感受臺灣重生整個ORZ :): Day 49: 二次游淡水 & 周杰倫效應

Unlike Singapore, we've got no one-week mid-term break within our semester here. Instead, there's a Spring Break that lasts for four days. From what I heard from my Taiwanese friend, Spring Break is similar to Qingming Festival, when people pay visits to the graves of their departed family members or relatives.

This Thursday marks the start of this year's Spring Break. Yesterday, TY, OF and I headed to 淡水. It's my second time there since I came here, and my conclusion is: There's simply too much to see and eat at 淡水! A few hours are definitely not enough for a tourist who wishes to know more about 淡水.

I switched to "tourist mode" yesterday, and decided to source for the famous snacks at 淡水. 要吃, 就吃最好的~

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I. 美食 Gourmet

Snack number ONE: Smelly tofu. Amazingly, I've so gotten used to that smell that I don't think the tofu are smelly at all. The tofu from this stall is not very smelly; I've yet to try a really really smelly one. Will go to the famous 豆腐街-- 深坑 one day to hunt for the smelliest tofu!!

Me & OF & the different desserts we ordered.

Snack number TWO: Beancurd / Pudding. I ordered Pudding+Pearls. Don't think that the serving is small; I only remembered that I forgot to take a picture of it after I tucked in! Was too eager to savour this much raved dessert. :)

The pudding was exceptionally smooth and the pearls were really chewy, though I hope latter can be bigger so that they're nicer to chew on. The soup wasn't too sweet, just nice for people who don't have sweet tooth~

Snack number THREE: 花枝丸. These sotong balls are freshly made and taste excellent with chilli powder and pepper.

A teenager approached us while we were eating our sotong balls at a corner of a street. He showed us some magic tricks and I loved the his trick of taking out a poker card out of his mouth in front of us! Although these so-called "magic" are just illusions, but he was fast enough to deceive our eyes.

By the way, I thought silently that.. he looked like Jay Chou. ;)

Snack number FOUR: Tower ice-cream. We both had the strawberry cheese cum mango milk. Its taste wasn't as good as it sounds, but still, I love ice-creams so I thought it was OK.

Snack number FIVE: 阿給. As mentioned earlier, 淡水 is really famous for this snack. The name "阿給" comes from the Japanese pronunciation of oily tofu-- "abura-age". It is actually 冬粉 wrapped inside 豆乾, topped with 魚醬.

There are a lot of shops at 淡水老街 claiming to be the inventor of 阿給, but the actual shop where 阿給 originated is at 真理街. I'm glad we found the genuine 阿給! YAY!! :)

There were not enough seats inside the shop so we had to stand beside a family to wait for them to finish their food. Long queues were seen at both "eat-inside" and "take-away" areas set up for taking orders. The owner must be making big big money!!

Dinner @ 公館 (We left 淡水 by dinnertime): 雞錦丼+四川泡菜+茶碗蒸+紅茶. Can you believe it this is the first time I'm eating out at Yoshinoya, despite it being rather popular in Singapore. :X The chicken was really tender, and I love its gravy! The Chawan mushi was savory too, there's even a piece of chicken inside. 幸福~

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II. 周杰倫效應 The Jay Chou Effect

If you watched Jay Chou's Secret, you would have known that the school featured inside the movie was Jay Chou's secondary school-- 淡江中學. It's become a famous tourist spot now. We saw many many tourists even though it was a school day! So I call this "The Jay Chou Effect". 大家都是衝著周杰倫而來～ :)

From 紅毛城 (Fort San Domingo, within walking distance from 淡水老街) we set off to 淡江中學!!

Along our way we passed by 真理大學 (Aletheia University). I was surprised to see buildings of European style within the campus. It doesn't look like a university at all; more like a park in one of the European countries. The classy architectural style made me feel really relaxed. How I wished I can attend a school like that. Makes me feel like a tourist every day. :)

Elegant!

This is what you see when you enter the university from its front gate.

That's the auditorium (I think)!

Omg there's even a fort here.

They really put effort in botanic art. This is outside the School of Management and Mathematics.

自拍 from the rooftop of the university.

And then, we reached my much anticipated 淡江中學 (Tam-Kang High School)!! :) :)

This is the very famous 八角塔 (Octagonal Tower). Do you find it familiar? It's the opening scene of the movie, when 晴依 (曾愷玄飾) introduced the school to 葉湘倫 (周杰倫飾) as they walked along the pathway I was standing on.

I remembered it was a long shot, and the director must have used the camera suspended at the end of a long long rod. So where was the camera placed? Probably in front of this building, which is facing the Octagonal Tower:

We went to the sides of the Tower and took more photos. This Tower houses the administration building and several classrooms.

We reacted the Classic Move in the corridor, where 路小雨(桂綸鎂飾) would tap on 葉湘倫's shoulder and when he turns back, she will point her index finger on his cheek. Cheap thrill~ :)

Yeah, going for lesson.

By the way, the uniform in the movie was not the school's actual uniform. Took a photo with these two friendly students to show you how their original uniform looks like. I love the knee-length socks and the black dolly pumps!

A peak of a classroom inside the Tower. Looks cosy!

Classrooms in another building. Really love the architectural design!!

This is the field where the rugby competition in the movie was held.

Oh, so rugby is a very well-recognised sport in the school.

I have a feeling that this bench was featured in the movie. But I may be wrong~

Don't know what this building is, but it looks elegant~

Really doesn't look like it's a place within a campus.

I appreciate the school's effort in planting all these nice flowers and plants around the school to add greenery and beautify the campus.

The signs that remind tourists not to enter classroom areas are seen at certain parts of the school. If I were a student there, I will feel proud being part of the big family, but meanwhile I will also hope to enjoy the serenity of the campus, without disturbances from visitors. Dilemma~

Road outside the school.

It was near evening when we walked back to 淡水老街. From there we headed to 魚人碼頭 (Fisherman's Wharf). See, 海與天連成一線!! :)

This is a really nice walkway along the sea. Imagine holding your lover's hand and strolling here-- must be very romantic! :)

We saw this pet pig outside a drinks shop. The owner keeps a pet squirrel as well. O.o

I been to 魚人碼頭 3 years ago but that was in the day. Oh, so this is how the 情人橋 (Lover's Bridge) looks like in the night. Really good spot for dating. :)

I'm on the bridge! Behind me is the stretch of restaurants, bakery and snacks shops that cater to the tourists. A highly commercialised / tourist-y place.. Won't really like it if not for the nice scenery.

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III. 隨圖 Random

Saw this cute signboard along the 淡水老街.

Talking about dogs, there are many many vagrant dogs along the streets in Taipei, unlike Singapore where there are more vagrant cats than dogs. I am afraid of dogs before I came here, but now I'm quite immune to their presence. I heard it's a kind of psychological effect-- the more one is exposed to something that one is feared of, the more he (she) will become used to it.