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I actually had a two day weekend last week, so Fanfan and I went just outside of Taipei to the lush, green countryside around ShiFen (十分).

Day after day, crossing the bridge from XinZhuang (新莊) to BanQiao (板橋), I look out to the mountains that surround Taipei, thinking of how nice it would be to go hiking instead of going to work.

On Saturday, we got up early-ish (about 8:50) and grabbed breakfast -- Fanfan got pancakes at McD***ld's while I opted for my favorite, a plump, greasy ZhuaBing (抓餅). We raced off to the BanQiao train station and, in our usual fashion, jumped on just as the train was about to lurch away from the station. We didn't have a seat, in light of being late and all, so we stood some open space, eating our breakfast and drinking our coffee. The train became gradually more and more packed, with successive groups of Japanese and Hong Kongese tourists.

The train took about 40 minutes to ReiFang (瑞芳), where most everyone got off and took a bus to KeeLung (基隆). We got a day pass for the slow train that went through the small towns in the area.

Our first stop was DaHua (大華).



I'll tell you what should be so striking to anyone who sees this video (and all the rest for that matter): I'm only about 15 miles outside of Taipei city limits, but still in Taipei County. It's hard to believe when your in the thick of it, choking on bus exhaust and scooter farts, feeling swallowed in by the decrepit highrises of Taipei, that this is what awaits you just outside city limits.

The pure greeness of Taiwan has always amazed me. Before I went to Ireland, everyone told me that I would be amazed at how many shades of green I would see. Yet, even in the polluted cities in Taiwan, you see plants popping out of every corner and hanging off of every rooftop, and outside of the cities, the thick, vibrant green forests are amazing. Ireland has nothing on Taiwan.



In this video, I was just trying to get the chirping of the bird that promptly stopped singing as soon as I started to record. You can hear the cicadas (I think that's what they are) pretty well.


This one ends kind of abruptly....




As I've mentioned before, I rarely ever get to hear Fanfan speak English, since we speak French together, but I always try to force her to speak English on the videos so that people will understand better.

In this video, we were walking through a group of monuments to different students of Buddha. You'll notice two things. First, there are coins embedded in the Buddha. If anyone could tell me why, I'd be interested in knowing why. Second, Fanfan sees me in almost everything. I am Shrek, King Kong, Buddha's serious student, and the pig biting his mother's tongue.


Well, can't keep her speaking English too long....

This is a video from walking through town. You'll notice that the train literally goes straight through the center of town.

This one ends abruptly because the card was full.




Fanfan writing "fu" (福), which means "Happiness" or "Good Fortune."


...and me, writing the same word (I just bought one of these special papers recently and a brush to practice, I'd really like to learn Chinese calligraphy)

As I've mentioned, it was quite humid, despite the breeze. Note the sweat drenched foreigner in this video (in my defense, some of that moisture was from the rain). I bought a Christmas present for my sister at this little shop.

Also, note the "AiYo!" (哎唷!, I think) then cut when I make the "V" sign. I'm making fun of just about every Asian television personality, celebrity, and, well, person when I do that.


Fanfan wasn't feeling so good towards the end of the day, so we decided not to go to KeeLung. We decided instead to go to the last stop on the train we had already been on (don't remember the name of the town). While waiting for the train to come, there was a group of photographers taking pictures of one girl. It was kind of strange actually. For about twenty minutes, they went all over the train station taking pictures of this one girl. We actually saw a lot of photographers all over these little towns.

In the video, I also mentioned something about Chinese that I find quite funny. It's a reference to how you say a girl is not pretty. When we want to be nice, instead of saying "She's ugly" or "She's not that attractive," we'll say "She's got a good personality." In Chinese, though, they say, "She obeys the traffic laws." (I don't know how to say this). Fanfan says it's actually quite mean. It's not exactly the euphemistic "She's a nice girl" that we might say.


This is the last video from the last town, of which the name escapes me. We were only there for about half an hour, waiting for the train back to RuiFang. We saw some nice Japanese-style bed and breakfasts there, and we're thinking of staying there next year during the sky lantern festival (video).