DIY

2013.07.01 

Basically, it was a interesting day. We visited Yeliu Geology Park, and it is a very beautiful place. I like places beside oceans, rivers and lakes. In the evening, we cook dumpling by ourselves. That's nice experience.

Yeliu Geology Park is in the north of Taipei city. The landscape there is quite different from those we have seen before. There are rocks, and there are fossils of marine species in some rocks. Dr. Cheung said that we cannot take them out because we may destroy them. After a guide tourism, some of us went hiking beside the ocean. Six of us went into a cave for exploration. There was a good deal of sea slaters, which made us feel disgusting. Some sea slaters were very big. There was also some strange sounds in that cave. We did not go further into that cave, as it was dark inside. 

We had sea food for lunch, it is delectable.

In the afternoon, we went to Fisheries Research Institute. The guide introduced a lot of fishing equipment to us. I am not familiar with fishing, so I am not quite interested in that part. The guide also introduced ocean products. 

Yeliu Geology Park

After finishing the outdoor activities, we went back to NTU to cook dumplings. Although it is not my first time to make dumpling, I am not able to make them look good. The dumplings made by Alison looks perfect. Alison said she had made dumpling for about 20 years. I think I need to practice more and try to make better dumplings, as dumpling is traditional Chinese food. Although the dumplings I made do not have good appearance, they taste good with sauces provided by CAIEAE. 

Alison was teaching us how to make dumplings

2013.07.02

We did DIY again in 2rd, July. 

Went to Jingshan in the early morning to d blue dye. It is not hard to do that, but we should be creative. We use rubber bands and spill chips to design our cloth. According to the guide, dye will not go through the areas with bands and chips. So those areas will be white. We need to put the cloth into two tanks in order. First of all, I put cloth into a tank for 3 minutes. Then I take it out from the tank and put it under the sun. As the cloth turn to blue, I put it into another tank for 3 minutes. At last, I extended my cloth after taking it out. 

 Jingshan

Our clothes

Then we went to Dharma Drum Mountain. It is a Buddhism tower. Buddhism in Taiwan, Tibet and other places in mainland China are quite different. In mainland China, Buddhism towers are all built at least 100 years ago. There is usually smoking everywhere. Buddhism of mainland China won't teach common people the theory. There are something in common between Buddhism of Taiwan and mainland China. They all have really good scenery. When we get higher, it seems we can get to the sky and clouds. 

 The words mean the original face 

 Beautiful scenery

 In front of a hall

 The volunteer was introducing Buddhism theory

Wishing tree

We had lunch in Dharma Drum Mountain. I have had vegetarian food for several times before. They all taste wired. As expected, the lunch in Dharma Drum Mountain tastes bad. I usually love vegetables, but the dishes cooked in Buddhism tower often taste wired. I think that may be because actually they do not know how to cook. 

Lunch in Dharma Drum Mountian

In the afternoon, we went to Juming Museum. Juming lives through civil war of China. So he created a lot status about amy and soldiers according to his memory. Juming also create many works about Taichii. That is because he was trained when he was young. The Taichii Square looks widen and grand. 

 The amy status

 Soldier status

Taichi Square

There are also some works from Juming's son. Zipper is one of the most important elements in his works. I believe he is very creative. I like the zipper lotus pond a lot. I have never gone to art museum with status. That is interesting. 

The zipper lotus pond designed by Juming's son

Free Day

2013.06.30

It was a free day!!! I went to Danshui with Ting, Baker and Chen, Hao. I really had fun with these guys. I really want to thank Ting for her company. 

We had lunch in DinTaiFung. DinTaiFung had just open when we get there. However, there already have been a lot of people. We waited for 20 minutes to get the seats. The price of DinTaiFung in Taiwan is much lower than that in mainland China, which made us feel surprised. We ordered several dishes, and they are all delicious, especially the steamed buns. A popular TV program in mainland China introduced DinTaiFung in one show. That was attractive.

Shinning brand 

DinTaiFung 

 Cucumber

Streamed buns

After lunch, we went to Danshui. It was so hot outside. We looked around in some gift shops. I bought a wooden post card. There are cartoon of some cities in Taiwan, that's really unique. We also tried tofu pudding. In mainland China, we eat hot tofu pudding for breakfast. In Taiwan, it is a kind of desert. I found that in Taiwan, each food can be put together with ice or ice cream. I think that is because Taiwan is too hot. After enjoying tasty food, we rent a bike with four seats. That is so funny cause we ride a big bicycle in the narrow road. There is no ring in that bicycle. So we kept shouting "Be careful!!", "Sorry" all the time. That's really funny.

 Candied Fruit 

 Candied Fruit, taste sour

 The sea in Danshui

Police riding horse

The beach in Danshui is a little bit dirty. According to Ting, the sands come from volcano. That's why the sands are grey, and there are many particles in the sands. 

The grey beach

We booked a KTV at 6:00. However, when we returned the bicycle, it was already 4:30. So we had to run all the way. That made me crazy, as it was so hot. Ting brought three of her friends, and I think they all good at singing. We were so exciting during that four hours. We tried some quick songs. We were so high.

 KTV buffet

 Ting was singing

 Group photo

Group photo with dishes

Museum!!

