Weekend 5: Saturday (Part I)

Yehliu GeoPark (Woot!) a.k.a. the day I burned myself to a crisp

I'll admit it. I was the mastermind behind this whole scheme.
The one who had the bright idea of the potentially suicidal mission of a near-complete loop along north coast, starting at Taipei Main Station and ending in Danshui.
All of this in ONE DAY.

I don't know what I was thinking. And I don't know what my friends were thinking when they agreed to this.

By the way, all the travel is done by public transportation (ie bus.) Half the group almost missed the bus at Taipei Main Station (the bus was literally pulling out of the lot when they came running after it.) Anyways, here goes.

First stop: Yehliu Geopark
Of all the places we could have skipped, we could not skip this one. Of course, it also meant it was jammed pack with tourists and their giant tour buses.

The park is basically a peninsula. The constant erosion by the sea has created some very very cool looking rock formations.

Doesn't the one on the left look like a giant brain?
 And the one on the right looks like the profile of a face?

With the influx of tourists, the park had to paint a really awful-looking red line that stretched along the entire coast. It was really hard taking a picture completely free of that red line. And anytime you went too close to the line or touched a piece of the rock formation, a guard blows his whistle at you. Very annoying.

 

Look how clear the water was! It was really fun dipping my feet in the water and trying to catch all the fish swimming about. 

Fossils!

Queen's Head. The star attraction of the entire park. The line to take a photo was pretty long, but well worth the wait. It's smaller than the pictures. I'm guessing it probably won't last another decade.

Onward and forward. We decided to try to make it as far as we could towards the end of the peninsula not knowing what lies ahead, dragging the rest of the group with us.









And of course we completely ignored the caution tape.

What a view! Completely redline-free.

Simply beautiful. So worth the trek all the way up here.

Oh look. Mystery steps. Let's follow them and see where they lead to.

A patch of pristine coast untouched by the ugly red line. Woot!

Climbing back up is going to be a barrel of laughs...

 Wicked!

Look at what one of the fishermen caught. A pufferfish/blowfish. It was just swimming in the bucket, about the size of my fist. One of the kids poked at it. It puffed up and proceeded to roll over in the bucket. A pretty funny sight. Let's hope they released it back into the ocean afterwards.

Lunch at Jinshan Old Street. We had to bring the dishes we want from the serving area across the street to the dining area. I wish I had a picture. Very cool experience, carrying a plate of duck in a crowd of people. It's the honour system all the way since theoretically you can just run off without paying for your meal.  

Shimen Stone Arch (石門洞)

A really interesting land formation caused by the continuous erosion by the ocean.

Gah! So this is what happens to your skin when you expose it to Taiwan sun for eight straight hours without sunscreen (It is now five weeks later and the stripe is still there. If anything, the colour difference has gotten more noticeable. My feet look like a zebra, a source of much amusement to my dormmates.)

Weekend 4: Saturday&Sunday

Weekend Floral Market

I decided to spend this particular Saturday morning at the floral market. It's a nice way to just relax and not feel so tourist-y. It always amaze me the variety of flowers and plants people sell at this market. Why can't Toronto have one of these? Also, who buys the water lilies at this market? I mean, people who have a backyard big enough for a pond of course, but who can afford a backyard in Taipei? 

Di-bao (帝寶) Apartment Complex
I may or may not have gotten slightly lost after the floral market. But somehow I managed to find my way here, one of the most expensive apartment complexes in Taiwan. It's where all the CEOs live. I don't know much else about the complex, but I do know their security guards were nice enough to direct me back towards the MRT.

Muji Exhibit on Organizational Units (Isn't that just music to your ears?)

Talk about serendipity! The first thing I saw walking into the SOGO department store was the sign for the Muji exhibit. And when I stepped into the exhibit, I thought I was in heaven (if heaven was a very organized living space with a muted palette.) I could have stayed here for hours.

Have you seen anything more beautiful? All it needs is a few plants and a ladder and it would be perfect. Don't judge, but I bought the Muji catalogue back with me. It's sitting next to my bed right now.

Sun Yat-sen Park 

This is where Dr. Sun Yat-sen lived when he visited Taiwan. This park is so discreetly tucked behind Taipei Main Station, I must have walked past it dozens of times without noticing it. Being the upstanding citizens we are, we dutifully took off our shoes and put away our cameras inside the house even though no one was watching. 

