ampulets

City as palimpsest - all images in this post by J It has been almost 3 years since J and I were last together in Taipei - or any foreign city, for that matter.  (Click on the  Taiwan label on the sidebar  to read about our trips/recommendations in 2006, 2008 and 2010) And I am glad that Taipei has remained largely unchanged in the last 3 years, which is unusual to citizens on our small tropical island... And with all the recent discussion on our island about heritage preservation, nostalgia, identity and displacement, here are three spots we visited this time in Taipei that offer this city's take - (1) Ri Xing Type Foundry The narrow streets in the area between the Zhongshan and Taipei Main Stations are a little like Balestier and Jalan Besar in Singapore. The stores specialise in machine parts, tools and other hardware. In Lane 97 of Tai Yuan Road is just another of such stores with its iron grills, fluorescent tube lights, and the glint of metal. But its not just any ot