Since we had arrived late last night, we didn’t know what was available. But I was sure that we could find something for everyone. 三文治? 豆漿+燒餅? 陽春麵? A few items quickly went through my head. We freshened up and headed out. We
stopped by Uncle Lai’s parents’ next door, Uncle Lai was out and about already. That’s all right, we’d see him again in the evening anyway.
It was a cloudy day but plenty warm for us at about 17~18 deg C. We walked
past close to a dozen food stalls in a short 100 meter distance. All breakfast items mentioned above were being served but somehow didn’t appeal to us. We continued walking, passing yet another dozen food stalls. Choices, choices, decisions, decisions!
Right at the corner after we walked past 明德國中 we saw a stall serving something different – 油飯, 貢丸湯, 肉羹. We found a table and settled in to placed our order. Our order arrived shortly, everything was very tasty. For some
reason we weren’t quite hungry though. Normally our sons would just devour whatever we put in front of them. Not this morning.
We walked back to the my cousin’s place after breakfast. We still had to sort out all 6 pieces of luggage we had brought. By around 10 am or so, we went down stairs and headed to the small temple where Angel does her volunteer work. The temple sits right next to a park with basketball and tennis courts. I read the sign on the fence and couldn’t help but chuckled, someone ought to proofread it first. Make that someone "qualified".
We got back to Angel’s place and took it easy the rest of the morning. I checked our trip schedule, next up for the day - Shih Lin Night Market! The long wait was finally over, we were merely two stations from 士林捷運站! I remembered that we were supposed to meet with a friend so I quickly checked my emails.
About the only place in Shih Lin I could recall was 宇音樂器行. I sent a message to my friend and asked if she knew the place, she looked it up and responded yes, she knew where to find it. I emailed her again, telling her what time we would meet. I thought to myself, "Great! Finally got a chance to unmask the disguise."
A small entourage, our family plus Uncle Lai and Angel hopped on the MRT and headed 宇音樂器行 in Shih Lin about 20 minutes before the said meeting time. We got off 士林捷運站 with plenty of time to spare. Several minutes went by, then several more. I usually allow a half hour window when waiting for someone but since there was a small group of us, I decided 15 mins would be the limit. Well, 15, 16, 17 minutes went by quickly. I was sure my friend wouldn’t stand us up but perhaps a miscommunication had occurred somewhere. I wish I had brought the contact info paper I had printed out. And that I had given my friend a cell phone number. I got a loaner cell phone from Angel for the remainder of our trip later in the day.
It was a little early to be browsing the alleys in Shih Lin before 5 pm. Half
the stores, stalls were still closed or being set up. We went through 小北街, 大東路area, dodging motorcyclists and cars. It reminded me of the good ‘ol middle school days. I used to go through the web of back alleyways back in the day. Shih Lin hasn’t lost any charm over the years at all, in my opinion.
By early evening, at around 5 pm or so, the streets began to fill up, with mostly school kids. We looked around, going from store to store, stall to stall. Mobile vendors were setting up to get ready for yet another busy night. My wife and I were talking about how we would pig out in Shih Lin weeks leading up to our trip. Well, here we were, after nearly 2 hrs on foot, we ought to be hungry like a pack of wolves right? I don’t know if our trip fatigue had finally set in but none of us was really hungry.
I didn’t want to keep Uncle Lai and Angel waiting so we picked a booth serving
蚵仔煎among other things. It was literally a tug of war going through booths serving practically identical food items. One lady extended one arm out and welcomed my wife, "美女….進來啦", pointing to a table inside. It didn’t register with my wife so I asked her "美女, which one do you want?" It still took her a few seconds to realize that she was the "美女".
Believe it or not, the four of us only had 2 plates of 蚵仔煎, 2 bowls of 魷魚羹 and a small serving of 士林大腸. Normally I’d eat all that plus more all by myself. Perhaps the air saturated with the scent of stinky tofu deterred their appetite? Or, perhaps they just 看都看到飽! We browsed around some more and did some shopping as it started to sprinkle. It eventually started to rain at 7 pm or so. On our way back to the MRT station I noticed that a lot of people were staring at us.
It was the same stare I had received years ago going through….. Shih Lin! I looked around and found us the only people with just T-shirts on, we had our sweaters tied around the waist. Years of living in a colder climate had a lasting effect on us – thicker skin, we had evolved!
If not for the rain we would have lingered longer. I turned to my wife and we agreed, that we’d be back again before out trip is over. After going through my emails later in the evening I found it was indeed a miscommunication solely on my part. I had mentioned 宇音樂器行 but didn’t specify it to be the meeting place. So,
while we stood like a bunch of idiots outside the store, my friend waited at the 捷運站. Doh! I apologized to my friend, and that I was very sorry for the confusion and missed opportunity to meet. "We’ll be back!"
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