It looks like my Plover Cove has unintentionally become the target of acquisition for many unqualified Hong Kong trail runners. If you do not know what I am talking about, you’ve probably been living under a rock on Mars for the longest time. But, as a refresher, let me tell you what makes my Plover Cove in Wu Kau Tang so special.
Hong Kong is blessed with so much abundant natural scenery that it becomes quite hard to pick “the best spot” from so many “best spots”. But, if I had only one last trail run left in Hong Kong, I know exactly where that would be. In fact, I could talk about Plover Cove the same way the North Korean media talks about their new leader: “the leader of all leaders, the genius of all geniuses, the general of all generals, the dude of all dudes, etc”. Except, unlike the North Korean media, I truly mean what I say about Plover Cove! She is THE BABE of all the babes. And so, I made it a point to “own” this babe, i.e. not just limiting myself to hand-holding or flirting but forging a proper relationship with her. This made me the target of envy of all other Hong Kong trail runners. I don’t blame them – imagine your friend lands the most perfect super babe, would you not be jealous of him? To my credit, I also devoted a lot of time to Plover Cove. I made sure I visited her as often as I could. Take today for example. I ran a full 51km yesterday, it was raining quite heavily at times today but that didn’t deter me from visiting my Plover Cove.
My fellow trail running friends are trying in vain to break this intimate relationship I have with her. They just visit her once in a blue moon and claim to have run around her in record time. This, they falsely claim, grants them that exclusive relationship with her. Sounds more like a one-night stand to me. She’ll be insulted.
So, with two such fake owners tucked away in Korea and New Zealand respectively (you know who you are), I decided to further solidify my already strong bond with the Cove today. And, as always, she was an absolute beauty. The physical exhaustion from my 51km run yesterday and the slippery terrain today did little to diminish her beauty.
Did I finish in record time? It took me 2 hours 22 minutes, so, no, not really.
But, am I the only one and true owner of Plover Cove? As time has proven over and over again, YES!
I remember participating in HK100 last year – a solo 100km event from Sai Kung to Tai Mo Shan. I had ankle problems on race day even before the start. I was praying for an instant Fast Forward button which would magically skip one day all over the world. On several occasions, I wanted the race and the ordeal to end asap. I somehow finished in 14 hours 53 minutes, thanks to injured teammate Steven’s support at various checkpoints. I also remember my body declaring a coup over the brain. My body would finish the race if and only if I my brain agreed not to participate in any further 100km solo events. My ankle declared that an yearly 100km Trailwalker event was good enough. There was no need to torture the body Jack Bauer style with any more meaningless 100km trail runs. My legs ruled that unless I was going to swap them for Forrest Gump’s legs, there was no way in hell I was going to do another solo 100km race with the same pair of legs.
And here I am, all set and enrolled in this year’s edition of HK100. I remember the convincing pitch I made to myself:
(a) Running a solo 100km event, teaches endurance. Endurance can be applied not only to racing but to all other aspects of life and produces consistently good results
(b) A 100km event makes the body stronger and the mind learns to effectively deal with the unexpected challenges that invariably arise during the race. These lessons can be applied to all aspects of life
(c) There is no better thrill in life than to run down from Rooster Hill to end of Mac Stage 3
And so, I was sold! Although, the real reason behind the enrollment probably had nothing to do with the reasons mentioned above. It probably boiled down to pure addiction. Akin to a smoker’s “last cigarette” or a drunkard’s “last sip of alcohol”, the enrollment was probably just a result of pure addiction – but a productive kind of addiction (or so I believe). Trail running is its own drug.
I thought I was a trail running addict but I am probably nothing compared to Andre, who gives the word “addict” a whole new meaning. He was one of the super-fit 6-member team that joined us today in a recci of the first half of HK100. He probably does more mileage than an aircraft. He runs 100km races at an average of 2 a month in different parts of the world!
The HK100 trail starts in Pak Tam Chung, goes up a nearby country trail which connects to Mac 1. After Mac 1 and some parts of Mac 2 (until after Ham Tin), the trail follows the KOTH Sai Kung route in reverse until Yung Shue O (via Wong Shek and Hoi Ha). It finally connects to Mac 3 and goes all the way up to Mac 8. From Pak Tam Chung to the end of Mac 3, it’s about 51km long and from Mac 4 to 8, it’s about 49km long. This year, several highly-reputed international long-distance trail runners are expected to take part (the world has several insane people).
We started at about 8am in the morning. Initially, we were running more or less together but the group split up after Ham Tin. Then, I was with Steven all the way. He was faster than me on the flats while I was a little bit faster on the uphills. We finished more or less together in about 6 hours 29 minutes.
The splits:
Pak Tam Chung to Hoi Ha: 36km, 4 hours 17 minutes
Break at Hoi Ha for refueling: 7 minutes 17 seconds
Hoi Ha to end of Mac 3: 15km, 2 hours 4 minutes
Summary
Distance: 51.58 km
Time: 6:29:35
Elevation Gain: 1,923 m
What a grueling day! Either a sign of getting old or a sign of lack of training. Or maybe both! Anyway, the weather was perfect for the second race of the 4-part King of the Hills (KOTH) series. It was about 15 degrees centigrade and partially overcast today. The race was held in Sai Kung and the full course is about 38kms long.
