Yehliu

On Sunday I headed out to Yehliu Geopark. It was a success.

I went alone, as many as my Sundays turn out. I wasn't thrilled about that but it ended up being okay. The park is a bus ride to Taipei and then a bus ride from there. I was pretty convinced that I was going the wrong way and was going to end up somewhere totally different. But with the help of a few different, very amiable Taiwanese people, I made it.

The town of Yehliu is great. It is a little fishing town with a cool harbor and all the shops sell fresh fish and ocean things. It as nice to walk around and be by the ocean. I didn't realize how much I miss it! I took a couple wrong ways trying to get to the park but eventually found it.

It is really awesome. It is on the north east coast and made of sand stone. Because of the roaring wind that whips through there, the rock has been transformed into crazy shapes - mushrooms, turrets, and even one that looks like Nefertiti bust. It's pretty cool. It was swarmed with people, but I managed to wander around long enough to find a place where there were fewer people. I plopped down on a rock right on the ocean and watched the fishermen and people walking by. It was really peaceful and so nice.

The place is really cool. It's a trek getting out there but I thought it was worth it.

Thanksgiving

So, this being my second Thanksgiving away from home, I consider myself a vet. This Thanksgiving was both similar and different to my Czech one.

The Menu

Rooney and Ting! 

The food. 

A few days before, Rooney and I found a restaurant that was serving Thanksgiving dinner - turkey and all. After (very) briefly entertaining the idea of having everyone over to our house to eat, we decided that going to the restaurant and letting them deal with all the clean up was a much better idea. So we rounded up the troops and got everyone excited for dinner!

Thursday day, a small group of us went to the park and played football. It's not really Thanksgiving without some sort of physical activity/competition. It was a fun game and the weather couldn't have been nicer. It was nicer here than it was at home.

Dinner was great! We all headed over there after work and were treated to a huge meal! We had turkey, vegetables, salad, soup, mashed potatoes, stuffing (but it was weird), and pumpkin pie. We all ate way too much, but again, what's Thanksgiving if not a time to eat yourself sick!?

All in all it was a great Thanksgiving. The only thing it was missing was my family! But I got to skype them, so that made it a little better!

Happenings

Here are just some happenings in the day to day of life in Taiwan. 

Last Tuesday, Rooney and I went to the batting cages right by our house. It was really fun. We bought the least amount of tokens and quickly decided that wasn't going to be enough. All of the bats were way to big for me but I hit my fair share of home runs. At the batting cages they also had a lot of arcade games and stuff. We played a couple including basketball (which I failed miserably at), bowling (which I won, best two out of three), a freaky throwing game, and Rooney did a 'how hard can you punch game'. After that, I decided I wouldn't take Rooney on in a fight - he got the highest score on the machine, ever. 

Wednesday, we went into Taipei for the art exhibit by Ai Weiwei. It was really interesting. He does a lot of really freaky stuff, but some really cool stuff too. In the entrance hall of the museum where his exhibit is housed, he has an installment. It is all the heads of the different Chinese Zodiac animals. It was pretty cool! I couldn't remember what animal I was but later found out I am a dragon - super bad ass, and the envy of Rooney who is a rat. Haha. But we both agreed it could be worse, we could be a pig. 

After the museum, we walked around the area. It is right next to the place where they had the floral exhibit last year so there is some really cool stuff. We wandered around and took lots of pictures! 

 Friday, we went back to Taipei to go to the top of Taipei 101. It was pretty awesome. The people there warned us that the view wasn't very good because it wasn't clear. But we were both happy we went up. The view was still pretty amazing. The building is pretty awesome as well. 

Friday night, at 1130pm Rooney and I decided to go to see the newest Twilight movie at 1220am. We were supposed to go with a big group but that didn't end up working out and he was PANICKING that he wasn't going to get to see it. So we rushed out of the house in pajamas, sped over to Taimall and cursed everyone who slowed our elevator's ascent to the seventh floor. I thought Rooney was going to start taking people out on our sprint to the ticket line. I was laughing so hard. The movie turned out to be entertaining but there is no doubt, he was more excited to see it than I was. 

