2022 Ruisui Township Half Marathon

I joined a half marathon recently...
...took a taxi from the hostel....(it was 4km walk...the race started super early as usual in Taiwan)...wake up time was 05.15...
......mountain in the horizon...
...and beetle nut trees...
...and Amis decorations...
...some sponsor stands...
...and girls in amis traditional dress...
...this was the race name...apparently they have races all over taiwan...
...they were playing Aqua on the speakers...
...while having some common warm up session...
..streching etc...
...some cool guy with a cool hairdo...
...here was the starting point...
...10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...and off we go...
...upp hill...
...to some fruit garden...
...and then on road 193...heading south...
...and it started to rain...
...I was pretty heavy...(100kg)...(which is my excuse for not getting the time as I use to get back in the days)...
...still got a medal...
...more amis patterns..
...the school where the run started and finished had many language signs...
...amis language...
...chinese and english signs...
...it was confusing if face mas was needed...I feel that the rules are very inconsistent...
...later they collected some stuff...even the safety-pins...which was good...
...people were later queing up for free stuff....
...and they announced the winners of the race...
...omg...taiwanese coffee...
...we all got vouchers to use...
...some local fruit...
...and indigenous stuff...
...millet donuts...
..best men...
...best women...
...some indigenous pattern along the roads...
...and a famous river on the east reef valley...which use to separate kavalan people from amis people...if one person entered the other side...they got their head chopped off...back in the days...(I was told)...
...I ended by trying some "tradicional egg" (I was told)...

New Taipei City 5K Test

I went for a 5k run recently...
...I try to sign up for as many marathons I can while in a travel...
...and managed to sign up for a 5k test...which means you run 12.5 laps on a 400m running court...
...it was not english information which made it all a littlebit confusing...
...there were 5 starting groups...one for people finishing in 28 minutes, one for 26 minutes...24, 22, 20...
...and then they simply had staff counrtng down...(dont ask why we were carrying chips)...
...I missed the starts with 20 seconds...but they said something in chinese...that I couldnt get my time registered....but there was no diploma or anything...to it didnt really matter...
...this 5k test was held at this gymnasium...i think i finished in around 22 minutes...which was expected by my group...
...i had some deep fried chicken after that...
...it was good...

Beast runner Trailrun 2017

I joined a trail run in Puli some weeks ago with Taiwan beast runners...
Seediq theme...
They had a long list of equipment I had to bring, to not get disqualified...so my luggage was very heavy...I later found out that not many people brought everything of that...
We were chasing these peices...
It was in the lasnd of Seediq, Atayal and Bunun people...this uy was bunun....
We ran and ran...up and down...
I stay at some camp where they made some interesting coffee...
They also had nice aboriginal performance...
This is Petr...who is hosting the event...
...there are several euoprean looking houses here in puli...pretty nice...
We also got some BBQ  at the end of the run...it was a fun run...up and down up and down...

Penghu Ironman 2017

I took an Ironman recently
I had to transport my bike from taipei to the island via train and boat...and also a short taxi ride...
I also passed by the blue heel church again...pretty fun...
..it was near the taizhong wetlands where the boat departed from
..I know I would be pretty slow...so i had allot to eat the day before...
...omg...after some while I got a flat tire...
..luckily i got some help...with a stong pump...but i had 3 inner tubes with me...I got actually 2 flat tires... :S
...it made me maybe 1 hour delay...I think i for 1 or 2 hours slower than last time...but this time it was pretty hot...I burned myself heavily in the sun...
I wonder where next ironman will be...this time i had a pretty slow bike comepare to the other ironman i been taking...maybe I will do it in sweden or denmark...
...some skin damage..from white to red..
 
They had plenty of food at the finish...i love the pumpking soup...the day after I went back to taipei again...

2016 IAU 24H marathon

I attended a marathon some days ago
It was in Kaohsiung...the second largest city in taiwan
We ran in circles around some international sports stadium
I think they have 4-5 categories...6h, 12h, team runs and 24h
After 24h the run was over...it was pretty warm...maybe up to 30 degrees...
I didnt manage to run over 150km...but it was ok...I walk faster than others...so I manage pass many joggers, walking...
Many austrialnas were there...I became friends with this austrilan photographer...
The flags from behind...of the countries representet in the marathon...

Buddha's Palm 100km marathon

I went for a marathon yesterday
It was called Buddha's palm...cus we were suppose to run a route looking like a hand...
Many people met up...i think they had 8 different routes...A french guy approached me at the start..saying that this marathon was one of the toughest he heard about...since we were running on moutains..up and down...
850m was the first peak...then the others were lower...but still pretty steep...
After some 50-60km, we got to have soup and some carbs...at local restaurants...and temples
I took it rather easy...and arrived some 13-14 hours later...
My step counted only has 99km as max distance on the display...so it started over again...after 99km...
People still comming in...
This is the hand of buddha....
The goal had this paper..that the paerticipants suppost to cross...feeling like the winner...
I helped a guy put it together again...before i left...

