pouring more and more and the river flowed. Ba Ye would not dare to move in case the Qi Ye could not find him when he arrived. He was drowned.
When Qi Ye finally got the umbrella and went to the bridge where they supposed to meet, the rain has stopped and the Ba Ye was gone. Qi Ye knew Ba Ye very well and knew that he would rather die than fail to keep the appointment. He was so regretful that he jumped into the river immediately, but Qi Ye was too tall that the water was not deep enough to drown him. He hung himself under a tree instead. Because Ba Ye was drowned his face turned into black, and Qi Ye hung himself so his tounge was sticked out from his mouth.
The lord of hell was deeply moved by the way that how Qi Ye and Ba Ye kept promise. He reported the event to the king of the heaven, so the king of the heaven named Qi Ye and Ba Ye the position of death messengers.
Don't you think this story is a bit gay? Well, you'd better not because they are death messengers. You might be in trouble if they are not out.

Who Needs Public Telephone?

A Fire Hydrant

I took this photo in my friend's house. I think the square hole on the wall is made for the hydrant, but the shape looks it could not work well if there is really a fire.

Peshawar Cafe

This was another Cafe I went recently. Actually, I'd been there before and posted the photos when I participated a concert of a French band Ardivelle last March.
It is very quiet in the afternoon there. The music they played were usually unique.

The owner pasted this picture on a wall. It's weird to see it here. This picture was used to tell the meanings of the moles on people's face. Different moles referred to different meanings.

Zabu

Zabu is a new Cafe where I went to write quite often recently. They have free wireless internet access in an old wood house. It's built in Japanese style, but I'm not sure if it is really built when Japanese took over Taiwan.
People who work in the cafe look like students from Shi-da. Half of the cafe is used as a shop to sell stuff which were made by some artists. They also offer some meals except drinks. I like it there because it's quiet and the old house make me feel calm while I am working.

Daily Salad

Selmon Rice with Green Tea
This is Japanese food in Taiwanese way I think. Japanese do like to pour the green tea into the rice, but I've never seen so much vegetable and side dishes on the rice. The ligt green cream is wasabi. My friend ordered it yesterday and she said it's quite nice. Well, it looks nice but I'm not sure the Japanese people like it. In fact, I think the rice they made was a bit too dry, but since it had the green tea to be poured in. It would make it not too hard to swallow.

Spicy Chicken With Rice
It's really hot, if you like spicy food. It would be good to try but the rice again was too dry for me.

Chinese Fringe Tree

I took them in National Taiwan University. The Chinese Fringe Blossoms look like snow in spring. They have grown a lot of them in the campus now.

Out of Focus

I have no idea what I took but the color seems great.

Change Purse Flower

I am not sure the English of this kind of flower. It's called Hebaohua which menas small change purse. The shape of the flower looks very interesting.