First, second and third parts are here.
Like the day before, I still managed to wake up pretty early again. This time, I beat my alarm clock. I set it for 5am, and I managed to wake up at 10 minutes before it. And TV was on, showing a documentary about exotic birds. I remembered I dozed off with that thing on due to exhaustion. I had a good day of touring the day before. Now, off to one more. But first, my pants need washing.
I guess I screwed myself for not doing deeper research. The hotel’s small, meaning that the washing facilities are not of the same standards as the ones I stayed in before. Heck, in Thailand I stayed in a room where a washing machine was also in the same room I booked, albeit cleverly tucked away in a cabinet. So as agreed upon with the hotel staff yesterday evening, I shook off the sleepy cobwebs (I got 5 hours of sleep, tops?), ate one packet of nougat crackers (the sugar definitely perked me up), washed it down with a small box of orange juice, gathered the clothes I had to wash in one of the canvas bags I brought with me, and trooped down to B2 where the washing machine was.
The washing facility, thankfully, had a container with lots of those fabric conditioner capsules that dissolve in water. I popped in one (I chose the musk scent, smelled manly too) with a scoop of powdered detergent, and set the timer to an hour of combined wash and dry. I had no time for a full-ass wash with long dry, that’s likely three hours.
After that, I headed to B1 to see what the options could be for a small spot of breakfast to be offered by the hotel. Problem was, it’s 5am. Too early. So there was only one guy manning the service desk, the hotdog rack was still empty and the sandwich section was also empty. There was the big section full of yummy cup noodles (this is Taiwan, they ain’t kidding with their noodles) but I was also mindful that some of them exceed 400 calories. I was eyeing that sandwich shop yesterday, and I was determined to have a couple of sandwiches later. So nope on instant noodles for now, have to save those calories for a better one. I merely took one more of the bite-sized nougat cracker and another box of juice from the open food area there, and went back to my room to watch TV and waited for the washing timer to finish – I set my watch timer for an hour as well to monitor. No coffee yet for me.
Once the hour passed – I quickly got bored of the TV and I switched over to watching YouTube on the Macbook Air I brought with me – I went back to B2 to check on my clothes. But there was a bad problem – the clothes didn’t completely get dry. Guess the rush hour job didn’t work. The pants were the biggest problem – they were hot and damp. The shirts and socks were no problem even if they did not get fully dry, I just used the cloth hangers provided in the room and hung them to dry on the side, they’ll be dry by the time I get back later. Damp pants, that’s the problem. So I tried various tactics to wick off more of the water. Like, using the blowdryer. The handkerchiefs dried up quick after a run with the blowdryer, might be helpful with the pants too. It helped just a bit, not much but the dampness did subside but not a lot. I also tried the ol’ college technique of whipping it around over my head, which also did help but just a bit as well.
After 20 minutes, I still had a damp pair of pants. Well, no choice. It was around 6.30am and I had to make a decision – damp Giordano pants or dry Adidas jogging pants. I chose the wet denim pants. I stuck with the hope that they will dry out once I wear them for an hour or two outside. Biggest reason I chose them was the weather – I looked outside, sun’s not out. Dark and cloudy. I looked at the weather predictions for Beitou and Yangmingshan – also big rain bunches. From experience, I’d rather wear damp denim pants over damp jogging pants.
So with that unfortunate turn of events sorted out, I then prepped my backpack. Thankfully, same stuff to bring as the previous day. The only thing I took out of the bag that morning were coins. As I did not expect to spend that much on thus particular trip, I’d rather lighten up. Lots of small change that accumulated, so I only kept two easy denominations – 50 and 10 – and left the rest on the bedside desk. After that, I took my shower and chilled a bit to dry before dressing up. I re-applied the kinesio tape on my feet but I kind of applied it a bit thicker on the heel area. On purpose, as I foresaw that this tour was more of a “walking” tour and less of an “empty your wallet” tour. I did put on the pants after – still slightly damp but way much more tolerable than before, and the wetness was at least not noticeable due to the shade of blue – and went out.
