Mar 7, 2009

※Burma street in Zhonghe: Li Yuan Yunnan


Preface: I have known Burma street in Zhonghe long time ago, but until I read it on a Japanese magazine that SKY had shown me, I didn't know Burma street is internationally famous now.

I always love Southeast Asia food. When I get to Burma street from Xingnan road, the whole atmosphere is different. There is some kind of exotic smell all over the area, and it makes me wonder where I am for a second...

Anyway, there are a lot of great restaurants on Burma street in Zhonghe. Unless you have some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder (as for cleanness and smell), you will love here as much as I do.

Zhonghe 中和市 is a city in Taipei county, there is a river between Taipei city and Zonghe.

Enjoy.

Here is the Chinese version.

※一週最愛Favorite of the week



Take Taipei MRT to Nan-Shin-Jiao station, then get on Xingnan street and keep walking toward south. Walk pass Zhonghe high school for a few minutes Huaxin street will be on the left hand side.

Make a left turn to Huaxin street, the whole street smells differently, I guess it is the smell of cooking, the incense of Burma food.


Let's start from the beginning of the street, let's start with Yunnan Li Yuan Muslim restaurant on 9 Huaxin street, which closed every Thursdays.


They are always busy in the store, and that's a fresh guarantee.


Chinese characters would be some kind of decoration. It's good to have pictures to help people who don't understand Burma.


They have the best Indian scone in the city. I guess what makes it tastes so good it's because of the freshness. Their scone is thin and not so oily, much better than the ones we have at department stores' basements in Taipei city.


I ordered a Indian scone with pea dipping, with a hot Burma milk tea. You can get instant Burma milk tea in any grocery store on Huaxin street. It tastes a bit of like Thai milk tea, but it got sweeter and more taste of the tea.


Indian scone is small, if one scone can't fulfill the needs you can order chicken soup with rice noodle. The food on Burma street has some kind of depth which is hard to find in Chinese food. Aftertaste is always required.

Afterwords: The restaurants on Burma street in Zhonghe can't be judged by normal standard. They have few things in common:
1, The stores may look old but don't have to be unclean,
2, Food is cheap,
3, Most of them are friendly.
Due to those qualities, I won't put up the chart here since it doesn't mean anything about what we think on Burma street anyway.

貓空茶園魯冰花


從小在城市長大的我生平第一次看到魯冰花,之前百思不得其解,為何茶園裡會出現一排茶樹一排魯冰花的現象呢? 本以為來貓空賞的魯冰花是野生的魯冰花,結果發現居然都是人工裁種的,而且還是產發局協助美化的,現場看起來和之前在家想像的感覺的確不太一樣。

回家後稍稍谷哥了一下,才知道原來茶園裡的魯冰花是拿來當綠肥的,一開花就倒楣,因為開花後就會被當成肥料砍掉。魯冰花雖然早逝卻換來甘美的茶,因此有人將魯冰花比喻為母親,稱它是一種奉獻的花。 換句話說女人一生小孩,就倒大楣被當成「孩肥」,咳咳咳,這個議題爭議性太大,不提也罷。

貓空魯冰花,這二週最美,過了這二週就成綠肥了,想看看什麼是魯冰花的人可要趕快囉。有心想去貓空賞魯冰的人可以繼續往下研究一下,因為貓空那裡的指南路,說起來還蠻詭異的。怎麼說呢,通常一條路的號碼是一邊單號一邊雙號,當遇到巷子就直接以順位的號碼命名。比如說一段二號,一段四號,一段六號,如果一段八號的地方凹進去變成另一條巷道時,就算一段八巷了。 在指南路三段可要小心,因為以上推論完全不成立。

所以貓空茶園魯冰花雖說在指南路三段38巷走進去,卻不在指南路三段32號的下一條走進去,指南路三段38巷其實就是貓空纜車站對面的一條大巷,想看魯冰花的一定得堅持到了貓空纜車站再開始找路,不要像我呆呆的到了指南路三段32號的檳榔攤前就迷路了。


