10 Days Taiwan and Hong Kong Trip - Day 4

It's another brand new day. Can you believe, it's already our fourth day. Hmm...... time really flies. We started today with a tour around Shangrila Leisure Farm, not actually a farm but more to a park. They have plenty of different fruit trees planted, such as pomelo, guava, dragonfruit, orange, and many more. It will be nice to spend a day with family there as it has all the greenary view that we, Singaporeans, lack of.

After the morning walk, we make our way to 九份老街 where they sell all the good food and goodies. Yeah yeah....... but the stupid thing is, it's again right after our lunch. How to eat??? Anyway, we just "ファイト". Basically, it's a very simple street with shops at both sides selling goodies, souvenirs, tea, paint brushes, 芋圆, 贡丸 and many more. I think it is still early when we reached as most of the shops are still closed. Overall, it's an interesting and must visit place.


Satisfied with another round of makan, our next destination is Taipei 101. Errr........... Mary姐 says that actually they are losing money every year. Of course, it's just like Ngee Ann City with all the branded goods. Hmm........ why they can survive? Singaporeans are rich? あぁぁぁ....でも私と関係ない.

She said that there will be a grand fireworks event at every 跨年演唱会. It will be nice to join their countdown some day. Gonna start planning!


It's almost time to head back to our hotel for the night, 兰阳温泉大饭店. Our tour guide is so sweet to arrange private hot spring room for us. V(^ o ^ )V

The room is a typical japanese guestroom without tatami (たたみ). We are so pleased with the room. The hot spring bath is so big that 3 adults can enjoy at the same time. My brother is the lucky one 'cos he enjoys the whole bath alone. Arrggghhhh...........!!!!!

10 Days Taiwan and Hong Kong Trip - Day 3

Taiwan, Taichung --> ILan

After breakfast, we started our day with Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). The route uphill made me nauseous and sick. I almost puked but was lucky we reached the lake just in time.

The lake is split into 2 sections : Sun Lake (日潭) and Moon Lake (月潭). Basically, I cannot differentiate the 2 lakes. Mary 姐 said that the lake that looks like a crescent moon is the Moon Lake. Hmm......... 分からない. Anyway it's beautiful.

At 日月潭, you can see 3 different places of interest. The lake, temple (文武庙) and year stairs (年梯). You must be wondering what is Year Stairs. It is a flight of stairs made according to the number of days in a year, so there are a total of 365 steps. The 1st step starts with 31st December and the final step ends with 1st January. So if you are born on 1st January, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! , you need to go all the way down 365 steps and then climb up again to where you first started because there is where your tour group's meeting point. I am lucky 'cos I was born on 2nd November but ........ I have to go all the way to 12th March to take a picture for my second sister. Wah lau, the climb up the stairs almost killed me. Hahahahaha..... joking!

Let's take a look at the pictures.

1) Sun Moon Lake (日月潭)

2) Temple (文武庙)
3) Year Stairs (年梯)

After lunch, we make our way to the village of clogs (白米木屜村). Amazingly, you can see how creative is the Master of clogs (木屐). He invented clogs for wearing and foot flexology which they named it as 罚站木屐. I had a try on the 罚站木屐 and I felt the pull after only about 5 minutes of standing on it and stretching of my body. Incredible!!!! They even break their own records with the biggest clog in Taiwan (or the world).

The most unbelieveable thing of all is, before we leave the village, I STEPPED ON DOG S**T. (> _ <) What the hell? Is that my luck??? It must be like S**T. Wahahahahaha!!!!

We left 白米木屐村 and went straight to our hotel for the night, Shangrila Leisure Farming Resort. When you see Shangrila, you must be thinking : "It is a good hotel." but let me correct you, it is not what you imagine.

Tsk tsk tsk.......!!!!!

The exterior is good but I think they need to improve on their pest control. My bathroom was full of ants. It was so bad that my brother asked me to bathe in my sister's room.

