After only a couple of days in Kaohsiung it was back on the train and off to Tainan. Tainan is the oldest city in Taiwan, it's name translates as "Southern Taiwan", the city was established by the Dutch East India Company and boasts the highest number of Buddhist and Taoist temples in Taiwan.
在高雄幾天後我們到了台南. 台南市台灣最老的城市之一, 是由荷蘭東方印度公司參與建立, 並有非常多的佛堂及廟宇.
We arrived at the Hotel Shangi-la and were told we would be in a twin room. We looked a little dejected, the receptionist had a quick chat and we were upgraded. This is an example of great Taiwanese customer service, I am not saying expect an upgrade everywhere but in my experience they will do everything they can to help you out.
Like before it was interiors time....
我們抵達預定的飯店台南香格里拉遠東國際飯店, 然後應該是訂房組搞錯, 把我們訂成兩個單人床的房間. 可能是我跟卡蜜兒看起來有一點黯然, 所以幫我們check in 的前台人員到後面討論了一番後決定幫我們升等. 這就是台灣超棒的顧客服務, 我不是說你要像奧客一樣要求升等, 但在很多合理的狀況下一般店家都會很友善的協助客人.
進房後當然是要先拍個照…….
As you can see the suite was fantastic and the bed was huge. To really demonstrate the size, there was only one thing for it...
我們的套房床超大的, 那我們就以跳床來示範床的大小吧!
I am sure you understand this is actually a certified scientific hotel bed test.
我相信你一定會懂這是科學認證過的旅館床鋪測試
The rest of the hotel was not too shabby either, a moonlight swim, as ever, was lovely and refreshing after a busy day around the city.
旅館其他地方也蠻棒的, 在忙碌奔走一天後月光下游泳, 是一件很幸福的事.
Camille recognised this little eatery which is pretty famous for a gluten rice cake, it wasn't what I ordered but I am assured it is very good. Just up the road from the eatery is the Chihkan Tower. The original building was known as Fort Provinitia, it was a Dutch outpost built in 1653. Fort Provinitia was destroyed in an earthquake in the 19th century, and rebuilt as the Chihkan Tower you see here. The building contains a library of dictionaries, and documents the Siraya language spoken by the native inhabitants of the region during the Dutch rule.
卡蜜兒認出她上次N年台南來過的一間蠻有名的碗糕店, 雖然我沒有點, 但聽說這家的碗糕是很好吃的. 碗糕店附近就是赤崁樓. 前身為1653年荷治時期興建之歐式建築普羅民遮城, 又名紅毛樓. 在19世紀原建築在地震中毀損, 今日所見的赤崁樓，大部分是漢人在荷蘭城堡之上，陸續興建的儒、道教廟祠. 聽說現在的赤崁樓有藏有當時荷蘭人在台南時所用的Sirava語言字典與文件. (歷史文參考 https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E8%B5%A4%E5%B4%81%E6%A8%93)
All the history aside, the Chihkan Tower is typically beautiful, tranquil and elegant, a great place to check out in the afternoon sun.
除了重要的歷史之外, 古色古香的赤崁樓非常寧靜優雅, 是一個下午光線好時可以殺很多記憶體的好地方. 非常值得參觀.
Wanting to explore the area a bit we hired a car and hit the road. Tainan farms and produces sea salt, I wanted to have a look at the salt farms. We didn't end up in the area I had researched but in a place with a huge mountain of salt instead, it was like the Disney world of salt, if that was just a big pile of salt with a bunch of people standing on top of it. Not really my thing, so I headed off and over a fence to have a look to see what I could find.
因為想要多探索台南其他的地方, 所以我們決定租一台車. 聽說台南產鹽, 所以我想要去看鹽山及處理工廠. 我們到了一個有點類似參觀工廠的鹽山, 這個地方有一個很大用鹽堆成的小山丘, 可以讓遊客爬上去拍照, 但是不是我之前看到的地點與照片, 所以我們開出園區柵欄的另一方看看有甚麼有趣的景色.
Other than this little fellow, I found a very shallow estuary, partially man made and obviously once used in the production of salt. It was teaming with fish and we watched them leap and feed as I made my shots.
除了這個可愛的小螃蟹外, 我找到了一個很淺的出河口. 看起來像是依照自然生態而做成的人為造鹽生態. 這個地方非常多魚, 我在拍照的時候看到了很多跳躍出水面的魚兒.
Hanging out and watching sunsets is undeniably a romantic part of being a photographer. You aren't always rewarded with a glorious fire like sky, however these times do offer an opportunity to meditate a little, relax and enjoy the moments we are often in too much of rush to experience, they are also a great contrast to making portraits and photographing people. I find that practicing contrasting areas of my craft keeps me learning and in love with what I do, I think if you don't strive to keep this passion then it will reflect in your work. So whatever you do, be sure to do things to keep it fresh and alive when you can.
