Partie de Champagne.,.+*

最近幾個月因為國外客戶常來訪, 去逛故宮好像是去逛家裡的後花園.
不過, 那天發生了奇妙的一件事. 

帶著德國來的大客戶去逛故宮博物院, 在我們正準備下階梯到下面去攔計程車時, 我聽見類似松鼠的高頻率叫聲,轉頭看,看到幾個小朋友圍著一隻趴在報紙上的小貓看, 小貓眼睛還沒睜開, 在大太陽下曝曬不久應該就會不行了吧. 我的 colleague 是個十分愛貓的人,所以我們就在故宮門前: 撿到了一隻流浪的小貓...

After kayaking, we were suppose to WALK to the One-House (一間屋) B&B for lunch. But we were behind schedule and too tired and the weather was too hot so our trip organizers were very kind to arrange alternative transportation to the B&B on the top of a hill overlookiing the Fulong beach area. At the One House B&B, we had our lunch prepared by the owner (also an active member of the local environmental/community group). We had discussions about...  

All the things and people we saw along the way downstream. We're almost at the open sea.


Then I got  ABANDONED ON the BEACH!!! 
Just kidding. I wanted to see what the white things on the muddy beach are. 
Guess what? They are...

[繼續河川漂流]    River Kayak Cont'd.
We're not exactly sure of the exact occassion but we had a TV group that was following us and doing filming and interviewing on our activity. They kind of acted as a cheering group along with our GCAA (Gren Citizens Action Alliance; 綠色公民行動聯盟) organizers wherever we see a bridge above us! Then we...

[Konaryo 河川漂流vs沙灘行腳] 
Photo above: Waiting for the regional train at the Songshan train station (松山火車站) at 7:30 in the morning. The way the early Sunday morning sunshine and mist appear rather impressionistic. 


On an early Sunday morning, I took a train from Songshan (松山) train station to Gongliao (貢寮). As the train passed through the mountain valleys and away from the busy city scenes, I found myself getting further and further away from city life. Even 24/7 conveninent stores were becoming scarce. I thought of buying breakfast perhaps at a 7/11. But as I arrived at the Gongliao train station, I knew I was not going to have anything of that sort at all because...

When we came down from the stairs that lead to the Ershawan Fortification, we passed by a few memorial monument. One is almost fully intact and the other was quite damaged, which was only discovered in the recent years. It was a monument erected to commenmorate the "conquest of Taiwan" by a battle led by Prince Kitashirogawa that brought Taiwan under Japanese control (regional) from 1895.  Some argued, if the Prince hadn't died, he could have become the first President of Taiwan! For such an important man, it was rather ironic to see how a monument erected on his honour has...

Ershawan Fortification [ 海門天險]. What  makes Keelung such a strong historical defense point is its geographical landscape. The shape of the Keelung harbour is more like a U with hills and mountains all around overlooking the harbour. So when foreigners intruded, cannons and fortifications along the harbour act as "gates" to prevent intruders from reaching the inner part of the harbour. Ershawan Fortifcation was one of most important forts.



We took this photo on the long steep steps leading up to the fortifcation. Some say the steps are built steep like this because it would take longer for enemies to head upward to the fort.  & About what we're doing in this photo: our group guides kept coming up with different ways to pose. I think this one turned out pretty awesome! :p


There are also...

  
One of the highlights of the Keelung Mid-Summer Ghost Festival is the water lanterns. When the parade has brought the water lantern to the harbour, it was already close to 11pm. After rituals, these water lanterns (more like large paper houses) are carried into the water and set on fire. These are the "houses" for the dead and wandering souls of the sea. One by one, the water lanterns fill...

[蕃字洞] Dutch's Cave (my own translation). 
This not-so-noticeable cave along the shore with strane rocks was known to be a place where people say there are writings by the Dutch who occupied the area during the 1600s. This tiny little cave looked rather dark and scary. The "gate" into was about half of the height of a person. We went into....

On the Peace Island (和平島), if you walk further and closer to the shore, you'll find there seem to be an endless shoreline of rocks protruding in strange shapes and locations due to erosion. It will give you goose bumps and think you have gone to an un-earth-like place. Some of these rocks are nicknamed with interesting names (eg. "Tofu Rocks" or "Crocodile".. ) You can see more of the photos in this entry by clicking the link right after this (at the left hand corner).