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View from the carrot tower

The Carrot Tower in Setagaya is where Pokemon come from. The 22nd floor houses Game Freak headquarters.

While the 26th floor boasts a public sunset viewing lounge.

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Cake of the monkey

“French bakery” is a category of stores in East Asia, where the romantic aesthetic tradition of Europe is well and alive. Tous les Jours is a popular korean chain of french bakery.

The beginning of each lunar year is usually in or around February of the “solar year”. And as everyone knows, each lunar year is the year of one animal from the chinese zodiac.

It was two years ago when I found out. When I found out that Tous les Jours prepares a lunar-year-cake design each year. Two years ago, when it was the year of the monkey.

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Songshan nostalgia

I remember roaming through the vibrant, old, slightly mysterious Raohe night market for vietnamese sandwiches and medicinal herbs. And the usual late evening snack among families having dinner on tin stalls, gamblers, couples’ cute food on sticks and the constant shouting of a thousand sellers or so.

The equally vibrant, old and slightly mysterious Ciyou temple sits next to the start of Raohe street.

 

Going past the captivating facade on one lazy noon and to the back side. Unexpectedly smooth?

 

And, across the street, the wall separating Songshan neighborhood from Keelung river. Pass the gate and what do you find — an urban blue and green calmness punctuated by joggers, rowers, high bridges and a ferris wheel in the distance. Taipei both sides.