Amazing Rocks @ Yeliu

I've managed to visit Yeliu Geopark (野柳地质公园) during my short stay in Taipei. The rock layer in the Geopark area consist of sandstones of limestone texture and as such, have been eroded by nature into interesting shapes and sizes. The most famous stone of course, is the Queen's Head.

Being the uh-hem, adventurous sort, we again took the public transport to Yeliu.We started our journey from the Taipei Main Station. Make your way to the Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A and find the Guo Guang (国光) area. Tell them that you wish to go to Yeliu and ask them where to take the bus (国光客运). Do note that if you have the EasyCard, tell them that you're paying by EasyCard and you just want to know where to take the bus. Otherwise, it's about NT$96 per person.

Before you board the bus, you can ask the driver to inform you when you have reached Yeliu as it's not the final stop for the bus. If you have forgotten, not to worry as there are a number of people that are getting out at that stop, at least for me. :) You will be passing by Keelung by the way so don't be surprised if you see it.

The sign below will greet you when you reach Yeliu.

If you are facing the sign, walk down the road to your left and you will see some interesting ships with many lanterns. Below are some pictures that I've taken.

Continue walking straight down and if you're interested in knowing where exactly are you, you will see the sign board below detailing your exact location.

After walking down a bit further, you will see the Yeliu Ocean Park. The Yeliu Geopark is just beside it. Below is a picture of the Geopark entrance. Adult entrance fee is NT$50 per person.

You will see some interesting write-ups on the Geopark upon going in. Below are some of the pictures I've taken near the entrance.

Now, Yeliu Geopark has 2 Queen's Head. You will see the first one near the entrance. Do note that this is the "fake" Queen's Head, otherwise known as Queen's Head 2. It's re-produced from the original though. You can take some pictures there, like I did below.

If you're interested in knowing the names given to those rocks in the Geopark and their locations, you can read the signboards below.

You can see the sea from the Geopark. It's a beautiful scene and very windy. The waves were quite fierce when I was there. Just look at those waves below.

The picture below shows the first set of rocks that will greet you. Try as you might, you won't be able to find the Queen's Head. Reason? It's not there! :) However, the rocks are quite big and unique, and you are free to go down to take a walk by those rocks.

Below is another nice scenery taken around the Geopark. Do the rocks make you feel very small?

Below is a picture of another section of the Geopark. There are a number of rocks here too. Can you spot the Queen's Head?

No? Can you see it better now in the picture below?

Surely you can see it by now. Right?

Ok. That's it. If you can't see it from the picture below, then I cannot help you any further. :)

Well, I'm not sure why are there rocks surrounding the Queen's Head. According to my mother-in-law, the rocks weren't there over 25 years ago. However, it looks to me that the rocks were positioned there such that it looks like a necklace over the Queen's Head.

Anyway, below is a picture of a zoomed-out picture of the area where the Queen's Head is located. Do you notice that at other angles, it just looks like any other rock?

There are strange rocks littering around the area. Below are some of the pictures I've taken of those rocks.

For the pictures below, can you identify what animal it's suppose to be? The power of nature is quite amazing sometimes.

You can really stay there for quite some time if you're a nature person. The wind, the weather, the rocks. It's really a unique place and my favorite place in this Taipei trip. There are other areas you can explore but we were a bit lazy and did not opt to climb up too high. :) There are suppose to be birds around but we didn't see much of it. Maybe it's because we were there during winter?

There are a lot of seafood restaurants outside of the Geopark. I have no recommendation though as I did not find the restaurant that I've been to fantastic.

Anyway to get back to civilization, just take the Keelung Bus (基隆客运) from the bus stop opposite the bus stop that you have arrived in. If I recall correctly, the bus stop is right outside a convenience shop.

If you have a chance to go Taipei, you should visit the Yeliu Geopark. Try not to wear a hat there as your hat will most probably not leave that place alive. :)

Honeycomb Demo!

The latest Google Android, codenamed Honeycomb, looks quite promising. Have a look at the video below.

