Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Taiwan Day 2 - Bitou Cape
4/12/06
After some deliberation, we decided to do something different and travel to Bitou Cape.
But first, some breakfast from the number 1 breakfast place downstairs... well, that was until YP quarelled with the auntie cos the latter was being unreasonable and prejudiced. Anyway, there's zhen1 jiao3 (steamed dumplings) and pork floss crepe.
To Kee Lung (Ji1 Long1) we went. I always felt the Taiwanese spelling of it sounds really awful! But that's like the pit stop for travelling to all the geography havens. And the adventure began...
We boarded the public bus headed to Bitou Cape. I fell asleep as usual, and was awaken when YP commented that we had probably overshot Bitou Cape. I askedthe driver and he stopped the bus in the middle of nowhere after confirming her suspicion. We decided that instead of crossing the road to flag down an unknown bus at an unknown time in an unknown place wasn't the best idea, so we relied on bus number 11 (2 legs form number '11'? Heh.) instead. But you would want to know that it was pouring and the wind was having the time of its life, as demonstrated by dear "YP and her umbrella" stance.
YP was smart and suggested we got ponchos instead. So we went around like 2 little yellow ducklings.
We were braving the rain and anticipating our arrival at Bitou Cape. However, what welcomed us was a vehicular tunnel!!
What choice did we have?? But to be honest, I was quite happy, cos that would add to the adventure and the excitement! How often do we get to walk through huge tunnels like that?? But luckily there was a latch we could walk on and keep safe, out of the vehicles' way, especially when there was a possibility they would be speeding and not expect pedestrians in a tunnel...
Whenever huge trucks beckoned, we would warn each other, and the natural reaction was to face the wall on the left and cover our ears tight, cos the noise they emit is magnified within the tunnel. We did that so many times that it soon became funny! Haha!
We finally arrived at Bitou Cape. In Chinese, it is "Bi Tou Jiao", as demonstrated by YP who was involved in 'Charades'.
(Answer: Nose, Head, Leg)
This was to signify our eventual arrival at Bitou, where we had to ascend a slope to the bridge that would lead us to Bitou Cape. After several tries, we finally got this photo right.
You have to understand our excitement then. Anything and anything at all could have thrilled us. Even simple rocks found on the side of the bridge. Heh.
But we were not to be disappointed. We even found something somewhat similar to the Great Wall of China! Cool right?
And that wasn't all! Guess what we discovered??
The Pacific Ocean!!!
And then the wave-cut platform!! (I have to admit I have never seen one before... therefore I was exhilarated!)
You know what further adrenalized me? That I discovered a shelter which overlooked the entire wave-cut platform! And more essentially, a path with a flight of stairs that led ALL THE WAY DOWN to the platform!! Oh my gosh! I thought I was gonna hyper-ventilate! I couldn't contain my excitement and kept jumping up and down!!
Pretty right?
Up-close with the rocks...
That's how majestic the rock formation is, and how tiny YP is!
And the slanting rock which threatened to topple anytime...
All the time, we were having such great fun even though we were shivering from the chilly wind and the continuous rain. We even relieved ourselves behind some rock on the wave-cut platform! Hahah! (Or should I not have mentioned it here??) We were on such high spirits and satisfaction that we decided this was seriously a Geography haven. In some ways, it's more exciting than Yeliu, with the limestone cavities and wind erosion.
We didn't expect anything else more exciting when we had our fill of fun and photos from there. But it was not all!
I came upon rocks which exfoliated like this...
Nothing much interesting to you non-Geograpers... I know... But wait till you hear and see this!
3 billy goats!! I had been happily running up the stairs, still adrenalized and trying to keep warm... when I spotted these billy goats just around 5 metres away from me. I thought to myself, oh man... why do they need to spoil the natural landscape with such figurines?! And I got the shock of my life when they turned and started trotting down the cliff!! My heart totally stopped dead. Don't they look like the exfoliated rocks in the previous photo?? How clever camouflage!
Anyway, that aside. I was enlivened again by the fact that I was on a ridge, surrounded by more ridges!
Notice the stairs.... cos that was where we were!