Banqiao Marathon

I ran a marathon some day ago
MAny people participating
It was 35 degrees, its often trouble, cus high risk of hehydration of to drink too much
Luckily im used to hot weather and long distance from my annual trip to nijmegen in holland
Later I went to some cinema
I also passedby a resturang with "expensive taste"
I also had macaronis gratain, the tais often call Pasta/macaroni etc noodles, so confusing,
"10% cleaning charge", i wonder if i get withoug it i have a dirty plate, they also had a buffet with 4 dished, (water melon, noodles and some other stuff) called "infinie buffet"
Later I passed by a Wally store pretty intersting, I use to paint this character some years ago

Junlin Barefoot Marathon

2 years ago I use to eat alot of costco food...
Last friday I did the same...pretty nice...
I later in the night headed south...and bought some malt drink near changhua...it was pretty sweet...
After a 5 minute meeting with my Paiwan aboriginal friend the trip went east...towards the mountain to eat aboriginal food outside Pingdong...in southern Taiwan...
Omg...nice aboriginal patterns...
...everywhere...
And military vehicles...
After asking people for 30 minutes we could conclude that there were no aboriginal restaurant in this village...we were recommended to head north...
Omg...a lizzard...the only thing i found at a geocache zone...last found was 2010...i guess this one is gone...
Finally after some mountain driving a epic aboriginal place was found...
With aboriginal art...
Of many kinds...mostly "indian art"...
And jewelery...
And cool toilet signs...
I guess they like to express themselves in art when doing handcraft...
Toilet art..
And cool stols...
Some china airline design...
...and T-shirts...
I might do a painting like this soon...
Just like in a swedish guide rouge restaurant...the visitors could see into the kitchen...(or maybe it was just a hole for serving...
More interesting furnitures...
Omg...I asked if they had alcohol in the tiramisu coffee and they said "no"...strangely enough another waitress told me that it contains Kalhua...maybe the same logic as "cheap is not meat" that my friend experienced in korea...
I had a nice plate with various of aboriginal dishes... 
And some photos with some Paiwans...
The toilet view was pretty nice...
The trip continued in the mountain area...
And passing the Badlands near jiayi so somewhere...
To Junlin...where I was suppose to run...
Some small competition...
It was still a little wet on tha ground...
I think it was 75 full marathon and 25 half marathon runners...
All barefoot...
Omg...so interesting...I use to walk barefoot as a kid in the summers alot...but I never done a marathon barefoot...
And a typhoon is approaching...it might feel like when i did my military service in the marines...
And thunder...
They had a display just like when i did my 12 hour marathon, so that I dont need to count every single lap...106 laps...
Round and round...i think a lap was 2-2.4 minutes...pretty slippery...and very wet in the typhoon showers...
The day after I was suppose to run another marathon in Tainan..but it was cancelled due to typhoon... :S so a visit to lugang was paid again (i was here some 6 years ago)...
Nice and cosy place...
With old japanese architecture..or old taiwanese...I wonder why they never design like this nowadays...
After the red brick path visit another site that i visited 6 years ago was visited...
The great buddha of changhua...
They ahve many great buddhas in asia and in taiwan...
I tried to find a chache here...
A door like in hobtown...
After some trip...I came back to taipei...and went for an all u can eat BBQ...
omg...they had coachroaches...reminded me of when I saw a rat...at a suchi all u can eat...its not easy to have a restaurant in taiwan...

Camouflage Colors Run

Yesterday I had to go up early...
AT 6 something...to make it to a military camp in beitou...
It is the second run I do, where Chinese people are not welcome, since we run in a military area...
This was called Camouflage color run...and was 5km...
Just like in the beer run some year ago...they gave away fake tattoos...
They also had some warming up with some military coach...
It was fun...
Many people were wearing camouflage clothes...we also got to paint our face...
Then they started us of in groups of 50...
Omg...officers...
Some military veterans were hosting...
Omg...almost my turn...
It was in Beitou, just near the mountains...
The we started to run...however almost everyone were jogging...
We also passed by some hinders...(but some ppl skipeed this part)...
I made sure to pass all of them...it was fun...but also pretty easy..since I have done all of this before...
Omg...a Hilife in the military area...
After the second lap we were done with the run...
It was mostly people running for fun...some some people were pretty serious...
I got this tag after compleeting the race...
OMg...a a fjällräven bag in a military camp...
The run is over...I should get some sleep...(just slept 3 hours last night)...
To bad that it was a floor ball competition nearby...which I wanted to attend...however...life is about priorities and compromises...I can sleep later...
...I tried to take a nap in Tianmu...but was to hyper...later on my friend Patrik arrived...and we cleaned the field...
It was a little slippery but still playable...
Many ppl like left hook...strange...right hook is usually more common...
I also checked the fence...since my friend anders encourage me to check the posibillites to put up a net there...
its about 70cm high and 56-57meters long...
Next stop was costco...
And after that my second dinner was eaten at Mr Oniion...
Nice atmosphere...
It is a steak house...
With english menu...so prefessional...
Omg...many sets...and pretty high prices...
Dish 1: salad...
Dish 2: some soup/stew...
Dish 3: Soup...
Dish 4: Steak...
Dish 5: Cake...
Not sure when it was made...the saus seem to be stuck in the plate...
I ended they steak house visist with a beerbar visist...YIlan beerbar in Zhonghe...
Im still thinking about if their Barley beer is better than Le blé d´ors honey beer...
Its a nice malt flavour anyway...

