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Thursday, January 17, 2019

Long Port Day in Keelung, Taiwan

12-Day Southeast Asia Cruise on Diamond Princess December 7~19, 2018
Day 6 - Keelung, Taiwan, December 12, 2018 (7:00 AM~10:00 PM)

This was the port we had the longest day in town. Keelung is about an hour drive from Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The longer day made it nice for us who wanted to see some major sights in the northern part of the island. Unfortunately, it was raining a bit on this day and the weather was not in our favor. 

I am very familiar with Taipei and know my way around if we had to do it on our own but taking into consideration of having the time well spent while in port, we decided to hire a private driver for the day. A friend who had used the wonderful service of Mr. Scott Sung recently recommended him to us. Mr. Sung resides in southern Taiwan. I have communicated with him several months before the cruise for our one-day transportation in Keelung and Taipei. He had made arrangements with a driver in Taipei who would be taking us around in a van for nine hours on that day. With just the four of us having a van that could hold 8 passengers, I went on cruisecritic roll-call and quickly found other members who wanted to join us. It turned out that instead of eight, now we had sixteen people coming along and with several disappointed members who couldn't join us. Through Mr. Sung, we were able to add another van and I particularly asked the two vans to go together as caravan so we will be staying together in one big group. ET and I had to split up with SC and CiC, just so both vans would have Mandarin speakers to do the translation and communication. To my surprise, Scott told me a few days before we reached Taiwan that he would personally come up to meet us and take us around. I was so relieved that he was willing to drive four hours to be with us for the day activities. He and Mr. Su worked so well together we never lose sight of one another throughout the whole trip on that day. They don't speak fluent English but their flexible and courteous manners made this day very special for all of us. Thank you, Mr. Sung and Mr. Su! 

Diamond Princess arrived Keelung port early in the morning. After breakfast, we met all our members at the casino at 7:30 and walked out to the terminal where Mr. Sung and Mr. Su were waiting for us downstairs. By the way, all passengers need to bring a copy of their passports when going through immigration here. Some of our members wanted to use the currency exchange machine in port but failed. Fortunately, they did have a counter with personnel to handle the currency exchange. By the way, the customs inspection is very strict here. While getting out of the terminal building, there were inspectors warning every passengers to not take any fruit or meat items off the ship. One of our members brought two bananas and was fined heavily right there.

This photo was taken by Scott Sung who was picking us up at port early in the morning.

Arriving Keelung port on a rainy day. Keelung is famous for its rainy days.



Yehliu Geo Park
Our first stop was the Yehliu Geo Park near Keelung in the Wanli District. Yehliu Cape is mainly composed of sedimentary groups of rocks in the northern coast of Taiwan. The cape stretches around 1,700 meters into the ocean with many unique geological formations including the iconic "Queen's Head" where hundreds of tourists lining up to have their photos taken on a daily basis. Visitors can let their imaginations run wild as they come upon these rocks including the Sea Candles, Fairy Shoe, Ginger Rocks, Elephant Rock, etc. lined along the coast. Mr. Sung was afraid that the strong wind may cause the park being closed for the day but fortunately we found it opened with many visitors there ahead of us.

A group picture at the entrance of the park. Thank goodness, we had the nicest people in our group.

Mr. Sung suggested that we might as well have a picture with this replica of the Queen's Rock since we may not want to get in the long line for the real one.


A group of Mushroom Rocks


Mazu Cave

Queen's Head


While talking to Scott about visiting one of the temples in Taipei, he suggested that instead of going to any of the ordinary temples, he can take us to a temple in a cave which should be more interesting and unique and it's right in the Keelung area. O.K. we all agreed to go there for a look. It turned out that this is near the Keelung port, on the other side of the harbor up on the hill.

Xiangongyan Zuisheng Temple
It took a while for us to find the location of this temple because we couldn't get through the tiny road that the GPS was directing us. This place kind of reminded me of the Batu Cave in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but quite a bit smaller.


Not a huge climb up, thank goodness!

The first shrine and altar inside the temple.

Another one inside the next room.

With carved statues along the walls of the cave.






When we thought that was it, Scott lead us to a crack at the end of the room...

...only those small enough can get through.
Scott was left on the other side.






A very small shrine inside this chamber.


Out in the front of the cave temple stood an incense burner.

A statue of Buddha.

