Have Car will Travel - Part 1

Last weekend, we got ourselves 4 wheels in the form of a Toyota Camry 2.0. It was our little experiment to see if BK could drive on 'the other' side of the road, if we could navigate our way around Taipei & Taipei ++, and most importantly the impact of a car on our life in Taipei.

During our past year in Taipei, we moved around on public transport - mainly taxis, the Metro, train and well, we did go on the bus once just for fun. As we zipped around Taipei in the back seat of a clean and comfortable taxi, we would agree that not having a car is such a relief - no need to worry about parking / service & maintenance / depreciation etc. etc. BK would even joke that we should club him on the head should he talk about buying a car. Occasionally, we would shake our heads at the manic driver or lament a stinky cab but being chauffeured around felt good for a while. Lately, the lamenting became more frequent as we seemed to have become a magnet for crazy drivers and displeasing cars. Also repeating the instructions to our condo for the millionth time was becoming a chore.

So, on a lovely Saturday morning, we took the two very excited kids to pick up our wheels of independence.

Our first stop on  ID (Independence Day) 1, was RT Mart for our weekly grocery shopping. Never mind, we were there later than usual and the best fish was taken. We were on a high from our new found freedom. We shopped at leisure because we did not need to rush on to one of the nearby restaurants to get a place for lunch. We did a sushi take away and brought our food back home to eat in comfort. Man ! It was actually fun to remember where we parked and push our shopping trolley to our car.

That same evening, we drove to Danshui - a seaside town. We had been to Danshui before by MRT. It took us about 40 mins, 2 train changes and jostling with dozens of strangers all with the same idea for a sunny weekend. This time, we sat in the comfort of our own car and the estimated time for the journey was 25 minutes according to the GPS. We soon found that estimated time of arrival a moving target as we, in the tradition of all travellers, got lost. That was also when the first of our challenges with the GPS became apparent - I call it "what's in a name"

"What's in a name" is a two prong problem - first, the inconsistencies of spelling a Chinese name in English. Is it Min Quan or Min Chuan ? The GPS spelt it 'Min Cyuan' ! Secondly, what in the world is "Danshuihanshunamxi" ? We had to know the exact name of a location as used within the GPS system. To cut a long story short, we didn't see the Danshui Lover's Bridge that night.

This is what we missed !

All was not lost, we took the GPS out of the car that night and looked up our destination for the next day. But I didn't get too far in my preparations as the GPS ran out of battery really soon ! Grrrrr....

ID 2 - Fulong Beach / the Northeast Coast National Scenic Area

We packed and we packed and we packed loads of stuff for our day trip to Fulong Beach. YES ! for a change we were going out in out own car and really we could pack that boot to the brim with every item of our whim and fancy -the whole basketful of snacks including Kit Kat, the huge 2L Thermos,  that extra pair of slipper, the just in case t-shirt but no, no let's not take the umbrella :) And yes take the milk powder but forget the milk bottles, dear.

We loved the drive to Fulong Beach although it poured. We passed many promising places such as Juifen which we said we will be back to explore. The sight of the sea was thrilling. We were dying to stop and take in the view. With the maestro of  a navigator, the GPS and a stroke of luck, we chose Bitan Recreational Area. A stroke of luck - cause we had no idea what was there and it was good AND we left just as the 3 bus loads of Chinese tourist pulled in.

It costs 50 yuan to enter the Bitan Recreational Area to park your car. You get a parking coupon which shows you a pretty picture of the lighthouse at Bitan on a sunny day. Ah ! The potential of what we could have seen and done. We borrowed an umbrella and took our basketful of snacks down to one of the food court tables. Well, maybe food court is not the right word - there were 4 stalls selling almost identical cooked food and 2 peddling various items including Alleluia ! umbrellas.

Armed with our newly bought umbrella, we took turns walking in the rain to see the grey green waves crash recklessly on the rocks. Daredevil fishermen clad in protective rain gear, stood on the rocks, bravely casting their lines. Fishing must be good in this parts - cause there were lots of them, braving the rain and waves, casting away. There were also little crabs clamouring all over the rocks.

The sights in the food court were equally enthralling. The 4 identical food stalls were selling various seafood. Fried mackerel seems popular. I saw a man buy a fried fish in a little paper bag. He held it by the bag and tore of chunks of fish like it was a fried drumstick. A family in the next table ordered a plate of huge prawns, starchy seafood soup, seaweed soup and check this out - mackerel soup. Mackerel soup was a clear broth with the mackerel - cut in two sitting in it. The first thing the father did was to scoop our an eyeball and shout " Who wants an eyeball?". The 2 kids both shouted "Me!" and he said "Well, one eye each" and proceeded to distribute the delicacy fairly. Hmmm...

The map of the area reminded us again of what we could be doing instead of watching people eat. And no, we didn't feel too inspired to eat the same. My kids are not eyeball eaters.

We continued our wet journey. As soon as the drops stopped, we made a stop. The name that appeared on the road signs was "Aodi" / "Audi". We stopped out of a need to show the kids something. Something happened to be 'sotong boats'.

Ew complained about the smell of the sea and covered his nose. He was more keen to jump into the puddles. Ae was crazy about being allowed on the ground (we didn't take her shoes out of the car in Bitan), we had to restrain her from running off the edge of the pier.

Another short drive and we arrived at our destination - Fulong Beach. We had seen Janet frolicking on Fulong Beach on Fun Taiwan. Fulong Beach is the site of the Sand Sculpture Festival. What Janet forgot to mention is you have to pay to get in. The entrance fee for an adult is 90 yuan. For a child of 3, 10 yuan. For a toddler - free.

Pay and the troll let's you across the bridge to the beach

The kids had a blast. It drizzled but we didn't have the heart to keep them away from the sea or the sand.
When the rain got heavier, we retreated under a tent and continued our digging. Finally, it was the dark clouds threatening more rain that sent us heading home.