Sunset @ Danshui

Danshui (淡水) is located near the Danshui river and the easiest way to get there is to go by Metro. Just take the Red MRT Danshui line. The estimated time is about 40 mins from the Taipei Main station. We were there at around sunset so we kinda got stuck at the Danshui Old street and waterfront.

This area stretches from the Danshui MRT station to the ferry docks. There are many stores specializing in traditional handicrafts. In one of those shops, we found an interesting shop that sells postcards that can be made into 3D models. Cool right? There are also a number of eateries and imagine our surprise when we found Hao Da Da Ji Pa (豪大大雞排) there. No need to queue at Shilin. :)

It's not often that we get to see sunset so we stayed there for quite some time to witness the event. We didn't get to see the Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) though. Oh well.

Below are some of the pictures that I've taken of the sunset. Enjoy.

Yang Ming Shan

I went to Yang Ming Shan (陽明山) while I was at Taipei as I am more of a nature person. Since this was a free & easy trip, we decided to be adventurous and take the public transport to Yang Ming Shan. With the power of the Internet and Google of course, it is quite easy to do your homework before embarking on this trip.

First of all, you will need to catch the Bus 260. This bus will bring you directly to Yang Ming Shan. I took the bus (公车) from the main Taipei Railway Station. You can find the bus stop below at the North Bus station.

A quick crash course on taking a bus in Taipei. When you get up on the bus, you should be able to see a lighted up sign at the 上 or 下 word. 上 means that you should pay your bus fare when you get up on the bus, while the other means that you should pay your bus fare when you get off the bus. Do note that it is possible that you have to pay the bus driver twice as the sign switches halfway through your journey, which will happen if you take this bus 260. If you're paying cash, then this doesn't apply. :) Do note that you will be able to pay the bus fare using the EasyCard. The journey to Yang Ming Shan should take less than an hour.

Below is the map of Yang Ming Shan.

There is an internal bus 108 that will bring you around the place. You can pay NT$60 for unlimited trips, or pay NT$15 per ride. You can use the EasyCard for payment. You can see the bus stop near the sign you see above. Do note that the map above is not deceiving to the eye. Meaning that it is quite a distance between the locations if you attempt to walk.

Our first stop is to the Yang Ming Park. Below are pictures of some of the scenery while taking a stroll to the park. There is quite a number of elderly walking there too.

Well, you could say that I heard the clock before I seen it. Apparently, the flower clock of Yang Ming Park will play a jingle at every half hour mark. The flower clock is also quite old I think. My mother-in-law mentioned that she saw this when she went there over 25 years ago. Below is a picture of the flower clock.

Below are some of the scenery pictures taken around Yang Ming Park. It's quite a nice place and I understand why there so many old folks around the area.

After that, my wife suggested going to the Zhuzi Hu (竹子湖) as she wanted to see the Calla Lilies (海宇). That was where I made my first mistake. I thought the map may have been overblown up like some tourist areas so I suggested walking there. We backtracked almost to our starting point and made our way to the Yang Ming Shan National Park Visitor Centre. According to the signage, it was 600m away near where we started walking. However, it didn't say that you have to climb many flights of steps, and you have to hike up and down slopes to reach the centre. After reaching there, even though it was quite cooling, we are already sweating. It was at this point that we took the Bus 108 located at the Visitor Centre.

The bus stop is next to the sign of the visitor centre seen below.

Do note that although bus 108 is an internal shuttle bus around Yang Ming Shan, the interval is about 15-20 mins. That was one of the reasons why I initially did not want to take this bus. The other reason is that the bus is very small and you may not be able to squeeze into the bus.

Anyway, we managed to squeeze into the bus and made our way to Zhuzi Hu. This place is quite big and only after walking around, we realised that the bus S8 and S9 do go around that area. However, the frequency is quite long though.

Anyway, after walking around for quite a bit as we were trying to figure out where to go, we managed to find some of the flowers. :) Below was the place where we found them.

