The Company(2007)

I visited my sister yesterday and spent almost all day with her family. I had great meals and also a lot of cookies and candies that she especially prepared for me. I think I am too old to have grand meals and I was overfed by my sister, but I had good time with them.

We watched some TV programs together when we had our meals. I had to watch Doraemon because my nephew loves it; I had to watch some Japanese soap operas because my sister loves them. I think I am right that I don't have television in my house because I found out that most Taiwanese people spend too much time in front of their TV. (Well, I spend too much time with my laptop and this is a problem, too.)

When I finally had chance to control over TV remote controller, I switched to movie channels. I rarely knew what channels were showing what movies so I was channel hopping absent-mindedly. I switched to Cinemax and the movie that it was showing caught my attention immediately.

I didn't know what the program's title was at that time, and I was caught in the middle of the movie. I enjoyed it though and I found out the storyline right away. The story was about CIA during Cold War. I could recognize few familiar faces from the movie, so I did some search online and figured out what the movie was.

The program is called The Company, a TV mini-series starring Chris O'Donnell, Michael Keaton and Alfred Molian. The mini-series is based on Robert Littell's almost-nine-hundred-page novel of the same name, and it covers most famous events happened during Cold War.

The first impressive feature of the series is it gives those household names new faces different from their previous characters. I was especially impressive by Michael Keaton's performance when I watched it. He was no longer the wicked and nasty ghost in the Beetlejuice or the not-so-dark dark knight in Batman. And Chris O'Donnell wasn't the young student in Scent of a Woman any more. I hadn't seen other good movies he stared for years, but he is pretty cool in The Company.

The second feature that interests me is the story. It depicts few famous historical events happened during Cold War and the manipulation of CIA behind those events. I love historical drama, I am no expert of Cold War so I don't know if the cause and consquesence of those events presents in this mini-series is accurate or not, but the storytelling was fluent and I was confused even though I don't have enough background knowledge.

I found out that only watched two episodes: The Hungarian Uprising and the Bay of Pigs. Few lines from those two episodes made me think of few things.

When I watched The Hungarian Uprising, Frank Wisner--played by Ted Atherton-- questioned why US didn't give military support to the uprising against the Soviet. The US had spent some much time and money to train those who are against the communism all over the world, and wait the right time like the Hungarian Uprising, but the government didn't take any measure when the timing was right.

When I read/listened to the lines, I had an idea that Taiwan was one part of them, the one trained/manipulated by the CIA. Taiwan was one that swallowed up in the conflicts between the Democracy and the Communism. I suddenly felt a strange bond that connects Taiwan to the rest of world. But what price Taiwan has been paying?

I watched first half part of The Bay of Pigs. One scene was funny to me. Harvey Torriti (played by Alfred Molina) asked one head of mafia to assassin Castro. Taiwan Intelligence agency learned the lesson--recruiting gangsters to conduct secret mission-- from CIA. I was thinking no wonder Jiang Nan Case happened. All I should say all intelligence agencies are all the same.

The Company is a 360-mintue mini-series, I only watched 100 minutes yesterday. I think I wouldn't have chance to watch it replay on TV, I would watch its complete version when its DVD is available.

2007-12-24-26 Yilan and Hualian 聖誕之旅：宜蘭與花蓮 PART II (清水斷崖)

We left Suao around 2 p.m., kind of late actually, but we still planed to visit Taroko National Park before checking in our B&B in Hualian. We got on Suhua Road-- the most dangerous and winding road in Northern Taiwan. Alone the road, I was thinking if it is proper for me to ride my bike on the road when I want to revisit Hualian or travel around the insland on my own. I realized it is not a good idea because I saw many big trucks dashing swiftly on the road. I have no confidence on my riding skill to tackle the traffic I had seen.

我們約在兩點左右離開蘇澳，計畫前往太魯閣，然後再到我們的花蓮民宿。這時間其實有點晚，到太魯閣可能有點趕。我們開上蘇花公路，北台灣最蜿蜒和危險的公路。在路上，我盤算著如果我要一個人騎車環島，沿著蘇花公路到花蓮的可行性。我發現騎車在蘇花公路上，其實蠻危險的。沿路上有很多砂石車呼嘯而行，以小小的摩托車和我的騎車技術可能很容易發生意外，這可行性實在不高。

Compared with the Road No. 9, Suhua Road is more winding and dangerous. The zigzag road made one of my classmates have severe car sick. We pulled over to give her a break. When we were chatting on the shoulder, we saw amazingly beautiful rainbow hanging high above the ocean. That's really breathtaking.

蘇花公路和北宜公路相比，是更蜿蜒和危險。這樣的路況讓我同學很嚴重的暈車，我們決定找到一個可以停車的路肩，讓她休息一陣子。當我們在路旁休息時，我們發現有一道很漂亮的彩虹高掛在海面上，這景致真的是很迷人。

I found that the picture doesn't show the rainbow well because of the light when I was posting it. Too bad. 我發現我拍的照片因為逆光的關係，沒有把這道彩虹拍得很清楚，真的是很可惜啊！

After enough rest, we continued our drive to Taroko.

When we were near the sign of Welcome to Taroko National Park, we saw two people lifting yellow strip and waiting for us to pass through. We didn't know what was happening. Few minutes later, we got a call from my classmate in another car. They were blocked because Suhau Raod was in reparation, and they were only allow to pass in one hour. We realized we just passed through the blocking line in time, but our other classmates didn't make it. And we had to wait for them for an hour. We didn't want to waste our time, so we decided to go to Qingshui Cliff. (Later, I found out that my classmates in another car also had great time near the entry of Taroko National Park in the same time.)

在充足的休息後，我們繼續前往太魯閣。

當我們在接近「歡迎光臨太魯閣」的標誌時，我們看到兩個工人高舉黃色警戒線讓我們通行。在那當下，我們沒搞不清楚發生什麼事情，不管三七二十一的就衝過去。過了警戒線沒多久，從另一台車裡打來一通電話，說他們被禁行，要等上一個小時後才能再通行。我們才知道那是施工的警戒線，我們剛好是最後一台車通過施工區。既然要等上一個小時，我們也不想浪費時間，所以打算到某個定點等他們。我們決定到清水斷崖。

When we arrived at Qingshui Cliff, it was getting dark, but it was great that it didn't rain. We could take a pleasant walk along an abandoned road.

當我們到清水斷崖時，天已經快黑了，但是很幸運的是並沒有下雨。所以我們可以下車，沿著車道散步。

The ocean was clear and it had two kinds of blue. The water of the inner part near the cliff was milky-blue; the water of the outer side was light-blue. Beautiful!

沿著車道，我們可以海面有兩層，靠近內側的海面是一種乳白帶藍的顏色，而外側則是淡藍色，真的很漂亮。

I love QingShui Cliff very much. It is really spectacular. The cliff is main reason I want to visit the east coast of Taiwan. I would like to spend more time in this region. I have been thinking hiking in the region around Qingshui Cliff, but it seems not a good idea so far because of the traffic in the region. I wish the big trucks driving through the Suhau Road could get fewer and fewer and the place would become friendly for travelers.