As usual, I was riding my motorbike to the starting point (Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung) and when I made a familiar sharp turn from Clear Water Bay road to Hiram’s highway, I was reminded of the time I bravely saved a rabbit’s life with complete disregard for my own safety. It was undoubtedly very heroic and selfless of me to do so but since that day, I have been very careful to avoid rabbits of all shapes and sizes. So, when I made that turn today, I was extra slow and on 2nd gear, that too without acceleration. An impatient car driver kept flashing his headlights at me from behind which was very counterproductive for him as I slowed down even further to annoy him. I was thinking how neat it would be to have a big balloon pop up from behind my motorbike with this message for the car driver: “Hey [expletive], my safety takes priority over your speed!”
I reached Pak Tam Chung at 8.30am and walked over to the registration desk. The whole area had a super fit aura to it. It looked like all the lean and mean trail runners of Hong Kong wanted to be the kings and queens of the hills! There was enough combined energy there to move mountains, not just climb them! The full and half marathons started at the same time (9am).
As with every race I participate in, I was stuck in a racer traffic jam from the very beginning. There were all sorts of “vehicles” present; ranging from those ultra-light, super-fast acceleration vehicles (some dude weighing about 50 kilos who can comfortably pull off a high-speed overtaking act in the narrowest part of an already narrow trail) to a heavy-duty truck with plenty of raw horsepower (some 6’5″ tall dude with long legs made of iron. This dude might be slow to accelerate but has the distinct height advantage of being able to hop from one boulder to another distant boulder with the ease that can only be matched by a humungous frog). I was stuck somewhere in the middle and took a more cautious approach at overtaking as I am neither that talented when compared to these other runners, nor am I such a big risk taker. Besides, I had a vehicle of my own (or so I thought). I was going to be more like a mere bicycle. Slower to accelerate and slower to ride BUT it would never run out of fuel! Ok, perhaps not the best example but my point is that I was going to rely on my endurance and overtake much later when the trails widen. Hopefully at a time when most of these other “vehicles” would have run out of fuel.
Murphy’s law certainly held true for me, just as the trails did widen – “If something can go wrong, it will”. The bottom of my left foot (below the ankle) went numb for no apparent reason. I tried slowing down but when you are in a freeway and you see vehicles speeding on all lanes, it’s hard to do so. My right foot also started misbehaving shortly after that, so I resorted to running on the slowest lane (extreme right on a concrete path). I was focusing only on the destination and desperately trying not to be bothered by those “vehicles” that were overtaking me from neighboring lanes and sending a waft of breeze my way each time they zoomed past me.
There was an occasion where the course seemed to be wrongly marked. There were two conflicting markers at a junction, one indicating that we were supposed to go up some hill and the other suggesting that we were supposed to carry on running on a concrete path. I went up the hill along with several other runners until one of them shouted “wrong way”. Those are awesome words to hear if you are at the back because suddenly, and without much additional effort, you are suddenly at the front! As we retreated to the junction, it appeared as though I gained a few spots over fellow runners who also needless went up that hill but in the grand scheme of things, I lost time. But, time was the last thing on my mind. I was more concerned about finishing the whole course at that point.
Just before the end of the half marathon, we had to run on a trail full of stones and boulders that seemed to hug the Sai Kung coastline (I was focused more on not tripping and falling over the boulders, so didn’t quite get much of a chance to admire the beauty of the Sai Kung coast). This is when most of us had the pleasure of being introduced to a very beautiful Queen of the Hills. She is not just beautiful but is very fast. She is also single. Yes, she does sound like the ideal girlfriend but that’s only if you are a male bee. This queen bee and her friends declared war on us as we were trying to cross her territory. I knew something was wrong when the superfast runner in front of me suddenly hit reverse gear. I continued running my engines and OUCH! The queen stung me with a serious vengeance. I stepped on the gas and escaped with only one sting and a bruised ego.
I saw Hannes at the finish of the half-marathon who yelled “you took a shortcut” or something like that. I was still recovering from that passionate kiss from the queen bee so couldn’t really ask him when or where. I continued on the full marathon course and hit a trail that involved some serious and never-ending bushwhacking which was getting on my nerves. All my supposedly healed scars from saving that rabbit in Sai Kung were being tested for endurance by all the thorny branches of trees and shrubs. My leg also got worse. The heels of both legs were shooting off pain signals to the brain each time they hit the ground. Probably because my shoes were getting old and the insoles and treads were wearing out (Note to self: BUY NEW SHOES!)