Yes, the above picture is a real volcano crater. This view made the walk worthwhile. :) At the foot of Zhuzi Hu, there is a small shop where you can have your meals if you wish. They sell small buns and some dishes too.

We regretfully have to leave Yang Ming Shan after this as we need to go to other places. :( Our trip is quite short so we tried to squeeze in as many things as possible. You can refer to my other post here for the pictures of the flowers that I took around Yang Ming Shan.

Flowers around Yang Ming Shan

I have split this post away from the Yang Ming Shan (陽明山) post here as it will be too lengthy. Below are some of the photos of flowers that I have taken around Yang Ming Shan, which includes some Calla Lilies (海宇). Enjoy.

Hong Kong's Minimum Wage Effective as of 1 May 2011

Hong Kong has finally confirmed that they will set the minimum wage to HKD28 per hour as they have conveyed previously to take steps to address their income gaps. They are of course people who are for and against it. For those who are against it, they usually use the "free market principle" as the reason.

My question to them is this. Did they think of this "free market principle" during the 2008 Great Recession? Didn't the government intervention helped recover the economy?

Free market? Yeah right. If you pay your workers what they are worth, then you should have nothing to worry about. Some say that it's too little, but that should be no excuse to not implementing this law. I personally felt that HKD28 was used to allow time for the businesses to adapt to this change. That was the concession given by the Hong Kong government to the businesses as they understand that they will need time to adapt to this law.

Personally, I felt that this minimum wage law will force businesses to be more productive as they can no longer use cheap labour to drive their businesses profit margins. There will always be more productive ways that can be used. The question is whether you and your business are willing to change.

Now. Will Singapore take care of their workers? Hmm...

Taipei 101

Who will not visit Taipei 101 if you happen to visit Taiwan?

To take a look at one of the tallest building in the world, just stop at the City Hall MRT station (Situated at the Blue Line - Nangang / Banqiao). Follow the arrows in the MRT station and you'll be able to find your way there.

Below is a picture of the Taipei 101 en-route from the MRT station.

To have a view of the city from Taipei 101, you can visit the Taipei 101 Observatory. Just go up to the 5th floor and walk towards the other end. You'll be able to see a ticket booth where you can get your tickets for NT$400 per person (adult).

Below is a view of the interior of Taipei 101 from the 5th floor.

While queuing up for the express lift that will bring you to the 89th floor, you'll have the option to take a picture where they will superimposed your photo beside the Taipei 101 (with fireworks shooting out). I didn't opt for it though. :p

Why do I say express lift? Take a look at the picture below. :)

You will reach the 89th floor in 37 seconds. That's how fast the express lift is. Inside the lift, they'll try to simulate the night sky with stars on the lift ceiling, and some commentary. It reminds me of a certain tower that I visited in Hokkaido though.

Anyway, the Observation Deck on the 91st floor was closed when I was there so I could only take pictures from within the observatory on the 89th floor. With a glass in-front and considering it's night time, it was quite hard to take any shots. :(  I had 2 decent shots though.

In the observatory, there is some write-up on the construction of Taipei 101 and the famous "Damper Baby". The damper acts as a pendulum that sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts of wind. Below are 2 pictures that show some brief write-up on the damper baby.

Below are 2 photos of the baby itself. Now you understand why it acts as a pendulum?

On the 89th floor, there is a shop where you can buy cute Taipei 101 souvenirs. As we couldn't go up to the 91st floor, we proceeded down to the 88th floor using the staircase. You will walk pass a multimedia corridor. It looks something like the picture below. I guess it wishes to convey the impression that Taipei 101 is very tall and on the 88th floor, it is as if you're walking on top of the clouds.

When you walk across this corridor, the clouds will actually clear up to show the Taipei city below. It looks something like the picture below.

Anyway on the 88th floor, you'll see some sort of art gallery and I believe they sell some jade too. To get back down to the 5th floor, you'll need to go pass the shops right to the end.

As we were walking back to the City Hall MRT station, I couldn't resist taking the picture below. :p