15th Feb 2010: Yang Ming Shan

2nd day of Chinese New Year and I was pooped. Walked alot in Wulai so I was thinking of taking a break by staying close to the city center and yet be close to nature :)

And that I found in Yang Ming Shan, a nature park that is easily accessible via Jiantan MRT.



And yes, the mountain is lovely. There was rain and wind. I wore shorts and froze my cute little b*** off.










There were lots of people out about walking, like me and admiring the peach blossoms. My first time seeing these flowers alive and the branches. Very pretty and delicate.











As I walked along the trails in the park, the path was slippery with moss and random floods. I was feeling cold and yet I loved the whole 'rundown' feel of the park.








Now for nature shots :)















On my way back to the train station, I took a detour to the summer house of Chiang Kai-Sek. It has been converted to a park for the public with 2 large hot houses and a rather simple pulpit for his family's Sunday prayers.











And there at the far end of the park, is the green painted house of the first President of Taiwan. I love the color!



Feeling totally exhausted by then, I went back to the hostel and had a quiet rest for the day.

Wulai and the Taipei Hotsprings Experience

After walking for most of the past wk, I was looking forward to a nice soak, much like the one I had in Rui Shui. The two Singaporean girls I met earlier in Hualien, recommended the hotsprings in Wulai so I decided to go for a hotspring soak.

Getting off the train at Xindian is easy. Arriving at the small town of Wulai is even easier. The scenery was gorgeous as the river water reflected the greenery around.



Did some hiking up the hills and saw a waterfall, cable cars and a foot bath.







The scenery in Wulai is gorgeous. The bath was a let down but I guess I chose the wrong one. When there is a dozen to pick from.

In the evening, I went to Zhong Zheng Ji Nian Tang. It had a Peoplist feel, much like Tiananmen but it was CLOSED! I wanted to take a look at some of the stuff left by Chiang Kai-shek. So I thought to come back another day.

My wet, wet, wet Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year Eve 2010: I was in Taipei with absolutely no plans for the day other than to shift into more interesting accommodation in the afternoon. I had some time in the morning to explore the neighborhood near Taipei Main, Zhongshan district.

Old, historical buildings. 古色古香



Found a mkt that sold traditional CNY foods and long queues of people collecting their ducks and chickens.



Zhongshan district has a boutique feel, i.e designer outfits, hair salons and coffee shops. Much like the same district Sarkozy was mayor of in Paris. St-Neuilly.
The local arts scene also seemed to be in this area of town. Too bad CNY eve meant most shops and sight-seeing places are closed!



As I check into the new hostel, I began to see how backpacking is part of the youth culture as everyone in my dorm fell in the 21-24 category while I set the skew :)

Ximending is in a historic part of town and the President's offices are a quick walk away. I chose to randomly walk down the street for 5 blocks and end up in Wanhua district. Guess which Taiwanese movie was being heavily promoted then.



I went to Long Shan Temple after that to pray and contemplate the tidings from a new year. It was very quiet for CNY. Maybe it was too early.

Went to Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall where no surprise, it was closed. Haha! Sense the pattern for the day?



I was tired of walking and went to 101 which seemed close by but felt like miles away. That too closed early at 5.30pm. I was out on the streets after half an hr in there, picking out a Tokyo map and Taipei eating map for under TWD200.

Got on the first bus outside and ended up in Wufenpu. This is the clothing shops district for Taipei where I could see T-shirts being sold for TWD100. Amazingly, I see a few shops still open but I couldn't be bothered by then :) Plus I was hungry. So I headed for the nite mkt in the area, Raohe. To get there, I had to ask for directions. She was very nice and actually walked with me there.

I forgot to take pictures and it was dark by then. All the stalls were closed at the night mkt. The Taiwanese lady, Viven, was very nice and went with me to look for food. So I had smelly toufu and oyster omelette for my reunion dinner but I made up for it with a great experience with a local friend. By then, it was almost 10pm as we took the bus back to Zhong Xiao Fuxing MRT. Viven got off two bus stops before mine but was very attentive to make sure that I arrive safely at the station. I think Taiwanese people can be friendly and warm to strangers and people in need. A lesson in humility and belief in humanity. And that's how I spent my new yr's eve.

After natural Hualien, here I go to city lights Taipei

From Hualien, I took a 4-hour train ride to Taipei Main. Sitting next to a 70-ish man who was going to visit his son and their family for CNY, I made good conversation and gathered a few more insights to Taiwanese culture and history. He came with the Nationalist party from China and worked all his life as a farmer. He told me the best rice in Taiwan came from Fuli, a town south of Hualien and close to Taitung. I remember passing by the station on my trip north from Kaohsiung.

Arriving in Taipei, I found lodging at this place over the internet. I was pre-warned abt this place by my hostel friend, Kazuno, so I was expecting the worse. It wasn't that bad but I could see myself being very bored in the place since I had to stay 7 nites in Taipei and it was the CNY period. Everywhere was going to be packed.

Luckily I found this place in Ximending thru a recommendation by the second nite so it was all good in the end.





Blogger seems to be blocking my pictures, hmm. Guess I will finish this post another day. My internet has been on the frizz the whole day.