Taipei - Part V - YanMingShan National Park

YanMingShan National Park . . . one of the eight national parks in Taiwan . . . it is located in between Taipei City and Taipei County . . . The Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, sulfur deposits, fumaroles, venomous snakes and hiking trails, including Taiwan's tallest and one over the extinct volcano . . . Seven Star Mountain (QiXingShan) . . .

We took a bus directly from Xi Men Ding . . . if I'm not wrong . . . the bus number was 265 . . . I think so . . . hahaha . . . I think the bus fare was like NTD60.00 - 80.00 per person only . . . It took almost an hour to reach there depending on the traffic as well . . .

Another tip . . . wake up early and go there as early as possible otherwise you won't have enough time to tour around the park . . . we were quite late that day due to my work load again . . . we reach there about 3:30pm and we only manage to go 2 of the visitor centers out of the 6 centers they have . . .

This is the main bus stop at YangMingShan National Park . . .

A view from the bus stop . . .

The park's bus route . . .

Go to this shop . . . ask for some information and advise on where to go . . . the lady who help us was really nice . . . she told us that we will only managed to go to 2 centers . . . if not we will not be able to take the park's last bus to come back to this main stop which is at 6:00pm . . .

As usual . . . it was raining again . . . luckily it was only drizzling . . . but the weather was just perfect . . . the temperature up there is around 20° c - 23° c . . . and smells of the the fresh air!!!perfect!!!

The park's tour bus taking a shower . . . one side at a time!!!hahaha . . .

got a rain coat from the shop for RM3.00 . . . not because it is raining . . . it is because of the weather as the strong winds and mist will get you quite wet . . .

Took these shots from inside the bus while we were heading to the 1st visitor center . . . oh yeah! . . . each stop will cost you NTD30.00 . . .

This is the XiaoYouKang Visitor Center stop . . . it took us around 20mins to reach here from the main bus stop . . .

This is the center . . . go in and get more information . . . here they also have free movies appreciation at certain timing . . . souvenirs . . . anyway you should ask them where to go as you'll need to do some hiking! . . .

Nice view isn't it . . . wondering why there are so much smokes coming out from there right . . .

Now this is the sulfur fumaroles . . .

As you walk closer to it . . . the smells of the sulfur is really heavy . . . I even choked myself . . . lol!!!

These are the geothermal hot springs . . . it is really boiling . . . don't put your hand in there!!! . . .

Hiking Trails . . .

The views here are just BEAUTIFUL!!!!

As you can see . . . the winds are really strong . . .

Do I need to say more . . .

This is another visitor center . . . LengShuiKeng visitor center . . . here is a public hot spring tub . . . you'll need to bring your own towels . . . you can only deep yourself into the hot spring tub for a maximum of 10-15 minutes only . . . otherwise you'll get really drowsy and cooked!!! . . . hahaha!!! . . . There's one for the gentlemen and one for the ladies . . . no locker though . . . just put your belongings in a open square box they provided . . . one more thing . . . you have to be naked to go into the hot spring tub . . . hehehe!!!and the tub is really quite small . . . we did went in to have a look . . . but got scared and ran straight out . . . coz we saw snakes and dragons in there!!! . . . hahaha . . . don't think something else ya . . . it is those tattoos on those local Taiwanese . . . look really fierce . . .

Well . . . another great outing for a day . . .

For more information of the YangMingShan National Park . . . please follow the below link

http://www.ymsnp.gov.tw/html/eng/index.asp

Taipei - Part IV - Shilin Market

Shilin Market . . . famous for the its foods and shopping here as what I heard . . . there are 2 ways to get to Shilin Market . . .

1st . . . you take the subway RED line and stop at the Shilin station . . . and then . . . you will need to walk for about 15 minutes to reach the market . . .

or

2nd . . . you take the subway RED line and stop at the Jiantan Station . . . and then . . . you only need to walk for 2 minutes to reach there . . .

