December 7, 2021
December 7th
Yingge
It was drizzling when I cycled home from the pub last night at nearly midnight and the forecast was for more of the same today, so there's little incentive to get out of bed. It's about nine 0'clock when I finally surface.
After a walk to 7-Eleven for a coffee and a read of today's paper, the weather doesn't seem too bad and Nomad is eager as ever to get out.
The postal worker calls to say there's a package and inside the box is a vase I got from a UK dealer. I've been collecting since I was a teen and in 2023 I'm curating an exhibition of English 'brutalist' pottery at the ceramics museum in the pottery town of Yingge. This vase will go in it and riding over to the museum to have a look around seems appropriate. It's been a long time since my last visit.
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It's cooler after the rain and my old blue Gortex jacket goes over my red top. It's no longer waterproof, but it'll keep the wind off. It's gusting today.
I head to the 114 just a block away, but before the junction there's an empty unit with the roller door up and there's a painting leaning against a bare wall. It seems like someone is in the process of moving out. It's a piece of kitsch, the type of painting that is made in a production line and sold cheaply. I pop into the empty space and take a quick snap and get back on the bike.
The wind is in my face as I ride along the 114 to Bade. It's a busy road and scooters zip close by. It lasts for about 10 minutes.
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3 years ago
I cut through the old part of Bade and head to where lots of new apartments have been built, and where more are under construction.
My friend g lived here until a year or so ago and I go past his old block and cross the main road to get to the small alley that drops down an escarpment. It's a route g showed me years ago.
As I round a tight bend I notice a white plastic chair with a plant on it, so take a snap of it for the collection, then drop down the steep hill to get to a lane that runs below a main highway. It's a quiet lane that serves a few farms.
I spot another chair at the end of a drive to one farm and take a photo of the decrepit, office-type specimen. By the look of it, someone put it here a long time ago and just forgot about it.
It's less windy here and my jacket comes off.
The lane eventually leads to a main road that goes into Bade, but after a few minutes there's a right turn that drops to a bike path beside the river. There's nobody else riding today. Maybe it's the weather. It takes roughly 10 more minutes to get to Yingge and I ride on past the ceramics museum, as I need some lunch first.
Yingge is a busy hub and while there are few tourists about during the week, traffic is constant as it's located where there's a bridge crossing over the wide river. Long, 16-wheeler trucks drive right through the centre.
After climbing up a short incline, I reach the area where all the shops selling pottery are located. These few streets have been paved with what look like cobbles to give the place a rustic vibe (I guess), so my wheels bounce along for a few minutes like in Paris-Roubaix until I get to Starbucks.
It's on a corner, in a renovated building, and the clerk asks my name and Graham is hard for locals to understand, so I say it's Crazy and that's what she writes on the Post-it note that gets stuck to a mug. I dislike paper cups.
There are few round tables on the ground floor by the traditional windows which have obscure glass, so I can't see out.
Lunch is a pasta dish and a lemon tart to go with my cappuccino and it cost about US$12.00 in all. Debbie recently told me that Louisa is now more popular than Starbucks in Taiwan. It's certainly cheaper.
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3 years ago
3 years ago
The museum is down the hill and back along the busy road, where I just came from.
Entrance is NT$80. It's OK. That's less than US$3.
The museum staff have yet to tell me which of the two galleries my exhibition will be in. There's a lower level one, and one on a mezzanine about the ground floor. Both are OK, but the higher one has more natural light, and is more compact.
The mezzanine has a show of large sculptural pieces and are from the museum's collection. It's been impossible to run exhibitions as normal due to strict Covid restrictions.
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The lower level space has a show of cups on and the gallery looks better - lighter - than I remember it. Some of the white walls have been painted a blue, which makes it more attractive. Most of the cups are displayed on shelves, rather than pedestal/boxes. It only takes a few minutes to walk around.
I venture outside, as I'm interested in seeing the building's exterior. I can't recall ever being in this area before.
When I submitted a proposal for an exhibition, I briefly referenced the museum's Brutalist appearance, as although it was built relatively recently, it has the features that distinguishes Brutlist buildings - exposed steel-work, concrete surfaces and lots of glass.
There's a coffee shop on the lower level, but I've had two already today.
The bridge across the river goes over teh bike path and when I cycled under it it dawned on me that there might now be a cycle path incorporated on a new section.
Instead of riding straight back to the bike path, I veer down a side street and try to find access to the new bridge.
It only takes a few minutes and there are some interesting alleys to explore. Unfortunately the new bridge is up some steps, so my bike gets left on the lane and when I get to the top it is sad to see a narrow road without any provision for cyclists. Urban planners here are stuck in a 1950's time warp.
The wind is behind me as I ride back along the bike path after following a parallel road for a few minutes .
I ride up to the main road and after a few minutes make a turn to get to the lanes and spot a few grave stones right by the verge. It looks like the cemetery was reclaimed quite a while ago.
There are lanes running on both sides of the elevated highway and for a change I take the one on the south side. There are small, rectangular tunnels every 500 metres or so, making it easy to get to the other side.
I take one eventually and set up the tripod to record the event.
The buildings around here are nothing very special. The farm houses have mostly been modified and given new roofs. The odd one or two that have not, have just been left to rot. I take a snap of a broken window on one, but it isn't very special.
I pant riding up the escarpment. It's strenuous stuff. There are two hairpins.
The white plastic chair is there with the plant on top and it'll likely be there the next time I cycle this way, whenever that is.
There's an old post box on a derelict single-floor house that is now in the sun, so I take a snap of it. It's a metal one. They're made of plastic now.
After going past g's old place, instead of cutting through Bade, I decide to ride back home a different way, along a small route through countryside.
There's a grand traditional house that's been carefully renovated and I open the gate and walk up so that I can take a close-up of its windows, then get back on the bike and head on the rural lane.
The sun is getting low and it feels cool. It's close to 3.30 now.
Somehow I lose my bearings and get lost. This is strange.
The sunshine suddenly becomes bright and there's a large piece of blue sky.
Riding by intuition and after making a few turns, I find buildings that look familiar and eventually know where I am. It seems I didn't go too far off my intended route and I get to where I planned.
There's a lane I took once coming the other way and I ride along it, trying to retrace the route in reverse. It's alright for a while, but soon my bearings are gone again I'm lost on urban streets. They all look so similar in Taiwan.
It takes me a while, but a small lane looks familiar and while it's got a no entry sign on it, I ride down it and find my way back home.
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 979 km (608 miles)
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3 years ago
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