我個人很喜歡清水斷崖，它的景致真的非常壯觀。它。也是我會非常想要沿著東海岸旅行的主要原因。如果有機會的話，我會在這地方待上更久的時間。而且我曾經有個念頭是想沿著清水斷崖附近的區域健行。但是，目前這可能不是個可行的計畫，因為附近交通狀況真的不好。真希望蘇花公路上的砂石車能越來越少，而路況能越來越好。

I took picture of those two rocks was because the scenery was funny. The bigger rock in the right side resembles a terrier and the one in the left side is doggy poo. :D

我特別拍這張照片是因為我覺得這場景很好玩。照片裡右邊的石頭很像西莎狗 (蘇格蘭高地梗犬)，然後左邊的小石頭是狗便便。XD

When we were talking a walk, one helicopter flew over us. It made high volume of noise which made me think of a movie-- Apocalypse Now directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The scene of the attack and the music-- Ride of the Valkyries--replayed in my mind. I had surreal feeling when I was taking picture of the helicopter.

當我們在散步的時候，有一架直昇機從空呼嘯而過。直昇機隆隆的聲音讓我回想起一部電影，柯波拉導演的「現代啟示錄」。其中直昇機空炸的場景和它的背景音樂華格納的「女武神的飛行」在我腦海中重演。我頓時有種超現實的感覺。

2007-12-24-26 Yilan and Hualian 聖誕之旅：宜蘭與花蓮 PART I (蘇澳)

I am always keen to travel in east coast of Taiwan. About three weeks ago, I learned my classmates planed to travel in Yilan and Hualian. I knew it would be a good chance to carry out my idea of traveling in east coast; I invited myself to join them. I was lucky that we had no trouble to get an extra seat of cars, so I made it. We spent three days (from Dec. 24th to 26th) traveling in Yilan and Hualian. It was cold and raining in Taipei before the trip. I was worried of the bad weather and kept checking weather forecast for few days before the trip. When we were in Yilan and Hualian, it was overcast and sometimes rainy. Even though the weather wasn't perfect, it didn't undermine our travel and it was actually a wonderful trip.

我一直都非常希望到台灣東海岸旅行，大概在三個星期前左右，我聽說碩二的研究生要辦個畢業旅行，到宜蘭和花蓮去玩。我很想跟他們一起去，因為其實能盡興遊玩的機會，大概只有在當學生的時候，所以我厚著臉皮的問他們可不可以讓我跟，很幸運的，剛好車子還有空位，所以我的宜蘭花蓮之旅可以成行。在出發之前，台北的天氣不是很好，天氣預報也顯示我們旅行的時間，天氣大多是陰雨天。我們在宜蘭和花蓮的期間，其實天氣不怎麼好，但是，這樣的情況無損我們遊玩的興致。

Nine of us we in two cars left Taipei in the morning of 24th. We got on highway and passed though Xueshan Tunnel --12.9 kilometers, the second longest tunnel in Asia-- to Toucheng in Yilian within 1.5 hours. It takes fewer hours for travelers to get to Yilian than before. After we arrived Toucheng, we turned to Suao to pick up the tenth member and had our lunch in Suao harbor. We had really fresh seafood for lunch. After lunch, we headed to Taroko National Park.

我們一行9人在24日從台北出發。兩台車開上高速公路，接雪山隧道（亞洲第二長隧道，全常12.9公里），大約花費一個小時半就到宜蘭頭城。在雪山隧道開通之前，要花費的時間更多，現在從台北到宜蘭真的方便很多。到頭城之後，我們先轉到蘇澳去接另一個同學，然後在蘇澳吃新鮮的海鮮午餐，在午餐之後，我們啟程出發到太魯閣國家公園。


While I took photos of our delicious seafood dishes, my classmates were busy eating up those dishes, so I decided not to take any photos of our meals. They never wait for me when it comes food. :D



I saw no fish boats sailing out nor harboring, only few old residents fixing broken fishing nets alone the port .

While we were in Suao, I saw a lot of fish boats resting alone the port. It seemed that Suao was a seaside city in deep sleep. It lacked the scenes of hustle and bustle. I suddenly had sad feeling; I can't help wondering what happened to the once busy and famous seaport of North Taiwan.

Posting Several Articles Today

I posted few articles today, which probably makes people think I have too much spare time even though I am a part-time graduate student and full-time employee. I only want to do something that makes me happy. I am stressed out actually because I have been working on several projects and I have been reading research references and I have to turn in reports and take exams in few weeks. I need to do something that helps me to release the stress.

今天張貼數篇文章，讓人覺得我這個研究生好像很閒。其實，我只是想做些讓自己快樂的事情，讓自己快樂。因為手邊有很多工作專案，有文獻要唸，有期末報告和考試要寫，其實壓力真的很大的喵～我正在思考報告和考試寫作的方向，做組織藍圖，希望開始動筆寫時，不會雜亂無章。

I wrote those articles and I will translate them into English or rewrite them in English when I have more free time .

暫時先把今天遊歷的經驗記載下來，等接下來有時間，再翻譯成英文吧！

I found that my school provides online English article editing service. I think I can take the advantage of the system and send what I write for this blog to them so I can improve my English. It's probably a good learning-process. And it also makes me happy becaue I like to learn English. :)

我發現學校提供英文作文線上修改的服務，我想，我可以藉這個機會，練習英文寫作，然後寄給學校英文作文中心，這也是一種學習啊！

2007-12-22 ZhiShan Yan 芝山嚴 (惠濟宮)

After lunch and drinking, it was about 2 p.m., but I still wanted to stay outdoor so I decided to take a walk in Zhishan Yan. Because of my injured knee and ankle, I walked in very slow pace in the woods. According to online articles, ususally it takes 30 to 40 minutes to finish the route, but I spent almost 2 hours finishing the route.

在吃完午餐，喝點小酒後，大概已經兩點多，覺得想要繼續待在戶外，所以決定到芝山嚴散步。因為膝蓋不舒服，以龜速在林間裡漫步。網路文章說一般人大概花30-40分鐘走完步道，而我，整整花費將近兩個小時的時間。

But I think it could really take visitors 2 to 3 hours to walk there if they spend more time on observing and investigating historic and geological traces in Zhishan Yan. Zhishan Yan has profound historical events and insteresting natural environment, and there are clear information boards along the path. Visitors can learn a lot by taking a walk there. It is fantastic.

其實，我覺得用心的觀察，真的可以在芝山嚴待上兩三個小時。它有豐富的歷史背景故事和有趣的自然環境，而且它有清楚的標示和說明，一步步的仔細從中學習，還蠻棒的！

I took a lot of pictures of inforamtion for the plants and geological features there. My flikcr account has limit so I haven't uploaded those pictures. They include many plants' names and explaination of Zhishan Yan's geological features. I would make a special reports of plants or geology of Taiwan when I have more free time.

我拍攝很多關於植物和地質的說明，但因為Flickr帳號的限制，我沒有上傳。有很多植物名和地質現象，我有機會在補寫或特別弄個植物專題和地質現象專題。

I can write my religious journey in Zhishan Yan, I feel it's quite interesting. In Zhishan Yan, there is a temple, Huiji Gong. I learned few things by visiting the temple.

我先寫我我的宗教之旅好！我覺得蠻有趣的。
在芝山岩，有座三級古蹟惠濟宮。我從中學習到不少好玩的東西。

Huiji Gong is a temple which combines Taoism and Buddhism, followers worship gods from those two religions. I think what Mingde has said is quite accuate. The temple is some kind of department store that followers only have to visit a temple and they can worship many gods and ask for many things in one stop, some kind of one-stop-shopping.