History of the Fairy Cave

After the Fairy Cave it was time for us to head over to Taipei. It was raining quite heavily at times and everything looked gloomy. Scott took us to this famous xiao long bao (steamed soup buns) restaurant behind the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall where we enjoyed a wonderful lunch. It took a while to get all of us in this crowded restaurant but we settled in and ordered the food according to our liking. 

Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao (Soup Buns)

The waitress having a difficult time settling our separate bills.
Thanks to SC who sacrificed his dining time to work out the problems with ordering and paying.

This is a favorite spot for tourists and locals alike. Fortunately, we were there early enough before the long line was formed. They serve food similar to the popular Ding Tai Fung but for a lot less. 

Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao-- I have heard of this place but never tried it before. I will definitely come back with my family in the future.

Shrimp dumplings that was shared by another couple.

The best Hot and Sour Soup.

Fried dumplings, delicious!

Xiao Long Bao (Steamed soup buns)

A member ordered this shrimp glass noodle pot, looked so delicious.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall is located right across the street from the Hangzhou Soup Bun restaurant so we just walked over after finished eating which was quite convenient. The main attraction for me is the changing of the guard at this site, which happens at the top of each hour. We were able to explore the exhibition hall before the event. The last time I was here must have been over ten years ago and it was nice to be back and see that most of the buildings and exhibits are still intact even under certain political changes. 

A painting of Dr. Sun Yet San and Gen. Chiang Kai Shek right in the center of the hall.

The limousine once belonged to Chiang.





When it was about time, we positioned ourselves up in the main hall, waiting for the changing of the guard ceremony.


Chiang's will carved on the wall.





It was incredibly impressive. 
Too bad I couldn't upload the longer video clip that captured the moment.


The National Concert Hall on the right as we exit the Memorial Hall and the "Liberty Square Arch" up front which had a name change. On the left is the Performing Arts Library and National Theater.

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall

Saw these sculptures in Shilin on our way to the National Palace Museum.

It was very busy and crowded inside the National Palace Museum that afternoon. I was happy that I am not the only one who do not enjoy museums. Some of us found the cafe and enjoyed a cup of coffee with some snacks while waiting for the rest of the group. I was here last year and did go through some of the exhibits. They also sent the most iconic item "The Cabbage Jade" to Taichung during this time which was a disappointment anyway. For those who are into museum and/or have not done this before, the National Palace Museum is definitely a worthwhile place to visit. They have the best treasures from China since they transported the most valuable items from the Forbidden City in Beijing when the Nationalist government moved to the island of Taiwan in the late 1940's.

By the time we got back together to leave the museum, it was almost 5:00PM and that should be the end of our time with our drivers for the 9-hour day. Scott was very nice and told us that it was OK, they have no problem if we go longer. Then they took us to Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world hoping to see the magnificent night views of Taipei from up high. When we got to the ticket counter, we were told that the visibility was poor that day and we might not be able to see too well. Our group decided not to risk the $600 NTD ticket and would rather get back to Keelung port earlier. While one bus had everybody there they were able to leave for Keelung. Some of the members in our bus did not want to go up to the observation deck so they went to explore the mall. Fortunately, we were able to find them before our 7:00 meeting time was up. 

We didn't get to go up to the observation deck, might as well just take a photo of the building, in the rain.

Taipei 101 with the top floors hidden in the clouds.

Group picture of van #2 before leaving Taipei 101 for Keelung.

We hit traffic jam everywhere we went on our way back to Keelung. By the time we reached the port it was close to 7:30. Scott dropped those who wanted to get back on the ship at the terminal first, then he drove us to the Keelung Night Market which is about three blocks away.  After saying goodbye to Scott, we went around the night market but found it to be a little disappointing. With many vendors not opened on a rainy day, it made this market a lot less attractive than I expected. We went around a couple of times and decided it was time to walk back to the ship.

A bowl of hot soup was good on this rainy evening at the night market.

It was an easy walk back to the terminal even in the rain. I decided to go up to the Horizon Court for a late dinner since I really did not have much at the night market. We had a fun, long day in port and I was glad that my duty was done and everybody was back on the ship safely. We will have another sea day tomorrow before arriving Hong Kong for another port day.

*I have posted Mr. Scott Sung's contact information on the left column for anyone who are interested in using his service. It is much easier to use the app called "Line" to contact him and he actually prefers using that particular app that is very popular in Taiwan. 


"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved."        Ephesians 2:4~5

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