20 Feb 2008

day 5 - dan shui - rui fang 瑞方 - pingxi 平溪

waking up at 5+am after sleeping at 2+ am is a super-Gretel feat..

and it felt like crap to wake up with that gritty feeling in the eyes, and lethargy that seeps right into your bones. *YAWN*, just reliving it makes me yawn...

one by one, we got up and wash up and ate our breakfast (bread and cake bought the day before)

hoisted our backpacks onto our back and begin out journey to the mrt station...

luckily today nobody had the energy to shop...just trudged along the old street of danshui and get to the mrt...

reached taipei railway station, then the mummies got their caffeine fix from 7-eleve

the 7-eleven in taiwan actually has a coffee machine and makes fairly good cafe americano

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while we were waiting for our train, we saw a huge group of guys sitting on the floor, surrounded by crowds of people...but too lazy to take out camera...

and then we heard someone saying something about the army...

"你们是保卫国家的勇士！"...ok, i made this up..but something to this effect lah...

ahh, enlistment day!

hmm..strange that they actually gather them in the railway station...

no 3-tonners, no uniformed officers..

you wouldn't know it's enlistment day if not for that 'officer' yelling at the boys...

in that typical 'understand or not? i cannot hear you! understand? LOUDER!' (but all in mandarin)

goodness, flashback to NCC days.. ('yes encik! YES ENCIK! YES ENCIK!!!!)

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anyway, we went down to the plaform to wait for our train...and then these 阿兵哥 also came down and like flooded the whole platform -_-

and of course, where there's enlistment, there's crying mothers and girlfriends...

a few sobbing women followed behind these boys...sigh...

luckily, they were not on the same train as us...

so after what seem like hours later

we finally boarded the train

(i really shouldn't be complaining cos my backpack was fairly light compared to YQ's..

but i really felt super sleep-deprived then...)

us on the train. hard to tell that both of us only got 3 hours sleep...but my eyes were too gritty, cannot wear contacts

my mummy and yq's mummy became good friends, so much so that once u put both of them together, they can chat non-stop for HOURS....so, we put them together lah, then YQ and i dun have to entertain them.muahahaha

the train is to bring us to rui fang 瑞方, where we would then change train to go to 平溪. the train ride was only 40 mins, and i spent 20+mins eating and talking to YQ...so only managed to sleep for like 10+mins

when we got to ruifang, it was RAINING! not light drizzle somemore...

bought tickets for the train to ping xi, and the person nicely told us to come 15mins earlier as the train gets filled very fast...

we had to wait for like an hour for the other train...and the train station wasn't exactly a good place to wait cos wind blows directly into the waiting area...

so, YQ and i went exploring for a nice, warm place to sit and wait...

and we found a little cafe 5 mins walk from the railway station...

the mummies got their 2nd caffeine fix (tea this time)...

mummies complain that we always leave themto drink tea or coffee

but what to do, raining mah...

tsk tsk...

then we head back to the train station early

luckily we did, cos when we got on the train, it was already 80% filled.

(only got 4 cabins, and seats that face each other...like MRT with less seats...)

but we got seats! yay!

see, 2 mummies tog again. good lah, then YQ and i can talk :D dinnie and mum sitting on the opp side.

the train ride exposed us to the more rural lifestyle of taiwan..

for example, there's this lady who ate chicken wings on the train,

and then she just threw the bones on the floor...

yeah, chicken bones underneath the seat -_-

even though she was dressed quite nicely, her behaviour was...in my humble opinion...very kampung

the train ride was about 40mins, and it was a very scenic route...

we went through tunnels, then opened into a mountaineous railway route
with a fantastic view of the river and rapids and waterfalls on one side...

also went past small towns, farms, many suspension bridges...

totally enjoyed the ride :D

then, finally, we reached ping xi

pingxi train station. calling it a station might be stretching the truth. it's actually just a platform. and the train service is the kind that goes from point A to B, then reverse back...very rural, but i loved the 远离尘嚣 feeling

have always loved the railway tracks, especially this kind that seem to stretch on and on...

only problem we had coming here is we were unable to pre-book accoms...

so 6 of us set off to find a place to stay for 2 nights..