惠濟宮是道佛合祀的寺廟，所以裡面供奉的神祇是神佛都有。我覺得明德說的百貨公司的比喻很貼切。信徒只要到一座寺廟參拜，就可以一次向不同的神明祈求不同的願望，一次購足。

When I was checking the above picture, I found every decoration has a little statue on it, and every statue represents different characters in mythological stories. It would cost tremendous effort and be a time-consuming job if someone count how many statue in the temple and find out every statue's identity.

我在看這張照片時，發現每個裝飾上都有小小的人偶，代表不同的角色。如果有人有耐心的一個個計數一座寺廟裡到底有多少小人偶，然後，再辨識每一個小人偶代表的人物身份，這一定是費時費力的大工程！

惠濟宮正門和側門上，有針對諸位門神的身份和所代表的意義做說明，很有趣！寺廟是左青龍；右百虎，信徒要進龍口；出虎口。所以我從青龍側的門神開始寫起。

李执牡丹，門神李执手上拿的是牡丹花（代表富貴）

李执官帽，門神李执手上拿的是一頂冠帽（代表加冠）

秦叔寶，白面鳳眼執鐧

尉遲恭，黑面環眼執鞭

這兩位門神，讓我想起隋唐演義的故事。

李执酒器，門神李执手上拿的是酒器（代表晉爵）

李执糜鹿，門神李执手上拿的是糜鹿（代表進祿）

仔細看，可以發現李执酒器的李执比李执糜鹿的李执還要老，年輕的時候要拼事業，做大官，年老的時候賺大錢，享受富貴。蠻有趣的！

在外面花園裡，有真正的四大天王：風調雨順。我對這四位頗感興趣，是因為我自己還蠻喜歡神話故事的，想藉機搞清楚他們的身份。

風：南方增長天王

調：東方持國天王

雨：北方多聞天王

順：西方廣目天王


今天先記實到這段落，有機會再寫其他的有趣經驗唄。

2007-12-22 Lunch Party After Hiking Gilian Shan 午餐的約會

It was pretty nice to get together in Zhiching's new store. Undergraduates and graduates from different classes arrived one by one without any arrangement in advance; we showed up together coincidentally. The funny part was the gifts that every one presented were all alcohol. Is it the tradition of our department? :D
Well, the array of alcohol bottles was pretty impressive. We opened most of the bottles and had a great party in his store.

在志欽的新店面聚會，其實還蠻不錯的，心理系幾屆的大學生和研究生一個一個出場。很好玩的是，幾乎每一個人送的賀禮，都是酒類。這是我們的傳統嗎？並列的酒瓶其實還蠻壯觀的。我們，當然開瓶，然後在人家店裡開起酒友會來。

The party became alumni reunion. A get-together of psychology majors is all about research, thesis, interaction with instructive professors.

這場聚會變得有點像同學會兼系友會，我們一群學心理學的人聚會，其實聊的話題就是那些咩～近況，研究生、博士生的研究主題怎樣、指導教授怎樣，社會人士的話，就是聊一些工作的問題。

Mingde's thesis is about two-timers so I kept calling him the master of two-timer. Junxian was misled and thought Mingde was a two-timer. And we started talking about how to design questionnaire to investigate the psychology of two-timers, how to find two-timers as subjects and how to interview them. Junxian and I shared our research insterests and subjects of our thesis. I was interested in the nueropsychological results of visual perception span and working memory capacity that he brought up, and we dicussed the possiblity to their application to cognitive trainings for the elders. He gave me some information about the psychology of aging in Taiwan. That was great!

明德在研究劈腿，我都一直叫他劈腿大師。俊賢還以為明德劈腿，然後我們聊到怎麼找劈腿的人當受訪者，怎麼做劈腿研究。我和俊賢聊到自己的研究方向，我對於他談到關於視覺廣度和工作記憶的認知神經研究結果感到十分有興趣，稍微談到這些在老人研究的應用可能性，他同時給我一些關於目前老人研究的消息。

When we were exchanging ideas about study of aging, professor Liu asked me what the problems with the elders were. I quickly told her my ideas of the application to train the elders' working memory and didn't realize the possible meaning behind her question on the spot. I think professor Liu thinks I would do research in the fields of social psychology or family study on basis of the qualitative approach. But actually I had had discussions with professor Wang that I would do experimental research. I think my decision must surprise most professors in our department, well...and I haven't had time to have dicussion with professor Liu.

我們在交換意見的時候，劉老師問我：「老人有什麼問題？」我很快的談我認為視覺廣度和工作記憶可能在老人認知訓練上的應用。我當下沒意會老師的反應代表的可能性。我想劉老師可能一直覺得我會走社心人格領域，作質化的研究。我其實已經跟汪老師談好，要走認知實驗領域。我想，我這決定大概是會跌破很多人的眼鏡，而我同時一直沒機會和劉老師做意見交換和討論。

I think she must have some thoughts when she learned I would do research with professor Wang. I think it's necessary to talk with her when we have time.

我想，在當場，她聽到要跟汪老師作老人研究，她心理大概有些想法吧！等有機會，再和她討論吧！

I took the picture in the store, and I like it pretty much. It looks like the neurons' activation spreading out from thalamus.

這照片是我在餐廳裡拍的，我還蠻喜歡這照片的，因為它看起來像是視丘神經元激發的感覺。

2007-12-22 QiLiAn Shan 唭哩岸山

I had planed to go hiking in Jiajiuliao. I met Ruoyu and Mingde on MSA and decided to meet in Zhiching's newly open store to have lunch together. I thought if I go hiking in Jiajiuliao, I wouldn't be there in time, so I thought I could go hiking in Shilin region before our lunch meeting, then I decided to go hiking in Junjian Yan.

原本今天早上要去加九寮步道，在MSN上遇到若瑜和明德，相約今天到志欽新開幕的餐飲店聚餐，幫他們提升人氣。所以我想想，如果照原計畫去加九寮，時間應該不夠充裕，那就在吃飯之前，到士林地區的小山走走，最後，決定到軍艦岩散步。

I read some Junjian Yan's introuduction online and learned that the trail is actually concrete steps, very easy, and its length is only 500 meters. One of its entries is in Yangming university. I had took a course: professor Hong's Neruopsychology in Yangming university before, I thought I wouldn't get lost, and Junjian Yan hiking trail is an easy one, so I wore sneakers and skirt for the hike, and it turned out to be a disaster.

在網路上讀過一些關於軍艦岩的介紹，知道它的步道其實都是水泥石階，非常安全，整個步道長度大約只有500公尺左右。其中一個登山口在陽明大學裡面。以前曾經到陽明大學上洪蘭老師的認知神經心理學，知道自己不會迷路，又是個輕鬆的步道，所以我穿著運動鞋和裙子出門。

Well, I was to confident that I wouldn't get lost, but I did. I still had to stop to ask for directin from passerby.

結果，在找陽明大學的時候，我還是迷了路，得停下車來問路人：「ㄟ～請問陽明大學在哪裡？」我的天啊！耍笨！

After I arrived Yangming university, the quest for hiking trail's entry became easier. Along Zhenzhi road on compus, there were clear direction signs leading hikers to the entry. I found it easily.

