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Art of journaling the past:
I think that's why people keep their childhood photos in huge thick albums even though there may be some
(or more than anyone's expectations) cringey ones. It really does a magic by turning what you've thought as an ugly past into a cute laughable memories.
So why not write about the past adventures?
Writing about past adventures may seem something like chewing a tasteless bubble gum.
Yes, it may lack the real excitement from every moments and tiny little details of what we've experienced.
However, as time passes, I've found those adventures turning into a perfect remedy for my down days.
So I'm finally sharing the last snippets from my trip to Taiwan day 3 - day 5.
(This is low-key time travelling to the time that I still can't get over)
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Day 3
Day 3 was definitely the most adventurous, touristy day out of our five days.
We were scheduled to have a taxi tour, a type of tour guide program that people get to visit some amazing spots
outside Taipei on a taxi!
Our first stop was Yehliu Geopark.
This park has unique oddly shaped rocks & amazing ocean view that attracts tons of people around the world.
It wasn't a sunny day but we were lucky enough to explore the odd rocky lands without any showers.
Isn't it amazing how those rocks can be made just by wind & wave?!
Each of them looked super unique - mushroom shaped, chair shaped, and even queen's head shaped!
The cool ocean breeze and salty air outside the busy Taipei city made us more excited for the day.
Here's out second stop, Shifen.
I would call this place a train station town.
There're stores lined up right next to the railroad and people walking along the narrow platform.
These tiny little dots in the sky are the lanterns, the most popular activity of Shifen.
My family and I also had our own lanterns to be flown up in the Taiwanese sky.
Each color had its own meaning, so we carefully chose our lantern design & wrote messages to fly up in the sky.
It was such a great experience for us to remind ourselves how important our family means to each of us.
On our way to the third stop, Jinguashi, we laid over for this view.
This photo couldn't picture what my eyes had seen, but it was truly beautiful.
I remember colors of the ocean, the village by the mountain range and giant mountain behind everything.
This waterfall is called "Gold Waterfall".
The rocks looked kind of goldish yellow brown, that's my theory to its name.
After lunch break at Jinguashi, we saw a rainbow!
I think all of us were pretty exhausted due to fast-paced non stop car ride.
I also felt grumpy inside (guess everybody did), but no one ever complained or grumbled about it.
And seeing that rainbow really brought our energy back and all of us felt so grateful to see a rainbow during our trip.
We were even luckier to see this view after the rainbow.
I still get emotional when I go back to this moment in my mind.
The weather got clear and we eyewitnessed one of the most beautiful things in Taiwan.
All of us stayed there for minutes without any words, but seeing the clouds moving, blue sky and the ocean.
It was definitely the hightlight of our taxi tour!
Now that we were fully energized, we headed to our final stop, Jiufen.
A place known for its red light streets & tea houses (aka real life model of the spa from Ghibli's 'Spirited Away')
I have to admit that Jiufen wasn't the best tourist spot because there were way too many people
that we didn't think about doing anything, but escaping.
It was worth a visit, and worth a panic attack, too.
On our way out of Jiufen, the night view caught our eyes.
And out day 3, the most adventurous, tiring, memorable day was done.
Day 4
Now back to the city, back to public transportation.
We had a bus ride to see Lin's Family Mansion & Garden.
I felt like I traveled back in time to old Chinese palace.
Walking around the historical buildings and old trees was a cool experience for us to see Taiwanese culture & history.
Then my sister and I wrapped up our day with shopping (mostly food shopping tbh).
Going back home with shopping bags + night snacks can never be bothering despite their weights & my tiredness.
Day 5
Our last day was the most rainy day.
After checking out, carrying all the bags though pouring rain,
riding trains and stacking up all those baggage in the coin lockers, we could finally start our last day journey.
(Spot the famous 101 building here!)
We had our final meal at the very first Din Tai Fung of the world.
Then visited the last spot, the miniature museum.
It was hard to believe my eyes to see those detailed adorable pieces hand-crafted by people around the world.
And like that, our Taiwan adventure was officially done.
It was another family trip abroad, another valuable memory.
I'd like to say writing about past travel experience is somewhat therapeutic.
Scrolling back all the photos and recalling how I felt made me feel grateful of my experience.
I'm so thrilled to have more adventures and create more of my stories after that.
ⓒJKDAWN
