This is sick...

I can't believe how low people stoop sometimes just to get attention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6571361.stm

happy trails

I went hiking the other day with my friend Kim, whom I used to work with at a school called Alpha Beta, which was a ridiculous experience worthy of their name. Anyway, I'm getting back into the swing of exercising now that I've officially hit the four month mark for surgery recovery. Doc said six months until full recovery and exercise, but he said walking is an excellent start and that I needn't wait the full 6. I've been hiking up the mountain on my 2 hour lunch breaks twice a week for the past few weeks, and I'm starting to really get my energy back up. I had forgotten how much exercise contributed to my well-being before. Now to keep the momentum going...

There are some pretty extensive trails on YanMing Mountain up in Tienmu fairly close to my school, so we took a bus to the base and climbed the 1800 steps, which annoyingly only got us about two-thirds of the way to the top! There was reprieve from the 32 degree heat in a shaded trail at that elevation, which had no incline to speak of and that headed straight into the subtropical forest. A beautiful marked wide trail wound itself under a tall, cool canopy on the side of the mountain. There was a national park-ish sign nearly 100 meters in that warned us to be wary of the Macaque, a small and sometimes vicious monkey, which the sign claimed is endemic to Taiwan. I'm sure they didn't mean the monkeys are like a disease to Taiwan, but they did say not to carry fruit with you, or look at them, or raise or eyebrows, or smile: you'll get your butt kicked!

For all of you who know and love the perimeter trail in Smithers, you would have loved this: it's merely a subtropical replica. Aahhh, perimeter trails...

Here are some pics from the hike. I really wanted to get a shot of an orb spider, which are shiny and bigger than my hand, but they all seemed to be in hiding that day.

cheers