到陽明之後，尋找登山口的過程就比較順利。沿著真知路走都有明顯清楚的指標，很快的就看到登山口。

沿著登山步道走，可以看到軍艦岩登山步道是沿著岩石表面切割挖掘後建築而成的階梯。我在當下有種矛盾的想法。我想這樣的走道其實是對自然景觀的一種破壞，但是，如果沒有使用這樣的方式，人，是否有能力攀登到山頂呢？嗯～對於這樣人與自然尋找平衡關係的問題，我實在沒有答案。關於這種對辯的問題，讓我想起龍應台的新書「親愛的安德烈」，有機會再寫我對這本親子對話書籍的想法。

Beautiful red fruits grew alone two sides of the trail. I found out that actually the red fruits were parasitical plants which grew over other plants. Its vines seemed very aggressive and could easily strangulate other plants.

沿著走道，兩旁有很漂亮的紅果子，我後來發現這種紅果子是種寄生植物，攀爬在其他植物上，它的藤蔓給人具有十分侵略性的感覺，好像很輕易地就能絞殺被寄生的植物。

Before I reached the peak of Junjian Yan, I saw an impressive scenery. I am curious what the place was and how to get there because I didn't read anything about it. And I also felt it seemed more interesting than the concret steps. I walked to the edge of hiking trail and asked a lady in the hill across me few questions.

即將走到山頂時，我突然看到有一個很酷的景象。我很好奇那是什麼地方，因為我沒有在網路上看到，此外我覺得那個地方比起無聊的石階好玩多了，很想去走走看，所以我走到步道的邊緣，從我這座山向在對面山腰的小姐問一些問題。

The lady told me how to reach where she was, so I turned to a branch trail leading to Zhaoming temple. The surface of the trail was dirt and rocky; it was more interesting for me.

在對面山頭的小姐告訴我如何才能到她當時休息的地方，我轉到另一個分叉路路，繞到往照明寺的步道。這條步道完全是岩石面和泥土面，走起來比較有趣。

To the point, my journey of getting me knees hurt unfolded. The trail was rocky but it was cover a thin layer of sand because of weathering. It's slippery. I didn't wear my hiking shoes and I wore skirt, so it was difficult for me to walk on the trail. It turned out that I strained my right knee and ankle, I barely moved for a long time, I only could sit on trail. After some rests, I struggled to walk back to Yangming compus. I got hurt because of the trail, but the trail was nicer than concrete steps and it had many colorful layers.

這便開始我拉傷膝蓋的旅程了！這條山路是完全的岩石面，由於風化的影響，石面上覆蓋著一層薄薄的細沙，所以走起路來，很容易滑倒。我穿著一雙抓地力不好的運動鞋，再加上裙子，在攀走這條山路時，非常不方便，最後我的右膝和右腳踝拉傷，有陣子幾乎不能走動，只能呆坐在山腰。在休息後，才勉強走回陽明大學。但是，不可否認的是，這條山路真的是漂亮多了，岩石面有不同層次的色彩。

I found out it is Gilian Shan after I reached its peak. 直到山頂後，我才看到一個標誌標記「唭哩岸山」。

A distant look of Junjian Yan from Gilian Shan. 從唭哩岸山遠望軍艦岩。

Because of the painful knee, I eventually gave up the last 200-meter walk to the peak of Junjian Yan. I managed to walk back to Yangming compus and went to Zhiching's newly open store directly. On the way to the store, I was thinking what I could do to protect my knee and ankle because I would go hiking in Erge Shan tomorrow.

為膝蓋很痛的關係，我最後放棄走完最後往軍艦岩的200公尺，勉強走回校門口，直接到志欽的新店吃飯。然後我在想，明天要爬二格山，我要怎樣保護自己的膝蓋和腳踝才好。

Harold and Maude(1971)

I started wrting stories about movies so I like to another story about a movie that I have been thinking of recently. Harold and Maude, another movie that I don't know its Chinese title. I don't know why I like movies made in 70's pretty much.

開始寫關於電影的故事，那就順便寫另一部我最近在回想的電影：「Harold and Maude」，又是一部比我老，然後我又不知道中文片名的電影。不知為何，我其實很喜歡70年代的電影。

The subject of my thesis is about age and emotional memeory, which means I wouldn't be able to graduate from school in two years because elder subjects are difficult to find. I have started reading relevent research references. One theory I have read is Socioemotional Selectivity Theory which proposes some processess to explain the difference of emotion regulation between young people and elder people. I am not satisfied with its explanation, but I am not going to discuss it in this article; it would come up soon. I thought over some problems generated from the theory few days ago when I was riding home from Fu Jen university. Harold and Maude suddenly jumped into my thought.

我論文的主題大致已經確定要進行關於老化與情緒記憶的研究。（這也注定我應該是兩年畢不了業，因為老人受試非常難找。）我開始在閱讀相關的研究文獻，其中有一個理論：「Socioemotional Selectivity Theory」，試著要解釋年輕人與老人在emotion regulation不同的機制為何。我非常的不滿意這個理論的解釋。細節先不多談，以後還有機會。有次從輔大回家時，騎著我的摩托車，思考著這個理論的問題，「Harold and Maude」這部電影突然跳進思緒中。

Harold and Maude is a love story of an eighty-year-old lady and an eighteen-year-old young man. Maude, an eccentric eighty-year-old lady, explores every possibility of life and enriches her own life, and she freely put the period in her life story. Harold, an eighteen-year-old young man in boredom, has rich and sufficient family environment, but he lacks passion for his own life. This couple's relationship is difficult for viewers to understand.Their relationship, their thoughts and their doings are challenges for the audience's value system. The plot is predictable, Harold has change because of their relationships. Harold's value and attitude toward his life changed, but whether the audience change varies because of individual's difference.

「Harold and Maude」一個八十歲老人和十八歲年輕人之間的愛情故事。Maude，八十多歲的怪喀老婆婆，嘗試經驗人生的各種可能性，豐富自己的生命，最後很簡單灑脫的為自己劃下句點。Harold，覺得人生百無聊賴的年輕小伙子，即使擁有不虞匱乏的物質環境，但是卻對生命沒有熱情。這樣的組合，其實很霹靂，難以讓人接受。他們的關係，他們的所作所為，其實不斷的在挑戰觀影者的價值觀。當然，可以預期的是，在與Maude交往後，Harold的人生觀與態度有所轉變。觀影者是否有所改變，那就是修行在個人了。

The movie presents serious issues of life and death in pleasant way. I remember one scene of interaction and conversation between Harold and his psychiatrist was very funny. It seems that it's a tradition of western movies to mock upon the meanings of psychological therapies. I should find some time to make a list of the top 10 funniest scenes of mocking on psychological therapies.

這整部電影用輕鬆愉快的方式來討論「生」與「死」的問題。我還記得其中有一段Harold跟心理醫師的互動和對話，非常好笑。西片似乎有種傳統，很多電影都有場景在嘲諷心理治療的意義。我應該找個時間票選嘲諷心理治療的十大最佳場景。

Deliverance(1972)

After hiking in JunJian Yan and GiLiAn Shan, and having a lunch gathering in ZhiQin's newly open store, and strolling in ZhiShan Yan, I didn't feel like to go home rightaway so I went to QuangHua Market to check out if there are were released DVDs.

在早上連走軍艦岩、唭哩岸山，中午到志欽新開幕的輕食店聚會，下午走芝山嚴後，覺得天色還早，不太想直接回家，所以繞道光華商場去看有那些新發行的DVD。

I went to my haunts and found many good movies were released on DVDs. Herzog's early movies were almost on DVDs, Kubrick's movies were rereleased on collection edition DVDs, and BBC's new minseires-Jane Erye-was available, and the most surprising thing was Deliverance was also available now. All I could think when I saw it was "Oh! My Goodness! I can't believe it, how come this movie was on collection edition DVD!"

