Waimushan Seaside Boulevard

Hooray! Covid-19 Alert Level dropped from 3 to 2 in Taiwan today! Nevertheless all cafes are still not allowed for the public to enjoy meals indoors in New Taipei City, so I ventured to Keelung to enjoy my first meal at a fancy resturant on the coastline. Gosh, it felt good to live like a decent human being again since Alert Level 3 was enforced in May 15, 2021.

It’s a hot and sunny Tuesday. I got on Bus 951 at MRT Dapingling (大坪林) Station at 10:00, got off Bus 951 at Xizhi Xizhi (汐止) Train Station. I took the 10:55 local train 1158 from Xizhi to Keelung. While on train, I put on the suntan cream I bought at Coni yesterday afternoon. I don’t mind getting tanned, but I hope I can avoid a few dark spots on my cheeks and arms.

At the South Gate of Xizhi Train Station, I tried to look for Bus 308 or 310 to Waimushan (外木山), but I couldn’t find their arriving time on the LED board. I asked local senior citizens for information, they suggested I took Bus 302 and got off at Zhongshan High School (中山高中), then walked to Waimu in less than 10 minutes. 

I was grateful for the valuable travelling information from the local residents. One lady told me to get on the bus from the front to tap my senior card. Because in Keelung, passengers tap the bus card only once, not like in Taipei, passengers need to tap bus card twice on and off the bus. Another senior couple reminded me of getting off at the following bus stop and making a left turn before they got off Bus 302. I felt the friendliness of Taiwanese people again. It's been a couple of months, people are required to keep the social distance, and are discourgaed to chat in public. 

At 12 noon, I arrived at Waimushan Seaside Boulevard (湖海路)，I saw for the first time the Sea Mango trees with many fruits at the Hsieh-ho Power Plant Community Center (協和社區). I tried to collect a couple of ripen sea mangos hanging from the trees with the help of my umbrella. The green fruits look just like ordinary mangos, the red ones look like passion fruits. In Hawaii, sea mangos are called "suicide apple", because they are deadly poisonous. Fortunately, I didn’t try a bite of the poisonous apple like Princess Snow White did when her step-mother handed her a half-bitten one.

The most exciting spot of Waimushan Seaside Boulevard, in my opinion, is the Haixing Sea Swimming Pool in the Taiwan Strait. While seeing many people enjoy swimming and scuba diving, I had an urge to purchase diving gears to turn myself into a mermaid.