Poagao's Journal

Absolutely Not Your Monkey

Apr 29 2001

Today was interesting. I got up in the morning and…

Today was interesting. I got up in the morning and it was summer outside. I really like Taiwan a lot more in the summer…it reminds me of summers past and all of the things I have done in the summer….just a nice, fresh spring-ish feeling. Summer reminds me how I came to feel the way I do about Taiwan, for just as Taipei really only comes into its own at night, Taiwan is really only its quintessential self in the summer months.

I called my friend Harry and we arranged to meet outside the Tamshui MRT station and then he would take me on his scooter to Shalun Beach. As I was riding the smooth, fast and convenient transit train out, I recalled my first trip out to Shalun beach, around 12 years ago. My friends from college and I took an ancient, shaking bus from downtown Taipei out. It seemed to take forever, and then we rented bicycles to ride from Tamshui to Shalun. That also took forever, but it was great fun, and there was a whole welcome center and lots of people and little food stands out there.

Things have sure changed out there. They are building a road around the old forest area, which was being swallowed by the dunes anyway, and the beach center has long since been closed down. It’s like a completely different place now than it was. We ended up just walking around, gawking at the remaining landmarks, old army bunkers that used to be deep in the forest, now at the edge of the beach and buried in sand, old buildings, etc. It’s almost as if a way of life was dissapearing. Who knows what will happen when the road is open.

We forced open a gate at one of the old abandoned buildings and went up to the roof to sunbath. There were a couple of other guys up there, and we chatted a bit. Then we went down to the beach to swim. It felt so good, a true harbinger of Summer, to be floating in the ocean again, even though I have to say the beach at Fulong is much nicer, golden sand, cleaner air and water, etc. I hear that the beach at Daxi is even nicer; I will have to try that one out someday.

I had to leave at 4pm, though, to make to a former co-worker’s farewell party in Tienmou. That was a lot of fun as well…for me, the perfect kind of get-together, just a small group of good friends, good music, barbeque, drinks, a nice balcony with a view north of Yangmingshan and south of Taipei, and pleasantly warm twilight weather. Unfortunately, our host inadvertantly put his knee through a plate-glass door, so we ended up taking him to the Veteran’s Hospital for stitches. I got in about 1:30am this morning, and now it is almost 4am. Ack, I have to get up and go to work in the morning! Tomorrow will probably seem so normal compared to today, for today has been a really interesting day. I should have more days like today.

posted by Poagao at 7:39 pm  

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