I saw my Trailwalker teammate Steven at some point which was a surprise. I was expecting him to be a good 20 minutes ahead. He explained to me that he had lost over 20 minutes by actually going up that hill we weren’t supposed to climb. We ended up exchanging places frequently during most of the remainder of the course until Steven suggested that we finish as a team. I was initially a bit reluctant as I was very slow by then and didn’t want to slow him down even further. That didn’t seem to bother my teammate so we started to run/walk together the last few kms. We had two huge hills to climb towards the end and then had to descend straight into Pak Tam Chung road on a steep and slippery trail. By that time, I felt like a 60-year-old man in pain and was very slow in my descent. Then, Steven and I turned back and looked up the hill we had just come down and found a real 60-year-old man running down that steep slope in trailblazing fashion. This veteran was none other than Claus! I only wish I can be as fast as him when I turn 60! He overtook us and later on admonished me at the finish “tell your mom that you got beaten by a 60-year-old. If you keep getting beaten by a 60-year-old, you will lose confidence!”
Steven and I finished as a team at 1pm! Time: 5 hours 33 seconds and 18th in my category, 35th overall. KOTH is getting more and more competitive with each passing year!
They say that “there is opportunity in crisis” and, at the finish line, I was told by Alice about a gentleman who practices that to perfection. He had a rather innovative and entrepreneurial way of dealing with that bee sting which most of us experienced. He wanted the ladies at the finish line to “pee” on him because, apparently, the way to heal a sting by a bee is through lady pee. Alice corrected him and explained that this peeing method only applies to stings by jellyfish. But, something tells me he doesn’t quite care.
Great day out. Two lessons learnt (a) buy new shoes! (b) wear pants for KOTH Sai Kung! [Now, this old man has to recover quickly.]
The bullet-proof plan
It was a foolproof plan. In fact, the strategy for it was carefully formed after years of devotion to the proven ancient wisdom of Sun Tzu – the scholarly Chinese military general who authored the book ‘The Art of War’ during the BC era. It ended up being THE book on planning for successful military strategies. Since he wrote the original version, there have been far too many interpretations of his teachings in various fields other than the military. Top CEOs swear by his principles, politicians base their moves only after studying the effect of his teachings, driven professionals adopt his rules in their careers, and as a budding athlete, I made it a point to apply his wisdom as a winning strategy for my first race in 2012 – The Northeast Mountain Marathon race (NEMM) which was to be held on Jan 1st, 2012.
The more I researched Sun Tzu and the principles attributed to him, the more it appeared to fall under the bracket of pure common sense. Each of his principles was no doubt coined in such a manner that it sounded highly philosophical and oozed of knowledge, but the application of each principle was largely subject to one’s own imagination. Here’s an example. One of his principles says: “If you do not know others and do not know yourself you are destined for failure in every battle”. After reading this, the string of thoughts that hit my brain ran in this order: (a) Wow! That’s deep man! (b) So, he’s pretty much saying that if you are ignorant and don’t know what you are doing, you will not succeed? (c) Actually, ain’t that obvious? (c) Hmm.. looks like he is simply stating the obvious with a philosophical touch to it.
Application of ancient wisdom in a mountain marathon
In fact, I thought I could have easily come up with my very own principle: “He who always remembers to wear his underwear before his trousers will rarely face embarrassments” (superman excluded). See, that sounds deep, doesn’t it? But, it’s just common sense! And if I end up being a successful person in the future, I’m sure entrepreneurs out there will have ten different versions of my “scholarly” saying. I can imagine some entrepreneur releasing a book called “The interpretations of Vice Natteri’s sayings in the travel industry”. Principle 1: “He who always remembers to wear his underwear before his trousers will rarely face embarrassments” . Interpretation: ” The highly successful individual will always get travel insurance BEFORE leaving on vacation”.
Anyway, I digress. So, the point I was originally trying to make is that I did apply several of Sun Tzu’s principles from ‘The Art of War’ in my race today. Let’s call my interpretations of these rules ‘The Art of Running Mountain Marathons’.
Principle 1: Know your enemy and know yourself and in 100 battles you will never be in peril. Application: I knew my enemies (fellow racers). They were all probably partying hard on December 31st in Lan Kwai Fong and will likely suffer from a hangover on Jan 1st
Principle 2: Attack by surprise – all warfare is based on deception. Application: I will pretend like I will be partying on December 31st but in reality, I will sleep at 10pm and get my beauty sleep in before the race
Principle 3: Avoid what is strong. Attack what is weak. Application: I know I can’t match my enemies in terms of speed and general running ability. Instead, I will prey on their weakness – weakness for alcohol that is! I will race on a day when they will either likely not be there or will be severely hung over from the effect of New Year parties. Victory shall be mine! HA HA HA! (devilish laughter in the background).
And so, I entered this race armed with teachings from ‘The Art of Running Mountain Marathons’. My winning strategy was simply based on the top runners NOT participating.
Jan 1st 2011
I rode my motorbike straight to Wu Ka Tang at 7.20am and was there by 8am. Content with my careful application of Sun Tzu’s racing interpretations, I strutted to the registration desk. Familiar faces filled the registration area. A look in every direction revealed that I wasn’t the only one practicing Sun Tzu’s principles. So were all the other super fast racers! Damn. I didn’t see the point in preaching those principles to everyone under the sun so they could also practice! If everyone applies his principles and “attacks by surprise” then the attack ain’t gonna be no surprise! Anyway, my hopes of winning went down the drain (I “know my enemies” well enough to recognize that I ain’t no match for them) so I resorted to what I normally do – just relax, run as fast as possible comfortably and just chill.
