Taiwan - Jade Mountain 2008/07/11 ~ 2008/07/13

I made it, reaching the highest point of Taiwan, and northeastern Asia! :)

In the Yushan National Park, Mt. Jade Main Peak, 3952m high, is the highest summit in Taiwan. A drawing is required for getting the permission to climb Jade Mountain. Thanks for Zong-Jin's help, Zong-Jin, Shelby (my brother) and I joined the trip with a climbing club three weeks before the depature with permissions, while some people might wait for half a year.

At 8:30AM on July 12th, we started climbing from Tataka (2300m high). Climbing 8.5km, we reached Paiyun Lodge (3402m high) at 15:30PM. I was exhausted. Who told me that it's an easy public hiking trail? Shelby, I won't forget it! :P

Because it was fully occupied in Paiyun Lodge, we climbed another 30 minutes to camp illegally next to the trail. With the small rocks on the back and the weird slope, I didn't sleep at all. Well, actually it's not a big deal. When we went to "bed", it was 20:00PM already, and we need to wake up at 2:00AM next day anyway. When I saw the stars spreading in the sky in the early morning, I couldn't care less.

There are 2.4km between Paiyun Lodge and the main peak. The last 300m is the most steep part. However since there were lots people climbed in the morning, the speed was relatively slow. At 17:00AM, we reached the summit! The view at the peak is amazing with the color changes of the sunrise and the sea of clouds, although the guide said that it could be even much better! While the sky shifted from dark to bright, standing on the top of the world (ok, I know it's only the top of Taiwan...:P), I thought of Simba in the Disney's movie The Lion King. I am the king (queen) of the world! :)

It's easy to climb up, but hard to climb down. In the early morning, we just followed the person in front in the dark. While climbing down in the day time, I couldn't believe that I climbed all the way up. It's beautiful and fun!

After another 2.4km, we were back to Paiyun Lodge and had the second breakfast. Foods in the mountain tests even fresher and better. Taking 3.5 hours down, we finished the 8.5km which took us 7 hours up. Why did we walk so fast? It's because delicious watermelons are waiting! :P

On the way back to the civilization, my muscles started aching all over. Saying goodbye to the lovely natural, I was thinking when I could visit other beautiful mountains in Taiwan.

More photots are available here.

閱讀 穿條紋衣的男孩 and Q&A

It's about two of the books I read recently.

穿條紋衣的男孩
一個九歲的男孩 認識另一位男孩
圍籬內 圍籬外 單純的情誼 殘酷的世界
書的背後 沒有深入的簡介
讀者 因為不清楚故事 更深入故事
可惜 中間猜到了故事 少了更深的驚訝
故事結束 然而
幽幽的惆悵
淡淡的哀愁
沉沉的無奈 依舊

Q&A
故事 隨12個益智題目 展開
驚奇 巧合 勇氣 真誠
章節 環環相扣
拼湊出一個平凡中下階層的顛簸人生
有些事 經歷才知道
有些人 認識才了解
有些故事 正常邏輯沒辦法解釋
事件發生
幸 與 不幸
信 與 不信
別人數天的飯後話題
自己數年的深刻體驗

Taiwan - Hualien 2008/06/01 ~ 2008/06/03

Because of a VISA issue, I couldn't go to the Netherlands for the project as planned. Well, why not take the chance to have a short holidays? Charlene and I made a quick decision of doing nothing in Hualien! :)

There are various B&B(Bed and Breakfast) in Hualien, but it's not easy to find one with original and simple style. Fortunately I found Karimas and it's definitely what we were looking for! It's next to the ocean so we fell into sleep with the sound of the sea, read with the endless ocean view, walked on the rocks along the coastline...

The owner is from Australia. His wife is from Taipei. Life is so relax over there. When we read in the garden, the owner was making a furniture. When we walked back from the coast, he was playing with the dogs and the cat. When we felt like, we chatted a bit. In the morning on the last day, we had the nice breakfast with the owner's wife, and the owner showed us the beautiful seaweed view. Standing on the coast, I didn't want to go back to the city yet and believed that I would come back soon. :)

There are two dogs and one cat. Mulla, one of the dogs, always slept in front of our door, companying us to the kitchen, the shower room, or the coast. When we see the sight of her back watching the ocean on the coast, we really think she considers herself a human being. :P

The website of Karimas is at http://www.karimas.url.tw/ (click "welcome")
If you are looking for a well decorated, modern or fancy place, don't go there.

This time I didn't go to Taroko gorge. However for photos of last trip with another friend Fareh, please check http://picasaweb.google.com.tw/aprilhsutw/TaiwanHualien2007.

Help the suffering people!