We had our dinner. Mary 姐 told us that there will be some events tonight in the main foyer at 8pm. So there we were loittering around the main foyer before the event starts. The MC told us that we will be experiencing playing 陀螺，放天灯，搓汤圆 and there wll also be fireworks. Well, we didn't really play the 陀螺 but we did tried kneading 汤圆 and letting go of 天灯. It's actually quite a good experience.

10 Days Taiwan and Hong Kong Trip - Day 2

Taiwan, Taipei ---> Taichung

We started our day with 国立故宫博物院 (National Palace Museum). It was so crowded with all the chinese from Mainland, China. Arghhh.......... big turnoff.

Anyway, we headed in to see some of the famous collections of the museum.

First, Pi-Hsieh (貔貅).

The "pi-hsieh" is a mythological creature commonly thought to be able to ward off evil forces with its magical powers. In fact, its name means "to ward off evil" in Chinese.


Next, Jadeite Cabbage with Insects (翠玉白菜).

This piece is almost completely identical to a piece of bokchoy cabbage. Carved from verdant jadeite, the familiar subject, purity of the white vegetable body, and brilliant green of the leaves all create for an endearing and approachable work of art. Let's also not forget the two insects that have alighted on the vegetable leaves! They are a locust and katydid, which are traditional metaphors for having numerous children. For this reason, some have surmised that this piece was a dowry gift for Consort Chin to symbolize her purity and offer blessings for bearing many children.

Third, Square Sandalwood Curio Box (紫檀多寶格方匣).

When closed, this curio box looks like a plain container. The advantage to this type is that it does not take up much space in storage. Although the outside appears quite simple, it is by no means monotonous. The reason lies in the decorative method of using "panels" by the artisans who made it. On the one hand, they allow the viewer to appreciate both painting and calligraphy. On the other hand, they pique one's curiosity to find out what lies inside. Not letting the viewer down, the wings of the panels can be pulled out one by one to form a fan-shaped chest. Almost instantly, the static form of the box becomes animated. Combined with the center that can be turned, it looks almost like a windmill about to spin! If you thought that the pleasure in searching for the curios inside ended here, just wait! The sumeru mount forming the pedestal of the box is also a storage area. Almost like a modern interior design, this technique of using panels to conceal objects is a perfect match! Such innovation is indeed all by unrivaled in traditional Chinese craftsmanship!

To view more details, please refer to http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/collection/selections_02.htm?docno=920&catno=12&pageno=3.

If you are interested in antiques and rare collections. It's a must to visit National Palace Museum.

We ended our morning tour with more photos taking of the museum exterior and headed for Leofoo Village Theme Park (六福村主题游乐园). They are actually celebrating their 30th Anniversay this year. Frankly speaking, it's nothing great compared to Disneyland (OF COURSE!!!). The whole tour group didn't really enjoy much so we ended our 4 hours free time half an hour earlier.

To view more details, please refer to http://www.leofoo.com.tw/village/

Yeah.......... it's dinner time. Guess what?? Our dinner is steamboat buffet and we are going to Feng Jia Night Market (逢甲夜市) after that. 疯了......!!!! Who wants to eat the steamboat. We all had a quick meal and enjoyed our 2 hours free time experiencing the night market. It's not as crowded as Shi Lin Night Market (士林夜市) and a lot more things to see and buy. My brother bought himself a cap and sunglass. You will be able to see his best buy during the next few days. My eldest sister bought herself a sunglass too. She actually bargained all the way (aiyoyo.....). My second sister and me both got ourselves some かわいい (cute) socks and shoes.

As all night markets are, there are plenty of food stalls. Food like 超长冰淇淋，臭豆腐，咸水鸡，豆乳鸡 and the famous 官芝霖-大肠包小肠. We even caught something very funny in picture about 官芝霖 unhappiness about Taiwan famous 美食节目 - 时尚玩家. The clothes they sell there are typically Japanese and Korean fashion. I wanted to buy some 洋装 but they don't fit me at all. (T _ T)

Our hotel tonight is The Enterprise Hotel, Taichung. The rooms we stayed is big. It has 2 queen size bed. We didn't take pictures of the hotel room but the location is good as there are a big mall just 5 minutes away.