2 minutes before the race commenced, the race organizer said something in Chinese to pump everyone up (next time, Engman also mgoi) and off we went at 8.30am. There was a huge “running” jam in the beginning. Racers were trying to overtake each other from every available direction on a narrow trail. I kept my cool and knew that “the path will get wider and the light will shine sooner or later” (notice that self-constructed philosophical sentence – I am getting better at this stuff). And yes, the path did get wider (I am a genius) and the light did shine brighter (actually, that was just my imagination). Anyway, the trail went from Wu Kau Tang to Bridespool and then it went up Pat Sin Leng. There were plenty of overtaking opportunities there and the natural pecking order of racers was being formed. The slow guys who went too fast in the beginning were burning out and returning to their natural speeds. The fast ones being held back by the “running” jam in the beginning were now taking the lead.
The course seemed like a runner’s course for the first 20km or so but after that it looked like the race directors were “attacking by surprise” as well (how come everyone is such a big fan on Sun Tzu?) There were two huge, steep hills to climb in the last 5km or so. The first was in my very own territory (Plover Cove) and that gave me some comfort. Nothing like being in your own backyard during a race. However, my backyard ain’t no walk in the park. There are plenty of ups and downs – enough to cause any racer to wear out. The second hill was a nasty one. Nasty not only because it was a 400m steep climb to the top but also because it came right near the end of the race. It gave me a feeling of “so near yet so far”. The way down from that steep hill involved plenty of bushwhacking (now I know why fellow racers were wearing long compression gears).
I had one minor ankle twist on the way down from that last hill but finished comfortably in 3 hours 28 minutes. I came #5 overall which was a bit of surprise. My natural spot in the pecking order of racers is more like #15 or #20. Looks like Sun Tzu’s principles worked after all!
Happy New Year to all readers and remember, “he who always remembers to wear his underwear before his trousers will rarely face embarrassments”.
NEMM – North East Mean Machines! (parked in Wu Ka Tang)
On the way to Wu Kau Tang – Hong Kong is beautiful
Riding in style!
And btw, I forgot to mention that the map for this race looks like a butterfly!
Garmin says 3.30 as I forgot to turn it off in all the excitement! Actual time was 3.28.
You better not cry, I’m telling you why, Santa Claus is comin’ to Taiwan
They say “windows of opportunity tend to slam shut quickly”, so I acted immediately when I saw a 4-day window of opportunity to climb Mount Yushan (Snow Mountain) in Taiwan during Christmas 2011. I was going to do this with Vivien Ringuede – an avid hiker friend who also believes in celebrating Christmas 4000m above sea-level. Besides, this would give us closer access to Santa Claus, as he flies down from heaven on his reindeer-driven sleigh. In fact, Santa wouldn’t even have to bother doing his usual US-Navy-Seal style HALO jump into a chimney (I hear that the US military is reducing budget for these kind of jumps anyway). Instead, he can simply come visit us on top of Jade Mountain bearing all his gifts. (Dear Santa: please can you bring a BMW motorbike with ABS control for me? Don’t ride it though. I need it to be 1st hand)
Smile for the mountains :)
The groundwork was straightforward. I contacted Richard Foster of Barking Deer and he said he would arrange the permits for us. All he wanted was our names and -get this- a “picture of us taken on top of a high mountain”. No, he wasn’t interested in how cool we look; instead, he explained that this was required by the Taiwanese authorities as solid proof of our hiking abilities. Huh?! In this day and age where Photoshop, Photosynth, Picasa, etc, rule our lives, I could have very easily produced a photo of mine supposedly taken on the summit of Mt. Everest!
Flyin’ ain’t for kitties!
The flights were easy. We booked Eva Air through Zuji.com at a cost of HKD 2,500 to Taipei and back. However, once the flights were booked, I got a big scare from my colleague when I told him the name of the airline I was going to fly. He gave me a startling piece of information about Eva Air which made me highly nervous about flying them. No, this wasn’t anything to do with their safety record, it was EVEN WORSE! In fact, what he told me had the potential of permanently scarring me for life! There was even the chance that I could end up losing my manhood! He told me (my voice is shaking out of embarrassment, fear and anger even as I type this) that ALL their flights are newly decorated in a HELLO KITTY theme!!! He then painted a pretty disgusting picture in my mind: “flight attendants would be wearing Hello Kitty uniforms, the body of the plane would have the Hello Kitty logo painted all over it, even napkins, toilets, and all sundry items would have Hello Kitty stickers stuck all over them!”
My second colleague, who evidently has no consideration for my well being, partook in the conversation by rubbing more salt into my already deep wound: “Hey Vince, maybe when you are seated in the airplane, the Hello Kitty ears will stick out from the headrest!” she commented with a big smirk on her face. (I had to go puke just after hearing that).