Sunday, we played ultimate football. That is ultimate frisbee rules with a football. It was pretty fun but a lot different than using a frisbee. Some of the boys also went over and challenged some Taiwanese guys to basketball, sure that they would obliterate them. Well, didn't really go as planned. The game was over in about six minutes - pride crushed. Haha. But it was funny to watch. 

Monday night brought the usual bowling games. Our team did amazing. We had the highest score of everyone again - by about one hundred pins - and so won the money. I did really great. I bowled a 148, not too shabby. The second game didn't go as well. My first frame I hit exactly 0 pins. Yes, that's a zero, not a large 'o'. Talk about a nightmare. I think I bowled more zeroes in that game than I have before. Somehow though, I ended up with a 115. Not terrible but not great. 

Tuesday Rooney tried to teach me how to shoot a basketball against my warnings. I'm trying to become adequate but I don't see that happening anytime soon. He's a pretty good teacher though. I made the most baskets I can remember making. And that is only about 10 in a 30minute window. Haha. Oh well. I'll stick to soccer and frisbee.

Tuesday night, Kay invited Rooney and I to go with her and some friends to KTV. It is a karaoke place but you get your own room so it's slightly less embarrassing. We had a lot o fun! But Kay tried to kill us. Rooney and I sang a couple smash hits including the Backstreet Boys, Taylor Swift, and Frank Sinatra. We also had a number of disaster songs. Haha. But all in all it was a pretty fun night! And Kay's daughter Vivian came so it was fun to hang out from her again (see Moon Festival). 

Lots of laughs. Lots of fun. Life is good.

The Taiwan Flower Garden

Vivian and Anna at KTV

KTV

Kay!

Doin' his thang.

Weiwei's Chinese Zodiac

Yangmingshan National Park

Another journal entry, another blog.

11/13/11

Today, I'm headed to YMS NP. I am really excited. I've wanted to go for a while but it never worked out until now. Rooney was going to come today but decided to sleep instead. Cristelle was also going to come but she is going to Taipei now with the other girls to see an art exhibit. I think I'll see that sometime this week. It's supposed to be great. But that means I'm flying solo today. I'm kind of happy about that though. I don't have much alone time so it's nice to recharge every once in a while. And what better place to do that then surrounded by beauty?

(Post visit)

So YMS NP is beautiful. Today was super foggy/misty so the views weren't great from the mountain. The whole bus ride up was gorgeous though, and you could see the mountain shrouded in mist. There were some awesome views of Taipei 101 too. 

I pretty much just wandered around. Got lost a bunch, but that's the best way to really see a place, I think! I went up and down and up and down tons of stairs - so many I lost count. Came across lots of flowers and "pavilions". Also found the waterfall that was "too far to walk to". And I'm really glad I made it there because it was awesome. There were multiple levels and so much water. There was also a bridge that crossed it at a middle level and it was great! I could have sat there all day. 

I took a little side path I found that pointed the way to Young Mountain. I'm not sure it was necessary but at least it was a great workout. In just that little section I climbed over 300 stairs. And the top was nothing. Just a clearing with a building. Haha. Sometimes you hit a home run and sometimes you miss. 

I made my way back to the bus stop and then pack to Taipei. More great shots of the metro area and Taipei 101. I decided to go to the base of 101, just to see it. The MRT was so crowded. It's easy to forget how crowded Asia really is until you're taking public transportation at rush hour - and it was a Sunday. 

It was a great day. I got my alone time and worked out. 

In other news:

Bowling league is still happening though my score has been slowly diminishing. Not terrible but not the uncharacteristic scores of the previous weeks. A few weeks ago, though we won the money for having the overall highest score for the night. Yeah buddy!

Rooney and I found an amazing movie theater. It serves you dinner, included in the price of the ticket, and you get a huge lazy boy recliner and a blanket. Definitely better than the theaters at home. And a fraction of the cost if you count the food!

My family is coming pretty soon and I can't wait! Only a little over a month! Woo! We're planning a tour of Taiwan! I just can't wait to not be forced to see their nostrils and have my dad keep blinding me with the white of his belly. The little things, you know?? 

The other night Rooney and I had Ting, our Taiwanese friend over for dinner. It was great! We cooked some dinner and she brought the dessert. But we ran out of rice and so she brought some of that too. We also learned that we really had no idea how to use our rice maker. Haha. But Ting taught us! She's great!

