When I was a kid, Road No. 9 was notorious for its bad condition and always assoicated with horrible car accidents and scary ghost stories. (You can get a lot of ghost stories if you google it.) I still had some vivid pieces of memories of the road from my childhood--leaves and ghost money dancing in the wind as big trucks passing by or from Taiwanse movies--female ghosts in white dress waving down trucks and asking drivers for a lift and various consequences follow suit.
But Road No. 9 has changed, now it's a popular route for cyclists in Taiwan. On my way to Cloud 9, I barely saw big trucks or cars, but a lot of cyclist and big bike riders.
I love to see more and more Taiwanese people getting into cycling and want to become one of them. I have been checking some bike models and soon or later, I will enjoy cycling.
I bumped into a female cyclist who traveled with her toy bears. I thought it's very interesting and asked her to let me take a picture. (Her two bears were placed beside wheels).
Everytime I go to Pinglin, I always like to stop at some specific spots to take some pictures.
The first place is Shuang-Feng elementary school (雙峰 [Twin Peaks] 國小). As the school's name indicates, there are two identical peaks near by the school. I am obsessed with taking pictures of the twin peaks because of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.
Yes, I know, I should've erased those lines by photoshop. It looks not pretty with those lines.The second place is Er-ge Park(二格公園) where I can overlook contiguous ridges and tea farms in Shidin.
The third place is Yun-Hai elementary school (雲海 [a sea of clouds] 國小). where I can see a sea of clouds in right weather. But I didn't take pictures of seas of clouds because it was bright sunny day.
The forth place is a spot where I can overlook Fei-Cui Reservoir (翡翠水庫). The water level was terribly low as I took this picture below. I read that there is a trial in the reservoir and hikers only can get there when the water level is low. I don't think hiking through Fei-Cui Reservoir is a good idea due to the importance of drinking water source, but it might be this could be right time to hike there.
Well, to be honest, I actually got into the revervoir once via a path well-known by Taiwanese hikers. It was very beautiful.
The fifth place is 灣潭 (Wantan) where I can take pictures of a elegant S-shape river bend. The place is named after this river bend. Because of the drought (No rains in May rain season), the river is drying out.
The fifth place is 灣潭 (Wantan) where I can take pictures of a elegant S-shape river bend. The place is named after this river bend. Because of the drought (No rains in May rain season), the river is drying out.
This is a picture I took in 2007, Wantan was full of water and beautifully looked like a serene paraidse.
I spent too much time stopping by those spots and taking pictures, so I was late to meet my hiking partners at Cloud 9.
Cloud 9 is a very nice campsite where right next to a sidestream of 北勢溪 (Beishi Stream). There is a complex network of hiking trails near by which hikers can explore in days. I've stayed at Cloud 9 few times and completely enjoyed the relaxing envorinment there.
This get-together is a great event. I finally met Peter, his wife and daughter--Sophie and Emma. I also met Holger and his family. After a short greeting, everyone soon got the riverside, chatting, enjoying sunlight and the beautiful scenery.
It's a 夜鷺 (Ye-Lu) in Mandarin, 暗光鳥 in Taiwanese (English name: Black-crowned Night Heron, scientific name: Nycticorax nycticorax). It's commonly seen by riverside in Taiwan. I know it well because its Taiwanese name--暗光鳥 literally means dim light bird--sound lovely in Taiwnese. (I love to say it in Taiwanese.) It watched us playing, chatting for a long time yesterday.
Actually, the main purpose of the get-together was to meet Peter's daughter: Emma. Peter told me once Emma is named because one of his favorite novels is Jane Austen's Emma. I think he chose the right name. Emma is the happiest Jane Austen's character who has great fortune. She is rich, clever, handsome and lives without worries. She doesn't have annoying mother like Elizabeth's and she is rich and isn't like poor Elinor and Marianne or Fanny. Emma is happy.
And the little Emma was very happy playing in the water at Cloud 9 in company with her parents.
After the get-together, the Hiking Club embarked on an exploration of the Bei-Shi Hiking trail, but I didn't join in them because of some reasons. Even though I missed the hike afterwards, I still have a great relaxing getaway at Cloud 9. It was a very good morning.
Few notes for my friends.
Few notes for my friends.
有陣子沒更新Blog，消失很久，像是人間蒸發。但在端午節假期，有和幾位會看我Blog的朋友見面（世平、秀芬、若瑜），所以也有交換近況。比較沒機會見面的，大概是一中吧！不過，還是有些狀況沒機會聊到，所以就簡單作些說明。（這招是學亦順的。）
1. 因為前陣子留言版被駭，所以關掉comment的功能。
2. 終於做完情緒圖片的前測，已經花掉將近一年的時間。終於要開始進行第一個正式的實驗。但是實驗的幾個pilot的結果都很奇怪，數據方向很亂，汪老師跟我都擔心實驗會沒有效果。
3. 要離開惠雅老師的輔大研究室，轉到台大的葉老師的實驗室。
4. 暑假起要學眼動儀，到葉老師的實驗室，可能要學腦波儀。這意味著，我會繼續消失。
5. 計畫再一年，完成碩士學位，不過，我還在拖啊！逃避啊！論文只寫一行，真的只有一行。XD
6. 有計畫要繼續念博士，不過會轉念交大的工工管的人因工程。所以除了寫論文，還要準備考試。哈哈，真的是把自己搞到書永遠念不完。
