Like a local - Yuanyang lake and Cueifeng lake DAY 1

Dr. Tang came to me one day, and asked if I want to follow them to collect water samples in a couple of lakes in the mountains. Without hesitation,  I agreed - it is not everyday where you get to visit restricted parks. These two lakes are restricted to researchers with the proper permit, and are not open to the public. We are supposed to collect water samples from Yuanyang lake and Cueifeng lake. The interesting fact about these lakes are that both lakes were at an altitude of about 1800m, and due to the geographical and environmental factors, the lakes are covered in fog everyday in the afternoon.

The two lakes are about 3 hrs drive from Taipei,and we would be staying in the field station near Yuanyang lake. The field station is very established with all the living amenities that we need. I found a box that was left behind by University of Wisconsin - there had collaborative work with a few Taiwanese labs a couple of years ago, but due to budget constraint, they were not here for a few years. We arrived at the field station around 11am, and after packing all the equipment (including a deflatable boat), we were ready to set off. 

Today, we are only going to Yuanyang lake to collect samples. Trees in the forest are covered in moss, and you can feel the moisture in the cold air. We had to track about 1km through the forest to Yuanyang lake.

After getting all the instrument ready, and inflated the boat, Mingtao and Beck were ready to roll the boat out to the middle of the lake to collect samples. While they were out there, Dr. Tang, Jiajing and I were just hanging out. I took the opportunity to take lots of pictures! It was indeed a very cool, undisturbed forest. Jiajing decided that she is going to check on some of the instrument she left behind a couple of weeks ago. I followed her, and we had to walk on a huge fallen tree trunk out to the edge of the lake. Everything went fine, until she lost her footing and fell into the swamp!

The fog came in just after noon time (almost like clockwork!). However, Dr. Tang said the fog wasn't as thick as before, and maybe we would experience a thicker fog tomorrow at Cueifeng lake.

After we got back to the station, Dr. Tang prepared dinner for all of us. I wasn't expecting a full dinner being out in the field. So I was pleasantly surprised when Dr. Tang whipped up dumpling noodle soup - the hot soup feels great in the cold winter night. Nothing to do in this field station, so after dinner, Dr. Tang and I chatted for a while, and we turned in early. Tomorrow, we are having an early start to Cueifeng lake.

Like a local - Hehuan mountain range

I am back in Taiwan! I am back in Academia Sinica to finish the last bit of my research - mainly just molecular work (there is no field work on this trip). I would be spending about 1.5 months in Taiwan (mainly Taipei). Previously, I have blogged about Taiwanese food (which is the #1 attraction in Taiwan :P), and Hannah had numerous posts about our short tour in Taiwan when she visited in January 2014. Therefore, I thought I would just post interesting activities (hopefully) I do during the weekends. Depending on my work schedule, it may not be every weekend, but I do hope to get out as often as I can.

Taking advantage of the long weekend (I arrived in Taiwan on the 30th Jan 2014), I went hiking on Hehuan mountain range with two of my colleagues and friends, JiaHo and Erin.

Including the guide, there were nine of us on this trip. One the first day, it was meant to be an easier hike so that all of us could get used to the higher altitude. The first day was to climb the main peak (3416m), the east peak (3421m) and Mt. Shihmen (3237m). It was an easy day as all the climbs were mainly stairs. However, it definitely was strenuous on the thigh muscles. There are 100 mountains which Taiwanese aspire to climb, and we conquered 3% of it on the first day!   

The first day ended at about 5pm, and we headed to the hostel to have dinner, shower and rest. Dinner was rather horrible - it was a pack of rice with three vegetables and a small drumstick. It was a cold and windy day, and all of us were looking forward to a bowl of hot soup. Unfortunately, we only had cold rice, and to make things worse, there were people eating next to us and they were slurping on a HUGE pot of hot soup. Oh well, at least the shower had hot water :) .... All of us shared the same room, and I had some trouble sleeping because our guide was a very loud snorer (note to self - bring ear plugs!).

The guide was worried about a couple of people in our group and don't think that they were fit enough for the next day's hike - the north and west peak. The hike to the west peak is notoriously difficult with six ups and downs to conquer before you reach the end point. And the slopes are very steep - there are no steps and you literally have to pull yourself up the hill with a rope... However, after discussing with the gang, we decided that we were just going to try our best to reach the west peak, and would turn to make our way back at about 12pm (whether or not we reach the west peak).

We woke up at 5am, had a quick breakfast, and off we went. The sun were just starting to rise when we were making our way to the north peak (3422m). We took about 1hour (which was longer than expected). The guide told me that if I am alone, I could probably make the peak in about 30 mins. Well, it gave me an opportunity to slow down and take some beautiful photos.

After reaching the north peak, we continued hiking towards the west peak. It was about 6km away but the ups and downs made it pretty challenging. At certain parts of the track, we were literally climbing up and down ropes, next to a cliff! At around 12pm, we had only made it to 3.9km. As decided, we had lunch and started to make our way back. It was even slower on the way back, and by the time we reached the van, it was nearly 5pm!

It was a great trip to see some beautiful mountain views of Taiwan. After this trip, I completed 4% of the 100 mountains in Taiwan :) Looking forward to more hiking in the future.

Jet cut himself pretty badly

Somehow, Jet cut himself quite badly during one of the "intense" fetching games. Hannah could not bear to look at his wound because Jet's skin was literally cut open, exposing his muscle! We had to bring him to the vet to sew up his wound. Unfortunately, I had to leave for my research trip to Taiwan,which means that Hannah had to handle all that hassle alone! However, when she send me messages on the operation and post-operation of Jet, I wished I was there to experience it all!