到平常常去的的DVD專賣店裡閒逛，發現有很多新發行的好電影。荷索早期的電影幾乎都發行三區的DVD，庫伯力克的電影以收藏版重新發行，還有BBC新版的迷你影集「簡愛」，讓我驚訝的是，我竟然看到「激流四勇士」這部電影。 （我當下在腦海裡想著：我的媽呀！怎麼連這部電影都發行收藏版的DVD！）

"Ji Liu Si Yong Shi" is Deliverance's Chinese title which means "four warriors in the rapids," I didn't know this title and only knew its English title. I found out the Chinese title when I saw the DVD in DVD shop. This movie was released in the US in 1972. I don't know when it was released in Taiwan, but this title brings the sense of passionate patriotism to me. The Chinese title implied the sense--"counterattack the China to rescue our suffering counterparts." I think the title was given to in order to deal with government's strict censorship at the time when martial law was enforced. But acutally the story of Deliverance has nothing to do with warriors and patriotism.

「激流四勇士」，我原本不知道這部電影的中文片名，最早只知道電影英文片名是Deliverance。 在今天看到新發行的DVD後，才知道它的中文片名。這部電影是於1972年在美國上映，我不知道它何時在台灣上映，但是看到這片名「四勇士」讓我想起那種充滿愛國情操的憤慨之情，我猜想，大概是片商為應付電檢制度，特別取這種充滿「反攻大陸；解救受苦受難的同胞」的片名。這電影和「勇士」一點關係也沒有。

I can't remember the reason that made me see Deliverance; it seems that Eric and I talked about movies of 7o's and Deliverance was one among the movies we discussed. I thought it could be an interesting one so I bought the DVD and watched it. After I watched it, I realised it wasn't an interesting movie at all, but a triller that made viewers in depression.

我會看這部電影的原因，有點記不大清楚，好像是有次和Eric討論70年代的電影，聊到這部電影，覺得這電影好像很有趣，所以買DVD來看。在看完電影後才知道，這部電影其實不是「有趣」的電影，而是一部讓人快樂不起來的驚悚劇情片。

The plot is about four friends decided to go camping in remote mountains during their vacation and to raft along rapid river down back to town so they can stay far away from their familyand enjoy natural life in the wild. In the isolated moutains, two of them were assulted by local hunters. During the chaotic fighting and resisstence, one of the hunters was killed and the other one fled. To this point, the story of hunting down the hunter in escape in the vicious moutains and dangerous unfolds. Their friendship gradually changed and their humanity and moral strongly conflict with their instinct for survival.

故事情節是一群好友四人，在假日時決定到偏遠荒山露營度假，然後沿著激流泛舟回家，享受遠離家庭的野放生活。在這個與世隔絕的荒山上，其中兩人遭受到當地獵人的攻擊，在抵抗的過程中，其中一名獵人被殺害，另一名則逃離現場，故事從此展開這四人在陡峭的山地、激烈的湍流追獵這名逃脫的獵人。他們的友誼逐漸生變，他們的人性良知與野性求生交戰。

The movie actually is a good one; it has great narrative that develops tensity and suspicion, but after I watched because I felt really down. I thought I would never watch it again. And I felt I was traumatized. Every time I think of this kind of story set in the backdrop of remote moutains, I always feel scared, and sometimes I feel terrified without reasons when I go hiking alone.

這部電影其實是一部很好的電影，劇情敘說醞釀緊張懸疑的氣氛。但是看完之後，整個情緒沈到谷底。我心想著：我絕對不會再看第二次。 而且，心理好像有受到創傷，每次想到類似這種荒山野地的故事，都會感到分害怕。有時候一個人去爬山，會有種莫名的恐懼油然而生。

Robert once suggested I avoid going hiking alone in Wulai region. I could be in danger. Several scenes from Deliverance came into my mind immediately when he was giving the suggestions to me. This is not an interesting movie at all, but a movie that makes viewers horrified. I think it is the effect that the author and director want to bring out.

有一次Robert建議我如果要一個人去爬山，盡量避免到烏來的山區，山徑有時會有當地的獵人，我一個人其實蠻危險的。在他跟我給我這樣的建議時，我腦海裡馬上浮現「激流四勇士」的一些場景。這真的是一部一點也不有趣，但是會讓人心生恐懼的電影。（我想這也正是這原著作者和導演要製造出的效果。）

Spoiler Alert

The most impressive scene is that in the protagonist's dream, one hand holding the murder weapon--a hunting gun--emerging out of the surface of deep blue water. The image is still clear in my mind even though I watched it several years ago and never saw it again.

其中讓我印象最為深刻的一個場景是，主角的惡夢中，有一隻手握著這把殺人槍枝伸出湛藍的水面。即使是在幾年前看的電影，然後從此不再碰它，這一幕在腦海裡的影像，還是非常清楚。

Off topic:

這是題外話：

I once wondered why the scene is so similar to one scence from Excalibur--Excalibur raising from a lake. I googled some information about those two movies and found out that the movies were both directed by John Boorman. Same idea was used in two different movies. Arthurian stories are my favorite stories. But Excalibur directed by John Boorman was very dark that ruined my interest, so I will never see any movies directed by him.

我曾經想著，為什麼這一幕和Excalibur（另一部我不知道中文片名的影片）裡神劍Excalibur從湖中伸起的影像那麼雷同。稍微古狗一下，原來這兩部電影是同一個導演（John Boorman）執導。同樣的手法，嗯～用了兩次。而且還把我最喜歡的亞瑟王傳奇故事講得非常黑暗，完全弄壞我的胃口，從此之後，我再也不看John Boorman的電影。

200712-21 The Little Lion's Head Mountain 小獅頭山

The Little Lion's Head Mountain (XiaoShiTou Shan) is located in Xindain whose several entries are on WenZhong Road and ZhongXin Road. It only takes hikers 5-10 mintues to get to its entries on WenZhong Road. Its most noticeable entry is right next to NengRen school.

小獅頭山位於新店，有數個登山口在文中路和中興路上，它在文中路上的登山口，離新店捷運站莫約5-10分鐘的路程，最方便辨認的登山口在新店能仁家商旁邊。

I like the Little Lion's Head Mountain pretty much. It has two favorite kinds of trails: dirt road and wooden stairs. Compared with some hiking trails' concrete stairs, it's more comfortable for me. And in the Little Lion's Head Mountain, many different kinds of flowers blossom in all seasons, many beautiful birds perch in the woods and cute squirrels sometimes reveal themself to hikers. At the second and third peak, hikers can enjoy really great scenic views, they can see AnKeng, QingTan and Bitan regions. The only drawback is the traffic noise from the foot of the mountain sometimes disturbing the sound of the nature.

我很喜歡小獅頭山，箇中原因在於比起台北市郊山步道的水泥石階，我個人比較偏愛泥土和枕木步道，而小獅頭山有這兩種走道。此外，在小獅頭山上，一年四季綻放著不同的花朵，有各式各樣的鳥類棲息，還有松鼠出沒，在山頂可以遠望安康、青潭和碧潭區域，有非常好的展望。美中不足的是，由於它的便利交通，車聲不時從山底傳至山頂，打擾自然的聲音。

The flower was common in my neighborhood when I was a kid, but I hadn't seen it for years. I saw it on the trail this morning and it was not just one plant but several plants of it. The flowers hanging down from branches formed beautiful decorations which resembles red and orange lanterns.

