Urban adventures

Didn't go anywhere WILD so I'll write about the 'wild' urban Taipei.

We went cycling yesterday by the keelung river. To cycle, we need to go downstairs, open three doors, bring the bikes down, one at a time, go back up and lock doors. We had enough exercise just climbing stairs ;-(

Not bad, to get there, we have to cycle from home, go via all the back lanes and cross major roads. We have to watch out for scooters and cars coming from all directions eventhough it's a one-way street. Since no one obeys traffic laws, hardly anyone horns at anyone. Quite challenging, since you know my cycling is only passable. Anyway, it was not crowded so it was quite enjoyable. Not much of a view since on either side of river are buildings. Apparently from the wharf, one can take the ferry to the Tamshui coast. The ferry company was having promotion, if a pair of lovebirds kissed in front of the ticket seller, they get a lovebird discount and a drink. Silly right? I saw numerous sparrows, two magpies, what looks like a stork but it was too far away. Some Kandelia candel was growing by the banks of the river.

By the way, their traffic light system is quite strange. Every junction has different timing, some 120s, 95s, 60s, some 20s. You see a green man slowly walking at first and then he starts to jog and then run , all on the green light like Singapore, except for the graphics.

No matter whether it's one way or two ways, one must always look out for traffic coming in both directions. No one is safe even on pedestrian walkway. So the motorcyclists park their vehicles there and they will drive on the pedestrian walkway. Some days when I walk out of the door and a scooter come zipping by, I do get a sense of panic. One time, I wasn't paying attention, while I was walking on the pedestrian walkway, suddenly a Mercedes drove right in front of me and parked. It was legal because he was in front of Royal hotel driveway. The driveway is exactly the same as the pedestrian walkway!

Parking is a huge problem in Taipei. There are simply not enough lots for cars and scooters. Some owners advertise their parking facility beneath their buildings. So when you see this flashing red light, it means a car is coming out from the underground carpark. Some garages have double parking. The first car goes on a platform and then it sinks to a lower storey. Then the next car go on another platform and it goes on top of the first car. If the first car wants to come out, the second car's platform will elevate sufficiently for the first car to come out. Good use of space, I must say! Let's hope the levers and pistons work properly each time, or we'll see sandwiched cars.

He Ping island marine park

One of Taiwan's port city is Keelung. It's in the north eastern coast of Taiwan. There's a Peninsula that juts out of this port city called He Ping Dau park or peace island or Jungjeng park. The entrance fee is NT$60 or about S$3. It's a very popular park.

The moment you enter the park, you'll see a giant swordfish? replica. All the buildings are kind of old. There are some hawkers selling drinks, nets used in aquarium tank, swimming gear, floats etc.

As one walks further, over the floating platform, one'll reach a concrete path. Beyond that, are the strange rocks. The rock formations here are really interesting. One can also see fossil arthropods embedded in the rocks. As the rocks are mainly sandstone with other harder rocks embedded within, erosion rates differ. Due to differential rate of erosion from rain, wind and acid rain, the rocks showed shapes like seals, mushrooms, tofoo etc. The other more famed coastal area where one can presumably see the head of Cleopatra is Yeliu.

One has to watch out for falling rocks whilst on the path. Recently there are steel nettings overhead so it's safer. One can also see forts with lookout posts up on the slope, presumably defence against China, although it's facing the wrong side.

There's a swimming pool just next to the sea, I'm not sure whether the water is fresh or it's marine. Just beside it are people BBQing. Strange mix.

There are so many Lygias there, the sea cockroaches. They're as numerous as the beetles in the movie, The Mummy. I wonder if they are so numerous because of the recent typhoon Matsa, which blew in a lot of debris, organic or otherwise. I didn't recall seeing them during the cold spring last year.

This park has many potential but unfortunately it's not run very well. Maintenance is not very good. As you walk on the floating wooden walkway on the sea, some of the wood already rotten and if you're not careful, your leg may just go right through. There's little education about marine life at the park. Almost everybody is trying to catch fish, crab, or whatever they can find and put into mineral water bottle to bring home. There are few if any educational signboards. Strangely enough, there's a famous marine university just round the corner. Perhaps there should be more involvement from the uni folks in public education.

Siva's office during renovation

Siva's office during renovation
Originally uploaded by amychoong.

This is Siva's mess while they were moving. It was a massive undertaking, no joke.

Lady of Leisure

The lady of leisure in Taipei writes about wildlife that can be found there. It's a very crowded city. Surprisingly, there are pockets of wild areas that are really quite amazing. Beautiful butterflies darting among the foliage.