A quick Google search revealed that they even have a name for this ugly eyesore – they call it the “Eva Kitty Jet!“. (God, please help!) As I grimly heard all this information, I felt like someone had just sent a 10,000 volt shock down my body! I was lamenting to myself that the cost of the ticket may have only been HKD 2,500 but the “hidden charges” were insurmountable! Who can put a price on mental anguish, loss of manhood, loss of ego and loss of self-esteem? How would I ever be able to explain to all my friends that a macho man like me once flew a Hello Kitty plane? Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine.
Anyway, after visiting a psychiatrist and attending several stress-busting classes, I recovered from this Hello Kitty-induced trauma and continued to make arrangements to reach the top of Jade mountain.
The plan
The gist was this:
2011-12-24: Fly to Taipei and hope against hopes that Eva Air has planes other than that friggin’ Kitty plane (Mr. Eva Air CEO, if you are reading this, please note that you have alienated roughly 50% of the world’s population -i.e. males- with this stupid Kitty idea).
Once in Taipei international airport, get to Taipei High Speed Railway Station and take the next train to Chiayi. Spend the night there.
2011-12-25: Take a bus to Alishan followed by a cab or a hitchhike to Tatajia (aka Tataka). Check in into Shangdong Pu hostel and do some hiking during the day.
2011-12-26: Climb Yu Shan and see Santa Claus! (I am excited! BMW – here I come!)
2011-12-27: More hiking and trail running or simply chilling in Tatajia(woohoo!) followed by a return trip to Taipei
2011-12-28: Back to Hong Kong on Eva Air :(
And.. the execution 2011-12-24, Hong Kong to Chiayi I got a ticket to ride but they don’t care
Christmas Eve celebrations started with a notice from the Hong Kong cops aka Hong Kong’s “finest” as they posted a huge traffic blockage notice by the area where my motorbike was parked. Hong Kong’s “finest” beat Santa Claus hands down in their generosity. No question about that. They are known for their charitable nature in handing out white tickets whether you want it or not! In fact, just yesterday, I received another one of their Christmas presents! It was a very thoughtful and specially wrapped white ticket just for me. It was also strategically placed right on top my motorbike’s handlebar to doubly ensure that it wouldn’t be missed. The white ticket demanded that I pay HKD 320 for parking my motorbike about 0.000000000000001mm shy of the actual parking zone. (Thanks guys! :) You’re the best!) The notice in front of my motorbike today demanded that I move it because of a road closure or else “it would be towed away!” (Guys, your gifts just keep getting better and better! What would I do without you?)
I figured it was Christmas so I would return the favor to my “finest” friends by honoring their move-your-bike-or-else request. I then decided to ride my bike straight to the airport. During the ride, I was contemplating two different contrasting scenes. Scene 1: Me, the macho man riding my motorbike to the airport. Scene 2: Me, (the macho man?) flying a HELLO KITTY aircraft!!! (Thank you Eva Air).
I got to the airport in heroic fashion, completed the usual check-in formalities and proceeded straight to Gate 60 to board. I breathed my biggest sigh of relief to date when I saw a normal looking plane parked at Gate 60. There was no cat-like monstrosity anywhere. This alone became my first Christmas present from Santa.
Normal looking plane at Gate 60
I boarded the aircraft and took a quick look around. Thankfully, it appeared to be neat and trendy looking. The flight attendants seemed to be very strategically chosen (know what I mean?) and there was even a first class entertainment system installed on all seats. I was going to say “keep it that way Mr. CEO, no need for feline features in the plane” until I opened their inflight magazine. This is when I realized that my first Christmas present from Santa was short-lived!
WARNING: the passage below may upset men of all races and ethnicities.
Here’s the opening page of their inflight magazine which is bound to set any real man running for the barf bag.
Revolting magazine cover complete with a “reader’s experience” (Pg 1)
This is what an “experienced” reader has said about the Kitty jet – “Since my last flight on the Hello Kitty jet three years ago, I have been wanting to travel with the Hello Kitty characters again. Now my dream has finally come true. The magical journey on the Hello Kitty Jet relieves stress and brings out the child in me. What a wonderful journey in the air”.
(Oh pleeeeeeeeese!!! That ain’t a dream lady, that’s a nightmare!)
And, here’s a lesson for all you boys and girls about Eva Air’s strategically chosen flight attendants. (courtesy: page 138 of their inflight magazine).
Zoe, the generous soul!
“Zoe, the deputy purser is a generous soul and passionate about her work. Reliable and attentive to details, she is the team’s No. 2 and is responsible for service procedures and schedules. She enthusiastically helps passengers solve their problems.”
(Hey Zoe, can you please solve my problem? I can’t take this torture anymore!)
Abby, the one with the beautiful smile
“Known for her beautiful smile, Abby is an assistant purser and is responsible for making sure that everything goes smoothly during meal time. During the flight, she ensures that each and every passenger is satisfied with their delicious inflight cuisine.”
(Looks like Abby will make a good wife!)
Nicole, the young and graceful one
“Young and graceful, cabin attendant Nicole assists passengers in purchasing duty free goods and helps out in many other ways around the cabin. She treats passengers as if they were family, bringing warmth and happiness to all around her.”
(Yup, always good to be kind to the one who pays ya!)