小時候常看到這種花，有很多年不見這花的蹤跡。今天在小獅頭山上看到很多叢，而且高高的從樹上往下垂，整個步道好像掛滿小小的橘紅色燈籠。

I finally took some decent photos of wild birds. This picture is a little bit out of focus, but it's not bad as I am a green photographer. I realised it's very difficult to take photos of wild birds. I could only hear them at very beginning but couldn't see them. I tried hard to locate them and when I found them and tried to adjust my lens, they flew to other branches or even dissapeared.

終於，我給可以用相機拍野鳥了。這照片有點失焦，但是就像我這樣的新手來說，應該算是不錯的了。拍野鳥真的很難。一開始只能聽得到牠們，看不到牠們。一旦把找到牠們的定位後，要拍牠們時，調整焦距，牠們又飛到另個枝頭，不見蹤影。

Compared with old Bitan Bridge 20 years ago, today's bridge is uglier.
今日的碧潭橋，與二十年前的碧潭橋相比，醜多了



The upper photo was taken with Nikon E2500, and I took photo of similar feature with Olympus SP-500UZ this morning. The new one is much better.

第一張照片是我用Nikon E2500拍的，同樣的主題，我用新的Olympus SP-500UZ拍攝，效果好很多。

The upper photo was taken with Nikon E2500, and I took photo of similar view with Olympus SP-500UZ this morning. Its background and distant view of mountains are much better.

第一張照片同樣是用Nikon E2500拍攝，和後面這張比起來，畫質和遠景都清楚很多。

I started learning functions and operation of my new camera, I haven't learned much of them and I awkwardly used it. I accidentally dropped it this morning, and I was lucky because I didn't cause any damage to it. I think need more practice, maybe a hike in JiaoJiuLiao tomorrow will do more help. :)

我才剛開始使用新的相機，有很多功能不知道怎麼使用，而且很笨拙地使用，不小心把新相機狠狠地摔了一下。心痛的要死。還好，看樣子相機沒啥大礙。還需要多加練習啊！明天來去走加九寮步道好了！ 我給新相機搭配一張2G的記憶卡，隨手一拍，就是兩百多張照片，果然，用起來很爽快。

I uploaded some test shots I took during today's outing to my Flickr. If anyone is interested in them, please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/13050164@N07/

P.S. I didn't upload too many pictures because it took too much time. XD

我還放一些照片在我的Flickr，有興趣的話，可以去看看。P.S. 我沒有放很多喔～因為上傳照片實在太花時間啦！ XD

Impractical Ideas

I want to go hiking with books: the Most Common Birds of Taiwan, the Most Common Plants of Taiwan, the Most Common Trees of Taiwan. I want to learn more about Taiwanese flora and fauna. But the idea is impractical because those books are too heavy and bulky to carry around.
Taking pictures is capturing images of the nature. Painting is capturing images from mind. I want to paint beautiful landscape and woods when I go hiking. I know painting gears are heavy, too. It's another impractical idea of mine.

Olympus SP-550UZ

After I did some research online, browsed several forums and considered my budget and various functions of digital cameras, I decided to buy an Olympus SP-550UZ.

I went to eWhat (The most famous bootlegged-camera store in Taiwan) to pick up the camera with my classmate, YiZhong, after the class of Family Psychology last night.

We were at eWhat and a serviceperson showed us the camera, and we could test functions the camera before we made the deal. YiZhong taught me its functions and how to operate it to take test shots. I took several pictures in different modes and people could easily tell that I was an inexperienced buyer because I awkwardly operated it. The serviceperson knew well that he didn't need to persuade me to buy it because my happy face was saying: "I want to buy it! I want to buy it!"

After buying the digital camera, YiZhong gave me basic lessons of photography. I went home happily with my brand-new digital camera. I decided to take more test shots to learn more of its functions. I thought I would go hiking in XiaoShiTou Shan next day.

The abovementioned experience is what happened to me last night.

I came back from XiaoShiTou Shan and just got in my office. I will upload my test shots to my Flickr and post the comparisons of photos taken by my old Nikon E2500 and new Olympus SP-550UZ. I will post introduce of my backyard garden: XiaoShiTou Shan. : )

P.S. Oops! My right ankle is aching; the old injure is really troublesome.

在事前做些功課，瀏覽各大討論區，考量預算和功能後，決定要買Olympus SP-550UZ這款數位相機，和學弟一中約好在昨天晚上上完家庭心理學後，到億華（全台知名攝影器材水貨商）買這款機型。

昨晚在測試主機時，一中向我說明相機的操作和試拍方法，我試拍不同功能設定下的照片品質，很不靈活地按著各種功能鍵，蠻笨拙地！讓人一眼就看出來我是個新手。而且我那高興的樣子，讓銷售員一眼就看出他不用花費太多力氣說服我買下產品，我的臉上很清楚地寫著：「我要買！我要買！」

買下這款項機，在一中的介紹和說明後，高興地帶著它回家，並且決定要拍些測試照片，所以隔天來走小獅頭山。

這是昨天晚上發生的事。

現在，我剛剛從小獅頭山回來，進了辦公室。晚些回家之後，我再把測試照片上傳到我的Flickr和這個部落格，可以比較一下我先前的Nikon E2500和這款Olympus SP-550UZ有何不同，並且可以再次介紹我的後花園：小獅頭山。

備註：糟糕！右腳腳踝有些隱隱作痛，舊傷果然是很惱人的！

2007-12-15 TongHou Hiking Trail 桶后越嶺 (END)

We finally arrived at the direction sign of TongHou Hiking Trail. The distance between the sign and the entry of the trail was about 2 kilometers. We planed to drive to its entry, but we found out that the mountain road to its entry was too muddy and steep so that it was really difficult for us to drive there. We decided to leave car and hiked to the trailhead.

After finishing the 2-kilometer walk, we arrived at the entry of TongHou Hiking Trail and finally we stepped on the TRAIL. We couldn't finished hiking because it was getting dark. We got to a branch road to XiaoJiaoXi Shan, and then we decided to walk back to our car.

We left the trail and went to Daxi to meet Trail_Hacker and had our seafood feast.

Trail_Hacker has profound knowledge of trails in Taiwan and Daxi Fish Market as well so he chose fresh seafood and bargained with a seafood restaurant serviceperson for us. He picked a really fresh JianYu (Bonito) for us and asked the serviceperson made it into three different kinds of dishes. We had steamed fish, sashimi and nice soup. And Trail_Hacker shared a lot of information about hiking with us when we had dinner. We had super nice seafood feast and pleasant conversation during our dinner which made my fatigue go away. It was a very nice day.

