A breakfast of choice is sometimes better than a buffet breakfast and that was what we discovered at Starry Inn. Instead of mediocre food fare which tends to promote wastage, we were given a simple set menu of quality food and choice of freshly brewed coffee or tea. This sets us on a positive mood when we rode the 18 km to Hualien.
Taking Route 193, a forest of trees meant for coastal protection totally obscured the coast from the road. Without google maps, nobody would have known we were riding so close to the sea.
Further down, impressive mausoleums with sea fronts called for good fengshui.
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| Standing in solidarity with Malaysia! |
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| Terima kasih |
At Chishingtan beach famously known as pebble beach, Claudine was aghast by its ugly sight. Similar to what Brighton has to offer, it was a total shift from her perception of pristine, white sandy beaches. A parked Bersih 5 van, in support of clean and free election for Malaysia plus the pill boxes scattered out of the nearby military base was more interesting!
Arriving at Hualien Station later, we followed Christoph to the nearby Giant bike shop for bike return and free use of their foot pump. It was also here that we met 2 other Malaysian tourers from Penang!
Chris was the first to leave LTF's Taiwan Spring Ride. After sending him off with a quick tuck in, we went in search of Hualien's famous pau shop at Zhongshan Road. Which explains why most of us were nodding away during our train journey to Yuli !!!
It was a great meet up at Yuli. Some of us had not met each other since LTF's 321 and MR2 Ride. Whilst there were veterans amongst us, both Khee Jin and LTF's recently adopted, Alice makes the freshie lists.
It was a great feat to settle everyone down for group photos and a lot more coordination required over dinner! When we finally started riding towards our hotel, it was already dusk.
Riding along Yufu Bike Lane, a dedicated bike lane which ran along the old railway bridge, a long queue entails the photo sessions at the fault line. Nobody could resist a momento at the only bridge that sits on 2 tectonic plates in the world ie the Eurasian and Philippines plate!!!
Through all the chaos, we were thankful Chief could still keep his sanity, making sure we stock up on grubs at the nearby 7 Eleven just before we made our final push up the hills to our hot spring resort. After all, it was a great LTF Reunion with steamy hot tubs, hence nobody was going to bed early!!!
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| S Queen meets Taiko |
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| The Dog whisperer laughing over stories of how Carolen got herself lost and found, oblivious of her plight all the time! |
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| The eccentric KC and the beauty |
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| Everyone could relate to Prue's road rash and Ben's amorous rescue! |
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| Doc and Chief |
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| Mama and LTF's recently adopted! |
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| KJ's first touring experience and he was converted after this !!! |
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