Luodong Sports Park

Traveling From Xindian (新店) to Pinglin (坪林) has become my weekly ritual since Alert 3 Level was enforced in Mid-May. I hop on Bus 923 every weekend to hike in the mountains. Bus 923 runs every hour, it takes 40 minutes from Xindian to Pinglin via Shenkeng. There are four tunnels, Jingmei (573M), Muzha (1875M), Wutu (248M), Pongshan (3,806M). Today I took the cross-county bus from Pinglin to Loudong to experience Hsuehshan (雪山) Tunnel (12,955M), the longest Tunnel in Taiwan. 

I spent 16 points taking Bus 923 from Xindian to Pinglin with my elderly e-ticket (480 points/month), arrived in Pinglin at 10:10 with my neighbor friend. We got on cozy Capital Bus 9028 with three rows seat at 10:40. No sooner had Bus 9028 departed, than we were in the Hsuehshan Tunnel. I turned on two cabin reading lights as if I were on the first-class cross-country airplane. I only scribbled a few words on my portable diary, then we reached the Eastern Taiwan.

When exiting the Hsuehshan Tunnel, the Yilan Plain stretched as far as I could see. The green rice paddies reached up to the horizon in a race to meet the azure Pacific Ocean. The Guishan Island (Turtle Island) to our left in the Pacific Ocean guided us all the way to Luodong (羅東) Bus Terminal.

Luodong Train Station is right across from the bus terminal. We passed the Luodong Station to get to Gongzheng Road, the main road in Luodang. Our destination of Luodong Sports Park is 2.2 kilometers west of train station. Before we reached the park, we enjoyed a delicious fusion cuisine at Ah-sui Italian Restaurant for lunch for two hours. 

After lunch, we took a stroll at the 47 hectares park with a range of facilities for sport including basketball and a swimming pool. The park is divided into four sections, forest area, sport area, waterscapes, and other landscapes. We took 3PM Bus 9028 back to Xindian before 4PM. It was another fruitful field trip full of sweat and laughters.

Let's go and fika

It’s the first day the ban on indoor dining was lifted in New Taipei City, I was curious how fast restaurants could get ready within a day or two to meet the stringent requirements for indoor dining and how people react toward the new dining etiquette. At noon, it rained cats and dogs, I stayed home for lunch with my husband. When the rain finally stopped at 2:30, I brought along a heavy Korean grammar textbook to IKEA Xindian to enjoy fika for NT$99.

Fika is "a coffee and cake break" in Swedish. The word derives from the 19th-century slang word for coffee: kaffi. Invert the word kaffi, and you get fika. Swedes consider it essential to make time for fika every day, to make time for friends and colleagues to share a cup of coffee and a little something to eat and to socialise. It refreshes the brain and strengthens relationships. 

IKEA, the mega Swedish furniture chain-store presented no doubt a model showcase for Taiwanese restaurants to follow the indoor dining rules stipulated by New Taipei City Authority. All tables were set up with acrylic partitions and were marked diagonally to comply with social distancing.

I had two chicken wings, one strawberry cheesecake, one cup of all-you-can-drink swedish coffee for fika today. I tried to invite a few friends to join me, but they would rather stay home to have on-line chatting. So I had fika by myself. To my surprise, there weren’t as many patrons as before, people were obviously much concerned about the mutation speed of notorious coronavirus.

At IKEA, I heard the announcement very now and then, it’s mandatory people wear masks at all times except eating and drinking. I don't mind wearing mask while reading or writing as I got used to the hygiene practice when I was on the cruise to offshore islands three times last year.

While having fika, I practiced a couple of Korean folk songs to get myself ready for lunch at my Korean Teacher’s place tomorrow. I also review a few Korean children songs we learned last year. In the end, I didn’t study much of Korean grammar in the heavy textbook. But I made up my mind to study 5 pages a day, in order to finish the 500 pages textbook by the end of 2021.

The NT$ 8 Dollars Lesson

In Taiwan, senior citizens above age 65 are offered e-ticket of 480 points every month to ride the bus, metro, even taxi. I used up 480 points every month since I got my senior card last October. It is a good health policy, in my opinion, to encourage senior citizens to stay active by going outdoors to enjoy life with the free transportation incentives.