Jiayi marathon and some scenic sights in middle west taiwan

On a journey at the middle west of taiwan...
This place was told to be "Famous"...
Some guy dressed like a chinese doll...
And inthe building they had reconstructed some old street for 500 million taiwan dollar...
It was called "Taiwan Times Village"...
Omg, penghu cake...
People were taking pictures everywhere...
Old Budweiser...must have been before the alcohol monopoly...
And some performance...
Omg, so many people...
An old transtaion...
And super heroes...
And Märklin...thats cool...
Many old objects...
And medicine to get bigger boobs...
And how a hooker house use to look like...
Difference girls with ranking and outfits...
"Do It Youself" machine...
More stores...they better sell alot, to cover for the 500 million NTD...
An old wagon to collect shit...used in China and Taiwan...
And alot of aboriginal stuff...
And local coffee from Nantou...
An ATM machine...so that people can spend more...
And more aboriginal stuff...this one from Orchid Island...
And information about the tribes..
More photo shooting...
After this some geocache hunt started...
At some nice garden...
Next one...the position was not 100% correct...
But found it...
This street reminded me of when I lived in the USA...
Omg, interesting tree...
A bunker...
Where the next chache was found...
Next one was in a park...
Interesting things...but no travel bug...
But strange paintings...
The ride continues...this place had just like Keelung and Hollywood, some sign on the hill with the name of the town...
Wellcome to Taiwan...a nazi logo...with "superior" on it...the political symbol has no meaning...
And in Doului, somce store with gay flag...
Next stop...a local burger bar...
So many different kinds of burgers...
And nice interior design...
We got brownies...as snax while waiting for the burger...
I had their largest one...
They also had meatballs and mashed potatoe...
Next stop...some sugar plant...
Next cache...was magnetic...
It was small and cointained just a list...
After that, near Jiayi...andother cache...
It was hidden in a pipe...
The tour continued south...
To Tainan, and a local beer bar...
5-6 different kinds...
"fest beer" with extra alcohol...like in the october fest...
And Beer Parwn...
And that classic christmas decration...
It was made in Tainan...
I wonder if they had a german owner...
all the 5 kinds of beer...
Sweet and sour sauce...
And beer prawn...
Some malt...
"German Beer Brew inTaiwan"..."Des Beer Restaurant"...
Some cache hunting, bur found drugs...
And also a visit to the tropic of cancer...
 
The day after I started the day with a marathon in Jiayi...it was ok...we ran around a lake...2 laps...it was surprisingly easy, I havnt ran a marathon since 2012...but could still keep a good phase...maybe my recent mountain climbing events was a good preparation....
Then heading back to taipei...seeing many bikes on road 1...
Not sure why...maybe some group race...more than 500 people...or something...
On the way back, more caches were found...
At some temple...
Interesting gas station on road 3...
I ended the day as cosbys at ximen in Taipei...
And picked a last cache...

Taipei Beer run

I came to taipei today at 6...
Back in taiwan, the heaven for scooter lovers...
And where birds are not allowed to take bus...
Directly when I arrived to went to the beer run near guring riverside park...
Many people were there...
My friend christopher was promoting it...
They didnt have any beer at the start, so many people went to a local 7-11 to buy some...
Many foreingers there...
The queue system didnt work totally...some queues were 1 or 2 people...
Long queue here...people prefered line up on this one...
I haf a Gold medal Taiwan beer...
They started people every 20 minute...
And we needed tattoos and an age check before we could start...(but they never checked it for real, i guess anyone could have started and participated for free)...
Many people taking pics...
And alot of light beer waste...but this we could not drink...
Everyone needed to wear the "beer run" t-shirt...
Some people ran, some walked, it was 3 km in total...
At many places they already wasted all the beer...I guess the early birds had more fun...
The first pitstop...
I felt sorry for people try to cycle here...so crowded...
And no strucutre...the kids working here did now know how to manage it...they asked everyone to queue somewhere else...(i guess its a consequence of the high power distance in this culture), since no one came with any good solution, just do as they were told...(barely anyone got to drink here...(when I passed by)...
They had this malt drink at the first stop...
The ran continues...
Ukulele performance...
I use to run on this field...its close to zhonghe...
Some maze that the participatns needed to passs, mad upon beer cans...
They were all full...
Some people took the bottles....
After a while everyone ended up stealing cans from the decoration...
After onther 10 mins we came to the end...
And got a medal...
With super long queues for everything...I alwyas wonder why they dont have double instead of single queue system...chalmers often has it, it speeds up the distirbution by double...
This was some competition, that people lined up for...not sure what you could win...
More queing...
Another queue...
I won a beer helmet...
And tried some peanuts, with malaspices...it makes my mouth go numb...not a good idea to eat if i want to be able to drink...
The queue were very slow, many foreingers blocked the entrance...since they didnt display who won, except on internet, they wanted to ask if they won, befoing queuing for 20 minutes...
But if they won, they took the prize directly...it was irritating for those who lined up...
But drunk foreingers dont care about others...
This is the prize...
Omg, a guy sneaked a whole box of beer...
I had my beer from the maze...some nice guy shared...
Else everyone got 3 cans...
I went back to the maze to see if they had any cans left...but it was all gone...
Some guys took a box of beer...and so did I...they had soo much left over...
Later I went to an all you can eat and drink...
It was with hotpot and sushi...
And Tsingtao beer...
Joel was amazed by the fish...
We also went by costco...
And tried local whisky...
And checked the wine...
Omg, christmas is approaching...
Later we went out drinking...and catching up on time...
Many different kinds of beer...
I also brought my glass from the oktoberfest in Munich...
To get the real beer feeling...(but it didnt taste better)...
They restores the hi-life near Joel...not sure why...but it was a face-lift...

