Keelung City feels like Ancona, my hometown. The smell of sea that pervades the streets of this port city brings back memories of my grandfather and the days at mandracchio, the small shelter where he docked his small boat. Seagulls fly over me, cranes rising from the sea like octopus tentacles. So far away, and yet so present in me.

This city was the main harbor under Japanese rule and I feel it. I see izakayas everywhere, like a Japanese outpost.

After a long day traveling I smartly decide to push on and pay a visit to the night fish market. The energy slowly ramps up, people come and go, till the place is packed around 1 a.m. If, initially people were leaving with a bag or two, now crates full of fish I didn’t know existed are moving between stands and wagons.

Everyone seems to know each other, and everyone has a clear agenda and shopping list. The opposite of myself, who keeps changing plans and second-guessing choices.

Water splashes on my feet and takes me out of my thoughts. I move my eye away from the viewfinder, water is pouring out of the boxes and covering the whole street. The same ones people stack to build a fortress around their stall.

As weird as it seems, the noise surrounding me doesn’t come from people. Boxes bouncing on each other, cars, scooters: that’s what hits my ears. It seems that an overall Japanese composure is overshadowing the place. A theater where everyone knows their place and they just exist here and now.

I wake up too early, given the day I had. I still feel sleepy. One week passed since I landed in Taiwan and I’ve pushed it a bit too much. I need to remind myself that this is a marathon and not a sprint if I want to avoid burning out. Even if I stay in a place just a couple of nights I must take care of my rest, especially in this heat.

The day, and the photos, reflect this. My eyes are overwhelmed, my brain a bit foggy, like I cannot see life unfolding. Or maybe it’s unfolding just fine, and I’m the one too tired to notice.

Note to self: regulate myself, relax, and accept to sometimes come back with no photos. At the end, in street photography you cannot have good photos every day. Patience and self-care are key here.

The mountains are sliding fast through the window of this train. Final destination Tainan.

Just as it happened in Taipei, I feel I’ve just left Keelung City when I start to get a glimpse of it. I might replan my last days in Taiwan prioritizing fewer places over place-hopping. Let’s see what the mood would be.

Till the next missive,

— M