7.12.2006 Tai ping temple album (photography update)

My photos from Tai ping temple (see previous post) are uploaded. Here are a few teasers:

Click here to check out the gallery.

Labels: Photography, taiwan, Taiwan day trips, Xindian

7.10.2006 Xindian and Tai ping temple

If I could live anywhere else in Taipei it would be Xindian... but right now I'm wedged between Gongguan market and Shida market.... and I'm a 5 minute walk away from work so I'm too lazy to move.



Xindian is just far enough out of Taipei to have clean air and close enough to be convenient. The air is clean, there are mountains, a beautiful river, lots of nice places to eat... just a totally different vibe.



There have been a couple of temples I've been wanting to explore. Han was a bit maimed so we took it easy but we explored Tai ping temple. I'm amazed how individual each temple I explore is. Especially since I choose them so randomly and there are 100s of 1000s all over the island. Han is really unimpressed by all of them since he's grown up here and they don't have the same allure but I'm on a mission to make him see the beauty. I can't complain because he endures my slow pace through them and endless requests to see more of them.

Tai ping was actually the first temple I saw a yin yang in. At least the first one that I've noticed. I ended up with way too many pictures I liked too much so I've decided to put them in an album in my photography section. They'll be added in a separate post.



Once we were done we headed back down to the heart of Xindian by the water.



I've only been there a few times but I'm smitten. The last time I was there previous to this time Meg and I saw this teahouse way out on the ledge of a cliff overlooking the river. Unfortunately it was waaaay Taiwanese (ie not a drop of English) and we didn't have enough chinese to order. So I made Han take me. We had some deluxe cold fruit tea, and hot flower tea. We tend to eat and run most places we go but we spent a few hours there just chilling out and watching the people below in the river.











There were plenty of people taking advantage of the rentable swan boats, some people in canoes, kayaks, and small motor boats... and to my surprise there were actually people swimming! The river looks clean enough to me but Han was skeptical. I think Meg and I are going to have to scope it out at some point.



Of course Han and I couldn't leave without doing the swan boat thing. We paddled around and discovered some crazy cliff divers. I didn't have my glasses on but they were mostly older men. I think they were foreign but there may have been a couple of Taiwanese men. I can't believe the heights they were diving from. Every jump got a big reaction from the people in the swan boats below.



I was a competitive diver for 4 or so years at one point, and I'm pretty adventurous but this looked wild! I wish I could've met these crazy nuts.



If you go to Xindian there is a little food stand on the side of the walking bridge close to the MRT that has some Sri Lankan wraps. Very very yummy. I definitely recommend checking it out.

Labels: taiwan, Taiwan day trips, Xindian

5.20.2006 photography: abandoned

Meg and I climbed a mountain named "Hemei mountain" in Xindian last weekend. At the bottom was a Buddhist temple where monks were chanting. We sat and listened for awhile and then roamed up a path. The next interesting thing we hit was a strange cement block abandoned building with trashed amusement park rides littering the front. We took some pictures and made a note to come back and explore more later.

As we wandered a bit further up the path we found a cement tunnel that went through a hill. At the end was an opening with a good view of the scenery below. By the mouth of the opening was a flat stone that had two moldy rotting Buddhist manuscripts I imagine that one of the monks uses this place to worship.

On our way back down we decided to try and find a way into the back of this cement block building I think it was somehow the base of the amusement park because on top there were strange circles with metal poles coming out of them that seemed like they could've been the base of the rides. We climbed up a muddy slope and found our way into the bathrooms and a strange huge open room. Both were filled with smashed squatter toilets, mirrors, misch clothing, and strange medicine bottles.

The photos in the "abandoned" gallery are what I captured from our explorations.

Labels: Photography, taiwan, Taiwan day trips, Xindian