Mudrun

I went to a mud run yesterday...and some beer bars...
The race was in the middle of taiwan...so we took the bus from taipei main station...
Many people were there...
We got some free things...like a scarf...it reminded me of the scarf I got from ABB when I did a company visit there some years ago...not sure about this one..the difference between "scarf" and "scarf" and how the first "scarf" was designed...
My friend recommended Catch 22, its s good reflection about some cultures, like the taiwanese one, once in a while...
Many people were sleeping on the bus...but we had a nice chat...
Well at the race area we had to walk to some hill...
Some international company "merrell" were you hosting...
We had some tattoos that we needed to paste...i had some problems with mine...
Oskar was prepared for the mudrun...
I made some "ones" by myself...
It was interesting, they had some numbers "0-800" "800-1200" etc, but only for decoration...people were sorted by distance in the race...
Oskar had a lunch voucher, i did not get one...but they said I could take the food anyway...
Nice view of the city...
And many freebees...
No trash cans...
People were getting new tattoos...as well...
It was a big city...
And some common warm up...
Just like Goteborgsvarvet in Gothenburg...
And many hills around the city...
Now the race was starting...
After some hour it was over...covered in mud...
More freebees...
It was hard to get clean...but we felt clean enought to pay a visit to the city...
Just had to finish the lunch box, consisting of some interesting bread...
Oskar was streching...
Here in the mud, people were suppose to clean themselves up after the race...
We asked some random people for a burgerbar...
And headed downtown...oskar fell asleep...
Or almost...
Omg, a flajjraven bag...mopre and more people are using these nowadays...
In this city in the middle of taiwan, one can use the bus card from any other city in taiwan, thats pretty conveinient...
We were recommended this burger bar..
Atleast it was central...
And famous...Oskar was not impressed...
The menu was all in chinese...
I met a friend who was christian, so interesting...
I ordered the biggest burger they had...
It 4 meat patties...
Oskar had some pineapple burger...
But the meat patties were kind of crappy, we both agreed upon...
Next stop a beer bar...
Omg, a hocker house...
This was the beer bar of the day..."Deluxe brewhouse"...
It looked the same sine I was here last time...
They "amerian eagle" logo...
I started with a weissbeer...
They charged us 250nt, ans claimed it was "salsa night"...so we had to pay extra...so useless, the onkly difference from other nights was that they had salsa music in the background...
And that some local people were dresseup up...
Some guy looked like Ironman...
And some people were dancing...
I had some barley beer later on...
 And got some chichen nuggets...
 Oskar was headingfor a girl looking lake laura croft...
 Hmm...slowly approaching...
 And makeing contact...
They seemed nice...
 Even the guy at the cachier was ok, but he told us different things than the waitress about the price...travelling in asia for some years u know all their tricks...
Anyway, I refused to accept anything else than the offer they first told me...
 I also passed by Mcdonalds for a Mcflurry...after the beer bar...
Taixhong train station...
Late night in Taizhong...heading back to taipei...

Hash run in Fulong

I went to fulong today...
I took the train...passed by a 7-11 where i met a local who dont know what lining up means...she just sneaked ahead so interesting...
THe ticket machines at the trainstation only took coins...
"extra cool tshirts"...maybe I need those...
Oskar was prepared, for the "freedom hash run", since it was USA´s national day some days ago..this hash run was a Freedom run", oskar was thus wearing swedish cloloures shirt and brittish sox, to show the americans that history comes from europe...
He also studies chinese...
And played some saxophone...
Finally at fulong...
Sunny day...
Many people met up at the meeting point...
It was a temple near the beach...
Signing up...it cost 200nt...
Many foreigners....
Oskar was preparing the run...
Many old men were also there...
This is Anders from Sweden...he use to come here once in a while...
The beer truck arrived...
And the people creating the track left...
And then we took of...some girls started earlier as well...
Oskar told me to run slow in the beginning, and faser in the end...
We went in the forest...on pathes many times ppl were lost trying to find the right path...
On mudd etc..
And some creek...
And a river....
And on a wall...
Finally after some hour, I saw this sign, i was told that this was the end...think it was about 10km...
Then it was beer time...
Many people discussing the day...
And they played some american songs...
I had some snacks,,, they were good...
Some dogs were also playing in the area...
More drinking and mingeling...
And more snacks...
And then people were heading to the beach...
Oskar thought the americans were interesting...with their mindset...
Clouds in the horizon...
Some were talking about a ceremony...
But most ppl were heading to the water...
Firsti didnt want to swim...
But everyone else went there...
Even oskar...so i joined to...
The rain never reached us...
It was a nice evening...
They had somestage on th other side of the beach, for next weeks beach party here...
More music...
And beer...
And american flag...
They were interesting...
And some ceremony...
With firecrackers...
For freedom...they said...
Omg, someone hadaFjällrävenbag...
Oskar was mingeling...
A guy Chris joined us back to taipei, he has only beenintaiwan for 4 month, and works as an english teacher in Miaoli...
We later on headed to 1885 burger...oskars favorite place...
Nicewith koppargerbs cider...
Oskar showed me his favorite...
It was nice...
But the frenchfrieswere fake...
Not totallyfulll...thats a minus...
Tomorrow is monday...hao3

quarter ironman

I did an quarter ironman yesterday...it was ok, i burned my skin...on my right hand, i missed a spot when putting sunblock all over my body, several layers...
I took it rather easy...might have been the last one up from my starting group after the swimming part...
We swam in a river...
Slow Johan, enjoying the stream...
but I catched up on bike and by foot...as usual...
No running in the transit area...
It was warm..and sunny, I drank 2 liters of beer the night before...so i had plenty of carbs in my body...
After some 3 hours...I finished...
I also passed by a steak house/burger bar...it was ok, they said they had a "big burger"
however, the big part with it was the bread..the meat was like a BK whopper size. (Cowboy station)

I also lost my camera...somewhere...hmm...
But managed to take this pic, I was treated some snails ata local resturant in taipei...

