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.