21.0975 KM

This post is being transposed from my journal. Since I've already written about it once, why write it again?

So, here I am sitting on the Taroko Express Train. What a weekend. Cristelle and I caught a midnight train (23:50) from Taipei on Friday night. I forgot my headphones - a nightmare for a half marathon. So we were looking for a pair for purchase but all we could find was the sticker prize from 7/11. Haha! They are retractable ear buds attached to a character. Not ideal but better than nothing. And good for a laugh if nothing else. 

The train ride itself was uneventful and so, good. But they didn't turn off the lights in the cabin so all hopes of grabbing a nap were thrown out the moving train. We didn't arrive to Hualien until 02:50ish. We met up with Sam (a guy from the South dorms) and cabbed to the hotel, grabbed an hour of sleep (literally) before the race, and headed out the door at 04:50. It's a good thing we left early because our cab driver was an idiot. And that's being nice. But let me back up.

Sam purchased the train ticket with his race packet but Cristelle and I didn't So morning of, we had to arrive at the train station early to buy them. We had to take a train to a shuttle to the race area. We met a really nice couple who assured us the race was the best in Taiwan. They offered to share a cab with us but didn't know Sam was with us. They flagged down a cab for us as well, though. Enter the idiot driver.

We used Sam's ticket to show the man, in Chinese, where we wanted to go. Well he took off in the wrong direction. We let him go because clearly we don't know the area. And we said about five times "Hualien Tran Station," each time getting a reassuring nod and "hao, hao, hao!" (okay). After about 15 minutes of driving we were 99.99 percent sure he was taking us somewhere else. We told him again, "Hualien Train Station!" And he said yes. Then we informed him that the night before it had taken all of three minutes to get from the station to the hotel. 

Finally, he pulled over and we made it abundantly clear that he was wrong. By this time it was about 05:15 and we had to be at/on the train by 05:30. And Cristelle and I still needed tickets. We were panicked. He figured out where we wanted to go and then took us some back way. We got stopped at a rail crossing and I was certain we would see our train go by. I was mentally preparing myself for not running. But against all odds and despite our drivers best efforts, we made it to the train station, sprinted through the station, threw money all over the place and jumped on the train. Then we relaxed.

When we got off the train we were herded into such long lines to catch the race shuttles. But the sun was rising and it was beautiful. I've waited in much worse lines. 

The race area was packed and the course was amazing! Cristelle and I ran together for about four miles before splitting up. We ran through tunnels, over bridges, along the river, under cliffs. Definitely an amazing course. At one point a butterfly flitted ahead of me and led me on. It was definitely someone looking out for me. There was also an amazing waterfall that I ran over to take a picture of. 

Then all of a sudden the next four miles were all uphill. Talk about a nightmare. I had to keep telling myself Jai-oh! (keep going!). I saw Sam heading back and figured I had to be close to the turn around. And I was right. It definitely couldn't have come at a better time. When I turned around, I definitely felt better and couldn't help smiling. It was all downhill (literally) from there. 

I fell into pace with an older Chinese man who gave me so much support, though most of it was unspoken -- just little looks, thumbs up. He kept pointing at the markers - 5 km left, 3 km left. He tried talking to me but when that didn't work we just ran together. It was really a special thing. It doesn't sound like much but it really meant a lot to me. Something I'll remember forever, the Chinese man who helped me run. :)

After the race I congratulated myself, multiple times - naturally. I finished the race in two hours and nine minutes - HELL YEAH! I was so happy and proud of myself and felt so accomplished. I LOVE DREAM STREET. 

We got free lunch after and somehow all found each other. We headed back to the hotel and the rest of the day was filled with different combinations of eating, sleeping, watching TV and talk to family and friends. So lazy but we had just run a half marathon so we excused ourselves. 

The train ride home was great. The ride is gorgeous. It hugs the coast and has so many amazing views. Has to be one of the prettier rides on the planet. I couldn't stop taking pictures. We met up with Rooney in Taipei and went to Beitou - the hot springs. I soaked my feet in the river again. 

Such a wonderful weekend!