I am now at the Dynasty Lounge of the Taipei Taoyuan Airport, having had a light meal. Met up my Taiwanese friend yesterday morning and she drove me around. First we stopped at Taipei Grand Hotel for some Kodak moments. We then drove on to Beitou Hot Springs at the outskirts of the city. I was amazed that these kind of natural places exist so near a city. We dropped by the Beitou Hot Spring Museum before walking on to a hot spring pool where we saw clouds swirling around. Thankfully the sulpur smell wasn’t too strong.
We then drove to Liuhuangku Geothermal Scenic Area where there was a vast land of wasteland-like area with clouds of gas swirling with its strong smell of sulphur.
Next we drove futher north to the coast where the hills meet the sea. And the sea was rough yesterday, very rough and angry indeed. It was pissing rain practically the whole day, a perfect day for relaxing in on a lazy Sunday.
We stopped at Dangshui where the river meets the sea and later had an ice cream lunch at Big Tom [!]. I had two scoops of sinful ice cream flavours, can’t really recall the name now.
We then drove past the towns of Sanshih and Jinshan. I’m afraid I got a bit sleepy then and dozed off a bit [oh no!]. Tiffany was thoughtful and considerate enough not to wake me up.
We drove further along the north coast and round the bend of the north part of the island to Yehliu Scenic Geopark where there were amazing formations of sand and stone sculptures, formed over the centuries by wind and water. It was amazing; there was the mushroom rock group, the Queen’s Head [so called because it resembled a lady’s head], bean curd rock, among many others. We spent some time here admiring the scene and walking along the rocky beach. We even went into a small cave.
Having spent about an hour there, we then left. I bought some seafood produce, fish floss and chilli-fried shrimps. Tiffany also bought some fried seaweed coated in flour and some grilled squid.
We drove on to the mining town of Rueifang, up in the hills but alas, the museum had already closed by then. We the went to Jioufen, to its old street. A charming little place, it was.
We left after a while and this was when I started to feel strange and funny. I started feeling a headache and then felt like I was going to throw up. And Tiffany had already planned for us to have dinner with her friend at Taipei 101, the highest building in the world.
I felt more and more ill the further we drove and could only barely managed to contain myself. Finally, we pulled up at a gas station and I ran to the washroom and threw up. I then had some diarroea and threw up again at Tiffany’s basement carpark washroom. She then took me to a pharmacy where I parted with some Taiwan Dollars purchasing pills [and had another round of throwing up spree].
Felt better after that but badly needed to relax so Tiffany sent me back to the hostel.
My friend who is joining me on the trip sent a text to inform her flight was delayed so I rested first, dozing off in the process. She then texted me again after midnight and I went to meet her at the Zhongsan Metro station. Unfortunately, Taiwanese don’t speak good English and she was instead brought by the cabbie to Longshan Temple. A flurry of text messages was sent between us and finally I told her to take another cab. It was past 1 am this morning when we finally got together and I brought her back to the hostel.
Naturally we woke up a bit late today. Went out to find the Taipei Grand Mosque and made it back in time to perform prayers before finding our way to the Taipei Main Station and catch the bus back to the airport for our afternnon flight to our next destination. The bus stop was quite a walk from the Main Station.
Alright, I have to dash now. The journey continues...
We then drove to Liuhuangku Geothermal Scenic Area where there was a vast land of wasteland-like area with clouds of gas swirling with its strong smell of sulphur.
Next we drove futher north to the coast where the hills meet the sea. And the sea was rough yesterday, very rough and angry indeed. It was pissing rain practically the whole day, a perfect day for relaxing in on a lazy Sunday.
We stopped at Dangshui where the river meets the sea and later had an ice cream lunch at Big Tom [!]. I had two scoops of sinful ice cream flavours, can’t really recall the name now.
We then drove past the towns of Sanshih and Jinshan. I’m afraid I got a bit sleepy then and dozed off a bit [oh no!]. Tiffany was thoughtful and considerate enough not to wake me up.
We drove further along the north coast and round the bend of the north part of the island to Yehliu Scenic Geopark where there were amazing formations of sand and stone sculptures, formed over the centuries by wind and water. It was amazing; there was the mushroom rock group, the Queen’s Head [so called because it resembled a lady’s head], bean curd rock, among many others. We spent some time here admiring the scene and walking along the rocky beach. We even went into a small cave.
Having spent about an hour there, we then left. I bought some seafood produce, fish floss and chilli-fried shrimps. Tiffany also bought some fried seaweed coated in flour and some grilled squid.
We drove on to the mining town of Rueifang, up in the hills but alas, the museum had already closed by then. We the went to Jioufen, to its old street. A charming little place, it was.
We left after a while and this was when I started to feel strange and funny. I started feeling a headache and then felt like I was going to throw up. And Tiffany had already planned for us to have dinner with her friend at Taipei 101, the highest building in the world.
I felt more and more ill the further we drove and could only barely managed to contain myself. Finally, we pulled up at a gas station and I ran to the washroom and threw up. I then had some diarroea and threw up again at Tiffany’s basement carpark washroom. She then took me to a pharmacy where I parted with some Taiwan Dollars purchasing pills [and had another round of throwing up spree].
Felt better after that but badly needed to relax so Tiffany sent me back to the hostel.
My friend who is joining me on the trip sent a text to inform her flight was delayed so I rested first, dozing off in the process. She then texted me again after midnight and I went to meet her at the Zhongsan Metro station. Unfortunately, Taiwanese don’t speak good English and she was instead brought by the cabbie to Longshan Temple. A flurry of text messages was sent between us and finally I told her to take another cab. It was past 1 am this morning when we finally got together and I brought her back to the hostel.
Naturally we woke up a bit late today. Went out to find the Taipei Grand Mosque and made it back in time to perform prayers before finding our way to the Taipei Main Station and catch the bus back to the airport for our afternnon flight to our next destination. The bus stop was quite a walk from the Main Station.
Alright, I have to dash now. The journey continues...
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