I ended the day with some beers, with my friend Joel...he just fixed so that Pripps Blå, a famous swedish beer will be sold in 7-11 this summer...what a man...here he got 1000nt from me...
 
Last years swedish beer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=romxzHyGufQ

Shin Kong tower run up...

Last year I did "Taipei 101 run up"...

Today I participated in Shin Kong tower run up...its the second highest building in Taipei...only 46 floors instead or 91 floors (at Tpe 101)...

I never been up in this building, except when my parents visited me 4 years ago...

They have to parallell run ups...since they have two staircases...

Many people were there...about 1000 people...it was for sure not as popular as the Taipei 101 run up...

Some teams dressed up...

Even some fire men participated...I would like to try run up in their out fit...

The earlier you got to the place, the earlier you got your starting number, so I had to wait for some hour to start...

"Shin Kong", or Xin guang in pinyin...

People started every 5 second or something...

In groups of 20...

And they scanned a bar you needed to have on your wrist...

The floors were numbered....

Ofcourse slow walking people were blocking all the time....

Its the same as running marathon...everyone thinks they are the fastest....so the dont keep to the right...(here you run counterclockwise, taipei 101 was clockwise....

Water was served on every fifth floor...more or less...

Many people waiting for the elevators down...

Long queue...

And the view was nice...

I wanted to get down, so I didnt spend much time up here....

It was really like the "Taipei 101 run up" in a lighter form...

Slow elevators...

However the elevators went all the way down...not as in 101 where you had to change elevators after some floors...
I got a printed diploma directly...I ran on 9 minutes something...a little faster than 101, where I got 20 minutes...(for twice as many floors)...even though I didnt run that fast...

Taipei Fubon Marathon

I participated in Taipei Fubon Mraathon today...

It is the same marathon that I participated in last year as well (probably the most fun marathon in taiwan so far)...

How ever I need to wake up in early morning...the start and finish is near taipei 101...

Many people are participating...

We dont run back and forth all thetime as most marathons in taiwan...that makes it more fun (like a normal marathon)...
I ran in my friends name...he kept the free t-shirt, I got the medal...
Super many people, I think its not a mass start...to the timing is kind of fair...even though slow runners like to block the road at many times...
I got all my stuff last night...I came to the start 10 minutes before start...
Some hours later I got my medal...my friend might get a diploma sent by mail...
I also met some swedish runners (4)...some of them were pretty fast...this guy was wearing a swedish flag tagged on his shirt, a good reason to make contact, and then we talked for a while when running...

Xinpu marathon...and a day in hsinchu...

up in early morning...
After some hours running (it was raining in the beginning...but later on just cloudy) i was done...

I went to this restaurant in Hsinchu downtown...

I wanted to have extra cheese on my burger...but after 5-10 minutes frustration about what "extra cheese" really means among the staff...I gave up...
After 30 minutes...my friend finised a chew on his burger...
My burger was gone...we are two extremes on each side of speed eating, im fast and he is slow...
After 80 minutes...the last struggle  ...
I also exchanged 270nt, from my friend, to single 1 dollar coins...I didnt mind using them...
It took a while to count when I bought a beer and some nuts...(100nt=23SEK)...

Kenting half ironman

I did a half ironman today...as usual i never got really tired, since I know I wont be on frist place, my strategy is to take it easy...and just reach the finish in time...I got in on 6 hours something...after really cycling slow...

In the morning, people had to wait for almost one hour for the start...some pros were starting 15 mintes before us...

It was nice weather in the morning...

There were many regylations, but as usual here in asia, no one really cares...people were wearing wet suits covering their whole body...making the float easier...and as usual its chaotic in the water, tai ppl swiming in any direction, not sure what their tactic is, but they look up, the swim blindly towards that thing they are aiming for...even thout the often accidentally change theri direction...
The starting place...so far kind of calm...
The pros started 15 mins before us...
We were suppose to start in the water...a mass start...

Just wait for the start...(omg, after seeing some pics of me, i still am kind of fat (97 kg at the current date))...
Many people were watching...
And now we go...!
After the swim it was the cycling...my helmet was strange...i had to make a knot to make it stick on my head...
No drafting, was the rule (extra strict since it was american rules...however I saw super many who cheated...I now regret I followed the rule, since I would save alot of time draft for a while...)
People are always so serious about clothing...everyone were wearing special outfit...i wonder for what use...my olf surfer shorts from Wai ou (2008), and a normal polo was awesome...and also cheaper that some super ultra light swim suit...
The running is always east...since I have done a oucple of marathons and ultramarathons the recent years...I pass by many people on this part...and I always save alot of energy for the running...
Ayo...here in asia its very common that people are blocking the road by jogging...(maye they think that they run super fast)...I always have to run slalom between slow runners...
We use to drink beer for the purpose of recovery in sweden...they gave away free Asahi beer here (japanese brand)...it continas alot of carbs...and after 1 can , i was recovered...
Well at the finish, it was also chaotic, it was in the middle of nowhere, so people needed shuttle bs to get out of there...and there was alot of traffic, causeing some accidents with the participants...
 
