Taiwan May 2010 Day 3 – Lian Chi Tan, Guanghua Night Market, Formosa Boulevard

After breakfast at the hotel cafe, we set off to 莲池潭 Lian Chi Tan， a scenic lake dotted with pagodas, shrines and temples located near Zuoying. Unfortunately, meteorological forecast forebodes a grey and rainy day. Still we hope to visit some interesting places to get some interesting shots!

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Lian Chi Tan, 高雄，台湾, 莲池潭

Black-crowned Night Heron 夜鹭 (Nycticorax nycticorax), known in Taiwan as 暗光鳥 as they typically appear at dawn and dusk.

Another “waterlily” of the genus Nuphar.

白色的荷花…

white with a tinge of bluish-purple

lily and the bee

A ladybird in black and yellow. Kawaii ne!

A statue of a 赑屃, mythological creature with the body of a tortoise but head of a dragon. 龙生九子 and this is one of them. He’s also known as 霸下 or 龟趺. Often depicted to be carrying heavy loads, and in this case a treasure chest full of gold ingots! A tour guide is seen telling his clients asking them to touch the whiskers (须) and the gold coins (钱) to symbolically represent (须) 需要钱!

龙虎塔. In from the dragon and out from the tiger.

Temple worshipping 关帝. Damn! I need a graduated filter in times like this…

Little Egret (白鹭). This bird is almost in breeding form as indicated by the two filamentous crown feathers. Characterised by a black beak and black legs.

An old dog and his owner…

Nymphaea ‘Peach Glow’, a waterlily cultivar

A gigantic statue of 北极玄天上帝像. He’s one of the “popularly” worshipped deities of Taoist origins. He’s said to be a butcher when he was mortal but laid down his chopping knife and devoted his life to good deeds. Legend has it that he subdued a tortoise and snake spirit, which became his sidekicks, and in the process of doing so, had borrowed the sword from 妈祖 but failed to return it and subsequently angered the goddess!

A shrine commemorating Confucius. The architectural design is said to have been inspired and modelled after a shrine in 曲阜 where the sage is said to have be born.

Honestly, the sight was disappointing. Bearing sharp contrast to the grandeur, its horribly deserted.

A corridor of red pillars

The inner hall of the shrine

An administration block

原来姹紫嫣红开遍，似这般都付与断井颓垣，良辰美景奈何天，便赏心乐事谁家院。

An exhibition for the prize winners of the “First Greater China Illustration Awards” 第一届中华区插画奖” at the basement of Mitsukuoshi Zuoying

Kaohsiung Computer Street

光华夜市, Guanghua Night Market, located near 三多商圈 is not a conventional night market with makeshift stalls and seating, but 2 rows of shophouses along both sides of the road selling all sorts of delectable delights, especially those from southern Taiwan.

筒仔米糕, steamed glutinous rice with minced meat sauce and half a hard-boiled egg all packed in a bamboo cup, embellished with pickled Japanese cucumber for the freshness and crunch.

Fish floss also goes well with the rice. Very local flavour

鱿鱼焿 with generous serving of thick slices of preserved cuttlefish in a thick starchy broth

四神汤, basically pig small intestines cooked with chinese barley 芍米 and other medicinal herbs like 茯苓. The intestine is well-prepared, without any unpleasant aftertaste one would expect from innards.

林家水饺, which specialises in dumplings and noodle-related dishes. This outlet is recommended in several guidebooks and we decided to give it a try.

The inner walls are decorated with various plaques and photos with celebrities and famous figures who have patronised the shop. This is a common form of advertisement and endorsement used by Taiwanese.

牛肉烩饭, rice with a thick beef gravy. Apart from beef slices, an assortment of thinly julienned ingredients like carrot, onion, black fungus are also added.

The highlight of the outlet, dumplings wrapped with minced pork filling

Insides of the 水饺, minced pork with chopped spring onion.

Steamed dumplings called 汤包, due to the small quantity of broth enclosed within. These are probably pre-fabbed for quite sometime already and are not as palatable as we had hoped. The top of the dumpling skin which forms a small indent has hardened and spoils the overall texture. The filling is not as 鲜美 as we thought as well.