恭禧發財!
A belated happy Chinese New Year to everyone. Last Thursday we visited Taipei’s Di Hua Street (迪化街), locals’ one stop shopping area for traditional food and gifts for the Spring Festival. We were packed in like proverbial sardines and were good-naturedly hawked delicacies we’d never heard of before, though were generally spared from having any more cow livers shoved in our faces after an iteration of the following conversation:
Us: “Sorry, we don’t eat meat.”
Them: “That’s all right, try these prawn crackers!”
Us: “Or seafood.”
Them: “That’s fine, try this fish floss!”
Vgag did end up buying some green tea flavoured broadbeans (I don’t really want to know how they became green tea flavoured), but I think our best purchase of the day was some calligraphy done for us on the spot by a local calligrapher selling New Year’s couplets and dragon-themed wall scrolls.
They’re only meant to last the season, but with assiduous care I hope they’ll be gracing Vgag’s desk for many years to come.
The calligraphy stall was much patronised, and his assistants had a kind of drive-by service going where they would drive up, shove their receipt at the assistant who would then scramble to hand them their rolled up, completed couplets through the passenger window.