less than 5mins later, the mummies stopped right in front of a small restaurant, chattering and pointing at the menu

this has never happened before during the trip..usually i notice the food first :P

so we figured that they're hungry.

therefore, we dropped the mummies there, let them order food and the 3 daughters went off in search of accoms

walking along the old streets of ping xi is very calming and refreshing. it's a small small town, the kind where everyone knows everyone else.

it's CNY, got all the red latterns...such a quaint little town..or rather, village

not many ppl on the streets. and its just quiet...

if u just stop walking, all u hear is the distant sound of water flowing and maybe a dog barking somewhere..and yeah well, muted sounds of the occasional car

there's a river that flows right through the middle of the town, so anywhere u go, u can hear the sound of flowing water...

despite the gloomy weather, the small-town charm still worked on me. i'm totally in love with this place

ok, back to finding accoms, we walked (without a map!) and luckily, we found one...

accoms#3: 明通雅舍. highly recommended to stay there if you're going to ping xi. super nice boss!

but unluckily, only got room for 1 night!

kinda expected cos the next day is 元宵 and there's a huge festival in the area, so alot of visitors are there. (tell u about the festival next time...)

argh..but well, 1 night better than none...just have to plan later for the 2nd night..

the boss was SUPER nice...he told us to go have lunch first, and he'll try and call other accoms to see if got rooms for us.

so nice!

we walked back to the restaurant, and tucked into what's left of lunch for us

yummy lunch! the chicken was super nice..but they chopped until very big pieces.

after lunch we head to our accoms, and got acquainted with our room...

通铺 style! the tatami mats are pretty hard, but very cosy to just sleep together like that :D


happy happy people! dunno we are high from lunch or from the super fresh air :D

after resting for a while, we head off to trek up a nearby mountain called 孝子山. the rain actually stopped when we headed off...but the path was still wet and slippery

initially the steps were pretty ok...but still gotta be very careful

the trek was very enjoyable, despite the slippery steps. because it was so quiet inside the woods. just the sound of a nearby stream flowing, occasional birds chirping and the sound of your footsteps. all the wrangled up nerves in your body just totally relax...and the fresh air! cooling and clean after the rain...

happyily trekking up...as u can see, the path is actually littered with leaves cos of the rain earlier...

and then, it started raining! so out comes the umbrella. their signages are not the best, but it got the message across. 'to the right, 孝子山; to the left, 不通！'

this is 孝子山 (filial son mountain). yes, that gigantic piece of rock at the top is the summit...

we trekked for another 30mins or so, with the steps becoming higher, incline steeper and still as slippery...and then, we reached a point where we saw that the difficulty of the trek up has tripled...

steps carved into that gigantic piece of rock, with just cables at the side for support.

and it seems to go on forever and forever more...

although i was really keen to go, the mummies are tired, and also it was too dangerous cos of the rain and slippery steps. so only got pics...never get to go up :(

if i ever go back to ping xi, i am going up the steps and onto the summit of 孝子山！

and so, with that promise to myself, we made our down...

somehow my mummy looked comical in this pic. as u can see, the steps are actually quite uneven...


back at that sign...sigh...such a waste to come and not go up to the summit :(

there's actually a small buddhist shrine up on the mountain (cannot remember the name), and i dunno issit the air or the water or that it's shrine, but the reverend really look super young for her age. never take photo cos, well, respect bah. my mummy keep telling me she want to come and live on the mountain...

we took another route down the mountain, instead of the way we came. 3 mummies and dinner doing yet another MTV pose...the winding road reminds me of initial D haha

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ok, before i continue, must tell u all what is ping xi famous for. actually 平溪乡(ping xi village) consists of a few towns, the bigger few are 十分，平溪 and 菁桐.

and 平溪乡is famous for its tian deng 天灯 or kongming deng 孔明灯.

tian deng is actually a lantern (u'll see a pic of it later), that'll be released into the air like a hot air balloon. people write their wishes on the lantern, then release it to send the wishes up to the deities to make their wish come true.
http://baike.baidu.com/view/46542.htm

it is also called kong ming deng because it is invented by kong ming (better known as 诸葛亮) . he invented the lantern to send SOS messages out of the city when the army was trapped inside the city of 平阳. i am not completely sure of the story, google it if u really wanna know.

but now, the messages on the lanterns is not SOS, but to make wishes.

