-
Notifications
You must be signed in to change notification settings - Fork 0
/
98-03-08.html
101 lines (101 loc) · 10.6 KB
/
98-03-08.html
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<!-- include head.html -->
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"/>
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="resources/trip.css" />
<!-- /include head.html -->
<title>We Ate Taiwan: 98年 3月 8日 – Běitóu</title>
</head>
<body>
<!-- include header.html -->
<a id="top" name="top"> </a>
<div id="pageContainer" class="links-underlined">
<header id="headContainer" class="tymargins-off">
<h1><a href="index.html">We Ate Taiwan</a></h1>
</header>
<div id="columnContainer">
<article id="leftColumn">
<!-- /include header.html -->
<h1 class="tyfont-size-h3">98年 3月 8日 – Běitóu</h1>
<figure class="tymedia">
<img alt="Spring City Resort" data-lazyimage="resources/photos/springcity_large.jpg" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' /%3E">
<figcaption class="tymedia-caption">The outdoor spring area at Spring City Resort. Photo taken without permission from the <a href="http://www.springresort.com.tw/">Spring City Resort website</a>. We were so relaxed on this part of the trip that we didn’t bother taking many photos.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Monica and I pack our things for our first real trip outside of Taipei. Today we will be going to one of the destinations for which Taiwan is internationally famous. We have reserved a night at one of the hot spring resorts in Běitóu, a town in the hills northeast of Taipei. Běitóu is a 40 minute ride from the main Taipei subway station, so we are not going very far. It is still part of the greater metropolitan area and is popular for the numerous hot spring resorts – particularly with the Japanese tourists who love hot springs.</p>
<p>We cannot check into the resort until 3pm, so the early part of the day will be spent visiting with family friends. These are folks that Monica hasn’t seen since she was in college. The group includes both older folks that are sort of like aunts and uncles to Monica as well as three guys that are around our age. Two of them have recently returned to Taiwan after living in Canada for many years, so some of our lunchtime socializing is conducted in English.</p>
<figure class="tymedia float-left zoomable" id="yinyi">
<img data-lazyimage="resources/photos/yinyilunch.jpg" alt="Traditional meal at Yin Yi" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' /%3E">
<figcaption class="tymedia-caption">Traditional meal at Yin Yi. <a href="#yinyi" class="zoomin tybutton">Zoom In</a> <a href="#_" class="zoomout tybutton">Zoom Out</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We all meet at a local restaurant called Yin Yi and enjoy an enormous traditional meal. The many dishes that arrive at our table include shrimp, spicy tofu and meat, cooked greens, noodles, fish heads, hot and sour soup (that is neither particularly hot or sour), steamed buns, steamed dumplings, whole roasted crispy duck, lion’s head (meatballs in a cabbage soup), cold vegetables, shredded tofu in soup with ham, cold ham, and rice. It is all good and, as is also traditional on our trip, I eat too much.</p>
<p>Monica’s “cousins” lived in Canada for most of their teenage and adult years – partly to avoid Taiwan’s mandatory military service. It is common for parents to send their male children to other countries for school and to avoid the year-long military service commitment. Avoiding it can be difficult; service is required for men between the ages of 18 and 35. Two of the guys are now in Taiwan as foreign labor (they have obtained Canadian citizenship). The third is destined for the Taiwanese Marines.</p>
<p>Canada is a popular destination because it’s a good place to live and the entry requirements for foreigners are less restrictive than for the United States. The two guys have been living in Toronto and say they have enjoyed life there.</p>
<p>The afternoon passes and it is time to leave for Běitóu so we say our farewells and catch our train. For the first time on this trip we will be on our own with no plan or agenda. To this point we have a steady schedule of places to go, sights to see and people to meet. We are both looking forward to some relaxation.</p>
<p>Spring City Resort is a 15 minute walk up the hill from the MRT station in Běitóu. On the way up we pass by the main public library, the Hot Spring Museum, the public springs, and numerous hotels. We also pass a steady stream of people moving up and down the hill. It’s Sunday today so many people are probably checking out after enjoying a week or weekend getaway.</p>
<p>The spring water in this region contains a fair amount of sulphur. The smell of rotten eggs is in the wind. Our day started out nice but as we walk up the hill to the resort it begins to rain. Again.</p>