Liz, the tall and beautiful one
“Tall, beautiful and full of energy, chief purser Liz keeps a close eye on everything that goes on in the cabins to ensure that all passengers are safe and enjoy the flight. Liz has a clear, soothing voice and is responsible for making inflight announcements.”
(Looks like Liz is being sold on her sexy voice.)
And, ladies and gentlemen, here’s the biggest scare of them all. Here’s Eva Air’s very own teddy bear pilot!!
Hope this guy ain’t flying this plane!
“Eva Bear-Pilot dress up as a outstanding captain, he leads the crew fly to safety and amenity journey with the friendly professional services.”
(A pilot dressed up as a bear offering professional services???)
I couldn’t wait to get to Taipei!!
Upon reaching Taipei airport, we took a shuttle bus to the High Speed Railway station and boarded a super fast train to Chiayi. The train’s average speed was 250kmh! In less than an hour, we reached Chiayi and took our first breath of cold Chiayi air!
First breath of Chiayi air!
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it’s a friendly Taiwanese guy!
How often do you come across someone who volunteers to help tourists and be their guide? Yes, I mean for free! Imagine two backpackers land in Hong Kong with their big bags and cameras. They ask you for directions. Would you (a) give them directions and continue with your own business (b) volunteer to help them find hotels, take them to dinner and then go home after they are well settled (c) tell them to bugger off. If you choose (c), you are no longer my friend.
Well, we met a guy in Chiayi who chose (b). His name was Allan. We asked him how we could get to Chiayi main station from Chiayi High Speed Station and he not only gave us directions but volunteered to be our tour guide! He took us on a free shuttle bus to the main station and then the three of us roamed the streets of Chiayi trying to find a hotel for the two of us! We did see plenty of hotels but what we also saw were huge buses parked near every hotel we went to. It looked like the entire tourist population of the world had descended upon Chiayi. This also meant that we couldn’t get a room anywhere except in one place which offered us the only room they had – a “VIP” room! Initially, I thought that the term “VIP” in Taiwan was used in the same way that Hong Kong uses the word “mansion”. (In Hong Kong, every dilapidated, stinky, rickety old shanty building is called a mansion – like Chung King “mansion” in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui). However, we were in for a surprise. This VIP room which came at a cost of NT$4000 per night (the only available room in the city) was the most luxury we had ever seen in the longest time! My “luxury” usually means finding a proper toilet on a hiking trail. This one took it a world apart. 3000 square foot of decorated living area, sofas, multiple televisions, jacuzzi, saunas, king sized beds – it had it all!
Here, take a look:
The bathroom – 5 times bigger than my HK apartment!
The bedroom!
The living area
Having dinner with Allan
After the feeling of luxury sank in, we reluctantly left the room and took Allan out to dinner to thank him for all his help. Our plan for the following day was to take a bus to Alishan but, as riding motorbikes has always been a passion for me, I managed to convince Vivien that hiring a scooter was the way to go! (there were no motorbike rentals, only scooters). So, we ended up renting a scooter at a cost of NT$ 1500 for 3 days. After a sumptuous dinner filled with Taiwanese favorites, we bid good bye to Allan and returned to our luxurious room. Coming from Hong Kong, we still couldn’t get over the fact that we had so much of living space in a hotel room! We got delirious and even shot a video. Here it is.
Video of the VIP room at Yoyo hotel, Chiayi, Taiwan
2011-11-25: Merry Christmas and time to go to Alishan
Luxury meant laziness. Laziness meant a late start! We left our palace at about 10am in the morning after making full of use their “complimentary” breakfast. Then came the task of fitting me, Vivien, his bags and my bag in a 150cc scooter. We didn’t exactly look like the best advertisement for that scooter but it worked. The scooter sputtered to a start and off we went.
Off scooters, a mountain road climb and freezing butts
Reaching Alishan involved a 2500m climb on a mountain road. The scooter surprisingly behaved well despite all the load, but nature didn’t quite seem to like the idea of two dudes riding on a scooter loaded with all their bags.
Two dudes, three bags and one scooter
As I learnt in my geography class back in the day: as the altitude increases, the temperature decreases. Well, it decreased and it decreased big time. The oncoming wind brought the temperature down even further. And, before I knew it, my hands had trouble hitting the brakes because my fingers went numb from the cold. Soon, I discovered, as I was attempting to speak to Vivien, that my mouth was partially frozen as well. I then remembered my ill-advised sales pitch to Vivien the previous day. “We will be able to return the scooter whenever we want to and it is way more convenient”, I pitched to him the previous day and threw in more punchlines as well to make my case for the scooter hire. Today, I was thinking to myself: “convenient? My ass. My butt is freezing, my fingers are numb and all I can say is gibberish”. Vivien was equally cold. He was trying everything in his capacity to stay warm. Soon, we made an emergency pit stop and wore all items of clothing we had brought with us. We looked like we had just come from Antarctica BUT we still felt cold!
Freezing on the scooter!
