Beitou Thermal Valley

The time was nearly 2.30 pm when we finally boarded on the train headed to our next destination, Beitou Thermal Valley.

The train is new & clean. But the most unique feature is, the interior was made by wood.

There even an interactive display where sons could play with in the chamber. Cool.

The weather was really so-so on that day, and there is nothing too special to look from the window as well. I just hope it would bring us to our destination asap.

From the train station, we need to walk uphill a little bit, for 15 minutes before we reached here. For us, the walk is ok. But for our folks, it's enough to make them breathless.

So, I suggested we take a break and sipped some hot drinks in this coffee shop. I could see that everyone welcomed this brilliant idea.

Ok, we felt more recharged after a short break and ready to go then.

Beitou Thermal Valley is not very big, covers an area of about 3500 sq feet.

The hot spring in the valley is so-called Green Sulfur Spring. There is only two green- sulfur-spring found in this world, and Beitou Termal Valley is one of them.

The surface temperature of the green sulfur hot spring origin is close to a hundred degrees, which is regarded as the hottest spring in the region of Datun Volcanic Group.

The surrounding mist and boiling spring water can be compared to the scenery in the hell. That' why the place is also called hell valley or ghost lake, which fits in with the given name "witch" of Beitou.

The residents here also call it the source of sulfur water.

The crystal clear and emerald spring water wins the reputation of mineral water dew and jade spring valley and is regarded as one of the most famous 8th scenic spots and 13th scenes during the Japanese colonial era.

Looking at the steam, I was frantically worried when I saw William cling himself on the wood barrier at Vincent's back. I dashed forward quickly to pull him down. Then, I couldn't help but give him a serious lecture of the most terrible consequences he would get if he fell in the pond.

The Green Sulfur Spring contains trace of radioactive matter, Radium. It has magic effect for recreation, sanitarium, rehabilitation and beauty.

The pH value of this Green Sulfur Spring is between 1.2 - 1.6 I dare not to imagine how painful it is if one skin is in contact with the water. It's like pouring strong acid to one's face. Thinking of that made my face turn to green.

Along the way, I nagged the boys that they must pay a serious respect to this place.

This place is simply nice-to-look-at, but can't-go-near-to.

Near the exit of the thermal valley, there are hot spring resorts for the residents to enjoy the outdoor scenery and picturesque landscape in Beitou. On the holidays, many visitors will come to take a bath in the natural mother earth.

We didn't go inside the resort. Instead, we stopped by a hot spring river when we walked back to the train station.

William kept pestering me to join him in the river. Told him I would be there a few more minutes after I settled my business.

Ok, here I come...

Daddy had come down to join us too

It is said that the green sulfur hot spring can activate the cells, release the body and ease the toil. Those who try themselves can refresh the tiring body and soul completely. So, if you are the one with too much work and too little rest, here is the place for you.

After many reassurance, finally the parents-in-law blended themselves with the surrounding. Good for them.

After leaving Beitou, we took the train to Tarn-Shui. Basically, the place is another night-market street that I thought I have seen enough during this trip. So, nothing has fascinated me over there.

We went back to the hotel after dinner. Since it was mom-in-law 69th birthday that day, we secretly bought a cake to her room for a small celebration. Before we said good night, hubby said he would bring all of us to a nearby toilet-restaurant for lunch. That's interesting, cause we have never been to a toilet-restaurant before. I was kind of very look forward to going there.

Unfortunately, it rained like cat and dog the next morning. So we got to give up the lunch plan, but leave for the airport earlier. The good thing was, parents-in-law & I was upgraded to the business class. So, that was a good ending to me.

CKS Memorial Hall

6 months had passed, then only I realized I haven't post this up, haha...

Ok, back to our Taiwan's trip, it's nothing too special on the 2nd day. As we were quite tired after a long trip to the northern part of Taiwan the day before, we just wanted to take things easy that day. So, we decided to walk around Taipei city with our folks & kids.

Well, the place a tourist shouldn't miss when they stroll around Taipei city is for sure the CKS Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂).

The boys were thrilled to bump into so many real soldiers. They so admired them.

Well, I kind of admired them too, for their seriousness.

It's hard to differentiate them, everyone look just the same.

They have reminded me of the clone-troopers in Star War movie, hehe...

Ok, I think they were getting ready to go for an outing then.

Asked them if they want to become a soldier when they grow up later, they nodded their head. OMG, I'm having every mom's night mare there.

The liberty square.

National Concert Hall on the left.

National Theater on the right.

Standing at the center of Liberty Square.

With the Memorial Hall as backdrop.

Young soldiers who were moving the canons for don't-know-what-reason.

The boys walked closer & closer, luckily they didn't get shoo away.

Vincent think they are super cool.

He deliberately asked me to take a photo of him when he pretended he is one of the soldiers who was working on the canon.

Little flowers which had captured William's attention.

Before walking to the Memorial Hall, we made a little detour to the garden along the way.

The Chinese garden is always associated with ponds, ornamental bridge, waterfall, green grass etc. This one is no exception.

Oh yeah, and gold fishes too.

I enjoyed people-watching though. Like the father who was pampering his son...

or the kids playing happily around...

Since we were here, I thought we should pay a visit to the late president Chiang Kai Shek in the monument hall over there, but parents-in-law prefer to sit in the garden though. So, we had to leave them in the garden and moved on.

Two sets of white stairs, each with 89 steps to represent Chiang's age at the time of his death, lead to the main entrance.

The main entrance features a pair of double doors, each standing 16m high and weighing 75 tons, that open into the main hall.

A large bronze statue of Chiang Kai-Shek dominates the main hall. The figure is shown smiling seated and wearing traditional Chinese dress. Inscribed on the wall above and behind the seated figure are the Chinese characters of Ethics, Democracy, and Science.

I've tried hard to explain the words on wall to William, but apparently, he was more into this young soldier who couldn't even blink his eyes.

Seriously, I don't think I can stand there like this for any longer than 2 minutes.

The other soldier who was standing at the opposite. Well, I guess all they did for the whole standing-session is probably to look at each other, or day dreaming.

The Liberty Square as seen from the Memorial Hall.

No wonder it's a popular place to hold big scale concert.

Alright, time to go to pick up the parents-in-law now...

What we didn't expect to see is the open fountain at outside. The boys ran straight into it without asking for our consent.

They have been complaining about the boredom of having nothing fun to do in this place. So, when they finally found one, they won't take "NO" as the answer.

End up, they were not too far from soaking wet. Without carrying any extra clothes & socks, we need to keep the clothes and dumped the socks. Sigh.

After the kids finished their business, we hired 2 taxi to go to our next destination, TAIPEI 101.

Albeit the tallest building it is, there is nothing too special about this place. We took our lunch at a food court, then continued the rest of our journey thereafter.