And we also got a free buffet...
Nice...however i seldom feel like eating alot right after a competition...
I tood some fruits and juice...
Then waiting for the shuttle bus...
The bus staff were all wearing hawaii shirts...
People at the starting point, were efficiently cleaning up...
I went to Smokey joes later in the evening...
Omg, they had a drink called "ironman" ihad to try it...
It contined egg, pinabpe and organge juice...
I also had this thing...didnt taste that much...and less cheese than on the picutre in the menu...
And some mashed sweet potato...
They also played music kind of loud...but it was nice music...
The pizza wagon had a lot of customers...
And this bar is still open...I remember 4 years ago, when I went here...it was also here...
Not that many customers yet...this guy will work until 6-7am...he is a funny guy...

Taipei 101 run up...

It seemed to be a very popular event...
Not that many people who tried to sign upp succeeded...but I was lucky to get a place...
I bought redbull and some rice dumpling as breakfast...
Its a 508meter building...not sure about the floors...
Many stands were set up...with sponsors...
Everyone had to fill in some health check form...
They didnt want any person to get a heart attack up there...
I didnt get a chip...and the tai ppl tried to get rd of the proble, byt sending me a way (a very common taiwanese approach)
But by not leaving, its possible to make they feel uncomfortable, and finally solve the problem...
People started in groups...and in order of start number...
Many lotteries and freebees were given away for those who wanted...
I got noodles etc...
I thoguht in running barefeet, but later on changed my mind...
AFter handing in the physical exam...I got a bracelett that people put stickers on when I took the freebees...
Where was a monitor at the start, where people could see the finish at the top...
Many people were queuing up...
This is the distance to walk...
at 12.30 (on the paper, but in reallity at 13.00) I went to stand in line...
This guy was organising the queuing system...
Then we had to scan out chip to enter the building...
And another line up...in sections...
20 people in each section...
Everything went very slow...atleast it felt like it...
Elevators...the normal way to go upstairs...
There were alot of staff checking the queues...
After this section queue, we went to another queue...
It was near the start...
I always wanted to go to this restaurant...my friend when here with her parents 3-4 years ago...i think its an italian restaurant...
THen they scanned my chip again...
And the walk begun...it was hard to run, since people were covering the path...
And they walked very slow...
At some floors they offered water...I also think we could take a rest in the corridor if we left the stair way...and maybe enjoy the view from there...
However, some people choosed to lay down on the stairs...
Or just wait for better times...
It was straight from bottom to top...if i dropped an item at the top it will fall half a kilometer I think...
I didnt know how many floors there were...some one told me 91...so this is abouthalf way...not really tired yet...but warm...
I ran the last 2 stairs...I was never really tired...it was fun, but maybe I should have enjoyed the rest places...with the view more...to explore the building...
Up at the top many people were waiting for their friends to come up...
It was a great view...I was here with my parents 4 years ago...but we couldnt go up on the terass...
Its hard to believe that the building is so high...it feels like standing on a mountain, looking down...
To get down I had to queue, there was only 1 elevator taking people down...
so it was a 40-50 minutes queue, at the time I came up...
These guys ran in the graduate suit...
Here is Taipei downtown...
These guys arranged the queue...
Here is the bus stataion (far away)...this was the higest elevator queue I ever been in...
Danshui (where the ocean is) can bee seen in the horizon...
These guys also graduated...
These foreingers (one I know use to study at NCTU, she from hawaii...sneaked ahead and saved 40 minutees queuing...)
This is the first elevator...super small...
After the frist elevator, we entered another queue...
And another elevator...a little bit bigger...
To this floor where we had to change elevator again...
It was an even bigger elevator...
Well down at the entrance floor I could see thestarta again...
We had to queue to get out from the building...
These guys were just about to start running...
We returned our chips...
And got our time on a diploma...
I got 20 minutes...next time I might run some seconds faster, to get 19 minutes something...it sound much faster...
They also offered a finish monument here, for people to take pictures...
After the run, sight seening in taipei was on the agenda...
Thepublic library had a cool self service borrowing machine...
Since I didnt eat that much breakfast I went to Mcdonalds aswell...(im still in a kind of a hamburger diet)
I bought alot of drinks...
And took a wal in a park I never been to before...
Max speed 20km/h, ppl in wheel chairs has to take it easy...
It was many many people exersicing here...
One of taiwans biggest mosques were here as well...
Many people were reading...most of the students...
I stay in the library with my friends until they closed...and then took the stairs down...I got a dejavy from earier that day...
In taipei they have a "bike and walk" way, instead as in sweden, a "bike and car" way...i dont know which one is the best...

3km swimming at Green island...