<p>The resort was voted the number one hot spring resort in Běitóu in 2004. Since then, it appears to have faltered a little. It is a very nice place that looks a bit used, as if it has been roughed up by a less-than-respectful clientele. Or perhaps people bring a lot of small children. When we arrive, the main lobby is under construction and a makeshift lobby has been set up in their indoor spa building.</p>
<figure class="tymedia float-right">
<img data-lazyimage="resources/photos/tub.jpg" alt="The stone soaking tub in our room at Spring City Resort" src="data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' /%3E">
<figcaption class="tymedia-caption">The stone soaking tub in our room at Spring City Resort.</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We are provided a very nice if slightly small room on the fifth floor. The bathroom is entirely marble with a large sunken tub that has a special tap for spring water. This gives us the opportunity to have a nice private soak. Monica is slightly annoyed that the king bed we were promised is actually 2 twin mattresses pushed together.</p>
<p>In addition to the amenities in our room, the resort has a small gym, an outdoor pool and whirlpool, a large outdoor public hot spring with many different kinds of soaking tubs, and two restaurants. We are quite a ways up the hill so the hotel has a good view of Běitóu. Somewhere below us must be a very large open spring; a persistent cloud of steam blankets a part of the hill.</p>
<p>After a pleasant soak in our room (the water is hot but not aggressively so) and some time vegging in front of the television, we go downstairs for a late supper. Of the hotel’s two restaurants, the Japanese style place is clearly the more appealing one. The Chinese place is also their “common” dining room where breakfast is served. We are staying on an off-peak night for a better rate so the Chinese place is completely deserted – never a good sign. We join the small late dinner crowd in the other dining room for what turns out to be a surprisingly excellent meal.</p>
<p>I order grilled asparagus and salt grilled mackerel. Monica has a salad, some other kind of salt-grilled fish with fish roe, and somen noodles. The asparagus comes cold, stacked neatly like logs and dressed with a sesame sauce. They are perfectly cooked. The mackerel is one of the best pieces of fish I have ever had; it is delightfully salt and crispy on the outside. Monica’s somen noodles come in three colors, presented like sushi with cold sauce and a spicy pepper powder on the side. The meal is expensive by Taiwanese standards but worth the money.</p>
<!-- include end.html -->
<nav class="paging">
<ul class="tymargins-off">
<li class="prev"><a href="98-03-07.html">Previous Day</a></li>
<li class="next"><a href="98-03-09.html">Next Day</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
</article>
<aside id="rightColumn">
<h2>Journal Entries</h2>
<ul class="toc tymargins-off">
<li><a href="98-03-01.html">98年 3月 1日 – Arrival</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-02.html">98年 3月 2日 – First Outings</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-03.html">98年 3月 3日 – Beef Noodles</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-04.html">98年 3月 4日 – Dànshuǐ</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-05.html">98年 3月 5日 – College</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-06.html">98年 3月 6日 – Yángmíngshān</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-07.html">98年 3月 7日 – Sightseeing</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-08.html">98年 3月 8日 – Běitóu</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-09.html">98年 3月 9日 – Shìlín</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-10.html">98年 3月 10日 – Huālián</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-11.html">98年 3月 11日 – Taroko Gorge</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-12.html">98年 3月 12日 – 101</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-13.html">98年 3月 13日 – A Taste of Home</a></li>
<li><a href="98-03-14.html">98年 3月 14日 – Return Trip</a></li>
</ul>
<h2>About My Trip</h2>
<p>In 2009, my girlfriend and I visited her home country of Taiwan. During our two week vacation, I wrote daily notes of my experiences and together we took over a thousand photos. Those notes and photos have been compiled into this travel journal.</p>
</aside>
</div>
<div id="footContainer" class="tymargins-off">
<ul class="sitemenu">
<li><a href="#top">Return to the Top</a></li>
<li><a href="index.html">Return to the Main Page</a></li>
<li><a href="slideshow.html">See the Photos</a></li>
</ul>
<p>© Copyright 2009—2020 by <a href="http://www.aaronpinero.com/">Aaron Pinero</a> except as noted.</p>
<p>Photographs may not be used in any other medium without permission. In most cases, we’d be glad to let you if you ask.</p>
</div>
</div>
<script src="resources/js/inview.js"></script>
<script src="resources/js/lazyimage.js"></script>
<script src="resources/js/webfontloader.js"></script>
<script>
WebFont.load({
google: {
families: ['Noto+Sans+TC:400,700','Noto+Sans:400,400i,700,700i']
}
});
</script>
</body>
</html>
<!-- /include end.html -->
</body>
</html>