After coming back from Taroko National Park we decided to grab some Vietnamese food for lunch and drive a bit around Haulien before ending up at the skatepark next to the beach.

Aww yeah, bánh mì!

Wondering how we traveled around with the skateboard in our midst while on a scooter?

When we were riding around town, Zoe pulled over on an empty side street and let me drive her scooter around for a bit. She just showed me where the throttle was, the brakes and the turn signal. I drove around in a few circles and around the street getting used to stopping and going and then she hopped on the back. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.

I’ve never driven a scooter before and to have a person behind me while riding in traffic where I wasn’t fully comfortable with the laws made my heart pound at a thundering speed. It was exhilarating!

We randomly saw this guy biking; the number on his back represents the amount of times he’s bicycled around Taiwan. So awesome.

We ended up on the coast, north of town where there was a small area that local surfers frequent.

 

We found a Mondrian inspired hotel!

After skating up a ridiculous sweat, it was time to cool down at Trunk & Beer with a refreshing beverage: seaweed beer. The atmosphere inside reminded me a lot of a nice small American style bar. They had an few booths and bar seating, but you weren’t allowed to sit at the bar since they were using it more as food storage and for food running. They also had a darts tournament going on in the back of the bar.  

For some reason that they couldn’t really explain, they weren’t serving the seaweed beer by the glass but only by the pitcher. They didn’t let me even try a sip to see if it was even worth getting the full pitcher but I took the chance on it anyways. They brought around a lime green frothy drink and I wondered if it was slightly radioactive. It won me over on the first sip.

The taste was a bit earthy: sweet and refreshing. The good thing was that I liked it, the bad was that my roommate doesn’t drink… or perhaps that’s a good thing? So, I had to drink the full pitcher by myself. Good times.

  

That was the end of a great second day in Hualien!