Recently there was a serious cyclone attacking Myanmar and a massive earthquake rocking China, resulting in countless tragedies. Although we are not rich, we are lucky that it didn't happen on us and definitely we could help! It's hard to imagine how hurt and hopeless we would feel if we lost our beloved family, friends, and everything we have had in our lives! It's easy to donate by credit card through World Version. Otherwise, Redcross and TzuChi have involved in the rescue as well. Help the suffering people!

最近熱帶氣旋重創緬甸以及中國大陸發生嚴重地震, 均造成無數傷亡慘劇. 我們很幸運這些不是發生在我們身上, 很難想像失去所愛的家人朋友或生命中的一切會是多麼痛苦和絕望, 即使我們不是很富有, 但我們還是可以盡一份心力! 台灣世界展望會提供線上信用卡捐款 其它像是紅十字會和慈濟也都有救援活動. 幫幫這些受難的人!

good thinking...

"You can say life is a dream. You can say life is nothing because dream is nothing. However you can turn nothing into something."
- I forgot where I got it from...

"When everyone cares how high you flies, who cares how tired you are while flying?"
- It's a commercial slogan of an insurance company.

Netherlands - Queen's Day - 2008/04/30

Queen's Day, April 30th, is a national holiday celebrating the birthday of the Queen of the Netherlands. The celebration actually starts from the preceding Queen's Night. You may see orange, the national color referring to the name of the royal family, everywhere for the clothing, accessories, house/street decorations, drinks, food, and etc. Every city and town in the Netherlands would have their own celebrations, and the only difference is the size(how big the celebration is), the type(such as family oriented or crazy party oriented), and etc. It's said that the celebration in Amsterdam is the World's biggest street party. Since I joined the one in Amsterdam in year 2005 already, this year I joined the parties in Utrecht and Eindhoven.

People celebrated on the streets and canals by drinking, singing, yelling, playing, dancing, relaxing, shopping, and etc. There were countless outdoor concerts and indoor parties. People from children to elders just had fun by their way. It's the day you don't even need to feel guilty while throwing garbage on the streets.

According to the law, people don't need to pay taxes on their sales on Queen's Day. Therefore, in the "freemarket" people could sell all kinds of things, including cast-off toys, second-hand cloth, antique furniture, and anything you could image. There was a stall selling "one-day marriage", while the other could sell "taking a rest on this sofa". If you want to look for something, you have to take your time to enjoy the seeking and finding process. There is so much old rubbish for sale, and actually at the end of the day many of the unsold items might be left on the streets. Isn't it a brilliant idea to clean up your storage and to have fun? Check it out. A toilet could be on sale just like this.

People created their own "weapons" to throw the water polos. In the photo below, the closer weapon was shot by pumping, while the farther one was just by leverage. Who did they target to? Anyone on the canals! The people on the boats just threw the water polos back by hands.

Netherlands - Dutch Meals - 2008/04

I had two Dutch dinners at my colleagues' houses. The food was delicious and the houses were lovely. Their hospitality is appreciated! :)

The first evening we had "boerenkool met worst" at Lenette's house. It's a pity that I didn't take a photo of what she cooked. However I wanted to show you! Therefore I copied one from Internet as below. It's a very typical Dutch meal!

The second evening we had "gourmet" at Jenny's house. It's like Japanese teppanyaki, but each person has his/her own (cute) grill plate and has to cook by himself/herself. At the beginning I was in a great bustle because of the cooking and eating. Later, things were under control again and I was doing fine. :P

Belgium - Antwerpen - 2008/04/27

Antwerpen surprised me. I have no idea why I thought this city as a shopping city only, so I didn't think of visiting this city although I had heard the name many times. I am happy that I went there. The funny sign welcomed us when we arrived.

Save as DraftOn the way to the city center, the impression is that it's not a well organized city. However later after the walking in the city, I like the diversity of the people and the vivid atmosphere very much. There are various cafes and you could have fun easily by watching people. The buildings might not be aligned in terms of styles, but somehow it became a distinguishing feature from other cities.

With a good pillow, you should be able to fall into sleep easily on the pier, if you could have such cozy sunshine as I had. :P

Netherlands - Den Bosch - Bosschebol 巧克力泡芙

The dessert "Bosschebol" at Den Bosch is highly recommended! The covering chocolate is sweet, but the cream inside is not. If you plan to eat there, tea would be a good choice because hot chocolate might be too sweet with bosschebol.

Store: Banketbakkerij Jan de Groot
Add: Stationsweg 24 - 5211 TW - Den Bosch
Website: http://www.bosschebollen.nl/

(The photo was taken by Ashley Chang)

Netherlands - PSV Championship Party

PSV(Philips Sport Vereniging) Eindhoven won the championship of the football game, so... it's party time!

It's crowded everywhere in Eindhoven. People drank beers, yelled cheer-up pithy formulas, sang the team's songs, and etc. When the team arrived the square, we could hardly move to the place we wanted. Anyway, it's definitely a sharp celebration!

(The photo was taken by Klaas van der Molen)