架設好相機等夕陽是我覺得當攝影師其中很浪漫的時刻. 雖然不是每次都可以幸運地拍到輝煌的火紅天空, 但是這個等待的時間讓我有機會稍微放鬆, 安靜思考, 及享受活在當下. 這跟我們平常拍人像與其他工作那種分秒必爭的壓力, 有非常大的對比. 我覺得練習在很不同的環境下工作讓我可以不斷磨練, 精進我的技術. 我覺得如果你有熱情, 這份熱情將會反映在你的作品上, 所以不管你做甚麼, 不要忘了持續嘗試新角度, 讓作品活起來.
Leaving the car at the hotel, it was time to explore the area and find a bite to eat. Just along the street there was a thriving row of second hand shops. I wish I had had more time and more space in my luggage to really check them out, there were a few rare looking pieces of vinyl on the shelves in one of the stores. These guys though, were busy hunting through a dense pile of books and magazines for a good read.
在旅館將車停好後, 是時候探索旅館附近的地區及覓食的時候了. 在同一條路上有很多二手特色店, 有幾個顧客在那一堆書中尋寶. 我有快速喵到幾張蠻稀有的光膠唱片, 真希望可以多待幾天然後行李大一點讓我可以好好慢慢的逛逛.
We had a little walk around but there wasn't much that really caught our eye and we ended near the hotel at this small place which seemed to be full of farmers and their families. After a bit of a wait and generously feeding the local mosquitoes for a while we picked up our food and headed back to our room.
我們隨意逛逛, 但是附近好像沒有甚麼比較特別的餐廳. 在一個大路口我們找到一個很多家庭的燒烤店所以挑了幾樣燒烤, 然後邊等我們的晚餐, 邊很慷慨地當蚊子們的晚餐
.
Camille suggested the next day that we head out to this old town and have a look at the traditional buildings. It reminded her of being a kid and getting a treat of sweets on her way home from school. For me it was just interesting to witness a taste of a time gone by. I could see by Camille's face she was enjoying happy memories and this made it a special experience for me too, not to mention how cool the old apothecary was. Check out the old draws and pots, they obviously still use their trusty abacus to add all the orders up too.
卡蜜兒提議隔天我們可以去一條比較少人去的老街看看傳統建築. 這條老街讓她想起放學回家後到路口雜貨店用存的零用錢挑選糖果餅乾的兒時回憶. 對我來說, 見證這些時代的變遷是一件很有趣的經驗. 從卡蜜兒的臉上看到她回憶兒時的快樂笑容, 更讓這個老街參觀變得更特別. 我們也看到這一個從抽屜, 藥罐到算盤都可以看到歲月痕跡, 非常有特色的老藥局.
It isn't just the shops that continue in their traditional ways, this lady was quietly sitting on her porch and making vine-leaf rice pouches, tasty, full of goodness and easy to carry. Noodles are also hand produced in Tainan, hung in the air to dry before folding and packing for the shops. We made sure we went home with enough to last a while.
這條老街不只是建築及店家傳統, 在同一條街的住家門口這個老婆婆靜靜的在包內料滿滿的粽子. 台南另一個名產是手工麵. 在外風乾後包裝分發到各個店賣. 我們搬了好一大箱回家慢慢吃.
Making the most of the day and the car, next stop was the Tree House. As you can see in the shot below, there is a lot of European influence in the architecture which reflects the Dutch history. I expect you are wondering why it is called the tree house, this refers to the building at the rear. It has been completely overgrown by a tree, the roots, branches and vines of the tree have wrapped, enveloped and replaced the walls, roof and even some of the floor. It is an impressive example that nature will outgrow and reclaim what man tries to place on the earth.
充實利用我們租的車, 我們來到了有名的台南樹屋. 從圖片中可以看到建築有一點歐式建築的影子, 應該是當初荷蘭人的關係吧. 你應該會問為什麼這個地方叫做樹屋. 那是因為建築的後面因為大自然的力量, 建築被樹根, 樹枝完全包圍成為建築的一體. 這是一個令人印象深刻的例子, 大自然的力量往往都可以超過人為力量與其建築.
去了這麼多景點後我們居然在還車前還有時間到奇美博物館外去參觀一下. 這真是一個非常壯觀的建築物, 博物館是由奇美實業創辦人許文龍創立. 許先生不只是一個成功的生意人, 聽說也是一個非常有才華的小提琴家. 這就是為什麼奇美是臺灣館藏最豐富的私人博物館、美術館。以典藏西洋藝術品為主，展出藝術、樂器、兵器與自然史四大領域。樂器領域，擁有全球數量最多小提琴收藏，其中包含世界各大製琴師名作。藝術方面，典藏台灣最完整西方繪畫雕塑，目標為建構出基礎西洋藝術史脈絡。兵器領域，展示亞洲最完整之各國珍貴古兵器，透過戰爭兵器呈現歷史與科技演進史. (奇美博物館介紹參考 https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A5%87%E7%BE%8E%E5%8D%9A%E7%89%A9%E9%A4%A8 )
我們去奇美的時候博物館並還沒開放, 但我想開放後一定是一個很值得參訪的好地方.
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