Reunited with the HardCores this weekend

The Hardcores came in on a Thu evening, left on a Sun evening like a tornado. Actually there're 2 typhoons approaching Taiwan right now. Guess God was gracious enough to give us good weather and hold the typhoons back for a while.

Right now, I am nursing a pinched muscle in my right arm, a missing house key and lots of dirty sheets to wash...

BUT BOY WAS IT FUN!!! I climbed 3 days in a row, laughed and ate and hung out like old times. Here's our photographic evidence of being hardcore and enjoying every moment of it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8062670@N07/sets/72157603288785093/

I miss them already.

Derek - weather forecast is 13-14degrees this week. God loves you! And tonight's news, there are 2 men missing from Longdong (they showed the same entrance we walked in from), they were fishing from the rocks. Rescuers found only their fishing gear... Pls pray for their safety.

Yz - you should've stayed back to see both typhoons.. Damn it is so wet now. Here's a pix of the typhoons for you to imagine...

Jo - I hope you enjoy touring rest of Taiwan. Gimme a call if you need anything. You know how I speak/behave like a local now :)

PS My missing housekeys saga update - landlady passed me her spare keys, but seems like I need to replace the entire lock to be safe, that'll set me back 4500NT. Sob!

Happy Birthday!

God is great - my 1st birthday here coincided with TDC (Taiwan Development Center) Annual Party. It was a formal do held at the Grand Regent Formosa. The theme was 'bling-bling'. I went shopping earlier with Sharon & Angela, didn't find anything bling enough, so I borrowed Sharon's long pearls/shiny stones necklace.

My team knew it was my birthday that night, so predictably, I had to drink quite a bit. Then I won one of the better prizes of the night, 3000NT of Sogo vouchers. Yay! Then I had to drink with more and more people... By the end of the night, I was totally wasted. Ghee Hwee & Sharon walked me home (one on each side)... left me asleep on my couch, can't even make the stairs up to my bed.

The good thing was, I was only really drunk towards the end, so not many people saw me. The bad thing was, word spreads. Monday all day, every meeting I went to, everyone I met asked if I was feeling better. Damn... So much for reputation now.

Climbing!

I realised how my blog is slanting towards my tourist activities over weekends. Lest it be forgotten, I AM A CLIMBER! Here's some evidence of my climbing - typically I manage to climb perhaps 2x a week.

Pix of Peter & I bouldering at 内湖运动公园. 内湖 is an awesome place - wide open skies, the Keelung river flowing by and the winds there are simply awesome. I almost froze to death bouldering in my Prana singlet. Thankfully that day was a warm break in winter - it was 25degrees but after a while, you'd be cold. In the distance of the bouldering area, you can see the Taipei 101 and the city sky line. Just to the side, on the banks of the Keelung river, cyclists are going up and down... Was a beautiful day to be out, bouldering, walking, living life.

My climbing kakis from Singapore arrive this Thursday. Needless to say, our plans are simple - climb everyday. I can't wait.

Taroko Gorge 太魯閣

I wanted to visit since I got to Taiwan - the Taroko Gorge certainly lived up to expectations, it was really beautiful.

Formed 1st by ancient limestone which metamorphosed into marble over millions of years, some seventy million years ago the rock strata under the sea were forced up to form mountains, including the Taiwan Mountain Ranges - exposing the horizontal marble strata, eventually creating the vertical valleys of the Taroko Gorge. -- taken from the Taroko Gorge govt website.

All my pix - http://www.flickr.com/photos/8062670@N07/sets/72157603110029640/

It was a great trip, we stayed in Hualien in a homestay - it shall remain nameless as I don't want to plug for it. It was new and nice - but the owner tried to fleece us while we were there. So, I would not recommend going back to stay there.

Day 1

- Arrived Hualien 10.20am.

- Brunch of Bian-shi noodles - it was good!

