My uncle (my mom's younger brother) picked us up after breakfast and we went to Yehliu Geopark (野柳地质公园)! We left at 8:30am and it was a 40-50 minutes' drive from our hotel (Ximen Citizen Hotel).
It was a weekday but still there was a huuuuuge crowd. Nevertheless, my uncle managed to get us tickets on the spot in mere minutes. Of course, it is best to visit this place during the off peak season to fully soak in what nature has to offer.
Yehliu is a cape in New Taipei City (新北市), which stretches approximately 1,700 metres into the ocean and was formed when geological forces pushed Datun Mountain (大屯山) out of the sea. Therefore, Yehliu Geopark is known for its many strange and quirky rock formations, and many of them are given names based on their shapes. The most popular one is "Queen's Head" (女王头), which has become an iconic image in Taiwan. Some of the other famous rock formations are "Fairy's Shoe", "Dragon Head", and "Sea Candles".
At the entrance, there is a board with images of all the rock formations and their names. I didn't manage to take the first half of the board as there were too many people crowding the area. It's better to glance across the board before you go in, so that you'll know which rocks to look out for and what their names are.
People queue-ing up to take photos with the Queen's Head! It's the only rock here getting so much attention.
According to a website, the rock looks like the side profile of Queen Elizabeth, hence the name. Hmmm I don't know about that, but it sure does look like the side profile of an elegant woman! So awesome.
Honeycombed rock. So geli, lol.
With my uncle.
There are security guards all over the place to ensure that no one crosses the red lines that are drawn along the edges.
This is the statue of Lin Tien Jane. It was erected to commemorate his bravery for sacrificing his own life to save a college student who fell into the sea. However, the rescue was not successful as the student died as well.
Does it look like a leopard? (The head is so freaking geli..)
Apparently so.
We spent about an hour here. I would say probably two hours is just nice if you want to find each and every rock formation. I believe it will take quite a while because there aren't any signs that point you in the right directions (except for the Queen's Head), and since there are thousands of random rocks lying around... I totally would if time allowed, but we only had one day to go around Taipei, so maybe during the next visit!
We passed through this market on our way out. You can find food items, drinks, and souvenirs here.
They sell some of my favourite cold drinks but it didn't seem very appropriate to drink them in chilly weather D: The downside of being in a cold country sigh. Anyway, my sister and I bought a whole bag of keychains and fridge magnets for a cheap price after my uncle bargained with the shopkeeper :P (These souvenirs in mainstream tourist areas like Ximending is double the price and what's more, you can't bargain.)
Our next destination was to Yangmingshan National Park (阳明山国家公园). It took about 40 minutes driving up on a narrow and winding road, and we stopped halfway for lunch. I actually did not expect to see a row of restaurants in the middle of nowhere. Surprisingly, they were all packed with people too.
I don't know what's the name of the restaurant we went to, unfortunately. I love the window seats as the restaurant overlooks lush greenery :) As it was lunch time, the place was especially crowded.
We ordered eight dishes altogether - eight, for five people! The portion was definitely not small, but we were ravenous by the time we got there. The food was also delicious so we had no trouble finishing (almost) everything :P Their meehoon soup (米粉汤) is especially good and it's very popular among the customers. Thick meehoon is used instead of the usual thin ones, and the soup is made from fresh fish stock thus giving it a rich flavour. The best thing is that it's priced at NTD30 only AND you get unlimited refills (if you dine there)!
The scenery outside the restaurant. The sign there says Ching Chai Yuan (青菜园) - not sure if it's the name of the place or if it's pointing out that it is, in fact, a green vegetable garden.
On the way to our destination, we passed by the filming site of The Crossing (太平轮), starring TAKESHI KANESHIRO and ZHANG ZIYI - OMGGGGG!!!!! First we saw trucks transporting stacks of hay and whatnot to a house (specially built for the film) in the middle of a field, vans from a production company, and police directing traffic away from the location. Then we looked over to the house and saw studio lights and other shooting equipment set up outside.. My uncle had just read about it in the newspaper the day before, so he knew.
Asdfghjkl that was as close as I can get to Takeshi Kaneshiro (and Zhang Ziyi) AND they weren't even there yet since filming hadn't commence. BUT I SAW THE FILMING LOCATIONNNNN :') :') :') Okay obviously I didn't have time to take a photo since the car was moving, so the place disappeared in mere seconds :/
Somewhere along the way, my uncle parked his car at a designated area and we got down. Everywhere looks the same that it seems so easy to get lost up on the mountains. It was 10°C here! We were at Qingtiangang (擎天岗), a lava terrace that was formed when the lava from Mount Zhugao flowed northward after its eruption.
The relatively level terrain made it a pasture for cattle to graze during the Japanese occupation, and a ranch was established up here. Long-term grazing has since turned this area into an expansive grassland.
We came to this area where there were a number of cattles grazing on our left!
We climbed over the fence. Notice in the few pictures below black piles scattered across the land - those are cattle dung, some of them bigger than my hand! It felt like we were walking in a minefield avoiding explosive mines haha.
