Travel Diary

Perhaps it wasn't technically early, but it did feel that way when I woke up. However, there were places to go, and people to take unsuspecting photos of. We grabbed some food at the local shops to eat a quick breakfast. It was fun to be eating the rice, egg, and pork rolls once again. Eating over there is nice. It's actually cheaper just to buy meals than to prepare them (easier too!). The smells of the fresh food being cooked on the street are wonderful to experience as well--this is provided you don't wander near a stinky tofu stands (sad to say, an actual dish--I kid you not). Luckily, I avoided most of them during this trip. Just one whiff and your appetite is spoiled for the time being.

At a 7-11 (of which there are many in Taipei), I had also purchased a little carton of Asparagus Juice. It just had to be tried. Expecting the worst, I was shocked to find it very tasty and sweet. I bought a boiled egg there as well.

Leaving the apartment, we headed on the MRT (metro rain) and journeyed on over to the larger train station. Boarding that train, we made our way into the mountains and to the little quaint town of Shifen (literally meaning 10 minutes). How it got that name, I don't know. My brain holds just enough space to translate the words. Anything else could blow a fuse.

This was the town of lanterns. Each year, they have a big festival where many thousands come and write on large paper lanterns. They then light them on fire and launch them into the sky. I think it brings luck and grants wishes. Plus, with the landscape being so wet and lush, there's very little chance of wild fires. Most of the lantern burns up. I suppose there's a little wire left in the lantern to fall back to earth, but provided you're not the one underneath it when it falls back to earth ready to poke an eye out, then good luck is downright a given.

The people also seem to spend a lot of time hanging out on the tracks and taking photos. I guess this another reason that luck is so helpful when being in the town of Shifen. We did some photography on the tracks and then bought a lantern to write on, light fire, and then launch skyward. Soon, it was lit on fire and traveled up, up, and away. We never saw it again. I can only hope it didn't put out an eye. For the rest of my life, I'll always have those concerns. No, wait. That feeling has passed. What luck!

Next was a journey along the river and to a large waterfall pouring over a tall cliff. Such treats are common on this big tropical island and always a pleasure to see. After grabbing our fair share of photos, we trekked back to the train platform.

Come to think of it, there was a little luck in the town. I had let Brianna hold my Flip camera while I narrated a small video clip. While making the exchange back, it dropped into the water canal by the track. It wasn't terribly deep, but it was fully immersed for about 40 seconds. I didn't have high hopes for it; however, the camera worked fine upon retrieving it once again. What luck!

Or perhaps it was due to a water resistant design.

What luck that it was designed that way!

A train took us back on our journey again. An exciting part was sitting at the very front and watching the tunnels approach as we rolled along. One fun aspect was just waving to groups of people that we passed. They (possibly by human instinct) would always wave back. Ah, good times.

At a main junction, the girls headed back, and Terry and I took another train to another city. From there, we grabbed a cab and rode up small mountain roads--with no seatbelts, mind you. "Safety first" just hasn't reached other parts of the world. In Taiwan, I think it's currently Safety Sixth or something close to that. Nevertheless, it beat Safety Fourteenth--that would later occur upon the roads in Vietnam.

Up on the mountainside was a little town called Jiufen ("Nine Minutes"--again, no clue what the origin of the name is. I know that Shifen and Jiufen are NOT one minute apart, if that helps.) This village reportedly served as the inspiration for the cartoon town in Spirited Away. What it contains are long thin streets that climb snakelike up the mountain. Strewn all about are lanterns and creative fancy woodwork. It served as a great location for some night shots. Having our tripod and remote flash handy, we were able to snap some fun shots.

Apparently, the town is a hotspot for Japanese tourists too, which was a nice bonus since it provided many more tourists snapping many photos. It's always great when you're not the only one sitting there trying to be the consummate photographer. If everyone is doing it, you don't look so weird. This also applies to slurping your rice noodle soup.

Once we finished taking our shots, we ascended the town and found the bus line. It turned out to be a long, long wait. Taking a taxi would have been much faster, yet the bus was much cheaper. Choices and consequences, I suppose. I think we saved $3 in that 40-minute extra wait.

Back in town, we grabbed the MRT train again and rode back into the main city. We visited a camera store quickly since I was contemplating a new lens and the staff is maintained solely by pretty girls, but I didn't see anything in need of immediate purchase (regarding camera equipment). Finally, we returned home. I was exhausted.

Obviously, again sleep didn't take long.

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