The tour’s starting point was again, the Taipei Main Station, but this time the tour guide meetup was at West Gate 3 – opposite side of where I headed the day before. And as I was looking to get my pants dry, I walked to it from the hotel again. That’s partially the goal as well – main goal really was the sandwich shop I saw before. It was around 7.30am already, so most of the stores were starting to open up more. At least, from what I observed, the traditional ones opens up much earlier. The ones with more Western fare just opened up by 7am or so.
I got to the sandwich shop without difficulty finding it. I’m not used to blogging these mundane stuff yet, so I forgot to snap a picture of that wonderful shop. Once I saw the sandwich rack full of a variety of tantalizing options, photo mode went out of my thought. One kind uncle was manning the rack, spoke decent transactional English, and was eager to recommend which ones were “fresh made” (his words). I do remember it was at Yanping Road, near the Lio Hotel. I looked at Google a while later, and the picture there was already years ago. Not that accurate. But it was right at the intersection of Yanping and Kaifeng.
After buying two sandwiches – a fully loaded tuna egg sandwich and a luxurious-looking fat-ass club sandwich – I proceeded to walk to the train station. I knew the way without the map anymore this time. Walk north, see the big train station, walk towards it. Easy peasy.
And once I arrived – I was an hour early again – I plopped down to a metal bench near the West Gate 3 entrance (still inside the station) and ate my sandwiches between gulps of cold tea. Oh yeah, the sandwiches were all well under NTD 100 each, as I remembered each kind of sandwich had a different price. I don’t remember the exact price for mine as I just handed the uncle three 50’s and I was too trusting to not count the change.
Also, I scarfed that pair of sandwiches quickly. Trust me, they were chunky and tasty, bread was soft and the filling was fresh. Seller uncle told no lies. But what was in front of me at that station was just sad. There were a lot of homeless people at the area where I found a place to sit on. Some of them slept on the floor, some of them were sleeping while sitting on the benches, and some of them were standing, with forlorn eyes. Like, hoping against hope that they survive the coming days. They had their belongings with them – in broken luggages, in big bags, in plastic bags, and small nanny grocery trolleys. And a majority of them were elderly people.
They were mostly around the areas away from the major pathways – you ain’t seeing a lot of them inside at first, until you go turn left/right to less-crowded areas and there they were. Many who were unlucky to find a good spot inside tend to sleep outside. And if you look at their belongings closely, a lot of them told a wordless story. Some were old clothes. One had a small plastic bag full of small wooden picture frames, likely memories of a better time. In most advanced/developed countries, it seems to me that the stories end up the same – not all people get to enjoy nor benefit from all the “progress”, and get left behind.
And I was too naive to sit at the metal benches. I had no choice – it was the only one that was decently available. Eating while standing up was possible, but where? I looked around. Lots of people at the time already. The station was already bustling. Stores were opening. People were walking to and fro places already. The small ledge on front of McD was already occupied. The metal benches were in the “alleys” of the station – the areas with less foot traffic. So I sat, and ate my sandwiches as quickly as I could, respectfully.
By 9am, I received a message from the tour guide that he was already at the gate. So I trooped to the gate, and found him quickly, and he introduced himself as “Xiao Hei”. Okay, nice to meet you, sir. He told me I was the first to come, and after verifying my Klook booking, he asked me to wait a bit there outside as he was to get our vehicle.
Oh. He’s also the driver.
He soon returned with a black family van, like a Toyota Granvia or a family HiAce. Actually, that was more than fine with me. Smaller group meant a more focused tour. As I was first, I had dibs on seating. I chose to ride shotgun. Great view, and I didn’t have to scrunch myself small to a seat unlike the previous trip. Soon after, the rest of the tour came on. There were three couples, and two solo travelers (myself included) in the trip, so all in all, a decently small group.
Once we all got comfortable, Xiao Hei told us to buckle up (for me, literally, as I rode in front) and we were headed to our first destination in less than an hour. This time, I had a much better view of the trip out of the city. Buildings gave way to houses, then to small fields, and then, mountains. We’re going up!
Briathrail // Albert 2MNG 
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