I was invited to join a 3km swimming competition at Green island at the east coast of taiwan...
Early morning the train was heading to taidong...
I could see turtle island from the train...near Yilan...
Many ppl slept on the train...
I saw the mountain I ran up on some weeks ago...near Jiaoxi
I really like going by train in taiwan...it looks kind of the same...but still some places feels so isolated...
I brougt some beer to enjoy the ride...going on the eat coast reef...
With mountains on both sides...(by road number 9)
I found a Giant store near Taodong train station...
We got a taxi pick up from the trainstaion to the harbor where the ferry will leave from...
It was very touristic at the ferry terminal...
They had alot of boats at the place...
Many fishermen sat at the shore...
I guess its from here all the fish comes from...that they sell at taidong night market...
Some coast guards watching over the passengers while entering...
This is how the ferry looks like inside...its famous for that people get seasick here...
This is how green island looks from from Taiwan...I didnt know that I could c the island from here before...
I went outside on the boat...to easier enjoy the ride...
This is how the island looks like from far away...its a 40 minutes ride...it takes a while...
Other ferries are carrying cars...
Far away is hualien...
Many people came outside as the trip went along...
Each seat was offered a bag...
And there was TV for those who wanted to watch (and could)...I heard many people puke...
Alot of flying fishes were flying around...not captured on my camera... :(
We got picked up the the hostel manager at the harbor at green island...
They guy gave us emplty scooters, so we needed to fuel up...
This seems like a systemaic thing...and reminded me of laos...
Where everyone gets a empty scooter ready for fuel up...I wonder if they empty it on purpose...
How to find a local person from a tourist? locals dont use helmet...
Even the locals told me...
Its kind of fun...just like Nan ao...its a contrast from Hsinchu...
Or have a hat that looks like a helmet...
I can see why they cal it "green island"
They also had interesting cliff formations...
This is the hotel...a very small place very cozy...many people living there...
More or less each cliff had a name...I think the one to the left here was called "the dog" or something...
The island is not that big, about 19km to drive around...and from a view point on could see this side (south east peak, (far in the horizon one can see Orchid island))...
And also the norht east peak...
The island had alot of animals and insects...
A conveinient road that went around the island...as made for the toursits who gets a scooter directly when they enter it...
And some times the road was really near the water...
Historical sites...telling about the strong current...
Some fishing boats were also driving around on the ocean...on the "risky" streams that causes many Qing dynasty ships to go aground...
Here is one of the worlds few hotsprings near ocean (some one said there are like 3-4 places like this)
They had cool caves from the road...
No wonder there are this many scooter parking lots...
We went to an "all you can eat" restaurant, hosted by the hostel, the first night...
They had a fridge of food that we could pick from...
I focused mostly on deer meat...since its special for this island...
We fried if on aliminium...
More people joined up after a while...they had been snorkeling (or diving as they called it)...
Some store had a sealed dear as an attraction...
We met up later on outside the hostel...
We followed the hostel managed on the road that takes up around the island...
There are super many scooters driving around every night on green island, trying to find deers...
The guide had a very strong light, to find the animals...
He also showed pineapples and said that we could pick if we wanted (I sneaked up the night after, and took one...but at a closer look it didnt look like apineapple)...
The guide spoke chinese and taiwanese so I had to listen carefully to understand...
We also visited some temples caves...
...come containing water...
And he showed us a stick insect that was unique for green island, taiwan has a similair, but its brown...
The day after we ate breakfast at some green island restaurant...
They had alot of cats in the island...some expecting human treatment...
This was said to be typical local food...
And flying fish...
We also picked up out T-shirts and swim caps...
After that we went for snorkeling...
We needed to sign some insurance paper...but my classmate pablo didnt know his ARC number...so he wrote his student ID...plus some random letter...I did the same...
We went to the north beach...its where everyone dives...
Later on that day we went to the city (there are a 7-11 and a family mart, that creates the night life of green island)...everyone asked for a Mcdonalds...I guess it will create a new city center...
I bought seafeed icecream and slized ice...
It was said to be famous, and we got discount from the hostel...it was ok...
We later on ate some dinner, where a big bus tour of retired taiwanese people shared tables...the food similair from before...
We contined to one of the few "ocean near" hot springs in the world...
They had normal pools...
But rejected my classmate to swim with his surfershorts in som pools...
But girls could have skrits...not bacterias...
We headed down towards the ocean...
25 meters from the ocean three pools were established...with different temperature...
This is how the "pineapple" looks like that I picked...
In the day of competition, we left early...since the swimming started at 8...
Some used sunblock, others thouthg its just a 1 hour swim...(later on i realized that I burned my self heavily...)
They said it was less than 500-600 people participating...so it was very small compare to the sun moon lake-swim...
And oceanwater is so salty...many people brin extra water to the water...
Just like in kenting they had balloons to follow...this is the one at the start and finish...
A relaxed police...seems like  anice job at green island...
This time we swam along the beach...popular aming divers and surfers...still alot of boats watching the swimmers...
After some hour I was done...people kept dropping in for a long time...its easy to swim here, sinceone can chose to return whenever...however the stream was very strong...many people took a rest...
A TV team was reporting, and the president sent a messaged to the participants (according to the staff)...
Also security on a aterjet...that picked up tired people...
Here is the start and exit...
The fastest people used a super small floating equipment (its manadaroy to have one...)...
about 1.5 km away was the other balloon...
Many people are using diving equipment when swimming in taiwan...and fens..on the feet...
Some are using the flotaing badges to hike on others...
And some are covering their full body, not to get burned by the sun...but still super warm...its like 30 degrees here...
