The Jog along Tainan Canal @ Taiwan

With no gym at Princess & Elephant Hotel (P.E. Hotel) in Tainan City, it was decided that the exercise shall be at the great outdoors, with a jog along the nearby Tainan Canal! 

Here's the canal, a man-made waterway completed in 1926 by the Japanese colonial government for trade and transportation although its usage now is non-commercial and mainly recreational. 

The weird floating mascot in the earlier photograph is called Sababoy, an abomination of a fish-human breed that had the fish (milkfish to be correct) head and human legs!! That's like a suitable character in a horror movie! 

Whatever the case, let's enjoy the peacefulness of this quiet, serene canal. Even though there were proper footpaths and the time was like 8am, I didn't see many people out for exercises. Is this not a popular place or the people of Tainan only get fit in the evenings?

Was this a remnant of a city wall for Taiwan's oldest city? 

Or just something new with scenes of Tainan? 

Empty, lonesome path.

關帝聖堂 - honoring Guan Yu, the Chinese god of war, this Taoist temple was opened to the public in 1971 and stood out in the surrounding for its multi-storey temple architecture.

One of the reasons why the canal ceased to be a commercial waterway was the many bridges dotted along the canal. I counted twelve on google maps and this blue one has a whimsical name; 望月橋, moon-gazed bridge. 

Found more people exercising here; canoeing to be exact! However, I really respect their guts as it is not exactly hot like Singapore and to get wet in such cold water would be such an uncomfortable frustration.

Living in the above condominium would have been a leisure treat. Maybe something to consider when I am older, provided China doesn't attack Taiwan, and that I have some money to spend.

Something caught my attention.

Damn, I think I inherit my dad's genes for sure.

A tree full of blossoming flowers! Now, I appreciate but I am honestly ignorant to what tree that was. According to Google Search using images, it's a Pink Trumpet Tree!

Wait, that sounded familiar as I remember reading about this tree on The Straits Times, in their article about Singapore's cherry blossoms! You can read the article here. 

Alex got my dad's genes too. 

Can't wait for our trip to China in April! 

The huge banyan tree at the park alongside the canal. By this time, the sun was already quite strong and this was when my mom's genes activated; I don't want to get tan!

A pavilion? An artwork? 

Ending our jog at The Spring (河樂廣場) before strolling back to Princess & Elephant Hotel (P.E. Hotel) for a shower before checking out to our next destination! 

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Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)