貓一空狗就來。


到了貓空纜車站再往三玄宮方面走去,指南路三段38巷就在那裡。


從三玄宮往裡走不到五分鐘就可以看到樟樹步道的指示牌,茶園魯冰花就在樟樹步道上。


往樟樹步道走去約走個五分鐘才會看到茶園魯冰花。一排茶樹一排魯冰花還蠻特別的。


黃澄澄的魯冰花其實還蠻可愛的。


魯冰花的葉子上長有小小的纖毛可以把水滴留在上面,晶瑩剔透的模樣讓我忍不住再靠近一點。

後記:魯冰花是lupin的譯名,正式名稱是「羽扇豆」,在台灣有著特殊用途,那就是當羽扇豆盛開的時候,茶農就會把她砍倒,作為茶肥。因此,魯冰花開就是枯萎的時候,「還未燦爛,即已亡散」。

感覺上和「開到荼蘼花事了」的荼蘼有一些些類似,雖然荼蘼代表的是夏天最後開的一種花,開到荼蘼便沒有退路,所有的美麗也隨之煙消雲散了。不過荼蘼的美有種悲涼因為是自然而然不能改變的事實,魯冰花則有種慘烈因為是人為加工不得不然的宿命。

Mar 6, 2009

貓幫選美:再度領先


阿莫:沉著應戰,冷靜處理。

A-Mo: Try to stay calm...


阿皮:讓你知道什麼叫「虎視眈眈」…

A-Pi: I am watching you below...

貓幫選美:不驕不躁


小獨:讓我替阿醜姐姐出一口氣~~
<<阿皮奮力抵抗中,連牙齒都露出來了。>>


阿皮:別挑撥離間了,我和大家處得好得很哩!

今天遇見幾隻貓(16)


Should I stay or should I go?


有時還蠻羨慕住在一樓的人們,隨時有貓拜訪。


有時還不止一隻…


想來這隻貓只是借過吧,連看到相機都怕成這樣…


也許只是個祕密通道,外面的街道又小車又多,有時還會出現一兩個殘忍的小男孩,走馬路太危險了。


遁!

Mar 5, 2009

驚蟄

春雷響起,驚醒蟄伏地下冬眠的蟲類,將開始出土活動。


阿皮:出土出土!

習詠春有感(三十七)蝴蝶飛浪退潮

陳綺貞在她「 手的預言」裡唱著:
風箏飛,
葉落下,
拳頭的世界如此大

的確,拳頭的世界真的很大,大拳頭的世界更大,如何化大拳頭的力成為自己的力,讓大拳頭舉了半天重擊了半天的沙包結果都打到自己身,從太極到詠春大家都在思考這個問題。

撲翼掌又稱蝴蝶掌,狄師父常掛在嘴上的是廣東話發音的「抱排掌」(Po-Pai-Cheung)。上乘借力卸力使力發勁的功法之一,應該算是一種不用力之力。狄師父說當年他因力大氣壯,盧師祖勸他多在撲翼掌上下功夫,除了可以訓練自己不要老用蠻力的習慣,更可以從借力使力中明白蠻力的無用。


說起來撲翼掌不用力卻能讓敵人飛起實在令人難以想像,記得第一次狄師父對我使撲翼掌時,應該是,一,他從來沒和小小個兒女生交過手,二,他有時會忘記放鬆快速的撲翼掌有多可怕,那次我整個人幾乎是飛將出去跌坐地上的,我到現在還記得當時狄師父臉上那種驚訝尷尬抱歉擔心千頭萬絮擁上心頭時的複雜表情… 當然昂昂六尺之軀把我推飛也不是什麼大不了的事,重點就在於不出力,不出力的情況下要把小小五尺之軀推開雖然也不是太難,但五尺小重心低,不出力卻推到飛起來應該也不是太太容易的事吧。


不過我還是常勸狄師父在表演這種神功時最好不要找女性,因為不懂的人只會覺得大欺小褲子掉,看起來真的沒什麼了不起。諸不知如果換成如陳班長體型的人也一樣會飛出去的。也許還會飛得更遠,畢竟他的力氣比我更大反抗更強咩。即然個子較大飛得較遠效果較好,自然示範的時候應該推他,嘿嘿嘿。

拳頭的世界的確大但再大也再不過敵人加上自己。歌曲後段也點出:
蝴蝶飛,
浪退潮。
手打開,
不害怕,匱乏。


蝴蝶掌(撲翼掌)發,巨浪退散,雙手前伸,力從地起,無窮無盡…

…不知陳老師學過詠春否?