Man Man Zou

I almost forgot to write about my weekend because I’ve been so busy packing and getting ready to leave Taiwan. Last weekend, we went to Taipei to visit Darren, and see some sights. Oh, and shopping for camera stuff of course.

At the famous Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, a huge sports event was happening, called Totally Board. It was sponsored by Nokia, and I think the event was worth them donating their money for, considering more than 70,000 people showed up just to see the snowboarders, skiers, bmx riders, and skateboarders. It also seemed worth the athletes’ time to show up at this event (paid of course), because they were huge stars in the eyes of the crowd. A huge ramp was built (90m high) for the skiers and snowboarders- the scaffolding was impressive! Everyone put a lot of faith in the safety standards of Taiwan for that one.

So we hung out at the CKS Memorial for most of the day, after hours of shopping first, of course.

That night we went out macro shooting. We came across many frogs, but the most exciting thing we saw was a mantis! It was awesome looking. We actually spent about an hour with it, taking dozens of photos. It was just great to watch. I guess our flashes didn’t blind it, since I saw it attack a nearby grasshopper. We picked it up, let it crawl all over us, and it never flew away. That was the second time I’ve held a mantis, and I must say it’s a moving experience! Their looks and movements are alien-like.

The next morning Mark and I said our good-byes to Darren and we went out of the city to Keelung and Yehliu. I thought we were experienced Taiwaners, but we somehow got ourselves on the wrong train, and after turning around, it took a long time to get to our destination. That’s ok though, because we got to see a lot of little towns in northern Taiwan.

Yehliu is famous for its strange rocks that have formed along the beach. They are a beautiful color, and the shapes really are nice. The place itself was a typical tourist destination, but still a good place to see. We were a little rushed while there because we took so long to find it, but we walked around to see the sights, including the famous Queen’s Head rock.

Normally I don’t like Taipei that much, but it was a nice, easy weekend. It also helped a lot that I’m not working anymore, so I didn’t have to think about starting work the next day!