Another day, another adventure

This link will take you to an overview of some of the terrain I traversed in today's adventures. My first foray was south of the circle (shown bottom center) where I saw no fewer than 4 7-11's in the space of about 6 blocks. One of those was directly across from what appears to be a Taipei version of Circle K. Two of the 7-11's were within a stones throw of each other. If you look closely at the picture with the 7'11 banner, you'll see across the street and down just a little ways another 7-11.

At one of the 7-11's, I stopped in for yogurt and a power drink (something/anything like Gatoraid). I couldn't find any brands I recognized. I skipped over the beer flavored tea and bought the "Pro-Sweat." Yum.

Later I ventured west. With just a bit of a hike I got to the lake (for which City Lake Hotel is named? Probably.) and walked around the lake and a third of the way up the mountain. I did see a butter-yellow slug bug (tag!) and I spent a few minutes visiting with a chatty local, but once I got to the lake I was resoundly ignored. I was the only non-local hanging out there today.

There is a two-story structure that allowed for a pleasant passing of time. It helped me to reclaim some of the wind I'd lost. Little did I know.

After resting a bit and meditating on "things" I was back in motion. I set off to finish the loop of the lake. On the far side of the lake, there is a mountain. I'm not sure how tall it is, but after hiking a ways I realized the distance to the top was marked along the way. I was about 1/3 of the way up when I decided I'd had enough. Out of nowhere I'd developed a deep straight-from-the-lungs nasty cough. Maybe it was the altitude. So, with only 1200 meters to go, I bailed on the mountain climbing and headed back to the hotel.

Considering I rode the stationary bike for ~25 minutes this morning, my legs have gotten quite a work-out today.

I think I'll call it a day a wee bit early tonight.