Briathrail // Albert 2MNG

First and second parts are here.

I managed to wake up pretty early @ 5:30am. Nice. But this time, I had a strong willpower to not go back and “nap”. I have shit to do. Yehliu, Jiufen and Shifen. It’ll be a long day, and maybe some.

When I booked this tour first, I deliberately wanted this to be a weekday tour, and with a time that avoids anything beyond 6pm. The reasons being, 1) this is a foreign country to me, and if I were to be lost, I’d rather be lost on daytime than nighttime, and 2) weekday is a workday, and at least I do not have to jostle on weekend tours with both fellow foreigner tourists and other domestic tourists. As these spots are serious tourist places, I’d prefer slightly less crowding.

For this June 13 day of a long-ass tour, what I did first was to wake up early to take a warm shower. Upon finishing my bathroom activities, I then prepped my clothes. I decided to wear a black t-shirt of the latest Zelda designs from Uniqlo, jeans, and padded socks. I also decided to bring along my windbreaker, as the weather forecasts in the places my tour will visit had a pretty good chance of raining.

And then, I started to apply deodorant on the toes of my feet, then applied kinesio tape at the heel portion. Thankfully, I had a handy visual of how they are to be applied. But I didn’t know where to buy the thick tape they used in the clinic, so I settled on a quick one: from Decathlon.

The kinesio tape application felt thick and taut on my feet, and they felt protected. Not as thick as the one from the podiatrist office, but maybe this temporary stuff will suffice. I’ll buy a proper one when I get back to Singapore.

For my bag, I had to use my trusted American Tourister backpack again. Primarily, it contained:

• My passport (of course)
• The Klook activity printout (just in case)
• My mobile phone selfie stick/tripod
• My Uniqlo windbreaker
• My Anker mobile charger with a thick third-party Lightning cable
• Small gym towel (in case big sweats happen)

Those were good enough, I thought. I don’t want to do mountaineer cosplay on a tourist-ass tour anyway. My bag was as light as I could make it. I also brought a cold tea bottle. I bought the “Flavor Of Love Decomposition Tea Okinawa Bitter Gourd (Sugar-Free)” the previous day at 7-11. Don’t ask me about the product name. But I can assure you, it tasted good. I can’t taste any strong bitterness despite the “bitter gourd” in it. It’s in the taste background of the tea, yes. But as far as overwhelming the flavor profile, none. This might be the best “bitter gourd” tea I ever had. Can drink it with ease without puckering up.

Once I finished packing and dressing up, I immediately left the hotel. I had breakfast to look forward to, and it’s already 7am. Two hours to go-time.

When I was browsing Google Maps weeks ago to scout the area I was to stay in, I spied upon one local breakfast joint near the hotel called “Yong He Soy Milk”. I decided I will have to go there at least once. And when I landed in Taiwan and had a night to think about it, I decided that June 13 is as good as any day to check it off my list. Fortunately, it’s just a few blocks away from the hotel. Short walk.

I immediately found it open and still waiting for business to get busy. There’s around 3 customers eating inside already. Lots of tables left. So I queued and ordered my meal. I asked for their English menu, and I quickly decided on warm soy milk, scallion pancake, and a pork bun. Paid upfront as well.

Spent 20 minutes inside eating and observing what the locals did, as well as what they ordered. I barely knew the rules in this eating joint and the auntie that took my order can barely speak English (not a bad thing, I very much liked their enthusiasm). So once I gathered I can leave the tray on my table after I’m done, I left quickly as I also noticed business was indeed getting busy, the queue was snaking out. Whew.

As I wanted to burn a small bit of the calories and fats the meal had (the scallion pancake was a wee bit greasy), I decided to walk to the Taipei Main Station instead of taking the bus. It didn’t help that Google Maps was recommending me bus routes that were inconvenient for a first-timer. Thankfully, the morning weather in Taipei that day was good – not that sunny, slightly breezy – so walking was no chore. I just briskly walked, looking around to see what’s what there. I spotted a breakfast joint two street crossings later, and they were selling a big array of sandwiches. The sandwiches looked awesome. OK, that’s the next day breakfast, I decided.

Once I reached the station at 8:15am, I looked for the East Gate 3 where a FamilyMart was, as it was the one Klook said the tour guides will be congregating. Once I got there, there were three tour guides with placards. I might be on time, I thought. I looked for the tour guide that had my itinerary on their placard, and lined up for verification.

It turned out, I was early. There were MULTIPLE Klook tours going to “Yehliu, Juifen and Shifen”, but each of them has a different order of itinerary, alongside other options. Some skip places, some go late so they can see Juifen at night. When I booked it a month ago, I went for the early-morning option that had the full shebang (included the Golden Waterfall and old refinery plant), so the tour guide I talked to told me to wait for “Carol”, which he knew was the one assigned for my specific tour option’s itinerary. So, after thanking him, I spent 15 minutes sitting on a nearby bench grinding my dailies on FGO and HSR.

Soon, Carol the tour guide came to the designated meeting place. I knew because she immediately sent a group message on WhatsApp informing us of her presence. She was a sweet elder lady (maybe in her 50’s) with medium-long frizzy hair, and she wore a white trucker cap with a big “C” on it. Made her look like Carrot Top, though, if Carrot Top was like a five-foot-two Asian granny. She spoke good enough English for us to communicate basics. While waiting for the others to get checked, I bought another “just in case” iced tea bottle.

Once we all made it, accounted for (I remember we were around 12), given identifying stickers, and after the allotted meetup time has passed, we made our way to the tour bus. It was smaller than the spanking-new tour bus I had in Bangkok (to be fair, that one was likely a new bus model from China), but no less comfortable. Airconditioning was very generous as well. The only difference is that the bus opened at the right side, slightly away from the driver side. There were four seats at the front – two for passengers, one for the tour guide and one for the driver. The rest of the seats were after the door, maybe 15-16 seats. As it was closest to the door at the front, I chose the window seat near the door. I was hoping for the “poor man’s first class” seating (two seats all to myself), but unfortunately, some of the people at the bus occupied two seats for themselves (the “this one’s occupied with my bag”), and one lady was left trying to see if someone will have an aisle seat to open. I instantly gave up mine. From what I saw, I’m a solo tourist, and some of the other tourmates are elderly and probably rich retirees. I don’t mind. She gratefully took the offer. But the only discomfort of the entire trip for me was me making myself as scrunched in my seat as possible. The seats, unfortunately, are thin Asian sized. But also fortunately, I had 8 years experience as a hardened veteran passenger of Philippine public buses that ply the EDSA routes. I know how to adjust myself to be small, despite the discomfort.

Oh well. Time to go!

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