I got on Bus 930 at 8:30, but I couldn’t hear three Beeping sounds when I tapped my e-ticket. The bus driver told me to pay cash as my senior card was expired. Reluctanly I dropped NT$8 dollars in the cash box next to the driver. As soon as I got off the bus, I extended my senior card for the first time at a 7-11 near the bus stop. I should have extended my senior card before the end of March. This is the NT$ 8 Dollars Lesson I learned this morning.

It was 9:10 when I got on Bus 920 to Linko, and arrived at Hsing Wu (醒吾) University at 10:03. The free New Bus F236 left at 10:00. The next F236 won’t come until 12:00. Then I saw F235 departing from Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at 10:30, I decided to take F235, because both F235 and F236 stop at Rui-ping (瑞平) Elementary school on the westcoast. F235 takes Route North 79 (5.8K) to the westcoast, while F236 takes Route North 77 (3.4K). 

At 11:15, I arrived at Rui-ping Elementary School, I went to the school gate and took a look. I wonder how many students there are at Rui-ping as the school is so remote and is in the middle of nowhere. Since I planned to take F236 at 13:00, I had about 1.5 hours to wander around in the neighborhood.

I tried to follow F236 bus stops, and I ended up walking on a route of nowhere. I kept on walking for more than 30 minutes in the scorching sun, but failed to find any signs of bus stops. Finally I saw a countryside restaurant. It was closed due to Covid-19 pandemic. I decided to take a rest and had my lunch at the entrance to the restaurant, looking the surrounding hills and small tracks coming and going from time to time. 

At 12 noon, under the shade of a tree, I had the chicken burger I bought in Banqiao and fried chicken I bought in Linko with the Taiwanese lettuce I brought along in my lunch box. It felt good to enjoy a good lunch with the the gentle breeze from the Ruisukeng (瑞樹坑) River.      

After lunch, on my way back to the westcoast, I saw a small banana blossom hanging from the tree by the road, I took it easily with my bare hands. Then to my surprise, I saw a dozen oxen eating grasses by the river. I consider it auspicious to see the happy oxen family as 2021 is the Year of Ox. I would have practiced my soprano recorder in front of the oxen family, if I were not in a hurry to get back to the school in time. 

At 13:05, I got on Bus F236. The Bus took North Coast Route 15 from 16.5K to 20.5K to make a U-turn, and I got the chance to see the Taipower Thermal Power Linko plant. The scenery along the coastline was spectacular. I got on Bus 920 at Linko at 13:52, Bus 930 at Banqiao at 15:00. It started raining when I arrived in Xindian at 15:15.

Be it far, Taipower Linko Plant and the surrounding moumtain routes definitely worth a second visit in the future. I am glad that I have more secret scenic spots of Northern Taiwan in my pocket. I shall bring along my soprano recorder to play for the livestock at the animal farms near Rui-ping Elemenatary School. And I am happy I can use my senior card till March 2022 because of the NT$ 8 dollars Lesson! 

Erlongshan

Covid-19 has brought unprecedented changes to the world, how we live and interact with others, how we move around and travel. In stead of meeting face to face, people around the world feel more comfortable learning and meeting on-line, social gathering via Google Meet. 

Covid-19 also changed me, it transformed me into an athelete and a musican. During the past two and half months of Alert 3 Period, I got into a habit to hike the countryside routes in New Taipei City by free New Taipei Bus. I enjoyed carrying the recorder in my backpack, so that I could practice whenever there was nobody around.

I left home at 10:20, bought three steamed buns (two pork and one vegetable) at Jianguo Market, got on New Free Bus Quchi Line at Qizhang MRT Station at 10:50. I got off the bus at the terminal station where Xiaguishan (下龜山) Bridge is located. As I didn’t have a definite destination for today, I just wandered around in the area, and ended up to walk on five dead end trails. 

Finally I was lucky to run into a motorcyclist on his way down the hill, and got the directions to the Erlongshan (二龍山) and Zhitanshan (直潭山). I gathered all my strength to walk as fast as possible to reach the Extrance of Erlongshan at 12:50. I didn’t climb the mountain, as I needed to get to the bus stop before 13:55.

While hiking along the unknown trail, it felt good to sweat a lot and feel gentle breeze from time to time. Finally I got a chance to practice my recorder while waiting for the bus at the bus stop near Guanxin (廣興) Bridge back to Qizhang MRT Station. It was another refreshing day of lonly hiking for 8 kilometers.