The previous day, I arranged to go visit Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall after school with the same classmates. We used Ubike to get there and it was better than I expected. Since I have a public transport card (YoYo card), I can rent the bikes as they are part of public transport in Taiwan. The card actually can hold money which is used to pay fairs but can also be used to pay for things in stores. The cost to rent the bike is super cheap which is why locals also use it. You just scan your card and it unlocks the bike! These bikes have certain stations where the locks are grounded meaning you cannot ride it to exactly where you want, but there are many stations all around. The seat is super easy to adjust, there’s a basket, and it rode smoothly. The traffic of cars and people is quite hectic, but where we biked was quite wide and people will usually more at the ring of the bell.
We first stopped at a famous restaurant for lunch. This place’s speciality is stewed pork rice. We had to line up, but it wasn’t for long. The restaurant was very busy but they have people telling you were to sit and managing the seating arrangement and changes in order to get people in and out quickly. However they don’t rush you to eat, which is good. No one likes that.
They use a QR code system to order which has the menu in a couple different languages. It also helps them manage all the orders. When their system recieves the order, they serve it quite quickly and leave a receipt of what you ordered to take to the cashier after to pay. For such a well known restaurant, the prices weren’t hiked up because they could which was really nice as everyone is able to still afford it at their reasonable price.
I ordered their classic stewed pork rice and my classmates ordered stewed pork noodles and chicken soup. We also shared a plate of veg. The stewed pork rice was nice and flavorful with a slice of pickled radish (i think). Only thing is the ratio of rice to everything else… but still good. 6.5/10
The plate of veg we shared was just a simple common fried veg you get at a lot of places. A tad on the salty side. 7/10
Then we walked over to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall as it was only a block over.
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3614.9579229918922!2d121.5176082753325!3d25.035501977815425!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x3442a99db9a2a94d%3A0x43e9034292df69b2!2sChiang%20Kai-shek%20Memorial%20Hall!5e0!3m2!1sen!2shk!4v1687020240994!5m2!1sen!2shk&w=600&h=450]This place was huge. I knew the statue itself was big, but the land around it was also very large. Interesting to have it places in the middle of a city, but it is nice to have such a big open space in a dense city.
The National Theater and National Concert Hall are also there, but I didn’t pay to visit it as I don’t have that big of an interest on a tour of the place… Maybe next time for a concert or show.
Under the memorial hall there was an art gallery and exhibition hall which I wandered through. It was filled with many things relating to him such as his clothes, medals, and vehicles.
They also had a mini model of the place which was quite cool.
Since it was another hot day, we stopped to get something cold before heading home. We decided to go to FamilyMart to try their ice cream. FamilyMart is one of the convenience store you will find at every corner. Their soft serve option was this blue one. I asked what flavor it is and the lady told me it was like bubbly water. Not sure what that means…. but I got it anyways. Safe to stay it doesn’t taste like any kind of water but many more like bubble gum? perhaps tutti-frutti? I honestly have no idea but it wasn’t bad. It was more on the sorbet/water side than a milk/cream ice cream. 4.5/10
For dinner I just air fried some chicken and dumplings, heated up the leftover soup I made, and stir fried some potato leaves and water spinach.
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