Jodie's journal

Mazu temple's beer garden

Did you ever see a church with its own beer garden? Probably not, but in Taiwan people have a more relaxed attitude to such matters.

For example: the beer garden in the Temple to the sea-Goddess Mazu, near Dihua Street. You might think that it's very disrespectful to put a beer garden here, but I would say it must be the mercy of the Goddess, that more than 40 family-run restaurants could make a living by her temple, and the hard-working people could enjoy very good food and beer in her courtyard at a bargain price.

There are many street restaurants around the temple, and people enjoy eating and drinking under the banyan tree in the temple yard. It's a place the hard working people have traditionally gone to relax after work. There are more than 40 authentic Taiwanese street food restaurants and food stalls.

In the near future we will start offering this tour of historic Di Hua Street, and the Da Dao Cheng Area in Taipei. The tour will cover the morning market, temples, the traditional food stands and small restaurants.

September 5th, 2012: This morning, I unpacked my own Chinese tea set and went to sit in the guest house garden. I want to drink oolong tea on this sweet potato farm, and enjoy the view of Yangmingshan where my ancestors lived 100 years ago.

September 4th, 2012: I got up very early. The bright sun light shining through the guest house window woke me before 7am, even though that cup of fresh coffee I had yesterday kept me awake till very late.

We keep on driving on Route 106 through Pingxi district. There are many brightly-colored sky lanterns flying up into the clouds from the village of Shihfen, trailing smoke. There's nothing to slow us down – we only spend a minute waiting for a long traffic light and then continue our journey. I wanted to take a photo of the sky lanterns flying above the mountains while waiting for the lights, but the camera is never as good as my eyes.

From Shifen to Wanli to Jinshan

September 3rd , 2012: Well, I am packed, and the scooter is ready – no more doubts. We left by 1pm, the sun was above us all the time when we were driving on Route 106. We left Taipei city and Shenkeng behind, and drove up into the mountains.

This summer we are in love with scooter traveling -- traveling safely and having fun. I spent some time and money getting my old scooter repaired and ready for a long trip.

If you want to enjoy nature, and have fun like local people do, scooter traveling can be one of the best experiences while you're visiting Taipei.

Forty years ago, my family lived by the Tamshui river, where used to be the center of the city. I don't remember seeing any convenience stores or supermarkets. When my grandmother or my mother were cooking, and found out there wasn't any more oil in the tin, they usually sent the other kids or me to buy some oil from the nearby grocery store.

People who enjoy food or cooking all know that extra virgin olive oil is one of the best cooking oils. This Mediterranean oil has spread around the world very widely. People like extra virgin olive oil not only for its taste and fragance, but also for its nutrtional benefits. We know olive oil is good for preventing heart disease and for moisturizing skin, and that it's easy to digest, and so on.