Spring Day Archetype

I went out to 南港 to skate the bowl with the expat crew. It was warm without being hot, clear blue sky, and windy without being too windy. These are all unusual conditions for Taipei. The group of guys who skate there are all the sort of company I prefer. The bowl was once great, they tell me, but now it's only good. I don't know, because I never skated bowls much. It seems good enough to me. It's right outside the MRT station, but up the hill, hidden behind the main skatepark, under a temple, on a steep hillside that is overgrown with tropical plants. Adjacent is a 20ft vert ramp. The bowl is where the good things happen. Park skating is lame anyway. Also, you can't hear the traffic chaos from up there at the bowl, just the sounds of skating and the breeze through the trees. You can't smell the 2 stroke scooter exhaust, or any of the less horrible smells of the city. The bowl is a tiny, convenient escape from my daily life.