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so, all these lanterns are released into the air, but once the fuel finish burning, no more hot air so the lanterns drop down...

and so, while we were walking down from the mountain, we saw quite a number of these fallen lanterns. according to the boss of the accoms (he told us later...), the bamboo ring and wire to hold the fuel can be re-used. so cleaning aunties are hired to collect these bamboo rings and then re-used to save the environment.

anyway, when we got back to the accoms, all of us are probably too tired from the lack of sleep and physical activity. almost all of us fell asleep...

by the time we woke up, it was COLD COLD COLD!! and the skies were already dark...

it was so cold, all of us were still wearing our coats while in the room!

but hunger and cold goes hand-in-hand...

time for dinner...
although we were very reluctant to head out cos of the cold...what to do...need to feed ourselves..

how cold was it?

we could see our breaths when we huffed! that's probably below 10 deg Celsius

but we didn't have to walk too far to find a nice little shop that sells hot noodle in soup

that's 鸡丝面 (shredded chicken noodle), but there was no chicken in it! we were puzzled, but still, it was hot and it filled our stomachs..so no complaints.

the hot soup managed to warm all of us up. after dinner, we strolled back to the accoms..

then we noticed people buying tian deng to release
(can release tian deng anytime, but the most popular season is CNY to wish for a smooth and prosperous new year, i think)

so the 6 of us bought 1 tiandeng, and wrote our wishes on it...

4 sides to write on..this is only 1 side of it. there are many colours to choose from, each colour supposed to represent different meanings. but we chose the traditional white one :D

by the way, the words are written with a calligraphy brush 毛笔. that's why penmanship not very good ah :P

that pile of 'thing' is actually kerosene-soaked incense paper, fuel to propel our wishes to the skies

we brought our tian deng to a bridge (need open space so that the tian deng doesn't get trapped by buildings, cables or trees)

and then the shopkeeper lighted the fuel...

yes, we wished for world peace, haha! that's YQ's mummy and me holding on to the tiandeng..

hot air filling up the tian deng...then 1..2..3 LET GO! technique to let go is to synchronise so that the lantern can rise up straight. if 1 side slower, the lantern may tip to one side, and burn the side of the lantern...then it will not fly up

wishes taking off!

(fyi, this is not our tian deng...someone else releasing theirs, but i couldn't take a pic of our tian deng being released cos i was the one releasing it...)

up...up...

and away! fly, tian deng, fly! tell the gods what we wished for!

somehow it's very touching to see each tian deng take off and fly upwards...

everytime i see a tian deng floating upwards, i feel very happy and warm inside haha

after making our wishes, we went back to our accoms. and the usual night routine ensued...

i.e. showering.

i haven't mentioned in my previous posts, showering can actually be a rather complex process with 6 ppl sharing a bathroom.
but somehow the 6 of us seem to naturally know who goes first...so there wasn't much chaos with our nightly routine, except the usual 好冷啊 when we start taking off our layers in preparation to shower :P

anyway, on this night, something special happened after our shower...

cos the boss actually knows how to make tian deng!

so he asked us to come and learn, and the 3 daughters went..and made our very own tian deng!

red thing in the middle is our tian deng. that's the boss of accoms#3. the couple is from HK and they made their own tian deng too :D

2nd tian deng to be released tonight for us! haha...
this time, we made the wishes which we didn't dare make earlier cos mummy was there to see..

and then, after making our very own tian deng, and writing our wishes on it (with 毛笔 again!)

we released it into the skies to join our earlier tian deng

tian deng#2: red colour for ?love? and of course 友谊万岁, friends forever!

the boss even brought out a stash of fireworks to play with!

it was a beautiful end to a very tiring but happening day :D

oh, and the day ended on a bout of good news too...

the boss manage to slot us in to stay for 1 more night!

and, he lent us a heater so that we are not freezing in our room!

he is really super nice lah..like to talk alot, but very fun to talk to :D

YQ and i even told him we want to take 1month off and come work for him haha!

so, day 5 was a very activity-filled day, with new experiences and making new friends :D

as i laid down on the freezing tatami mat and closed my eyes,

i thought about the 2 tian dengs carrying our wishes to someone-up-there...

and slowly drift off to sleep.

to be continued...