August 2014 getaway - Taipei the last 2 days

18 aug. Walked thru their day markets, amazed by their varieties. The stalls do not repeat as much as our pasar malam. Had 卤肉饭 for brunch and took the mrt to 永宁 before changing bus 812 to 三峡. Another old street, buildings made of bricks. And it rained! Lucky, it is the second last day and i get to use my poncho. Tried the taro milk 刨冰, yummilicious. And this area is known for its 金牛角 which looks like hard croissant la, din try. Appalled by the wait for the bus ride back. Uber long, in the drizzle, luckily it isnt winter. No shelter and no seats one, so we stood there for 45min or more. Sighz. The coffee bun at taipei main station tasted as good as ever, super satisfied. We also bought sushi back and lounge at the hotel breakout area for dinner. Last night in taipei, trying not to feel sad. 

19 aug. Lazy morning. Bought mac for bfast back to the hotel, we pack as we eat. The super frenly culture isnt as obvious here. Nobody spoke to each other on the mrt or bus, unlike the beitou and yms area. Also din realise the japanese culture is quite deeply infused here. Lotsa japanese shops and products. Like their accent and the way they speak, rather humble and courteous and considerate, not harsh and selfish. Glad that im exposed to this culture and hope to cultivate this more within my social circle. Much to learn from, to be more tolerant towards the elderly and there is constant LED reminders for pple. 请勿大声喧哗， and asking pple to wear mask if they are feeling unwell, cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough etc, do not block the way, priority seats. it is just in the surroundings, everyone influencing one another, with good habits, such that it become a culture. Applaudable.

August 2014 getaway - Taipei day 4 and 5

16 aug. Third day up the mountain and this time, yes we went to 小油坑，quite sure this was where my host family brought me to in 2002. Many fumaroles there. That time we got there by car, and i recalled being forced to try the uber smelly 臭豆腐 despite the already suffocating sulphur smell. And i had to apologise profusely to the stall owner for spitting out his tofu right in front of him, really cant take it, it is like eating sh*t, i know i know i haven tasted sh*t before, but it shld be the same. It was a cart then, no longer there. We treked up to the highest peak in taipei. 1120m high. The first section was intimidating with super many steps, steep ones, really worked on the thigh muscles.then second section was the choking pungent part. Third was flatter grounds with tall grasses on both sides and finally the peak, wasnt very rewarding cos of the heat. The thermometer read 37deg cel. Omg. Rested awhile before gg back down. Had taiwan ramen for dinner. Retrieved our luggage from the hotel and off we went, on mrt to 双连zhan, chked into via loft hotel. New and modern hotel, no bath tub this time, too bad, but got my fav sealy mattress. Went out again to the nearest night market. 宁夏夜市. Crowded as expected. Really dun like to squeeze with the crowd, but the pple are still ok, they dun push and touch u, got safety distance, jus hate the heat and the smell. Got the 盐酥鸡 which is nt superb, cos got bones, thot usually is boneless and papaya milk.

17 aug. 豆浆油条 for bfast. Then we took 捷运 to taipei main station where we change onto台铁 towards 瑞芳 then again to 十份. Actually i wonder why did i know 繁体字, since we were only taught 简体. Did my parents taught me when i was young? Mum will sure luff at me again, complaining abt how terrible my mandarin is, listening and reading is alright. Speaking and writing become abit more difficult without much practice. 十份老街 is alright, lined up along the tracks where pple 放天灯. We walked on to search for the waterfall which only later got to know it is under maintenance. A cab driver was surprised we went there and asked if we chked online, obviously we didnt. None of us is J so everything is ad-hoc. Anyhow, there is the small waterfall nearby at the suspension bridge. While we were on the way to the waterfall, saw many fallen lamps! They didnt fly far apparently and super non-eco, since they become rubbish. 

Went back to the visitor centre to board the bus to 平溪, an alternative route to squeezing with all others back via train. Explored abit in 平溪老街, where we queued again, adding on to the waiting time, for the famous sausage which tasted normal except it is really juicy, the 卤豆干 and didnt manage to catch what they call the what tasted like fishcake or rice cake type of qq stuff. Tasted normal too, portion too big so we brought back to the hotel for supper, which tasted surprising better when it is cooled. Of cos din forget my iced milk tea without pearls. Then again wait for the bus back, i think almost an hr, puke blood, lucky got the 孔明灯 to entertain us. 