In our desperate attempt to reach our final destination (Tatajia), we somehow bypassed Alishan! That meant shaving some time off and freezing a little less but it also meant that we had no food on us for the climb to Yushan as we were supposed to do our food shopping at Alishan.
We eventually arrived at a small place which seemed to only have three buildings – a visitor’s center, a police station and a hostel. Further inspection revealed this place to be Tatajia and the hostel (quite contrasting to Yoyo hotel the previous night) was our very own Shandang Pu Hostel. We “checked in” (involved telling an old lady that we were gonna crash at her place for two nights) and immediately gobbled up several packets of instant noodles in a last resort attempt at heating our internal organs which were on the verge of shutting down from the cold bike ride.
Shangdong Pu Hostel
The beds
After we were sort of warmed up, we headed over to the visitor’s center to register our names for the climb up to Mt. Yushan the following day. For the remainder of the afternoon, we decided to go trail running on nearby hiking trails. Vivien, the better navigator of the two us, led us to Mt. Lulin and a couple of other trails. The views were, let’s just say, white! All we saw were clouds cluttering up the sky and our views. The trails were fantastic though.
Mount Lulin
Admiring the clouds in Lulin Observatory
As they say, “man has no greater fury, then his stomach scorned” (ok, I say that) but after feasting on three packets on instant noodles when we arrived in the afternoon, I wanted anything else BUT instant noodles for dinner(even grass would have done). Luckily, the lady-in-charge of this fine hostel, agreed to cook us something special. With proper food entering the stomach once again, we were revitalized and energized to make plans for the next day. The plan called for waking up at 2.30am, leaving by 3am and making it to the summit of Yu Shan in time for the sunrise. The trail to the summit is 10.8km long with about 1500m of elevation gain. I boasted to a Belgian family that was also staying in Shangdong Pu hostel that given our past experience and superior hiking skills, we could easily cover the whole distance in less than three hours. After I said that, I did feel butterflies in my stomach (probably caused by the undeserved boasting) but I did the right thing and chose to ignore it (evil always triumphs).
We then hit the sack at about 8pm in order to get up very early in the morning on the following day for the summit climb.
2011-12-26: Yushan summit The blind leading the blind in darkness
We got up nice and early at 2.30am and left the hostel by 3.10am. We started off with a gentle jog to an intersection where it looked like we had two choices. The first choice had something in Chinese written on it and seemed to be a continuation of the road we were on. The second choice read “Mt. Linglun” (or something like that). My sense of direction isn’t quite the best so we followed Vivien’s decision to go with Choice 1. His explanation was that it couldn’t have been Choice 2 as it was in a different direction, so it had to be Choice 1. WRONG. We ran for about 15-20 minutes when Vivien murmured “this can’t be right”. He pointed out that we were losing elevation quite rapidly while we were supposed to be climbing instead. Following this startling discovery, we retraced our steps back to the junction and took the second choice. The map was confusing. It looked like the same mountain had different names. All in all, Choice 1 cost us about 8km and 40 minutes.
Choice 2 took us to an elevation of about 2800m when we saw another startling sign. The sign indicated that the way to Yu Shan was actually back at the junction. We were confused for a moment. Vivien brought out his secret weapon – a 3rd map which was given to us at the visitor’s center while I decided to turn off my headlamp and look skywards for an explanation. We were in pitch darkness in every direction other than skywards. The sky was beautifully decorated with more stars than I had ever seen in my life. It felt as though as I was in a Hong Kong indoor planetarium gazing at a man-made roof illuminated with artificial stars. This was real. As I was admiring the stars, Vivien made the decision to return to the junction hoping to find what seemed to be an invisible Choice C. Apparently, the new map he referred to had indicated that the trail to Yushan was marked with stones.
We returned to the junction losing about 1 hour in the process. Then we really saw a Choice C! Under the darkness, it looked like a dead end earlier but upon careful examination, there actually was a stone marker with something in Chinese written on it. We took this trail and verification that this indeed was the right trail came immediately as we began to climb quite rapidly.
After all these navigation errors, we were sure to miss the sunrise. But that didn’t dampen our spirits one bit. We were proud that we had actually climbed an appetizer mountain during the early hours of the day. (Or that’s what we told ourselves to feel better).
Setting off at 3am for the summit climb
Viven explains our mistakes!
The higher you go the harder it gets (corporate ladder AND hiking)
The trail wasn’t particularly hard but we were like injured soldiers on a battlefield. We had little food (thanks to bypassing Alishan), we hadn’t slept well the previous night and we had just spent our energy and time doing a needlessly extra 12km or so. We were both fine until we reached Panyu lodge (3300m, 8km from the junction) but subsequently, both of us felt the effect of high altitude. Each step was followed by heavy breathing and the wind was quite strong as we were nearing the summit.
On the way to the summit
Near the summit
It took us a strenuous 1 hour to reach the summit from the lodge but when we did, all the pain of climbing about 2000m in elevation and 20km in distance sunk away in the beauty of what we witnessed. A crystal clear azure sky and a strong sun revealed the majestic beauty of nature’s creations. It was a picture perfect scene: rolling mountain ranges with unique features, a sea of clouds dangling beautifully above the valley, boulders carved by the forces of nature over several million years and a dense green forest in the backdrop. It looked like nature had her masterpiece registered in Taiwan.
