Day Three - Hua Lien

In a cruel irony, on Day Three, I had to wake up earlier than I was prepared to. All I wanted was a few more hours of sleep but I did not have the luxury of time -- we were going to take a two hour train ride to Hua Lien, the biggest county in Taiwan, located in the mountainous eastern part of Taiwan.

My brother and I crammed all our clothing into our suitcases, but this time it was harder because of the knick-knacks that we bought the day before. After successfully containing everything into our suitcases, my brother and I met our parents in the lobby.We left our luggage with the hotel staff after we had checked-out and walked along the early morning streets of Taipei in search of a place to have breakfast.

                       Pork heart that we had for breakfast
Today's Menu:
Rice noodle soup and organ meat. I intentionally told my mother not to tell me what we were served, but later I learnt that we had pork, pig's heart, small intestines and lungs. It grosses me out that I eat those stuff, but it was good so I guess I'll forget about this incident. My family and I were given a bowl of rice each to eat the meat with, which apparently was cooked with lots and lots of garlic. I suppose that many vampires died at our first breath!

                                     Taipei Railway Station

Unfortunately, my family and I were more than an hour early for our train ride, and we had to wait on the platform. The platform had no seats, and we had to stand for the whole time we were there. There was also the unpleasantly loud shrill from the trains departing, with each train coming in and going out of the station every 10 to 15 minutes.

After the extremely long wait, finally it was our turn to board the train. Of course, my family and I grabbed our luggage and stepped onto the train to rest our tired feet. My brother and I were quite excited when we got onto the train, because it was the first time we sat on a actual train, not a MRT train. Everything looked different and somewhat special, the seat were not the plastic kind, they were cushioned and blankets were provided at a counter should the passengers need them. This were things we do not get when we take the MRT in Singapore and also in Taiwan!

After a while the effect of getting onto a train for the first time wore off and we settled down to sleep, just to kill the two hours with nothing to do. However, throughout the train ride to Hua Lien, I woke up quite a few times and looked out of the window, taking a look at the countryside as the train rushed past. There were many single-leveled houses made of natural materials like wood and coconut tree leaves. Those houses looked like the beach villas you get when you stay in a beach resort, just minus the coconut trees and the waves crashing onto the sea shore.I would then look out of the window for a while before getting comfortable in my seat and falling back asleep.

Two hours passed by relatively slowly, with me waking and falling back asleep many times, but finally the train came to a stop at Hua Lien Railway Station. Not wanting to miss our stop, my family and I hopped off the train quickly and made our way to the exit of the railway station. Many people have also got off at Hua Lien and we got into an extremely long, snake-like queue, waiting for our turn to have our passports stamped. While waiting, I examine the unfamiliar faces of the people also in the queue. Most of them were chatting away, cheeks rosy from the low temperature. It was about 15 degree Celsius then, and everyone wore a puffy parka or at least a few layers of clothing and a jacket.

About half an hour later, a stoic immigration officer stamps my passport and I am in Hua Lien!