You can do it either way because from one end to another end its the Shilin and Jiantan Stations . . . but I would suggest that you go to Jiantan station because its easier to get to the Shilin Market . . . if you stop at the Shilin station you will still need to find your way there!!! . . .

This is the Jiantan Station . . .

Shilin Market . . . its different from Xi Men Ding . . . over here the roads are narrower . . . as you can see . . . all the buildings are quite old already . . . there are really lotsa foods . . . so eat wisely ok . . . what me and friends did was . . . we bought only 1 portion then we share among ourself . . . therefore we can have more kinds of foods isn't it!!! . . . hehehe!!!

Nice fruits isn't it!!! . . . looks so delicious especially when you already ate a lots of heaty foods . . . but beware alright . . . we got conned by this fruit seller . . . NTD500.00 just for a packet of Mango, Dragon Fruit, Apple and she even gave us the watermelon for free!!! . . . we thought ok cool lady . . . but when she told us the price . . . damn!!! . . . we tried to return everything to her but she just look away and ignore us . . . tried to argue but it is their place . . . so we just paid what she asked for!!! . . .

This 'Yim Sui Kai' you really have to try . . . the taste is the really good compare to other stall that sells the same thing . . . you take a basket then you choose what you want . . . chicken drumsticks, those inner parts, vegetables . . . etc . . . then they will cut it into small pieces and mix it with some hot sauce (tasted something like kimchi sauce) . . . they toss it in their special made container . . . remember to ask for extra hot!!! . . . damn!!!I'm missing it already . . .

Anyway . . . like all other night markets . . . 80% girls stuff and only 20% for guys . . . this is why they said Taipei is girls' heaven . . .

Jordan played this game . . . I think he manage to shoot 2 balloons only . . . with 10 arrows . . .

By the way . . . this is our Hotel at night time . . . classic or creepy??? . . .

Taipei - Part III - Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

From Wikipedia -

Sun Yat-sen (pinyin: Sūn Yixiān; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chineserevolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the Father of the Nation of Republic of China. Sun played an instrumental role in inspiring the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China, which began in October 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader. Sun was a uniting figure in post-Imperial China, and remains unique among 20th-centuryChinese politicians for being widely revered amongst the people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Although Sun is considered one of the greatest leaders of modern China, his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution, he quickly fell out of power in the newly founded Republic of China, and led successive revolutionary governments as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. Sun did not live to see his party consolidate its power over the country. His party, which formed a fragile alliance with the Communists, split into two factions after his death. Sun's chief legacy resides in his developing a political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy, and the people's livelihood

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall . . . its very easy to get there . . . just take the subway - Blue Line - and stop at the station which is named Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall!!! hehehe!!! . . .

Not a good day . . . was already drizzling when we reach there . . . The entrance . . . just impressive . . .

Once you enter . . . you'll see this big statue of Sun Yat-Sen

Then there are 2 army guards guarding the statue . . . 1 left and 1 right . . . just like those Palace guards in other countries . . . they won't move abit . . . I think they dun even blink their eyes!!!hahaha!!! . . . joking joking!!! . . .

They also have this guards changing show . . . just impressive they way they do it . . . didn't managed to get any nice picture of the show . . . sigh . . . too short ler!!! :P

This is a duplicate document by the National Government calling Sun Yat-Sen as the Founder of R.O.C - Republic of China on 1st of April 1940 . . . dun confused yourself . . . R.O.C is Taiwan not China (People's of the Republic China) . . . its different!!! . . .

Some of the photos of Sun Yat-Sen

He served as a Grand Marshall in 1917 . . .

Love this photo . . . old cameras already can have such nice Depth of Field . . .

Sun Yat-Sen's Three Principles of the People - Democracy . Nationalism . Equalization (People's Livelihood) .

This is at the front of the memorial hall . . . just when we want to leave . . . it rains heavier!!! . . .