Weekend 6: Saturday (Part I)

Presidential Building
Luckily for me, it's the 100th year of ROC (Taiwan.) In celebration, the presidential building opened its doors to the public one weekend per month this year. I already missed July's open house, there was no way I was going to miss August's. Normally, the building is open on weekdays, but taking time off work to go visit the presidential building was not an excuse that would go over very well with my boss.

This used to be the governor's office back in Japanese colonial days. So the architectural is heavily Japanese-influenced.   

The Foyer. Impressive.

There were many exhibits detailing the history of the building and of Taiwan. Look at all the flags that flew above Taiwan. Netherlands->Zheng Cheng-gong->Manchu->Japanese->ROC.

A view from the courtyard.

Look. They even provide cardboard cutouts of the president and vice-president so you can pretend to shake hands with them.

Taipei Guest House

This was the governor's residence during the Japanese colonial period. It was then converted to a guest house for important dignitaries/guests. Now I believe it's just a museum.

Look at the details. It must have cost a small fortune to build this place. I was surprised at how European the whole manor looks and feels. The gilded details, the tiled furnace, even the staircase seems something out of Anne of Green Gables.

Finally, something distinctively Japanese. A decorative chest that folds outwards. The ceiling inside holds 72 panels, each with an unique design (as you can see from the plaque.) Very curious thing. Why did the artisan spend so much time and energy on an area hidden from view? (The conspiracy theorist in me is yelling "Secret compartment!!!! Secret compartment!!! The panels act as a keypad!!!") Regardless, the craftsmanship on this chest is simply stunning. All the details. Very very ornate piece of art.

More pictures from inside the manor.

 

At this point, I would have been extremely surprised if the backyard landscape turned out to be mediocre.

A lovely backyard. You could tell a lot of thought went into the overall design of the landscape.

On the way to CKS, I saw the East Gate. Out of the four gates, only three remains (East, West, and South.) There's South Gate Junior, but I don't think it really counts.

Unto CKS! I had a date with a tour guide and a bunch of little kids.

Weekend 5: Sunday

Yangmingshan (陽明山)

After the exhausting Saturday, it was a miracle that I woke up at all on Sunday.
As I waited for my friend (who did oversleep,) I almost fell asleep again.

The two of us eventually found our way to the bus stop. We were both shocked to find the number of people waiting for the bus to Yangmingshan on a Sunday morning. We managed to squeeze ourselves onto a bus and away we went. 

Once we got off at the bus station, neither one of us knew where to go (too tired to do research the night before.) The tourism centre was a good twenty minute walk from the station. So we decided to take a risk and get on the park shuttle, getting off only at the stops marked in red on the map. We figured only the stops worth seeing would be marked in red bold font. A strategy that worked out pretty well, more or less.

Siaoyukeng (小油坑)
We could see the smoke from afar. And once we got closer, we could smell the sulphur.
You can even see the sulphur residues on the rocks.
If it wasn't for the sulphur, the bubbling hot springs would be a great place to boil eggs. Hot spring eggs are so good~    

 

Lengshueikeng (冷水坑)

 Given that 冷水坑 literally means "cold water hole," I put my hand in the water expecting cold water. Apparently, it's all relative because that water was pretty warm. Compared to the sizzling heat at Siaoyukeng, this must feel like a cold spring. If it hadn't been such a hot summer day I would have gladly joined the ladies in soaking my achy feet. It does look pretty relaxing, doesn't it? 

Cingtiangang (擎天崗)

The guide from the tourism centre was nice enough to walk with us and point out some of the historical sites. In the colonial days, fishermen used to smuggle fish through this point to sell in Taipei, a walk (魚路古道="Old fish road") that would take days. She pointed out a trail that would lead us to the ancient road.  to the the fishermen used to us. It was about 7 km. The entire smuggling trail is about 30 km. Both were out of the question, given how exhausted we were after the previous day.
So we opted for the much easier 1+ km trail to the top of the mountain (the tallest peak in the photo.)

Along the way, we saw some wild cattle, left from the days when 擎天崗 was used as pasture. 

The trail was pretty abandoned with only the leopard-print butterfly to keep us company. Since there weren't any signs along the way, we decided to just kept walking until the trail ends. And, thirty odd minutes later...

...we did it! We reached our destination. The view from the top.

A old battlement left from the colonial days.

I was so exhausted by the end of this trip I pretty much passed out on the bus ride back. It would definitely be nice to go back and try some of the more challenging trails. Not sure if I'll ever be up for the 30km one tho. That one will definitely take at least a day.

Weekend 5: Saturday (Part II)

Baishawan ("White sandy beach" 白沙灣)
Our last stop of the day before heading back. We had fun in the water but seeing how we had enough sun exposure to last us the rest of the summer, we didn't stay for very long.
Originally, we were going to hike to 麟山鼻, a scenic route not too far from Baishawan, but when we found out that the trail will take almost two hours to complete, we decided to call it quits and leave for Danshui.
A little regrettable, but all the more reason to come back right?
  
Danshui Harbour
We arrived just in time for dinner and the sunset. A great way to end the day.

Watching the sun set in Danshui. Doesn't the sun look delicious I mean, gorgeous? My photo doesn't do it justice.

We ended up just hanging out by the river for a while. Deeply contemplative just watching the waves crashing against the side of the harbour.

A street artist at work. I thought he was pretty good. The sketch turned out a little creepy though. The little girl (the subject of his sketch) was definitely not happy about it.

 

 

And we're home! 

Everyone was safe (albeit, some may have suffered severe sunburn) and accounted for so all in all, a success! :D