summer trip 3/3 of 1

The 3^rd trip was a highlight of the summer trip as we would be travelling deep in to the central mountain area for a camping trip. The camp site, Wu Ling farm, is manned by the retired veteran organization. It is located at the mid of central east south route. The mountain route was intended to connect the east coast and west coast of the island. The route was famous for its beautiful scenery at the east part and there is a hot spring area along the west part. Part of the route has collapsed during the 921 earth quake in 1999. An attempt to rebuild the road was initiated and the route was currently accessible to the local resident and engineering team.

Wu Ling Farm was situated at the middle of the central east west route. After the route collapsed, reaching the Wu Ling Farm from the southern part of the island was a torment. The usual 250km route had become 370km….There are 2 suggested route, one is to drive across the highest road of the island and the other is drive to the north via the north south highway and enter the mountain side via east coast. The 1^st route is 370 km (180km highway, 190km mountain drive), the 2^nd route is 360 km highway, 90km mountain drive). The travelling time is similar – 7 hrs non-stop drive.

I had opted to try both, the 1^st route to reach the destination and the 2^nd route for return.

There were so many things to worry about – the road condition, the weather….

Finally the day had come…however I was exhausted before the start of journey as I had worked a 5 consecutive day shifts. At the end of D5, I was worn off. After I woke up at 6am and loaded Fefe with all the gear, I had to stop for a nap before the journey start. The journey started at 8:30am, 1.5 hours later then the expected time.

We had a smooth drive and reached QingChin at 11:15am. We grabbed some snack at the 7-11 and proceeded with the hike to the highest point of He Huan Mountain. It was rainy and foggy. Fefe choke a little ( the service prior to the drive made the engine run smoother..) after 2500m. It is the karma of turbine power vehicle, especially diesel when cruising up the mountain area. However I did not encountered overheating of the gearbox.  

We passed through the highest point with ease despite the foggy and rainy condition. The track down the hill was better and we reached Li Shan at 1:40pm. We had patronized a local restaurant and continued our journey at 2:30pm.

The last 30km was better and we started erecting our camp at 4pm.

I enjoyed viewing the documentary of Perilous Journey and other live driving documentary which feature driving down the most dangerous route across the world… I had asked myself, do I have the guts to do it ? Well, it would require a reliable vehicle (preferably the Defender) and highly concentrated mind and good driving skill…. Well, I had lost the fantasy years ago when I found that I was slowly being swallowed by the monster of aging. I felt extremely tired after 4 hours of driving , a short nap would be needed most of the time. I had doubt that I could performed any long hour drive.

I considered this drive down the curvy road as one of the perilous roads that I had ever driven. The last one I did was the way up to the Cameron highland telekom tower. Even now, I can still feel the thrill of passing through the narrow passages and negotiating the hairpin corners during the drive.   

The completion of this journey made me more confident of future long hour drive and I am planning for a drive from Kuching to Sri Aman next year…..

2/3 of 2016 summer trip

The Qing Jing trip was a test run for me during this summer holiday. We had planned another trip up to the northeast coast of Taiwan at the mid of August. However I had a shift change and Ving had asked me if we could do a trip up north to Taipei. I gladly complied and we had trip up north at the end of July. The trip was an adventurous one as we had to push off in the evening after Yun and Xian classes. I had done it years ago and the drive was a strenuous one.

The days had come and it was a smooth start. We managed to hit Taipei after 5 hours of drive. We had stopped by Taichung for a quick grab of dinner. I had given up the plan of camping as I knew it would be a tiresome one as Ving and Yun had drafted a long list of place for us to visit.

I had reserved a hotel room near one of our target site. The picking of hotel is not an easy job for me nowadays, it had to fulfill a few requirement :

1.  4 beds room

2.  Car park

It is easy to get a 4 beds room but difficult to get a hotel with car park in Taipei. I was lucky as due to the policy of Mainland; mainland traveler had decreased since the new regime come into power. In the past, hotels were filled with mainlander and now, it is easier to get a room at the mid-range level. The car park was however an uncomfortable one…to get to the B2 level, I had to drive the car into an elevator. It made me very nervous about getting Fefe into a large elevator. However, I still get the job done and finally parked Fefe.

I hit dreamland after a few MPQ round. The next day, we started our tour after breakfast. The first stop was Di Hua market which was within walking distance. At noon, we had changed location to the Wu Fen market. We had taken the MRT and at 3pm. 4 of us could barely walk and we had decided to head back to hotel and continued the rest of the journey with Fefe.

Yun had decided to visit one of the top 10 book store of the world thence we had landed ourselves at the Zhong Xiao Region. Parking was a pain of the axx in that part of the city. It was like parked your car and then take a 500m walk no matter where was the location.

We had come across a Mamak store like restaurant but we gave it a skip as I had wanted to dine in hell one of the dim sum shop.

Well, the food was up to the standard but I was not satisfied as Xian has walloped most of my roasted pork (and it was the last plate available). Maybe next time….

The day ended late in the night as we had toured the only 24hrs book store in this country. Everyone was exhausted and hit dreamland when we returned to the hotel.

The next day was a long drive back home with a brief stop at Ying Ge( famous for its ceramic product).

Taipei was indeed a great city. Most of the residents are dressed stylishly; we looked like bunch of peasants touring the big city. My coat which was hanging peacefully in my closet was worn once only (during the wedding…).

I had chosen the path of a humble life but yet was unable to unlink myself from the high tech world. 

20th Anniversary of Alumni Reunion...

One of my classmates called me 2 months ago and invited me to the 20 – year anniversary reunion gathering. 10 years ago, one of our classmate had initiated the event 1/3 of the classmate was found. I had an invitation 5 years ago for the 15 year anniversary gathering but I had planned our trip back to Malaysia and had to forfeit the invitation. This year, I did not hesitate to accept the invitation as I had no plan for a long trip. I joined the line chat group and found that 70% of our classmate was on it. GSW who opened up family practice in Sri Aman had also decided to come for the reunion. I had volunteered to pick up GSW at the airport. We had a long chat during the drive. He had apparently open up a successful practice there and enjoyed the life of being a general physician. I could sense that he indeed enjoyed his life. I told him that I might visit him on my next visit back home. I had never stepped my foot on the land of Sarawak since my birth. I had planned to visit Kuching, Bako National Park and then to Sri Aman. It would be a 5d4N tour if there is no other arrangement. Renting a car in Kuching is 40 % cheaper than the west Malaysia.

I met other classmates at the reunion. After 20 years of effort, everyone had gained something. We had more than a handful of classmates with PhD added to the end of their names; a few of them had earned full professorship and currently in the power struggle of Deanship in various university.

I praised the great one for arranging my path and leading my way…..