First up on our day's agenda was a visit to the world-famous Yehliu Geopark. The bus ride there gave us some time to ourselves, so the bus driver decided to play a documentary on the Yehliu Geopark on the bus's DVD player, giving us a little sneak preview of what awaits us at our destination. The documentary successfully whetted our appetite for adventure, and put us in a great mood for exploring the Yehliu Geopark thoroughly.
After a brief group photo-session upon our arrival in the park, we found ourselves amongst the throngs of tourists hoping to catch a glimpse of the hoodoo stones that can be found in the park. Some of the more famous hoodoo stones include the Queen's Head and the Fairy Shoe. The Queen's Head is such a famous structure that at any given time, the queue of people queuing up to take a photograph with the iconic structure is at least 20 minutes long! A replica of the structure has even been erected, for tourists who have less time to spare but would still like a photographic momento of their time at the park.
Returning to the city centre of Taipei, we then had yet another scrumptious meal at the Halal Bismila Restaurant, where we ate our dinner last night. At 1.20pm, we found ourselves at a memorial park, where two soldiers donned in their extremely smart uniform stood guard at the door. They were standing in a rigid position on a platform, and like every other tourist at the memorial park, we had a field day with our cameras. At precisely 1.30pm, the guards changed shifts, military style. Therefore, they put on a rather entertaining marching performance, which we all watched with relish. After the show was over, we took a quick look around the memorial park, admiring its structures and the numerous paintings that adorn its walls before taking our leave.
Our next stop was an international icon, as well as a highly notable Taiwanese landmark. At 509 meters tall, Taipei 101 is currently the third-tallest building in the world, after relinquishing its title as the tallest building in the world to the Burj Khalifa of Dubai. Like our very own Petronas Twin Towers, a shopping complex is situated on its lower floors, which we were allowed to explore to our hearts' content. Those who were willing to brave the long queue and pay for a ticket were allowed to go up to the observation deck on the 89th floor, but due to time constraints, none of us were managed to do so. The shopping complex was a fun place to explore, though, and we were all glad to have gotten the opportunity to pay a visit to such a famous landmark.
Moving on with our touristy tour of Taipei, we then headed off to the Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, where we snapped a few quick photographs near the entrance. Due to the fact that only 5 minutes were allocated for our visit to the memorial hall, most of us couldn't find the time to make our way to the actual memorial hall, where the bronze statue of Chang Kai Shek sat. Oh well, there's always next time, plus, we were rather looking forward to our next and unfortunately, final stop, which was the Art and Souvenir centre. Apparently, nothing beats duty-free shopping!
We were presented with our duty-free shopping cards upon our arrival, and immediately proceeded to splurge on goods such as keychains, T-shirts, snacks, and other knick-knacks for our friends and family. Feeling satisfied after our shopping excursion, the time finally came for our tour around Taipei to come to an end. We had our dinner, where so much delicious food was served that we felt positively stuffed and satiated after our final meal in Taiwan. We then boarded our bus for the last time, and in what felt like no time at all, we soon found ourselves at the airport. Hendri accompanied us right up to the departure gates, where we exchanged farewells with the tour guide who did everything within his power to make our stay in Taiwan as memorable as possible.
After a last-minute round of duty-free shopping, we finally boarded our home-bound flight at 11.30pm. We were feeling pretty tired by then, but even our exhaustion couldn't stop us from exchanging our thoughts on our supreme reluctance to be headed home. The four days we've spent in Taiwan flew past in a disorienting blur, and we would have given anything in the world to be able to stay there for just a few more days to get to know Taiwan better. Oh well, we had to once again pay homage to the old adage 'all good things come to an end', and look on the bright side. At least we would be reunited with our family, friends and for a certain empress, CATS again!
This trip to Taiwan has been one of the most memorable experience of our lives. It added a deeper meaning to our secondary school lives, and would certainly serve as a pleasant memory to reflect upon whenever we take a stroll down memory lane. Taiwan would forever be a place that holds pleasant connotations and associations for us, and we have the school to thank for that. We would like to extend our sincere and utmost gratitude and appreciation towards the school for giving us this invaluable opportunity to learn and explore, for we managed to learn what it means to learn through exploration on this trip, which is what makes the learning process memorable and enjoyable.
THANK YOU, SRI AMAN!
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