20150828 | Taiwan Day 7 - Ximen Cinema Park Grafitti

This was another relatively chill day - We woke up super early hoping to somewhat catch the sunrise, and then went down to Ximen to walk around and check out some of the stores there and the local graffiti art.  While we knew the mountains would block out some of the sunrise, we hoped the clouds would be nice to us and stay out of the way.  Of course, they did not cooperate, but we still took a couple of photos which turned out alright!


This was a particularly fun photo, because the sky was decently bright, but of course, the other stuff was dark - I was able to recover the shadows without blowing out the sky, and also kept it somewhat natural looking (or so it seems).


A bar(?) across the "lane" from where we're staying




oof - dirty lens


After we went home to sleep for a bit and have breakfast, we went out to Ximen.  Tim took us to this place that served salty preserved starfruit ice


And some noodles


Their spinoff of Banana Republic?  But selling different stuff?


We walked toward the Cinema Park, which apparently used to show movies outdoors, but has since stopped due to noise complaints.  That part of Ximen also has many pieces of "city approved" graffiti


This isn't the graffiti, but a sticker campaign we have seen all over Taipei that I particularly enjoy






A no parking sign in front of a store






CityMarx is a local graffiti team.  We had the chance to speak with one of their artists, and got to learn a lot about his own work, the team, and the "approved" graffiti in Taipei.  All of the works that are on public walls are approved by the city, which carries a fair amount of restrictions, which as a result, the artists find limiting.












oh hay!




The artist we got to meet, who also showed us around one of their various workshops!


This one is a particularly entertaining one


A large clearing with two huge murals
















Before we headed home, Tim took us to one of his aunt's favorite coffee shops - I approve :P




That's it for now, but stay tuned!  We will be going back to the graffiti park on Sunday, where they are redoing all of the works on the lower walls (everything but the HUGE murals)