Blog 5 09082026

NCKU Campus Turtles

Days 14-17 

9/5

On September 5, we had a second design workshop on circular design, brainstormed on our initial design concepts, then we had an indigo dye workshop. The presenter gave us an overview and significance of traditional indigo dying in Taiwanese culture. Indigo dyeing symbolizes the resistance of the Hakka community. In the past, blue was also once a status symbol of wealth because of how rare blue pigment is in nature, making it expensive. Blue in nature can either be from real pigment or from structures scattering light waves. I also learned that blue dye was originally used in jeans instead of any other color because it shows minimal stains, which is ideal for physical labor work.

Our Tie Dye

The tie dye workshop is, I think, by far, one of my favorite activities in this program. I had a lot of fun learning about the dye’s history, and dying my own cloth. The workshop included folding the cloth to create the design we wanted, doing 3 rounds of dipping in the indigo dye, and waiting for the dye to oxidize. Once oxidized, the dye turns from green to blue. Later that evening, I stopped by Master of Tea, and there are so many variations of tea here. I tried the herbal boost immunity tea.. I was about to buy a whole pack of it, but I am glad I only ended up trying only one first, because I did not like it very much.. I also bought mangos for the first time at the fruit stall at Yule Street. Now, I buy them almost every day.

9/6

September 6th was also one of my favorite days. We went out on a boat trip to the wetlands, explored Anping old street, and visited a tree house. On the boat trip, the guide brought out a bunch of fish to show us, including jellyfish. 

Jellyfishhh

At the Anping old Street, the guide gave us a tour and history of the old city. We spent some time in the temple. She explained that we enter the temple through the dragon door, and leave through the tiger door to leave behind bad luck and the past. Behind the temple, there was a cool, small, secret passageway, leading to an old Dutch wall that remained from past colonization/Dutch VOC. The Dutch Wall is created from a mixture of rice, cement, and sugar, apparently some tourists even lick the wall to taste the sugar? Another interesting fact I learned is that there are a lot more temples here in Tainan than there are convenience stores. Tainan is called the city of temples.

The treehouse area we later visited was very pretty, and fun to explore. There was a treehouse cafe, where I tried Taiwanese ice cream, this is my favorite dessert I had so far in Taiwan. The ice cream has rice puff, a brownie, and not too sweet ice cream.

Later that evening, we received our painted ceramics back and my project group met up to do some work at the hotel together. I ended the day by walking around at night, listening to music, and exploring the nearby cafe and stores. Ending my day at a cafe has become my new favorite activity and way to recharge after the day.

9/7

On September 7th, we spent most of the day on NCKU campus again. We had our early concept presentation critique, lunch, circular design workshop #4, and then scheduled critique sessions. During our lunch break, my group and I went to the garden by the bridge, and we saw so many turtlesss. I looove the NCKU campus’ scenery.

After class, I went with Bethany and Amelia to look at clothes. Unexpectedly, we ended up receiving free  tops from Mymgirl Shop as gifts from the manager..

Dinner with Amelia

Notes

Lately, I’ve been really loving Tainan and the NCKU campus. I wasn’t expecting to love Tainan as much as I do right now. Previously, I thought Taipei would be my favorite, as I love being in the city, especially busy cities. Tainan is also a busy city, but feels very comfortable, and I love the vibe. The NCKU campus and surrounding streets feel so lively, and conveniently, there are so many nearby food stalls, especially on Yule Street. The streets are filled with students everywhere, and also feels very diverse as there are also many international students.  Most importantly, I love how I can wander around at night but I still somehow feel very safe. I love being able to go out at night and walk everywhere, especially ending the night at a cafe.