終於，我們抵達桶后越嶺步道的指摽處，但從指標到登山口，約莫有兩公里的距離。我們原本想車行至登山口附近，但是，我們發現整條山路非常泥濘而且陡峭，行車十分危險，所以我們最後把車停在路旁，開始徒步走向登山口。

我們走完這兩公里的路程，最後抵達登山口，踏上桶后越嶺步道。由於天色已晚，我們根本無法完成整條步道，我們到達往小礁溪山的叉路後，決定打道回府。

下山之後，我們前往大溪，和Trail_Hacker會合，然後享用我們的海鮮大餐。

由於Trail_Hacker熟知當地魚市和魚類，所以由他幫我們選定我們的新鮮食材：肥美鰹魚一大隻。好吃的魚做成一魚三吃：清蒸、生魚片和魚湯。這一魚三吃，真的很棒！Trail_Hacker同時教我很多關於爬山的知識。吃得滿腹，整天的奔波勞頓一掃而空，吃飽飽，所以回家睡好好。很充實的一天。

The trailhead of TongHou Hiking Trail.
桶后越嶺古道登山口。

The road to the trailhead was really nice because of the cold and fresh air and misty scenery. I felt like to lie down on the bushes alongside the road, to blend myself with the nature and to enjoy solitude and serenity.

沿路走起來，空氣冰涼，白霧靄靄，非常舒服。我其實非常想躺在路邊的草叢堆上，融入這自然環境裡，享受孤獨靜逸的氣氛。

The misty scenery had me embraced by some kind of mysterious atmosphere. It made me remember one thing. I often dreamed of one scene when I was eleven and twelve. The scene was that I was in fears and lost in a fog which I barely see things. I walked alone and tried to look for my parents. I didn't know why I often dream of it. I talked about the dream with my sister. She laughed at me and told me that we travel ed in Ali Shan with our parents when we were little kids. I got lost on the way to see sunrise in Ali Shan and all grownups tried to find me all the way. I really didn't remember this event but the dream went away after my sister explained it to me.

I talked about it with Eric. He smiled and said: "Freud got his theories right!" Well, I am never a follower of psychoanalysis, but I agreed with Eric. Mr. Freud possibly had his theories based on something beyond my understanding.

這種迷濛的氣氛，讓我回憶起一件事。我在十一、二歲時，有一個夢境經常出現。這個夢境是我一個人在伸手不見五指的迷霧裡，孤單害怕的摸索前進。我知道我在尋找我的父母親。我不知道為什麼這個夢不斷的重複出現。有次，我對我妹談起這個夢境，我妹笑著說：那是我們小時候在阿里山，要去看日出時，我一個人迷路，然後大家都在找我啊！我不記得有這回事，但是在我妹跟我說這件事後，這個夢境再也不曾出現。

有次，我和Eric聊到這件事，他笑著說：佛洛依德還是有道理的！嗯～其實我不太走精神分析學派，但是，我同意Eric。佛爺爺，雖然我不瞭解你深奧的理論，但是你有你的道理在。



The bonito we had in our dinner. It was made into three dishes: steamed fish, Sashimi and fish soup.
我們晚餐吃的一魚三吃。

The Sashimi we had; Half amount of the dish had been eaten up.
滿盤的生魚片，被吃掉一半囉！

Steamed fish, Very delicious!
清蒸鰹魚，超好吃的！

2007-12-15 TongHou Hiking Trail 桶后越嶺 (PART IV)

I don't want to study even though I really have to. It seems that every graduate student commonly goes through some sort of escapism. I planed to go hiking in Xiao Shi Shan near where I live. While I was packing my bag, it started raining. I only could sit back in front of my desk and continue my story of TongHou Hiking.

We spent almost 5 hours on finding the trial head, we gradually felt tired and an idea of giving up the trail merged. At last, we decided to go hiking in PaoMa Hiking Trail, so we turned to the road to PaoMa. We passed by a sign which indicated we were in LongTan of YiLan. We had turned to Trail_Hacker for direction of the trailhead around lunch time. He told us it was near somewhere in LongTan. When we saw the sign, the idea of looking for TongHou came back to mind. We wanted to give it a try, so our quest of TongHou Hiking Trail continued.

We saw a police station on the road, and I came to it for direction. Two police officers were in the office. They tried to figure out what TongHou meant when I asked them few questions. It seemed that they didn't know the name of the hiking trail so I tried to explain its route to them. One of them realized what I meant and told me he knew the trailhead's exact location. A hope arose. The policeman checked my outfit and started persuading me not to go hiking there. He told me it was getting dark so I definitely couldn't make it in time. The trail was dangerous that many hikers get lost in the mountains. He said he often has to go there to rescue hikers. He just went there a week before and he himself also fell during the mission. As he was talking, he turned his back to me as if he wanted to show me where he got injured. (I was thinking in mind: "Sir! I really don't want to see your butt.")

Anyway, I got the information that the entry of TongHou was in XiaoJiaoXi. We only had to go straight down the road and turned right when we saw a TuJiCheng (chicken restaurant.) And soon we would see the entry.

We finally got the clearest direction for the locals, We were (I was) happy because soon we would arrive at the trailhead. But we had a wrong turn before the TuJiCheng. We spent extra time to go back on the right track. About 2 or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we finally see the direction sign of TongHou Hiking Trail.

在不想看書的狀態，逃避現實似乎是每個研究生必經的歷程。原本計畫在三點出門爬在家附近的小獅頭山，準備出門時，竟然下起雨來，只好坐回書桌，繼續完成桶后越嶺的故事。.

我們一行人花了將近5個小時的時間尋找桶后越嶺步道，漸漸地累了，開始有放棄的念頭。最後，我們決定改走跑馬古道，因此驅車前往跑馬。在路上，我們經過宜蘭龍潭，在中午時，我們曾打電話向一位熟知各登山步道的網友求救，網友告訴我們，登山口就在龍潭附近。我們看到龍潭的路標，一種想要嘗試的念頭萌起。最後，我們還是想要試他一試，繼續我們尋覓桶后的旅程。

我們在途中看到一個小小的警察局，決定由我再去問路。兩位好心的警察先生你一句我一句的想搞清楚我說的到底是什麼地方。我試著解釋。其中一位好心的警察先生賭定地告訴我他知道登山口在哪裡，一絲希望油然而生啊！警察先生打量我的樣子，開始嘗試說服我不要去桶后。他告訴我天已經要黑了，時間上是一定來不及的，那裡的山路很危險，岔路多，很多登山客都曾在山裡迷路，他時常得上山搜救這些迷路的人。他還告訴我他上星期才到山裡去救人，還在山徑裡跌一大跤。說著似乎要把背部轉向我，讓我看他受傷的地方。（我心裡想著：先生，我實在不太想看耶～）

總之，我得到的訊息是登山口在小礁溪附近，沿者警察局前的路直走，在一家土雞城前右轉上山，我們就可以看到登山口。

希望總於浮現，我們（我）很高興地認為我們很快的就可以找到登山口。結果，我們在到土雞城前轉錯彎，又繞了一圈冤枉路。在下午兩三點左右，我們總於看到桶后越嶺的路標。

I was extremely happy to see the direction sign and gave it a big hug in enormous joy.
在看到路標時，我高興的要死，給這路標一個大大的擁抱啊！

2007-12-15 TongHou Hiking Trail 桶后越嶺 (PART III)

I met Azic online and we talked about our recent events over MSN, discussed some possible plans to go hiking on Sunday and talked about my blog. I have been busy in these two days because my workload has been increased dramatically. I haven't finished the story of TongHou Hiking yet. I should work on my projects and readings, but because of the conversation with him and the finding that my memory about the hike is decaying, I decided to continue the story.

We turned to locals of YiLan for direction so I had some conversations and interactions with people of YiLan. I felt their temperaments were really different people of Taipei City. I can't find precise phrases to describe them. I feel it seems that I took a time-machine to go back to Taipei in 80's. I think the feelings I had when I talked to the locals are like talking to my neighbors when I was a child. They were simple, nice and friendly.

