The WEATHER was good and it's the month of MAY. It's not yet summer in Taiwan but the heat is on in Fulong Beach. Its golden sands have been transformed once again into masterpieces of sand artists around the globe. Snake & Ladders, Monopoly and many more exciting sand toys can be found at the 2015 Fulong International Sand Sculpture Festival. Oh! Before I forget, “Happy Birthday” to all the birthday celebrators for the month of May. haha! It's the start of my Month-long Birthday Celebration and everybody is welcome to join my travel party!
The first travel adventure of my 29th birthday month became more special as three Filipino interns joined my trip to Gongliao District of New Taipei City. Ciara, Francis and Bryan were very excited to see Fulong Beach's annual sand festival. It was the opening day of the festival and I waited so much for this day to come. The East China Sea reflected the blue color of the sky much to the delight of locals who went swimming on that day.
Francis, Bryan and I first met Ciara at Taipei Main Station and from there we took a local train to Fulong Station. It was a one and half hour of train travel and a one-way ticket costs NTD 83. An entrance fee of NTD 100 was collected at the entrance of Fulong Beach with a 20% discount for those presenting their student IDs. The beach is actually a sandbar where the Shuangxi River meets the East China Sea. A big bridge called the 'Rainbow Bridge' helps the people to reach the beach proper.
Large chess pieces attracted us as we walked along Rainbow Bridge and we decided to have our first sand sculpture photographs there. We have fun taking photos with the 'King' while a giant 'Horse' gets all the attention. A lonely 'Pawn' was seen defeated along the beach. Poor pawn! Where is equality in Taiwan? lol
On the other side of the beach were more sand sculptures. We saw a toy car, teddy bears, Lego and many more. A scary baby was even there! It really doesn't look like a baby and more resembles an unborn child wishing to have a revenge on her mother. Scary as it is. There were other sand artworks that require a little interpretation. A cardboard caption was beside each artwork to help the visitors understand the meaning of the sand sculptures.
Among the sand installations, the most interesting was the one having a sort of 'bee hive'. Insects were coming out of a hole where it distracts the visitors. The sand sculpture was a church facade and it was a little bit annoying when giant bees or flies become photo bombers. I even have a photo with Francis and Bryan and the insects were flying around us. I consider it as the most unique sand sculpture in the festival for this year.
The travel adventure ended when we dipped our feet into the cool waters of Fulong beach. But wait there's more! We still went to Shilin to have a taste of the edible excretions at Modern Toilet. Francis and Bryan have fun washing their hands at a toilet bowl. The two very happy. After the delicious meal at the theme restaurant, we strolled along Shilin Night Market which is a must to see in Taiwan. It was not just a fantastic day. It’s sand-tastic!
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