Mis-Adventures In Taiwan
When you think of a national park, what picture comes into your mind? Do you see a beautiful garden with blooming flowers dancing in the air, happy and fruitful bees decorating the horizon and possibly a sparkling lake radiating serenity and happiness to every visitor?
Well, I saw that in my mind, and it drew me like Winnie the Pooh to honey. I was hopelessly seduced and tempted to the idea of lunching by the lake. It would be idyllic and so romantic, I thought.
Without further consideration, I changed the day’s itinerary to include this event. I turned to Stuart and excitedly announced the decision: “Let’s go and have lunch beside the lake at Yang Ming Shan National Park tomorrow, ok?”
With his eyes still staring straight at the TV, he nodded his head and answered “Ok” robotically. I thought with glee about the romantic surprise he would get when we got there the next day.
He didn’t get his romantic surprise, but I got a rude shock instead.
Having told Stuart at least twice that I wouldn’t be going to Yang Ming Shan because I wasn’t dressed appropriately (in heels and dress, I think not!), it somehow didn’t seem to register in his head that we would be heading to exactly where I didn’t want to go!
By the time we realised, or rather I, realised, we were already half-way up the winding road uphill. Yes, we were going to Yang Ming Shan after all. This was Day 2 of my Taipei trip. Welcome to my first misadventure.
As my mistake continued to stare at me blatantly in the face as we meandered our way up the mountain in the taxi, I began to sulk. I felt so indignant! How could I make such an error, when I’d specifically told the hotel receptionist that I didn’t want to go to Yang Ming Shan, but the national park? Yet, nobody pointed out to me the obvious – that the national park was situated in the hill itself. Gosh! What was I thinking of when I saw the name?
We could smell the strong sulphur aroma wafting into our noses even when the windows were all winded up. Wanting to make the best out of this dire situation, I grabbed at every opportunity to take photos. Can you see the hot spring at the background?
Upon reaching our destination – which by now I wasn’t entirely sure where exactly it should be – at the taxi driver’s recommendation, we alighted at one of the more popular restaurants there. By this time, our stomachs were growling.
The soup cheered us up, since it warmed our stomachs pretty well. It tasted good too! And we treated ourselves to a hearty serving of hot, steaming buns – a Yang Ming Shan specialty.
Their specialty soup - Pineapple Bittergourd Chicken soup. Was very tasty, especially in cold weather!
Our lunch venue - the entrance, alfresco and indoor dining areas.
With our stomachs full, warm and happy, we – or rather I – were finally game enough to explore the place. Though the road ahead didn’t look very promising, we decided to walk uphill instead of down since that was where we came from. A short walk and I was in for a very pleasant surprise. Guess what greeted us?
Ta-dah! Windmills! Lots and lots of them! See, aren’t they cheery and cute?
My excitement evaporated shortly as we continued our trekking while looking out for the one and only transportation that could send us out – the public minibus – without seeing any in sight. The wind was blowing stronger by now and I grabbed onto my thin sweater desperately, swearing under my breath about this wrong decision.
Finally, after walking for another yard, or kilometre, or metre, or god-knows-how-long-it-was, we stopped. The road ahead was a very steep and windy road lined only by trees and nothing else. So, we had to stand there and wait for the bus. Now that would have been fine if the weather was cool and nice. But when it was chilly and windy and the only piece of clothing that could provide that one ounce of warmth was just a tiny cardigan, standing in the open would be the last place you want to be.
That was when I started to pray: “Oh Lord, please, please send us the bus now, before I freeze to death here. Please Lord, please. Amen!”
Lo and behold! The bus appeared! Talk about a speedy answer from God!
I couldn’t have scrambled onto a bus any faster in my entire life, truly! And we sped away from my first misadventure in Taiwan and went back to the city.
As I sat on the bus I couldn’t help reflecting upon this incident. In life, we like to make plans. But how many times do our plans turn out to be exactly how we envision and like them to be? More often than not, they don’t. So how do we deal with these irregularities? Sulk? Throw a tantrum? Stamp your feet with regret?
You can do all that, but you also know as well as I do that doing all these won’t help a bit.
The only thing we can do is to go with the flow and think of the next best alternative, with a positive attitude and can-do spirit.