Solo Trip - Taiwan (July 2023) - Tainan City Walk

 

To be honest, I didn't know what else to do on my last day in Tainan. So I decided I will go check out a Japanese department store call Hayashi in town. It's an old retro department store, and from the internet, it looked really retro! Something that I like! So from Shennon Street, I think I walked all the way to town, lol. It was actually quite near by hotel :P

I had no problem finding it, thanks for Google GPS. But I was way early. So I thought I'll just wander around town and see what's there to check out. Shennong Street actually took less time than I expected. It was just a short street, really. But the town, the town was pretty amazing. Maybe because I didn't do much research on it, but I was amazed at some of the nice buildings I saw while I took a walk around waiting for Hayashi to open. 

For example, I found the Tainan Art Museum. I didn't go in cause it cost money. 

While walking around wondering where to head to, I actually kept smelling this nice fragrance smell of food in the air. So I followed my nose and found a shop with non-stop customer buying their breakfast at a corner shop. I cross the road to get there, and apparently they were selling "bowl cake". You can actually still find this dish in Singapore. I had it once before, probably in Alexandra or Tiong Bahru Area. But here in Tainan, the smell was amazing!

I ordered a bowl. They seller tried to ask me something, but I couldn't understand! lol. But they gave me a bowl of the above anyway, and I went to a table. I remember there were condiments on the table, and one of them was garlic paste. Oh mine, how wonderful it taste with the garlic paste. The cake was delicious, and I finished it. It was also rather cheap, and I left smelling of garlic! One of those unexpected surprisingly good find. It was a food I would normally not order too. But I'm glad I trusted myself and my nose on this occasion. 

Walking around lost, I saw many beautiful old buildings. Everything was quite well maintained. It reminded me of wandering around Singapore City Hall area, where all the small museums are. You can zoom into the photos to see the places I guess. Above is the Yeh-Shyr-Tau Literary Memorial Museum.

I think this one is a court? My mandarin is not that good....hehe

Above is the National Museum of Taiwan Literature. 

They have an exhibit on food on. For some reason, I was interested, but for some reason, I didn't went in. Perhaps it was not yet opened when I walked pass.

But it was a beautiful old building and I walked all around it. Thank you blue sky for making it a lovely day shot!

There was also a retro fire station nearby with the fire trucks outside. I love looking at fire stations in Taiwan. They sometimes have boats too for typhoon and flooding. Also, Taiwanese fireman is quite a good tourist attraction! lol

There was also a concrete bank building nearby. An old proper building that you can just tell it's a bank. With probably vault and cells and stuff inside. Like something out of a Batman movie where the bad guys are robbing a bank in Gotham City. Have my imagination run wild again? Sorry. I took the photo because I'm in the banking industry, ok? Better? 

Lastly, a beautiful school just next to the Confucius Temple. It was an active school too! With students inside! But they do fence up the place a bit so that tourist like me won't accidentally trespass inside. In short, Tainan City was a wonderful place for a casual walk. I did visit a few notable places along the way: The Human Rights Museum (because it was opened and it was free), the Confucius Temple (because I have a discounted coupon from my Anping Combination Ticket!), and of course Hayashi Department Store where I did my very first splurge of my trip! More on those coming up!