Shuhong Lotus Park

There was a loud knock on my door at 6am this morning.  Being the paranoid person that I am, I immediately thought there was some emergency situation going on, which is fair considering we're in typhoon season over here in Taiwan.  However, it was not an emergency, it was my dad, excited to no end, asking me if I wanted to go see the Lotus flowers bloom at a park in the city.


Not having any time to wake up and process the request (having gone to sleep at 2am, I was feeling like I was hit by a train for the lack of sleep), I reluctantly agreed and got dressed.  We were out the door not 30 minutes later, and after a bus and two line transfers on the subway, we arrived at Sanchong station, located in West Taipei.  Sanchong is pretty much deserted at this time, which gave us a good opportunity to take some of the cool artwork on the subway walls.  This is what I love about Taipei - artwork is everywhere.

 The temple, the temple, the temple's on FIRE!!!Tile artwork at Sanchong Station. 

Awesome dragon.

The area had been developed over the past two decades, before that time, West Taipei used to be farmland (think what Richmond Hill used to be).  Near the station (about a 3 minute cab ride) is Shuhong Lotus Park.  You have to cross a large elevated walkway to get there...it's quite intimidating (see below):

Now, before you start thinking this is a huge space devoted to the Lotus flower, I would like to set expectations by saying that it is more like a pond full of Lotus flowers and lilypads.  Nonetheless, they are beautiful.


The pond probably would take a regular person 10 minutes to circumnavigate.  All around this path are great opportunities to take photos of the magnificent Lotus flower in bloom.  Pink flamingo-like flowers are contrasted by the neon green leaves - stunning for photos that you can later use as Facebook cover photos.  Here are a few of my favourites:

Lone pink island in a sea of green.

Pond reflections.

On a clear day...

Water drops on lillypads.

Overlooking Shuhong Lotus Park

So the lesson here is, listen to dad.  He has good ideas once in a while.  While I'm still groggy as I type in this blog post, I am fortunate enough to have been inspired by such beauty so early in the morning and lucky that the weather this morning was absolutely stunning (considering it's been raining five days straight).


Speaking of being surrounded by beauty, there is one more photo I'd like to share along with one of my favourite scenes from American Beauty.  It is true that beauty is everywhere.  In the rush of your day, you often miss these amazing sights, I certainly did.  But now, a simple red bridge can make me pause and appreciate the moment and what I am looking at.

My beauty moment of the day.  The symmetry, the emptiness, the light...it all worked.

And I felt like this crazy from American Beauty...