I slept in on Thursday morning and hit up the free breakfast buffet at the hotel just before the 10:00 close. I discovered there was free laundry, too, which I was badly in need of, so I stuck around the hotel and did some laundry. Not so exciting so far.
As I was at my computer, I felt like the building was swaying. I stood up and looked out the window and I could tell that we were definitely swaying. Some flags outside were flapping in the wind, so I wasn't sure if the building was swaying because of high winds or if we had experienced an earthquake. I knew that buildings are designed to sway some in earthquake-prone areas, so I also didn't know if I should be fleeing the building or just playing it cool. I just waited it out, and then later asked the front desk what had happened. They said it was an earthquake and that it had been a decent size - around 5.0 one girl guessed. They were amused that it was my first earthquake (I don't count the one on Christmas Day in Castle Rock). She said not to worry and that they happen all the time.
I decided I'd go to Yangmingshan National Park for the afternoon. I took the metro up to Jintiao Station and then waited for a bus. It was taking a while, and I knew it was a long bus ride, and it was already around 1:30, so I grabbed a cab who sped me up the winding roads out of the city and into some fresh air.
The driver dropped me off at an unknown location, so I wandered around and admired the cherry blossoms along with about 1,000 others. I started to just follow a random trail uphill, but that ended at a road, so I continued up the road until I found a visitor center. The ranger there spoke passable English so he gave me some tips on where to go. The layout of the park is basically centered around Datun Peak, with the main road circling around it. With limited time, I had to choose between the field of wildflowers and the smoldering volcanic crater. I chose the crater and walked to the nearest bus stop. The bus driver didn't speak any English and didn't seem pleased that I didn't speak Mandarin. I knew where I wanted to go, but he told me that I wanted the next stop after getting it across that I wanted to get off at Qixing Mt. I got off and quickly realized that it was the wrong stop, but the bus had already left. I waited about 20 minutes for the next one, and at this point it was around 4:30. The sun sets around 5:30, so I was running out of time. Finally we reached a clearing where I could see the steam coming from the crater, so I got off at the next stop. It was just a short hike and I was overlooking the crater, with big plumes of steam shooting out and neon yellow rocks (I assume sulphur). There was also a spot right next to the trail with a little boiling puddle. The whole place reeked of sulphur. There were some great views of the city and surrounding mountains. I wanted to climb up to the top of the peak but it was getting dark and I didn't know how much longer the buses ran. I caught the next bus, got off at the wrong stop again, got some help from some giggly girls, and rode a crowded bus through traffic for 45 minutes to the Shilin Night Market.
Rosy had recommended that I go to the Night Market, although she's never been to it, she's just heard good things. The market is many blocks, and apparently it started out just for street food vendors but has since expanded to clothing shops and arcade games. To me, though, it is the greatest concentration of Engrish t-shirts I've ever seen. There was not nearly enough time for me to go through every store and every shirt, which is a shame. Maybe I should buy as many as possible and read them later. I guess I'll just hope I find other treasure troves of tshirts with hilarious English on them. I spent most of my time scoping out funny shirts, but also got some street food (an odd pancake thing with veggies and tuna and pork on top and also a steamed pork bun), and also stopped at a tea shop to get some tea as a gift (yes, dad, the surprise is spoiled now, but you always get tea). When Amy and I were in Beijing shopping for tea, we got to try the tea beforehand and the tea girl would brew it in front of us. The girl offered to do it at this place, too, so we sat down in the back of the room and had some Alishan Mountain tea. The brewing process was really elaborate, including rinsing the tea and rinsing the teapot with the "dirty tea water." The tea itself was really tasty. The girl only spoke a few words of English, so she pulled out her laptop and fired up Google Translate. We typed back and forth, which felt very futuristic. Google Translate isn't perfect, though, so there was a lot of "interpreting time." I bought the tea, wandered around some more and had a few more laughs at some t-shirts (and maybe bought a few). Later I ran into the giggly girls from earlier and they giggled some more and told me they're nursing students.
I made the trek back to my hotel and got to bed around midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment