December 28, 2010 – Eternal Spring Shrine, Taroko Gorge, Taiwan
We were only given a flashlight to use for the trail and we were on our own. The cave of Eternal Spring Shrine is just a few meters but it was really dark and we really hear the drops of water on our heads and its flow from end to end of the cave shrine carved into the mountain rock.
I witnessed a number of travel phlogs in these past few weeks popping out as their authors rekindle their love for travel one photo at a time. One has truly made me a true follower. Theirs remind me the pleasure of wandering even I am just staring at my computer doing plainly nothing.
But there is one thing I think saddens me about traveling…These are the goodbyes we have to bid after we finally found the connection we were seeking when we arrived.
It is when you know that as you enter a new land, you know you are also bound to leave these places soon. 3 days is never enough so you always hunger for longer stay. The next travels tend to be longer and you being more of a challenger for the unknown. You tend to be keener. You realized that you can leave your touristy attitude away then act like a local. You realized that there is more to a luxurious hotel, hopping at bars, following a tourist guide for the entire travel and souvenir shops. You realized that traveling means meeting people, being immersed in each of the new places, riding the public buses and eating street foods. You realized that traveling is not really about spending a lot in order to learn about the country or a new city but it is about exploring what is already there: things and places that do not require a chunk of your hard-earned money. You realized that ability to travel is not about showing what you have but showing to people what the world has. You also realized that traveling is a way to learn new things, things you know you would never know if you will not try to check those in the other side. You know traveling widens you. You start to love each places, sometimes loving one more than the others. At the end of the travel, you realized that the place is not foreign anymore to you. You realized it is loving you back. You know you already have the feeling of belongingness.
But..you know there is an end in every adventure. Goodbye is for people who truly had experienced first times with the place. But as the travel photographer Mitchell Kanashkevich puts it, Despite everything, the travel bug that bit you says “The show must go on”.
December 21, 2010 – Expo park, Daejeon, South Korea
It was cold in Expo Park but the ice cream was free! hahahahhahaha
December 26, 2010 – Modern Toilet, Taipei, Taiwan
Our first meal in Taiwan was in Modern Toilet. Yes. It’s Toilet but a Restaurant.
Modern Toilet is a casual restaurant in Ximending. Everything in it is designed like you’re eating in a toilet (minus the you-know-what-i-mean smell, hahahaha!). The table is a bathtub, chair is a real toilet bowl and you have a shower hanging on the wall. The tea cup is a mini toilet bowl and even the plate of your viand. You have a rice bowl cover shaped like a real poop (hahaha!). You’re going to eat your poop ice cream. (hahaha!).
I had a poop stuck around my straw.
Above is a bathroom sink. It was a toilet bowl but it really was a bathroom sink. It had a faucet. When I looked down to check the water in it, I feel I was about to sit on it to have a poop. My mind didn’t accept the creative idea. Hahaha! Geesh. But it was really cool and funny. I was just not used to the design. I loved it!
December 26, 2010 – Ximending Shopping Area, Taipei, Taiwan
Those are the sugar coated tomatoes. Sweetest and Juiciest!
Curiosity Beyond 