Ni's Adventure @ Hualian #1

Day 1
Half of my first day at Hualian was spent on traveling and waiting.
 
Eventhough it was just an evening and night, Huang Papa & Huang Mama really max it up.
Before I can catch my breath after I settled down at the Homestay, I received a call from Huang Mama that they will be on their way to pick me soon. And shortly after, the next call was to tell me they reached my Homestay. Fast!

We met. Felt great to see them again 2years later. 
This time in their territory.

Huang Papa & Huang Mama are actually the parents of my Teammate Nana. I got to know them when they came for SOT graduation. I also spent a couple of days with them touring Singapore.

I’m so touched by the gesture of Huang Mama who actually messaged me on FB two days prior to my trip that they are looking forward to my arrival, passed me their numbers and kept wanting to pick me up even from the airport or from Hualian station which of course I rejected cause didn’t want to trouble them.

Places we went for the evening and night:
(more photos/captions can be found on my FB) 

Just for the day…
The Coolest: cycled around the ENTIRE lake (stamina put to test.. hehe)
The Beautiful: night scenery of the entire city 

After that, tired Huang Papa & Huang Mama not only gotta drove me back Homestay but that particular midnight they came out to pick their daughter, Nana (one of my SOT teammates) and her boyfriend, YW from train station.
And next day they still gotta work.
Salute them!  

Day 2
The day started with something I never thought I would do in Taiwan… cycled ion the road and on my own!

While waiting for Nana and YW, I decided to rent a bike (FOC) from the Homestay and with the map, I set off to hunt for a 7-11.
Guess the challenge is not to find the 7-11 on the map but rather to get through on the road cause though there are traffic lights, there are no “green man” or “red man” for pedestrians. And their walkway are usually occupied thus many times I gotta cycled on the side of the road, sometimes with the motorbikes zoom zoom beside me.
Thank God eventually I found the 7-11 and also successfully went back in one piece.

Later from my friends, I learnt that in Hualian they don’t have “green man” or “red man” but the zebra-crossing marking on the road are for pedestrians.
And the coolest but shocking to me was that actually on the road, bicycles have the same “road authority” like motorbikes thus actually I shouldn’t cycled on the zebra crossing to get to the other side but rather I should be on the road like any other motorbikes or even cars would. Whew~~~~

Teammate Nana YW arrived in the noon, with lunch of wanton: a must eat when you are in Hualian. 

And off we set to different places:
(more photos/captions can be found on my FB) 

It was also the day I experienced the power of “Little Blackie Mozzie” - small and plentiful. Once Nana was bitten and in one smack, there were FOUR mozzies on her palm! 

I simply fall in love with this place… Qixing Lake!
The sight of the Pacific Ocean expanse is breath-taking! 

It was then followed by interesting dinner with Huang family - “Lotus Flower” hotpot. I thought I was fast but Huang Mama was even faster than me at the bill. 

The night ended with a shop at the busy street of Hualian. 
They actually wanted me to try the famous dessert but we were all too full. Haha!

Just for the day…
The Favourite: Qixing Lake
The Awesome: great fellowship and time spent with Huang Family

to be continued...