Taipei is a wonderful city, but there's more to Taiwan than its tiny capital.

On Day 9, we rented a car and headed eastwards for a day trip. 

Our first stop: Yehliu Geopark

It's a natural landscape composed of mostly sedimentary rock. I took a geography class back in the 10th grade so I can tell you that that just means layers of different rock that's been compressed into one giant rock over years and years.  Because they're composed of sediments, the rocks are more susceptible to weathering and erosion. This is slowly turning into a science class. Anyway, the point is that over time these rocks have transformed into odd looking shapes and made for nice little park.

The most famous of these odd shapes is the Queen's Head! 

It's supposed look like a lady with a skinny neck and a tall crown. Can ya see it? 

There are lots of other rock formations. For instance, these are called Honeycomb Rock

And those over yonder are Mushroom Rocks

Really, just a ton of rocks. 

Side story: Mr. Green, my 10th grade teacher, told us that he was once held at customs in China for trying to bring rocks out of the country using his carry-on luggage. He said he just wanted to examine them and stuff...? You can imagine why the officials thought he was a complete nut job. The guy just likes his rocks! Hahaha, he'd have a field day here!

When we got back into the car, our driver asked if we wanted to visit a mountain full of cats. Uh, is that even a question? 

He totally lied to me -- it wasn't a mountain. Houtong is actually a small mining village. In its more prosperous years, this village produced the largest yield of coal in a single area, but as the coal-mining industry fell in 1990, so did the town's development. Many moved away, leaving their pets behind, and over the last few decades, many more chose this spot to abandon their cats. Thus it became known as Houtong Cat Village. I think about a hundred cats roam the area now. 

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Next stop: Jiufen!

Next to Shifen, this was my second-most anticipated stop.

Why? Because this is where Miyazaki got his inspiration for "Spirited Away"

Okay, I haven't actually seen the movie before coming to Taiwan, but I've heard great things! Especially about the cinematic images and whatnot. 

The layout of Jiufen is quite confusing. Lots of little alleyways and dead ends if you're not careful. But the view from no matter where you are is absolutely beautiful, and if you follow the crowd I bet they'll lead you to the exact spot that inspired the scenes in "Spirited Away" 

Right here. This little set of stairs with it's bright red lanterns and narrow walkway. I bet it's even more magical at night when the lanterns are lit up.

There are loads of little tea shops on the edge of the mountain where you can enjoy a cuppa or two while admiring the view. If you really want to commit, there are a few hotels that opened up in the recent years so you can spend how many days you need to explore all of Jiufen. 

But as for us, we were on the road again after a couple more one-bite street food.

After Jiufen, it was one quick stop after another. Here's a snap of Jin Gua Shi, an old gold and copper mining district. You can visit the mining museum as well as a few shrines and the preserved Japanese-style home of the former mining director, but note that they are closed on the first Monday of every month. Which is exactly when we went. Figures. 

NEXT! (It was a very busy day) KEELUNG NIGHT MARKET!

Famous for its large selection of choices, especially its seafood, it was time for dinner.

And why not start with dessert? I've seen these syrup coated fruits all over Taipei and I was intrigued. I got the strawberry ones and it was just alriiiight. Strawberries are little overrated. I don't think I need to try it again. 

I read on a number of blogs that I needed to sample the crab thick soup and glutinous oil rice. I bet those names sound a lot cooler in Chinese. The rice was good, but I loved the crab soup! Lovely chunks of fresh crab meat in thick and seasoned soup. What's great about the night market here is that each stall is numbered for easy direction. I got mine at Booth #5. If you're in the area, I recommend it.

Another dish everyone seemed to love is Butter Crab. We didn't go to a booth for this one, and instead opted for a side cart. Crab baked in butter, sounds promising.

I wasn't expecting it to be served like this though! It was quite small and really, really sweet. If you're into that sorta thing, then I say go for it, but I think I'll have my crab with no butter next time. It was a pain to crack the shell to get to the meat, so M did most (all) of that. 

Because the crab was tinier than expected, we improvised. Not that we're complaining...

You pick the color of your lantern first. Each color represents a different message. Off the top of my head I remember that yellow means money, green means success, and red means health.

You then go to the side of the train tracks and using ink and a brush, write out your wishes.

We picked white for a bright future.

After a few more pictures and a silent prayer, we lifted up our lantern and watched it float away. 

Brb, having a Tangled moment. 

I know it doesn't really mean anything, but it was a nice symbolic thing I did together with M. We wrote out our hopes for the future, both for our self and for our relationship. Like I mentioned before, 2015 is going to be a big year. Lots of things are going to change and we're both venturing out into new territory. Honestly, it's probably the most frightening time of my life. Lighting a lantern was our moment of calm. Geez, I'm getting all dramatic again.

Shifen was the perfect ending to a very, very long day. M and I fell asleep on the car ride back to Taipei, and just knocked out as soon as we got home. Looking back on it, it's kind of amazing how we were able to see all that in a day. Even if you're only here for a short amount of time, I recommend setting aside some time and rent a private car or even a taxi for a day (which I saw lots of people do) and see what lies outside the city borders.