Mister Donut. It's very different from Timmy's. Denser and chewier and flavourful. Expensive by Taiwanese standards. Definitely not a "dozen-to-go" kind of place.

Museum of History. What a view. A lotus blossom sanctuary in the middle of urban development.

 

A couple of police officers were nice enough to direct us to this ice stand. It's very popular (as you can tell by the people lining up in the photo) and specializes in brown sugar shaved ice. You get three toppings of your choosing. I chose herb jelly, sweet potato dough, and white wood ear. A little on the sweet side, but delicious nonetheless.

And of course I had to take a picture of the Roots store in Ximending, one of the most youth-oriented districts. Who knew Roots was so popular overseas?

Orientation Highlight II

Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village

We spent an entire afternoon here. Although it's called the "Nine Tribe" Culture Village, there are now 14 government-recognized tribes in Taiwan. There is even a movie (actually two movies) coming out in a couple of months detailing the Seediq tribe's fight against the Japanese colonial rule. The film(s) is called "Seediq Bale." I'm actually pretty ashamed to say that I wasn't aware of this part of Taiwanese history. It made me realize how little I knew about the world we live in.

Walking through the village, I came across these. Hmmm... do I detect a possible theme? What I wouldn't give to get a ride in that owl-mobile.

Bobblehead keychains. So cute. Not so useful tho, since the necks seem too easily snap-able (Not that I tried, in case some of you were wondering.)

Some of the aboriginal tribal housings.

A tribal competition. A woven ball is thrown up into the air and whichever man manages to catch it first will have good luck the rest of the season.

It took them almost half an hour to get the fire started. I almost thought he was going to cheat and bring out matches towards the end. Kudos to him for sticking it through!

Rabbits! 

What a rabbit farm is doing in the middle of the aboriginal culture village I haven't a clue, but I seriously hope it has nothing to do with the barbecue stand right next door...

Handcrafted glass beads. Lovely!

Each bead has its own meaning. My favourite pattern is that of the top left - peacock feathers. It looks to be one of the most difficult to craft since it involves more colours than the other patterns.

While the others went to the amusement park, I decided to backtrack and check out the show.
My favourite moment is when the warriors showed their "worth" by swinging across the schism. They all did it with flourish and style. Very cool.

Afterwards, we visited a brewery (ironic, since alcohol was strictly prohibited during orientation.)

Wall of Taiwanese beer bottles.

Taichung Nightmarket Adventure
Sausage wrapped in glutenous rice. Yum! The inside of my mouth is starting to salivate just thinking about it.

Deep-fried sweet potato dough.
Crunchy and chewy. Delicious!

Takoyakis!!! Hahahahahahaha.
As delicious as ever.

Herb jelly. Perfect dessert to cool off with in the summer.

First time trying this. Brown sugar sticky cake (?)
Really sweet and really sticky. But altogether delicious.

Duck Painting DIY
At first glance, the duckies freaked me out with their giant heads. I was hoping for a cat but all they had available were duckies, ducks, and swans. In retrospect, getting a ducky saved me a lot of space in my luggage. I've grown fond of its big head.

First coat.
My ducky is getting a nice warm drying session. Reminds me of that Friends episode where Chandler and Joey got a chick and a duck and were trying to figure out whether or not their chick swam.
The trick is to apply as many coat of paint as possible. The colours look richer.

A collection of duckies, ducks, and swans waiting on the drying rack. Some of the figurines were really well done. And others were just plain weird (and that's putting it mildly.)

They DID have cats! Oh well, I've grown attached to my ducky now.

Last Night
The accommodation on the last night of orientation was by far the best. An actual hotel.
The last night is also when we had our talent show, the events of which are never ever to be repeated.
We also got lost in the woods for a good twenty minutes getting back from the banquet hall. Very eerie especially with the giant plastic dinosaurs standing guard along the path.

Lecha (Hakka "Pound" Tea)
You start off by adding sesame, peanuts, and assorted seeds to a specially-made bowl. The grooves in the bowl help with the "pounding." You grind the mixture until the seeds release their natural oils, producing a very fragrant aroma. Add green tea powder and boiling hot water.
And voila! Tea time!