haPpY HaPpY: Cycle Taiwan Day 19 Taroko - Taipei for the final leg of the tour.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Cycle Taiwan Day 19 Taroko - Taipei for the final leg of the tour.

After a good breakfast at Hong Ying B&B we have to bade farewell to Taroko and Hong Ying B&B for a wonderful and memorable stay.

The weather was excellent in the morning with bright blue sky as we rode to Xincheng Station to catch a train to Taipei.

A big handicraft work suspended at the ceiling of the station which looks very tribal.

Taiwan Railways Administration has been very adamant with their ruling on bike bagging. This is found at the station.

Slowly we moved our stuffs to the platform and waited for the train to Taipei. This will be our final leg of the round island tour after 18 days of adventure.

Taroko Bridge 太魯閣大橋 (GPS : 24.145313, 121.644148) at the highway Route 9 as seen from our moving train.

By the way the fare to Taipei is NTD391 and the longest distance taken on train so far for this tour. It is about 150km to Songshan 松山.

Yes we decided to disembark at Songshan Station 松山站 at the last minute so that we can explore the places before we reach Ximending.

A little while out of the station we saw this Sea Goddess Temple, Songshan Ciyou Temple 松山慈祐宮 located at Section 4 Bade Road GPS : 25.050933, 121.577717 where we found a lane to the river side via Raohe Street Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市.

We were hungry after a delayed train ride due to a technical hiccup and decided to eat at one of the side street stalls at Raohe Street Night Market (GPS : 25.050394, 121.576792). We had a good lunch and thank you to the nice lady boss and her daughter for the food. They were amazed with our bicycle tour in Taiwan and gave us their "加油" encouragement.

Just a short distance away from the eating stall we were at the evacuation opening at the river side with a welcoming sign "Rainbow Bridge".

Our photography session began....... as the scenery started to get awesome and interesting. The Rainbow Bridge and the Love sign.

Raohe Street Night Market
饒河街觀光夜市 is found near the river side. The yellow bridge is Huandong Boulevard crossing over Keelung River.

The park and bicycle path on a Wednesday was rather relax as we enjoyed the ride and the weather.

It seems that the whole bicycle path has been taken over by these Brommies from Malaysia.

Viewing from Yingfeng Riverside Park
迎風河濱公園 (GPS : 25.075371, 121.547157) to Minshui 明水 development.

Dazhi Bridge spanning over Keelung River. The Dajia Riverside Park, at this section of the river where this bridge is located, is frequently a venue for outdoor activities, such as the ceremony for blessing dragon boats during the Dragon Boat Festival

Dalongdong Baoan Temple 台北市大龍峒保安宮 at Hami Street GPS : 25.073002, 121.515553. Originally constructed in 1742 as a wooden shrine, the Bao'an Temple is a Taiwanese folk religion temple. Throughout Taiwan's history, the temple was renovated and reconstructed numerous times, leading to a 2003 induction into UNESCO for cultural heritage conservation.

We were back to the wharf where we first started our journey at Dadaocheng Dock 大稻埕碼頭.

We were happy seeing familiar places again and just like feeling at home again in Taipei.

It took us about 16km from Songshan Station to our Homestay at Mei Lodge. Jo and myself decided to book this place to enjoy a comfortable 3 night stay in Taipei which is also near to the rest of the team.

Our dinner at at five footway for a nice and yummy spaghetti.

臺北市電影主題公園 Taipei Cinema Park is known for graffiti, skateboarding and is a popular spot among Taipei’s youth. It used to be an old factory area with some remaining factories around. The murals on the wall are very colorful and interesting for people to see and take picture. We were on our way to Dadaocheng Wharf to meet a group of folding bicycle riders as we were invited by our local friend Pei hsuan.

I had a feeling youthful again as I was surrounded with this Taipei youth's culture.

We were glad to be invited to join this fast riding Birdies and thank you so much Taiwan Birdies especially Pei Hsuan and Ou Yi-min.

Coincidentally it's a Wednesday Night ride and we were following them for a taste of Taiwan Tong Sui.

I met this young man of the same surname with mine Sim, 沈韋良.

They were so fast and we were tailing far behind them, fortunately we have Pei Hsuan taking care of us.

Finally we arrived at the destination and I could smell food again.

At the serving counter, my first impression was the Tangyuan is a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour prepared during Winter Solstice when I saw the coloured balls. Let's try it guys!