2013.06.29

29th June was the most relaxed day so far. We went to two museums in the daytime, and in the evening, we went to Shilin night market to seek for delicious food.

We went to Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines in the morning. We had a guide trip. To my surprise, the guide was study in NTU. According to the guide, there are 14 aboriginal tribes in Taiwan. Before coming to Taiwan, I thought all people in Taiwan are Han people. The guide also told us a lot about the traditional culture of aborigines. For example, if there are 3 people in a family, they will put 2 rocks in front of their house. If one of the family members died, they would push down a rock. If the daughter of a family get married, she needs to bring that rock with her. That's quite unique. There is another interesting thing. Some aborigines wear big ear pendants. Actually the pendants are containers. Aborigines put seeds into those ear pendants when they travel to a new place. Then they can plant crops when they settle down. Aborigines have their own way to protect their wives and children. They usually build houses with low doors. Women and children are short, they can get into the houses quickly, but the enemies cannot. That was a really nice trip. I like museums cause I can learn many new things from museums.

The gate of aboriginal museum

After lunch, we walked to the National Palace Museum. The appearance of National Palace Museum is quite different from the Palace Museum (Forbidden CIty) in mainland China. The architectural style of National Palace Museum and Forbidden City is almost the same. The color is different. National Palace Museum is blue and white, while the Forbidden City is golden. Much to my surprise, there are massive exhibitions in National Museum, and the rest two third have not been exhibited. We saw the famous pork jade, the green vegetable jade and the really small peach pit. This trip is really interesting for me because the exhibitions all connect to Chinese civilization. We have the common ancestor.

 National Palace Museum

Tian Xia Wei Gong

Kim and me

In the evening, we looked around in Shilin night market. I tried four special food in Shilin Market. Although I only remember the name of one dish, they are really delicious. Shilin Night is quite large, and there were a lot of people, almost half of them are tourists. Compare to Shilin night market, I like Jingmei night market more. That is because Jingmei night market is cleaner and there are not many people. 

 Shilin Night Market

 Looks delicious

Interesting plate

Ceramics Museum

2013.06.28

It was an interesting day, as we did a ceramic plate by ourselves. The activities are all indoor. That is nice because it is hot outside.

We had a lecture about designing experiment. I think that is quite useful for our research and group projects. the professor explained the details of experimental design clearly. There should be another lecture in that morning. However, the professor did not come, as he should deal with something. Jack told us that two NTU students has a car accident in that day, and they dead. They are both only 18 years old. It is so sad. They are so young. I think safety is the most important thing. We must treasure our lives, as we only live once.

Instead of having a lecture, we went to a agricultural building. That building is unique. There are many holes on that building. Those holes represent rice and the leaves of rice. In Taiwan, people care much about the rice. So the put "rice and leaves" on that building, which hopes to gain a good harvest.

The red bean popsicle produced by NTU farm

In the afternoon, we went to Yingge Ceramics Museum. There are many ceramic works in the gift shop. 

 Exquisite ceramic works

 Ceramic tea set

 Unique ceramic lamp

 Unique and expensive ceramic plate

 Ceramic tea set with Chinese elements

Ceramic teeth brush

After shopping, we had a guide trip in that museum. The locker in the museum is quite unique. They are ceramic. They are beautiful. The most interesting thing is that in the past, Taiwan is famous for producing high quality ceramic toilet. If the color of toilet is brown, that means the toilet is made in Taiwan and it is a high quality toilet. Now Taiwan produce a lot of exquisite ceramic works, such as ceramic bottles, ceramic status, ceramic bowls and so on.

 Ceramic locker

Toilet made in Taiwan

 Ceramic bottles

Ceramic plate

Ceramic toilets

We made a DIY ceramic plate afterwords. I made a oval plate, and I painted it blue, yellow and green. Although the work is not a good one, I really enjoy making it.

My plate and me

Hiking

2013.06.27

Today was really a hard day. We spent about six hours in Yangminshan National Park. It was a sunny day, and the temperature is over 30 degrees. We went hiking and learnt some of the species of Yangmingshan. It took us about 2 hours to get to Qixing Peak. The scenery along is beautiful. We can see Taipei city when we go up high. I like the Qixing Peak most, as it was really cool and windy there. It is about 1120 m, and is the top point of Taipei city. However, it is a bit fearful there as it is so windy. There are a lot of rocks on the ground. It seems the wind can blew me away. It is hard for me to stand.

There are so many steps. :(

It's really windy in the top of mountain.

Qixing Peak: 1120 meters high.

We can see Taipei city when we go up high

Volcano

Afterwards, we visited Beitou Hot Spring Museum. The guide told us a lot of interesting stories about Beitou. We watched a video about the TV drama of Beitou. It is quite funny. The stories are all similar. Beitou Hot Spring Museum used to be a public bath for Japanesse, but now it is a great museum. It is pity that some parts of the museum are closed. We just watched the video about those parts. 

Visiting Hot Spring Museum

Funny TV dramas of Beitou

I think the thermal valley should be the most interesting place that we went today. The water is blue and the water temperature is above 90 degrees. The area close to water is quite hot, but the area that two meters away from water is cool. There is hot smoke above water. It just looks like a big hot pot.

Thermal Valley

The hot water and smoke