- Bulowan

- Tunnel of 9 Turns

- Tiansiang

- Eternal Spring Shrine

- Dinner in a Hualien restaurant - including 3layer pork. Good!

- Hualien night market. Garin outshot me at archery, shooting and ball throwing. It sucks!

Day 2

- Road trip down the East Coast with views of the Pacific Ocean

- Baci Viewpoint

- Jici Beach

- Lunch at Guanfu village

- back to trainstation and home.

I had a great wknd at the Gorge, the slimey owner of the minshu fleecing us was the only thing that marred an otherwise fantastic wknd. Again I ate lots, laughed lots and got a good break away from Taipei.

Will be back - this time might be easier to stay in Tiansiang and be closer to the hikes - I want to do at least 1 good one - like the Baiyang hike.

Taroko Gorge - I'll be back!

Jolted dreams...

I experienced my 3rd earthquake this morning. Shaken awake again. Didn't think it was as strong as the last one which was about 3 on the Richter scale in Taipei, but disconcerting to be shaken awake nontheless.

BUT, I am going to visit Taroko Gorge this weekend. Yay! Finally! So what if it's cold and wintery already. Damnit, I've been wanting to go there since I got here.

Booked this homestay or 民宿, SeaBlue Sky. Bought our train tickets to Hualien. Took Monday off work. ALL SET! Mountain hiking here I come!!!!

---
Thu, Nov 08, 2007 - Quake rattles north Taiwan, no reports of damage
TAIPEI

A MODERATE earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale rattled northern Taiwan on Thursday, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 6.54am was about 46km east of the north-eastern Ilan county, at a depth of 4km, the Central Weather Bureau said in a statement. Earthquakes occur frequently in Taiwan, which lies on a seismically active stretch of the Pacific basin.

One of Taiwan's worst-recorded quakes occurred in September 1999. Measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, it killed more than 2,400 people and destroyed or damaged 50,000 buildings. -- REUTERS

Hoping Island

Garin & I intended to go to Yeliou rock formations beyond Keelung. But the tourist information folks at Keelung told us we were a little late and as it gets dark by 5.30pm in winter time, it was not advisable to still proceed. Instead they recommended Ho-ping Island, about half an hour by bus from Keelung.

Ho-ping Island was not bad - the coasts were pretty spectacular. As with most weekend when Garin and I find a tourist spot outside of the city, the coast, the waves, the sea breeze was a fantastic break from working/living/being in the inner city all the time.

The winds were pretty strong today and it drizzled the whole time... so it was pretty wet and cold. Good thing kiasu me had my winter jacket on already :) According to the lady who sold us the entry ticket to Hoping Island - it was grade 6 waves, rough by their standards.

Happy All Saints Day & All Souls Day!

Thu was All Saints Day - strangely there were no extra masses in the churches here. I had to call just about every Catholic church within the Taipei city district. At least now I know where all the churches that has English masses are! Anyways, Aaron and I attended 8pm mass at St Christopher in Little Manila. We tried to get Fillino food before mass but they were mostly closed - ended up with Subway.

All Souls Day - Aaron suggested night market as he was returning to US for thanksgiving and someone in Houston asked him to get the stupid bobbing head dolls. We ended up eating way too much fried food, then Aaron bought 2 pairs of jeans - he refused the jewel studded ones Sharon kept insisting on. They needed time for alterations - we ended up buying the dolls + sit thru a foot massage session.

The 2 of them were hilarious.. they kept complaining, wincing and then exclaiming when the masseur tell them it's for their brains, liver etc... No wonder boss always complains about having 2 Sharons & 2 Aarons on the team...

I now know where to take the HardCores when they come for an excellent foot massage - plus they close at 5am. Cool or what?

Happy Halloween!

My new condo - looks almost ready. Thanks to Francis who sent me the pix.

Hopefully I'll be able to rent it out easily.

Happy Halloween! My team decided to celebrate the occasion!