After that, my uncle took us to a mini hot spring in Lengshuikeng (冷水坑). The water temperature of the hot springs in this area only reaches 40°C, which is way below the temperature of other hot springs. Thus the name Lengshuikeng, which literally translates as "cold water pit".
I was grossed out by the sight of such dirty water at the entrance..
This is as natural as it can get haha.
The hot spring outside is just for you to dip your legs in. But if you want to soak your whole body, you can go to the one in the small house on top. They have enclosed areas for both men and women, however you are required to take off all your clothing when you go into the water - according to my uncle. Oh wow haha.
I dipped my legs in the hot water for merely a few minutes and got up feeling warm and refreshed. Feels soooo gooood. Then I saw a pretty bird perched on a tree trunk! I immediately started snapping away :D A few others were taking pictures of the bird too.
I thought it would fly away after a few moments because it may be scared of humans, but to my surprise, it flew down and stood right in front of us!! Yay the close proximity was an advantage to me since I don't have a telephoto lens lol. I love its vibrant blue and red!
We left about 3pm. Going back to the city was much faster - it took only half an hour (or less). My uncle then took us for a drive around the city center. Here is the Presidential Office Building (总统府), the Taiwanese version of the White House :P
This is the Auxiliary South Gate (if I'm not mistaken), one of the gates of the Taipei City Walls.
The wall was built in 1884. It was almost 5km in length and could be accessed via five gates namely the East Gate, West Gate, North Gate, South Gate, and Auxiliary South Gate. Unfortunately, during the first few years of the Japanese occupation, the city walls and the West Gate were destroyed as part of the city restructuring plan. After the end of World War II, the East, South, and Auxiliary South Gate were rebuilt but the original designs were not retained. Only the North Gate kept its original appearance, thus differing vastly from the other gates.
Next, we went to Taipei 101. We were there the previous night with our tour group but we didn't have the time to stroll around the shopping centre.
The green-ish panels are part of Taipei 101. They look out of place but I like the concept :D
Practically every shop here sells branded items - reminding me of Pavilion.
Later, we went to pick my 12-year-old cousin from tuition before going to my uncle's apartment where my aunt and another cousin were waiting. We walked to a restaurant located a few streets away from their apartment for dinner. How nice to just walk out to eat, instead of having to drive all the time.
I enjoyed dinner very much. It was the most delicious restaurant food in Taiwan so far haha. We had minced beef, lala, tofu, chicken, vegetables, and codfish. The codfish was the only dish that I wasn't satisfied with, as the flesh was too soft. Dessert was red bean soup and after that they served us complimentary fruits of guava, watermelon, and cherry tomato with plum. The cherry tomato with plum is a very popular fruit in Taiwan and can be found easily. The juice from the cherry tomato paired together with the sourness from the plum makes it not too sour but just perfect. Mmmhm I love it!
Back at my uncle's apartment after dinner. Thank you tik kuku for the kind and generous hospitality! ^^ Happy to see my cousins too because they only come back (to Kedah, where my mom's hometown is) once every few years during Chinese New Year.
Mu uncle sent us back to our hotel around 9pm. Before 10pm, we walked to Ximending and shopped until after midnight lol. A lot of shops were preparing to close then (there are some restaurants that operate until 3am though), but many food stalls were starting to set up outside. Well anyway, since Ximending is one of the most happening places in the city, it's not surprising to have the liveliness stretch past midnight!
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8th day in Taiwan ; It was goodbye
Since there's nothing much about the next day, which is our last day in Taiwan, I'll just combine it into one post.
Finally, finally, we didn't have a 6am wake up call anymore. I woke up at 8:30am (still considered early for me but oh well), and after breakfast of toast with sausage, ham, and scrambled eggs (they serve the same food as the day before -.-), we went to Ximending for the last time. You'd think we seriously couldn't get enough of Ximending haha! I have been there four times, so.. guess I'm quite familiar with the place now ;)
I didn't know last-minute shopping works but guess what - it did. For my sister anyway. She bought four pairs of pretty pants and one top from the same shop, all for a reasonable price. Some shops are already open before 10am. One of the shopkeeper said they have to max their operating hours because the rent is so expensive.
We quickly packed our bags when we came back to the hotel, and gathered at the lobby at 11:30am. The local tour guide brought us to Taipei's Tianhou Temple (台北天后宫), located just a few streets away from our hotel. The temple is also known as Ximending Mazu Temple, and it is one of the three major temples in Taiwan from the Qing Dynasty - that explains why the interior seemed to bring me back to thousands of years ago.
We left the hotel before noon as our flight was at 3pm (which was later delayed for almost an hour..). Sigh, it's always sad when the last day of a trip comes to an end. I left Taiwan with a heavy heart T.T I don't know why but I feel a close bond with the country, so much so that I experienced post-vacation depression for the first time when I got back to Malaysia, LOL (also maybe because I haven't been travelling overseas much).
I love the weather (although sometimes it gets too cold to handle), the street food, and the friendliness of the people. Taiwan, you're a great country.
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