The flight of stairs up the ridge which thrilled me.
Isn't it just so xiao1 sha3 to just walk up the stairs in such cool (read: cold) conditions? Heh.
So we found ourselves ascending new heights, with surprises springing up every step of our way. (I found more billy goats at the peak...) I think that's why I love Bitou Cape so much! And to have a fellow Geographer to appreciate and experience it with me makes the adventure more wholesome!
A huge compass was awaiting us near the peak! Heh.
I have to admit that there was a gnawing feeling in me all the time when we were ascending the ridges, because we didn't know the path would lead us, nor did we know how to exit the Cape, other than do a U-turn. Moreover, it was winter in Taiwan and the sun sets early. We were wet and cold and I was paranoid that we would fall ill even at the start of our trip. But I guess the si2 gin3 na4 inside me wanted to discover more things albeit the concerns. We were already there!! And I'm glad we did, or else we wouldn't be able to share this experience with anyone. Anyway, our fears were unfounded, cos we descended into tropical rainforest, which ultimately led us to the backyard of private estates, before we made our way to the busstop.
An unfortunate incident happened. I was too engrossed in capturing an image of the Bitou Cape map that YP innocently watched our bus to Kee Lung whizz past just like that. Therefore what entailed was a 1-hour wait in the cold. At least we had shelter and seats at the busstop. We entertained ourselves playing charades. Haha!
So as to reward ourselves after such an adventure, we ventured to MaLa Hot pot.
And we learned that you could boil your plain muachi in the soup before tossing it around in peanut and sugar. Oh my... yummilicious it was!! =)
And to end it all, we took the train back to Taipei, where we played scissors-paper-stone and ji-gu-pak, using both rows of seats because they were empty. How? You could move one seat up whenever you won a turn, so we competed to see who could reach the opposite end first. Yours truly was the champion! Haha! Cheap thrill...
Yes, it was the perfect day out despite the weather. (Maybe the weather made it even more exciting!) And the fact that Bitou Cape was deserted made me feel like I was venturing off the beaten track. Heh. I like.
After some deliberation, we decided to do something different and travel to Bitou Cape.
But first, some breakfast from the number 1 breakfast place downstairs... well, that was until YP quarelled with the auntie cos the latter was being unreasonable and prejudiced. Anyway, there's zhen1 jiao3 (steamed dumplings) and pork floss crepe.
To Kee Lung (Ji1 Long1) we went. I always felt the Taiwanese spelling of it sounds really awful! But that's like the pit stop for travelling to all the geography havens. And the adventure began...
We boarded the public bus headed to Bitou Cape. I fell asleep as usual, and was awaken when YP commented that we had probably overshot Bitou Cape. I askedthe driver and he stopped the bus in the middle of nowhere after confirming her suspicion. We decided that instead of crossing the road to flag down an unknown bus at an unknown time in an unknown place wasn't the best idea, so we relied on bus number 11 (2 legs form number '11'? Heh.) instead. But you would want to know that it was pouring and the wind was having the time of its life, as demonstrated by dear "YP and her umbrella" stance.
YP was smart and suggested we got ponchos instead. So we went around like 2 little yellow ducklings.
We were braving the rain and anticipating our arrival at Bitou Cape. However, what welcomed us was a vehicular tunnel!!
What choice did we have?? But to be honest, I was quite happy, cos that would add to the adventure and the excitement! How often do we get to walk through huge tunnels like that?? But luckily there was a latch we could walk on and keep safe, out of the vehicles' way, especially when there was a possibility they would be speeding and not expect pedestrians in a tunnel...
Whenever huge trucks beckoned, we would warn each other, and the natural reaction was to face the wall on the left and cover our ears tight, cos the noise they emit is magnified within the tunnel. We did that so many times that it soon became funny! Haha!
We finally arrived at Bitou Cape. In Chinese, it is "Bi Tou Jiao", as demonstrated by YP who was involved in 'Charades'.
(Answer: Nose, Head, Leg)
This was to signify our eventual arrival at Bitou, where we had to ascend a slope to the bridge that would lead us to Bitou Cape. After several tries, we finally got this photo right.