Views from the summit
Mesmerized by the summit views
Jade Mountain Summit – 3952m above sea-level
I can stay here forever!
On Cloud 9!
Chicks come and go but memories remain
We had the summit to ourselves until a lady friend flew by and took special interest in us (yes, we can’t help our charming looks). She was particularly interested in our food. They say that “the best way to enter a man’s heart is through his stomach”. It looked like this friend was practising reverse psychology. She played around with us for some time and then flew away, never to be seen again. (Don’t they all?)
Our lady friend
She loves me (and my food)
Toilet is a man’s best friend
Vivien and I were particularly sleepy from the high altitude and lack of food so we decided to head down. After a couple of hours we returned to our beloved hostel where the lady-in-charge had some special food for us. I took a much needed hot shower and gobbled up whatever she had made for us. This is when Vivien pointed out that in life, one just needs three things to live comfortably: a shower, a clean bed and good food. I concurred but being the greedy bloke that I am, I’d say that one also needs a clean, western toilet and that’s priority my friend. This hostel had one of those squat toilets which is a cheap way of practising hardcore yoga executed in strict military fashion where there is absolutely no room for error. (And there literally is little room in a typical squat toilet but maybe more room than you’d find in a Hong Kong apartment). Anyway, so after doing one’s business, standing up again on one’s own two legs requires massive effort and several thousand calories. So, I say that each and every mountain hut and hostel in this world has to have toilets that aren’t just there to satisfy urgent human needs but also go one step further in actually MAKING you want to go! They say that great ideas that change the world are conceived in toilets, so imagine the kind of ideas that the world could benefit from by combining the ease and comfort of good toilets with the peace and creativity of nature. (In fact, this very idea was conceived in one such fashion – more details only for those who really want it).
The rest of the evening was spent partially sleeping and recovering from the Yushan hike. I had a productive section as well. You can very easily guess what it was from that little blurb on toilets above. (Nope, there is nothing like ‘Too Much Information’).
We decided over dinner to return to worldly pleasures the following day. Meaning returning to Taipei sooner and having a beer or two in the main city.
2011-12-27, return to city life
We had close to 9 hours of sleep and got up at a leisurely 8am. We bid goodbye to the lady-in-charge at about 9am and set for Alishan on our mighty scooter. Getting back on the scooter definitely brought back very cold memories from before. So, this time we were prepared – or so we thought. I was wearing so many layers of clothing that even a high speed bullet couldn’t have penetrated me. BUT, I was still freezing. The outside temperature was about 6 degrees centigrade but the wind effect on the scooter felt like it was minus something. Luckily, the sun was shining quite brightly so when we reached Alishan, we decided to have breakfast there and warm up in the sun. As I was rubbing my hands vigorously to revive them from the numbness, I saw several busload of mainland tourists sluggishly getting out of their Volvo buses and attempting to follow their flag wielding tour leader. It was an amusing sight. Old tourists were slouched forward under the weight of heavy cameras hanging around their necks and seemed to struggle to get out of the bus. They seemed to be taking photos of everything under the sun – rocks and stones and concrete platforms and stairs. They needed a break every couple of seconds. The tour leader seemed to have an impossible job. She was carrying a megaphone around and coaxing these slow moving sightseers to form a straight line. It reminded me of a mountain herdsman grazing his herd of cattle. It made me realize that health and fitness is the most important thing in life!
A herd of tourists being grazed around by the tour leader
We left Alishan after breakfast and made the trip back to Chiayi where we returned our beloved scooter. We then took the high speed rail back to Taipei. It was then time to indulge in the pleasures of the city. We went to a hotel called Shabu Shabu in Taipei where I discovered the hidden Gordon Ramsey in me. It was a hot pot restaurant and they had the best collection of food that I had ever seen in my life. I concocted my own special soup base which pretty much involved monkeying around with all options available. I added ginger paste, spicy sauce, peanut paste, onions, red chili and a secret ingredient to my soup base (you have to watch the movie Kung Fu Panda to know what the secret ingredient is). As they say, “serendipity is the mother of all inventions” and today, I think I accidentally came up with the most perfect vegetarian soup base. I was eating like a madman until the lady asked us to vacate the premises. The cost of the buffet was only NT$ 450 but I am sure I had eaten food worth at least two times that!
After that sumptuous dinner, we hunted for a bar with live rock music but couldn’t find one! (our navigation skills seemed to be equally bad on city roads). We eventually settled for 7-11 beers to celebrate a successful end to the trip!
2011-12-28
It was time to get up early again. We got up at 4.30am to make it to the airport in time for our 7am flight. I was back on my motorbike at 9am and rode straight to work to begin the start of a productive work day. Thankfully, Hong Kong’s “finest” had no more Christmas presents waiting for me.
Summary
Yet another fantastic mountain climb in Taiwan. Taiwan is topping my list as my most favorite place for travel. It gets my top vote for being the most friendly place for tourists and a paradise for hiking and biking.
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