I went to a square in front of a house and asked few people for direction. There were several people sitting outdoor and chatting, and one old man was scooping TangYuan. I asked them the direction of TongHou Hiking Trail, but none of them knew where it was. They were nice and started giving me suggestions about good tourism spot in the region, and they introduced LinMeiShiPan Hiking Trail and PaoMa Hiking Trail to me. I found out that the house was actually a temple and they were having JianJiao which the temple provided free food to followers and passersby. The old man hospitably invited me to join them and wanted me to have some TangYuan with them. I was really hungry and wanted to eat TongYuan, and I wanted to join them and to chat with them. But Robert and Chris were waiting for me to report back the situation. I shouldn't enjoy the feast alone. I only had to walk back to our car and told them what had happened to me.

When I talked to those people, I had to speak Taiwanese. I could only have some short and simple conversation with them. I found my Taiwanese had become really rusty, it was even worse than my English. I still remember I could interview my subjects in Taiwanese few years ago. What happened to my Taiwanese?

在MSN上遇到Azic，交換我們的近況，談些週日去郊山的可能性，也提到我的部落格，我這兩天工作量變大，其實應該先完成手邊的工作，但因為這次的對話，同時也發現我的記憶在消減，所以我決定把工作放一邊，先來繼續桶后越嶺的故事。

我們沿路問路，所以和當地人有些簡單的互動，我感受到宜蘭人和台北人所散發的氣質不同。我還找不到適合的形容詞，那感覺，向是回到我小時候和鄰居互動的感覺，純樸，簡單，溫暖。

到一戶當地人家門前問路，一位老先生正在盛湯圓，這戶人家們前圍坐不少人。老先生和這群人，沒有人知道桶后越嶺在哪裡，他們建議我改走美林石盤步道或者是跑馬步道，然後七嘴八舌的介紹當地的旅遊郊山的景點。原來這戶人家是當地的一座廟宇，正在舉辦建醮，準備免費的食物給信徒享用。老先生熱情地邀我一起跟他們吃湯圓。我其實肚子好餓，很想坐下來吃湯圓，然後跟他們一起聊天。只是Robert和Chris在等著我回報可能的路線，我不能不顧情義的，自己享用大餐，我只能悻悻然的走回車上。

在和當地人對話時，我都必須說閩南語。我發覺我的閩南話非常不輪轉，甚至比我的英語還差，我只能很簡單的用閩南話和當地人交談。想起幾年前，我還可以在台南用閩南話進行訪問，怎麼退步的那麼快？

2008 New Year Resolution/2008 新年新希望

2008 New Year Resolution

I browsed other Taiwanese blogs and figured out that there are three national hiking trails in Wulai. They are TongHou Hiking Trail, BaFu Hiking Trail and HaPen Hiking Trail.

I hope I can complete hiking those three beautiful trails in 2008.

桶后越嶺 TongHou Hiking Trail
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/moukli&article_id=15910989

巴福越嶺 BaFu Hiking Trail
http://blog.xuite.net/josefcn/yamaasobu/13892568

哈盆越嶺 HaPen Hiking Trail
http://homepage.ntu.edu.tw/~d92445001/mount/new_page_6.htm

2007-12-15 TongHou Hiking Trail 桶后越嶺 (PART II)

The story so far still tells the quest of the entry of TongHou Hiking Trail. Those photos were taken during our lost on the road.

故事進展到這個段落還是停留在我們找尋桶后越嶺登山口的過程。這幾張照片是我們的迷途中所照的。

I think we wouldn't be able to enjoy those special idyllic landscape and beautiful mountains and lake if we didn't try and go through some possible routes. It's too bad that my camera is good enough and, in the meanwhile, the weather was misty. I couldn't take pictures that truely reveal the beauty that I saw during the trip.

我想，如果我們沒有走過可種可能的路徑，我們是沒有機會看到這些特別的鄉村風光和山水景致。 只可惜我的相機鏡頭不夠好，同時天氣是霧茫茫的，水氣很重，所以我的照片無法完整呈現我在旅途中所眼見的美麗風光。

I especially like the picture of the flower. I often saw this kind of unknown flowers when I was a child, but nowadays, it is hard to find in urban areas.

The flower solely grows out from a patch of gravel, not the soil of the grassy field, which brings feelings of unyieldingness and loneliness to me. It is seemingly close and seemingly distant from the field of weeds, independent from the rest of the world. I like the scene very much because it projects my awareness of my existence.

這張路邊小花的照片，是我特別喜歡的。這不知名的花，是我在小時候常見的野花。現今在都市中已經不常見了。

在一片綠色的野草原上，這野花孤伶伶的從碎石堆中長出來，給我一種倔強又孤寂的感覺。遺世獨立，與野草原若趨若離。我很喜歡，因為這場景投射出我對我存在狀態的自覺。

2007-12-15 TongHou Hiking Trail 桶后越嶺 (PART I)

Hiking Club planed to hike TongHou Hiking Trail yesterday. Taiwanese hikers usually start the trip in Wulai, but we started it in JiaoXi of YiLan. We, Robert, Chris and I departed from Muzha, went through XueShan Tunnel and arrived TouCheng of YiLan. After we reached JiaoXi, The quest of the entry of TongHou Hiking Trail unfolded.

We didn't know the exact location of TongHou Hiking Trail's entry. We asked for directions from locals; we explored some possible roads. We sometimes had hopes for some possible routes and sometimes we were (or I was) frustrated by the wrong turns. We passed by WuCiFeng Waterfall and PaoMa Hiking Trail, and we even reached the entry of FuShan Nature Preverse where I am keen to visit, but we still couldn't find the right road to TongHou Hiking Trail.

Without clear guidance and certain direction, learning from exploration and discovering new meaning on the road are superb and profound experiences for me. (But I feel sorry that Robert spent most of his time driving and it was tiring for him)

與山友計畫在昨日走桶后越嶺，和常例不同的是，一般台灣登山客都是從烏來出發，我們則是從宜蘭礁溪開始。 我們一行人(Robert，Chris和我)從木柵出發，經雪山隧道，很快地抵達宜蘭頭城然後轉至礁溪。在抵達礁溪之後，開始我們的尋尋覓覓之旅。

我們不知道在礁溪這頭登山口的確切位置在哪裡，我們沿路向當地人問路，有時自行探索。有時帶著希望，有時背負挫折。我們經過五旗峰瀑布、跑馬古道，甚至抵達福山植物園的入口。但是就是找不到桶后越嶺的登山口。

沒有確切的方向，旅途過程不斷的探索與發掘有意義學習，對我而言，是一種絕佳與深刻的訓練與學習(只是辛苦了開車的人)。

Hiking Club：三缺一
Hiking Club: One Out Of Three

Robert and Chris, two of three key figures of Hiking Club; Peter couldn't join us because of his back pain problem.
Robert 和 Chris, Hiking Club的兩位核心人物，Peter因為背傷的關係，無法參加這次的郊山活動。

They were busy taking pictures of high-density Taiwanese cemetary, I was taking pictures of their concentration on the views of the cemetary. I was amazed by their interest in Taiwanse style graveyards.
他們忙著拍佔滿大片山頭的墓地，我則忙著拍下他們專注的神情，並驚奇於他們對台灣墓地的興趣。