Summer in Taiwan: Taipei Expo Park

It was the field trip day, from 8 in the morning till 12 at night. Our first stop was the National Palace Museum, Taipei. We were not allowed to take photos inside the museum. Correction: We were not allowed to bring a camera inside the museum.

The museum was okay. After we had finished sightseeing, we gathered in front of the museum. 

Kind of like the Forbidden City, but I am not sure whether it was once a palace or not. 

And, we took the bus to Taipei Expo Park.

Flowers!!! 

Hello Kitty Plane flying directly above us.

Moarrr flowerssszzz!!!

And we entered this amazing place. We were given this Power Rangers-like bracelet which we wore around our wrist, and as we entered into this place, we were awestruck! 

It's like a Flower show. Mechanical flowers changing its colours according to different seasons, and you could hear the birds chirping, the rivers flowing, anything that gives off the distinctive vibes of that particular season. The audio system was totally amazing!

You were required to put your bracelet to that space there, and the screen will pop up, asking you to choose one 'category' from several options like Love, Career, Family, etc. I had chosen 'Career'. Then a special flower hologram thingy would appear and move to your palm, and you had to grab that flower and close your palm.

A passageway. 

The same great audio visual presentations. You need to step on this particular round thing and the pictures on screen would change. 

If you ever dreamed to become a butterfly like that green caterpillar from 'A Bug's Life', then this is the perfect place for you to fulfil that desire of yours. :P

Walk and walk....

and tadaa!! You have transformed into a butterfly!!!

Again, more amazing 'high-technological' flower shows. Before you stepped out from this 'Flower Theatre', you were required to return your Power Rangers bracelet and received a 'flower card' of which there are descriptions about your future, based on the option you had chosen earlier. 

It was written in Mandarin, and Cindy, my Malaysian Chinese friend translated

It has something to do with 'You will become successful in the future, but you must work hard, get away from the distractions'. It sound similar to what I am encountering now but hey, it's a good advice to EVERYONE, right? 

Oh, I lost the card. :((

And, moving on to the 3D theater, 

Basically, a 3D presentation on how Taipei had developed all over the years to become a metropolitan city it is now. 

We went to another theater where we sat in the middle. It was a round-shaped theater.

And again, the screen depicted the places of interests in Taipei and all those beautiful stuffs about Mother Nature. 

And in the afternoon, we went to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. Next post!!! 

Summer in Taiwan: Losheng Sanatorium

There were several options offered for educational trip segment during the Symposium. Tiqah and I had chosen to go to 'Losheng Sanatorium' while the rest of us IIUM delegates chose Taipei Hospital Pharmacy for the trip. 

So what is exactly Losheng Sanatorium? It is a santcuary plus treatment center for people suffering from/diagnosed with leprosy during the Japanese Occupation/Administration in Taiwan. So as you can see, this place is ancient and the people currently living in this place (not sure, it had been 2 years!!) are within the range of age between 70 to 90 years old. 

Losheng Sanatorium is located at the top of a hill and it is like a small city for the leprosy patients. 

Let me tell you a bit about the history of Losheng Sanatorium.

Back then, there were no empirical or prophylactic treatment for Leprosy. Those who were diagnosed with leprosy by the doctors would be forcibly taken by the Japanese police to be sent to this Losheng Sanatorium, where there will reside here forever and ever, never to go out, never to meet their family members again. This is quite tragic. Most of the occupants had been living here since they were in their teens. Devastating, right? 

As we stepped into the sanatorium, we were ushered into this room to hear a briefing from this lady here. She was a university student who did volunteer works in this sanatorium. Her English is impeccable! She briefed us about the history of Losheng Sanatorium and showed us a video about it. The video was in Mandarin but I got the gist of what is it all about. 

We stepped outside for a tour around the sanatorium. First checkpoint, the temple/church.

This temple church combination building was built by the occupants to show their gratitude towards their Gods. 

You could see that it is a church with the pews on the left and right hand side of this temple/church and you could also see that it is a Buddhist temple with the statues of the Buddhist deities there. 

Next checkpoint, the old abandoned Kingdom hospital. 

This hospital was supported by these structures because there were construction works done at the foot of the hill, causing movement of soil/land which later produced cracks on the hospital buildings. Very dangerous.

This is an abandoned Japanese hospital. 

Now now, look at this picture (this one above) .

At the end of this particular hallway, you could see an exit. It's the only way in and out of the hospital during those days. We were told that the leprosy patients were really suffering physically and emotionally, they were feeling very homesick and they missed their family so much. And thus, they looked at the exit as a beacon of light towards freedom. 

You know what they did? 

They hung themselves on the wooden pillars you could see in this picture above, facing the exit. They just couldn't wait to get out of this place. 

It's like a perfect setting for a horror movie. Now I could tell people that I had been inside an abandoned hospital. Have you? :P Achievement Unlocked! :D

She looks creepy here!! Hehe. Sorry!!! 

In front of the hospital, there was a tree. 

Another volunteer told us that back then, there was no absolute cure for leprosy. The patients were just given painkiller to alleviate their pain. Soon, they ran out of painkillers/the pain was very unbearable. What the doctors did was that they give the patient the leaves of this tree/plant in the medicinal form, as a herbal preparation. The thing is, the doctors themselves know that these leaves do not contain any medicinal properties, but they just gotta give something to the patients. It's like a placebo effect I guess. 

Next, a tour around the residential places. 

It is quite similar to a housing area. A group of people would stay in one house, and another group in another house.

Vegetables were planted here. 

And oh, back then (and probably right now), there were this issue regarding the evacuation of the occupants in Losheng Sanatorium to somewhere else, much to the protests of the occupants, volunteers and public. You could google to know more about it. 

After the tour, we headed back to the briefing room and three of the occupants were brought there to share their experiences living there.

I remember asking a question to one of them, and the volunteer translated my question into Mandarin.

I couldn't remember my question, LOL, but I distinctly remember the answer that he had given me.

"I was a bright student at school. I wanted to enter university. But I was diagnosed with leprosy. The police came to my home and took me away from my family and placed me here. I was only in my teens. For the first 3 months, I cried everyday. I missed my family, I missed my friends, I missed school. I brought my books together with me here but...."

Okay, I forgot the rest of it. It had been 2 years!!

All in all, it was a very memorable day, a memorable experience that not everyone could gain. I wish to visit this place again someday.

And do you know that we have our own version of Losheng Sanatorium here in Malaysia? It is located in Sungai Buloh. My brother told me that they have their own currency there, of which I am not quite sure of, haha.

THE END