After the race we got a taiwanese lunch box...we also got to send message in a bottle...to friends...
We swam in a team called "GMBA"...but no sponsorship...we got our space near the start to but our bags...
Some people also used life jackets...
After the race we went eating some slized ice...so warm and salty after the competition, it was good...
It was a warm day...
Many locals are walking in the sun...on the "city center" of green islands biggers village...
We passed by the prison that the island is so famous for...they still keep prisoners here...
They rebuilded it some years ago...unfotenetely taiwanese people killed all the aboriginals here when they came..and later on kept the island as a place for execution....
But today they earn alot of money from tourism...and people can buy cute statues of the prisoners...
On they way back, it was logt of queues...seems like they fery traffic is scarce...
Johnnys family met us up when we came back...
Johnnys home was very nice...alot of furnitures...made it look like a real taiwanese home...from my experience...
We got to borrow their old car...it was nice
I were heading downtown...ans saw a scooter accident...fortunately the driver had a helmet...
We passed by the "old trainstation"
Some homeless guy use to live in one of the buildings there...its a tourist attraction nowadays...
And they also had some bunkers from the japanese area...
We also passed by an aboriginal market...with alot of "krimskrams"...
And a Starbucks coffeeshop in the middle of Taidong...cool!
The high buiding behind the tree is abandoned...
We passed by a sweet potatoes chip store...but decidede to return here later...and buy some stuff...they ahd a philipponi waiter whos english was good, taidong people had in gerneral poor english skills...
We also passed by Johnnys grandparents home..(and uncles)...
His 2 uncles were preparing Baizis (steam buns) for this evening...they have a family business here...it smelled like cinnamon buns in their home...
They were very good with the dough...
This is another taiwanese speciality...
And this are some organs from a pig...
We god the bun and some tea, it was super good...
They also had a big house...its cool with wooden stairs...i heard its common in taiwan, but to have the house built of wood is more rare...
They also had a room with glass floor arn ceiling...for energy purpose i think...
we there after went to the shore...where they had some cool monuments...
and aboriginal house...where the aboriginals has meetings once in a while...
I was told they the aboriginals drinks alot of alcohole (maybe just like in australia)...
We there after took a walk to a forrest park near by, i think it was here my start for the iron man was...
It had a long history from some occupation period...I also heard some taiwanese maffia brought some guy here 3 years ago and killed him in a local pond...becasue they looked at them in the wrong way...I hope I can learn how to look at taiwanese maffia...so that I can feel safe...
AFter the park visit we took of to an aboriginal restaurant...
They had a dance floor in the middle...
And the waitresses had colourful clothes...
And they had the same instruments I saw in sun moon lake last year...I guess typical aboriginal instruments...
JOhnnys parents picked the meals for us...
I wanted local drink, and rice wine was the only options...it was sweet and good...
We also got some other local dishes...
Of any kind...like pinglang flower etc...
And some kind of tofu that tasted sour, with some sauce...
And soup...
And rice in babmo or leafs...I got that in the mountains in Hsinchu some years ago...
And a fish, its common here to have atleast one fish on the table...
Then some cute aboriginal girls started to perform dances...
And some guy as weill, it reminded me of the dane i saw in New Zeeland...
And i also ate bees...with peanuts...
It was interesting, maybe I tried it before...i dont remember...
After the restaurant, I wanted to try the night life in Taidong..we were recommended 1 pub, that Johnnys mom knew...
While the local KTV was crowded with taiwanese people...the pubwas empty with only5 foreingers...
The meny was only in chinese...
They had some special offers on the wall..
The other foreintgers were germans, french and spanish, one guy from mexico who were here on a conference...
I brought pants and shoes specially for my night life experience in taidong...i was super curios about what people do at night in this city...
We there after went to a near by family mart with the othe people, to buy beer, and later on heading to a place called "the beer garden"...
They were experienced, a 500meters walk can make any beer become warm in taidong...
Here is beer garden, it turned out to be the same place as the aboriginal market, but by night...they didnt erve anything, so everyone brought their own alcohol...
After this we went to Mcdonalds quickly...it has become a tradtition for me...sine some years ago, everytime im here...
When I met Johnnys parents the day after, they gave me ALoe vera, since I burned my back when swimming on green island...I was also recommended to eat it...itsgood for the skin they said...
And they ordered breakfast...some hamburger and tea...
Pablo didnt feel well, so he wanted fruit...I think its his new life style with lack of sleep...
The mountains are cool, and can often be seen in the background when dricing in Taidong...
We also went to a local Slized ice place...
They recieved alot of national awards...
I prefer to eat frui with my ice..not beans oe other slimy things...its good that one can pick their own flavours...
We were there after heading back to the sweet potatoe shop...on the way I saw an abandoned 7-11...the 3 colours red green and orange...
They were out of many things....
But usually they offer 3 kinds of sweet potato...
I bought this bag of chips...
Next stop was a local temple that was super big...
And there after we went to a pre historic museum, however the lack of time left here made us jsut walk around the museum, not enter it...
Johnnys brother joined ut the whole day...
It was a big resort a little bit out of town...
They also had a restaurant at the resort...it has been awarded a star in "guide rouge"...so cool, I wanna eat here some day...
And they had some statues looking like tha maois of easter island...I heard that the people from easter island originaly come from Taiwan...that is cool...
This it the entrance...
NAtional museum of pre history...in taidong...I have to come back here...
A sun watch was placed at the main entrance...
At the train station I saw this sign...it wasinteresting...waiting zone for female passenger by night...cant guys wait there?
We took the same route back to taipei...passing many green mountains...
Its very mystique...
And it started raining near Yilan...does it always rain here?
PAblo thought it was cold in the train...usually they always have AC, independentl of the outside tempereature...its always cold...stange policy...
I tried to study chinese...but it was hard...
I also had a fruit beer left, that I finished before I came home...

Tidigare inlägg
RSS 2.0