ok, I’m in Hualien for the weekend and it’s pouring. supposed to keep pouring all day tomorrow. Is there anything interesting to do/see in Hualien that doesn’t involve being outdoors? My original plan was hiking in Taroko, but that doesn’t sound like fun in the pouring rain (plus the whole falling rocks thing). Everything in all the books, brochures, etc seems to be beaches, parks, scenic areas, etc. There must be something indoors worth doing…
oh, and I don’t have a car or a scooter or anything, so I’m limited to bus-able or walkable places.
…uhm… you could check out the splendor of the TsuChi palace- I mean temple and museum.
I hear (from 6 year olds) that Ocean Park is great. Not sure how much of it is indoors, though.
I am not sure if you’re going to be in Taiwan a long time or not. If this is your only chance to see Taroko Gorge, it might be worth it. It is pretty spectacular, even in the rain.
Hualien in the rain? You’re fucked! Time to start whittlin’.
Taiwan Beer.
Find some nice cafe filled with hotties and see if one of them will be your guide , for some errr indoor activities?
Arg, so I am screwed. the Tzuchi temple was the one thing I’d found, so maybe I’ll go check that out. And the bonito museum, but a colleague already took me to that yesterday (a little strange, more than I ever really wanted to know about dried fish).
I’ve been through Taroko once, and I’m sure I’ll have many more chances to visit, since it’s on the itinerary for pretty much every geology field trip in Taiwan. I may go tomorrow if it clears up a bit though.
Oh well, beer is a good suggestion. looks like I’ll be doing some hanging out in the cafe (not looking for girls though, since I am one, and I don’t swing that way).
[quote=“zyzzx”]Arg, so I am screwed. the Tzuchi temple was the one thing I’d found, so maybe I’ll go check that out. And the bonito museum, but a colleague already took me to that yesterday (a little strange, more than I ever really wanted to know about dried fish).
I’ve been through Taroko once, and I’m sure I’ll have many more chances to visit, since it’s on the itinerary for pretty much every geology field trip in Taiwan. I may go tomorrow if it clears up a bit though.
Oh well, beer is a good suggestion. looks like I’ll be doing some hanging out in the cafe (not looking for girls though, since I am one, and I don’t swing that way).[/quote]
oops ok no girls. How bout guys then? There may even be some loose waigros hanging about there that need some loving?
Yeah! You could have a little whoopie with some ex-hippies that washed up in Hualien. That would be charitable, something that Tzu Chi would no doubt endorse.
Just kidding no offense meant! 
But seriously, why not check out the Hualien Ocean Park? It’s about 2 km south of the Hualien Bridge, about a 250NT taxi ride. There should also be busses, slow but cheaper. It could be nice to see some whalz n stuff.
Just kidding no offense meant!
But seriously, why not check out the Hualian Ocean Park? It’s about 2 km south of the Hualian Bridge, about a 250NT taxi ride. There should also be busses, slow but cheaper. It could be nice to see some whalz n stuff.[/quote]
Hmm, haven’t seen any ex-hippies yet, just mormons. not quite the same… but perhaps still charitable…
maybe I’ll try Ocean Park if the weather sucks again tomorrow. Actually today wasn’t too bad, it cleared up in the afternoon to intermittently rainy cloudiness, so I rented a bike and rode to Cihsingtan. very atmospheric with low clouds around the mountains and such.
I have noticed that Taipei drivers are like angels compared to the nitwits around here. I’ve never seen so much red-light running, they keep going after it turns red and start going like 5 seconds before it turns green, I’m amazed there’s anyone left alive…
That’s “country driving”… pretty universal in the 'wan boondocks.
If I may ask… why are you in Hualien? Teaching lingua franca? If you’re looking for intellectual hotspots, about the only thing happening there is Tzu Chi U. (good med school) and Ntl Dong Hwa U. You could check on clubs or faculties of interest. For long winter nights, there’s always studying hanzi.
[quote=“maunaloa”]
If I may ask… why are you in Hualian? Teaching lingua franca? If you’re looking for intellectual hotspots, about the only thing happening there is Tzu Chi U. (good med school) and Ntl Dong Hwa U. You could check on clubs or faculties of interest. For long winter nights, there’s always studying hanzi.[/quote]
nope, I’m just here for the weekend. They flew me over for a meeting at Ntl Dong Hwa U on Friday afternoon, so I had the bright idea of staying for the weekend without checking the weather first… back to Taipei tonight.
It’s dry-ish this morning. Cab to Liyu Lake, walk around it, or rent another bike when you get there and ride around it. You’ve got to get out, there’s nowt to do indoors here.
I ended up going to Taroko today, walked the Shakadeng trail (all the Taroko info says this takes like 4 hours, so I was a little surprised to find myself at the end after less than 1), then walked to the Changchun temple and made friends with some nuns who insisted on giving me tea made of dried oranges. Unfortunately I then had to hurry back to catch the bus so I could catch my train back to Taipei, but only a little bit of rain and many less people than I expected. so a pretty good weekend after all.
Drink a bottle of whisky and let some big-assed fireworks off in your hotel room. Never fails to alleviate ennui.