August 2014 getaway - Taipei day 2 and 3

14 aug 2014. 808am. The alarm went off. One hr later than my usual 707am. We went to the hotel restaurant for bfast before setting off to yms. Took 小9 aka s9 uphill. The bus ride was the amazing ride ever. We learned that there is indication on the bus whether u need to tap the card for bus fare deduction at boarding or during alighting. There is also indication in the carriage when the brakes are applied and when the left right signals are activated by the bus cap. Pple treat each other as if they know each other. They strike conversations so easily and offer help asking which stop r u alighting and this pick up line doesnt jus end there, they started chatting. And there are many elderly. One prolly 70+ uncle had to give up his seat to another after asking him his age. 86 he said casually. Then the uncle said he shld let him have the seat since he is younger, in hokkien or their 台语 which is very similar. Very cool culture indeed, when others chip in, they wont think that eh why u eavedrop or accuse others of being kaypo, super frenly, they can make frens ever so easily. Also, as long as our eyes met, they are sure to greet, either with comments or jus 你好， 今天天气还不错， 我们正要去二子坪， 在那儿坐着或躺着看书. So in response, we also shared our itinerary, with obviously more horrible mandarin. When u want to speak 100% mandarin, the fluency is affected, almost stammering, like somehow cant find the right words. Urgh. Anyhow they get it. 

The mountainous road ride isnt fun as usual, sway here and there, almost getting motion sickness. We treked, so far, for hours. Went to yang ming park and datun waterfall, then to the visitor centre where we had the heavenly osmanthus ice cream plus iced yuzi tea. Thereafter, we continued to qixing park and finally lengshuikeng. The former with great view and before which we chatted with another couple along the way who were feeding the uber cute squirrels. The latter was an ulu place, 530pm, dunno where is the 坑, no water also. Shrugs.  The bus timing is like totally redundant, not accurate at all, might as well dont put. Jus like the distance indication along the way, totally doesnt feel like the dist at all, prolly becos of the terrain. A guy said we could have missed the last bus, so asked if we want to quickly descend with him before the sun goes down. The bus trip takes 30min leh, how can the walk take 30min, somemore he said 快的话， 20分钟. Im totally skeptical. It is impossible to trek down even at full energy and speed la, not to mention we were alr half dying, after treking the entire day. I thinkwe will prolly slow him down lo, managed to convince him to wait, think still have bus. So yes, finally, how relieved to see the bus 108, brought us back down to the interchange where we had to take the s9 back again. Had japanese meal for dinner.

We had the private hotspring in the hotel. White minerals, ph 5.5, wonder if it is real, anyway the water accidentally got into my eye and was quite painful, concluded real mineral water. Still shiok to soak in hot water after a day's walk.

15 aug, 第二天登山. Up again like yesterday, to 竹子湖. Thru the nice town where the uncle kindly directed us a more scenic route as compared to walking along the main route, which we can take on the way down then to his shop again haha. The peeps from the bus was also recommending us to try some dish, i think it was 山药鸡 or smth, but anyway wasnt hungry yet. So we walk thru the fields, so nice and peaceful. But too bad as it isnt winter, not the season for 海芋 flower to blossom. Still we managed to spot a couple amidst the green land. In the end got lost, couldnt find the way back to the main route to the shop for lunch. We hiked up further and reached 顶湖, there is also a super crowded restaurant up there which we din bother to queue tho. Finally found the way out to the bus stop, where we wanted to go up the qixing peak then later change plan to take to the last stop of the bus 二子坪. Foggy area, we walked on and on. Bet our leg muscles will be super toned. The bus back was super crowded, totally packed, missed one and got on the next after more than 30min of waiting time. Unbelievably long. If we totalled up all the waiting time from the entire trip, i wonder if it would how many hours, prolly one whole day if not 1.5. Had kfc for dinner.