Surfing: Honeymoon Bay (蜜月灣)

I've always wanted to learn to surf, and have been nagging my friends for months to go together. Finally we picked Honeymoon Bay in Yilan County, one of the most popular surfing locations in northern Taiwan. One of the advantages of surfing in a popular location is that you can rent a surf board instead of actually buying one. All of us were beginners, so that's what we did.

Besides of surfing, this trip also carries an important task: a blind date between a friend in university, and a friend of a friend. None of them knew this was a blind date, because we didn't want to give them too much pressure, and we thought we could introduce them to meet, and they feel okay with each other....you know.

But my purpose was merely to learn to surf. Honeymoon bay was probably the best place for beginners, because the waves were so small, however I could never stand up. The place we rent the surf boards also provided free coaching, the coach did his best to help me practice, but I just couldn't, now I'm really thinking I might have some problem in balancing. But still, I burnt lots of calories and had a great time, though get stung by jellyfishes.

Watch out of jellyfish, my stings weren't serious, but my friends got some great stings, one even got a sting on the eye. The good news is that they have a simple first aid stand, so basic stings should be okay.

After a very tiring morning, we drove to a seafood restaurant to have some good seafood. Don't expect seafood to be cheap, but besides of that, we were pretty satisfied with the meal.

Cingtiangang,Yangmingshan (Yangming mountain) National Park 擎天岡，陽明山

On a lovely July weekend, I decided that I haven't been exercising enough, so I called my friend F and invited her to do a short hike. There are too many hiking trials in Taipei, so we randomly picked Cingtiangang. I have been there once, but the weather wasn't clear that time, so I decided to go again, to see the beautiful view people have been telling me.

The easiest way to go is to take the bus "xiao 15 (小15)" from Shilin MRT or Chientan MRT to the last stop. It was those kind of mini bus, crammed with people, all longing to breath some fresh air during the weekend. Often being car sick, it wasn't such a pleasent ride, but it's worth it. By the way, for a long ride like that took only 15 nt, cheap cheap cheap.

We misjudged the weather. It was TOO SUNNY. It was a total grass mountain, beautiful though, but too hot and no trees to get away from the sun. The hike itself was pretty easy, but we were beaten by the poisonous sun, and didn't finish the whole thing.

But anyways, it was a nice day to remember, and I still strongly recommend the place for an easy hike.