You have to understand our excitement then. Anything and anything at all could have thrilled us. Even simple rocks found on the side of the bridge. Heh.
But we were not to be disappointed. We even found something somewhat similar to the Great Wall of China! Cool right?
And that wasn't all! Guess what we discovered??
The Pacific Ocean!!!
And then the wave-cut platform!! (I have to admit I have never seen one before... therefore I was exhilarated!)
You know what further adrenalized me? That I discovered a shelter which overlooked the entire wave-cut platform! And more essentially, a path with a flight of stairs that led ALL THE WAY DOWN to the platform!! Oh my gosh! I thought I was gonna hyper-ventilate! I couldn't contain my excitement and kept jumping up and down!!
Pretty right?
Up-close with the rocks...
That's how majestic the rock formation is, and how tiny YP is!
And the slanting rock which threatened to topple anytime...
All the time, we were having such great fun even though we were shivering from the chilly wind and the continuous rain. We even relieved ourselves behind some rock on the wave-cut platform! Hahah! (Or should I not have mentioned it here??) We were on such high spirits and satisfaction that we decided this was seriously a Geography haven. In some ways, it's more exciting than Yeliu, with the limestone cavities and wind erosion.
We didn't expect anything else more exciting when we had our fill of fun and photos from there. But it was not all!
I came upon rocks which exfoliated like this...
Nothing much interesting to you non-Geograpers... I know... But wait till you hear and see this!
3 billy goats!! I had been happily running up the stairs, still adrenalized and trying to keep warm... when I spotted these billy goats just around 5 metres away from me. I thought to myself, oh man... why do they need to spoil the natural landscape with such figurines?! And I got the shock of my life when they turned and started trotting down the cliff!! My heart totally stopped dead. Don't they look like the exfoliated rocks in the previous photo?? How clever camouflage!
Anyway, that aside. I was enlivened again by the fact that I was on a ridge, surrounded by more ridges!
Notice the stairs.... cos that was where we were!
The flight of stairs up the ridge which thrilled me.
Isn't it just so xiao1 sha3 to just walk up the stairs in such cool (read: cold) conditions? Heh.
So we found ourselves ascending new heights, with surprises springing up every step of our way. (I found more billy goats at the peak...) I think that's why I love Bitou Cape so much! And to have a fellow Geographer to appreciate and experience it with me makes the adventure more wholesome!
A huge compass was awaiting us near the peak! Heh.
I have to admit that there was a gnawing feeling in me all the time when we were ascending the ridges, because we didn't know the path would lead us, nor did we know how to exit the Cape, other than do a U-turn. Moreover, it was winter in Taiwan and the sun sets early. We were wet and cold and I was paranoid that we would fall ill even at the start of our trip. But I guess the si2 gin3 na4 inside me wanted to discover more things albeit the concerns. We were already there!! And I'm glad we did, or else we wouldn't be able to share this experience with anyone. Anyway, our fears were unfounded, cos we descended into tropical rainforest, which ultimately led us to the backyard of private estates, before we made our way to the busstop.
An unfortunate incident happened. I was too engrossed in capturing an image of the Bitou Cape map that YP innocently watched our bus to Kee Lung whizz past just like that. Therefore what entailed was a 1-hour wait in the cold. At least we had shelter and seats at the busstop. We entertained ourselves playing charades. Haha!
So as to reward ourselves after such an adventure, we ventured to MaLa Hot pot.
And we learned that you could boil your plain muachi in the soup before tossing it around in peanut and sugar. Oh my... yummilicious it was!! =)
And to end it all, we took the train back to Taipei, where we played scissors-paper-stone and ji-gu-pak, using both rows of seats because they were empty. How? You could move one seat up whenever you won a turn, so we competed to see who could reach the opposite end first. Yours truly was the champion! Haha! Cheap thrill...
Yes, it was the perfect day out despite the weather. (Maybe the weather made it even more exciting!) And the fact that Bitou Cape was deserted made me feel like I was venturing off the beaten track. Heh. I like.
# posted by Banana Saviour @ 12:05 PM 
