Today began promptly at 9:15... Exactly an hour later than I had planned. There is this issue that if you don’t actually turn on your alarm clock then it doesn’t go off. I so used to a phone alarm conveniently going off everyday without having to reset it. I got up took a really fast shower and went for breakfast in the Family Mart. I left around 10:45, then had to run back up to my dorms to grab Sunny as it was raining. I walked to Guting station to meet Shun and Sanohara. We would be riding all the way to the end of green line, Xidan, and be meeting Chinatsu and a new friend. It’s funny because as we got further down green line there were less and less people on the train. And yet when we came out into the station there were plenty of people and the city was very much alive.
Once at the end of Green line we hopped a bus, and to be honest at this point I had no idea where we were going. I had a vague impression that we were going somewhere with a waterfall. I had just been introduced to Shichi, Chinatsu friend and we were ushered onto a bus. Now, everyone except me on this trip is Japanese. They all speak very little English so I had fun switching between Japanese, Chinese and bouts of English. It was very interesting for me as I don’t speak very fast in either Japanese or Manadarin, I did a lot of listening. After about a 30 minute bus ride, we made it up to Wulai. This area is outside Taipei city limits in the mountains. It’s a river town with a giant waterfall.
Upon arrival the first order of business was to find lunch. we walked up into the shopping area that was made for the tourists, food was a little bit expensive but we checked out pretty much all the shops on that strip to find food. We stopped at local restaurant found some very interesting things on the menu. I am adventurous about food but eating bees, somehow seems hazardous. I ended up getting rice mixed with pumpkin. It was delicious. The bamboo and rice was also very good. We sat and talked about age and what we were doing in Taiwan. It was a very interesting get to know you session. After that we headed off to the little train station.
The train ride over to the waterfalls was really fun. We kept laughing because it was like a mini roller coaster with all the bumps and random sudden turns. The area we were in was absolutely beautiful. The mountains were like green walls. The bugs, of course, were very loud; I am beginning to get used to it though. We rounded the corner and the waterfall came into view. It was an absolutely epic sight to behold. We all stopped laughing so we could stare at it. We wandered around taking pictures. Then it was decided that we should go to the top of the waterfall via the gondolas. getting to the gondola involved some very sideways and steep sets of stairs. Just for fun I decided to run up them. Shun kept telling “Genki, Genki!” Which is Japanese is like calling someone healthy, but it means you are good. It was a lovely compliment, trust me.
At the top of the waterfall there was a big hotel resort. I wasn’t super thrilled about it. I really wanted to do some hiking but the rest of the group had not really dressed for it. I tried to persuade them for a short 2k but they really weren’t going for it. So we wandered around the resort. I at one point found access to the river, ditched my shoes and went river rock climbing. I think I scared everyone a little. I just wanted to go explore the other side nothing too exciting. I did however, earn a round of applause when I returned. It was all in good fun, and I did manage to get a little bit dirty. We stayed up there for maybe two hours just wandering around. Then we head back down via the gondolas.
We hopped the bus back to Taipei. It was a long enough ride I managed to dozed. Taking the bus gives me a better sense of the lay out of the city. The underground makes it very difficult to know what’s in between point A and Point B. I got off at Taipower station and hoofed it over to the night market. It was 6:30 which meant fresh dumpling from my favorite lady. As soon as I approached she already was counting out ten for me. It was awesome, we shared a laugh. I came back to the dorms ate and did the rest of my homework. I am very tired I will probably go to bed early tonight. I hopefully will be able to skype my mother in the morning... We shall see.
Had another staring contest with spider-bro in the shower. He creeps up on me when I least expect then I have to try not to yell and run out of the shower. It’s all good though he just stayed in his corner until I finished. My roommate and I had a good little chatting in garbled Mandarin followed by broken English. All is well in the world tonight. My bed of bamboo calls to me.
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