This might be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen or been to.
The sunset view over the Lover's Bridge.The faint sunlight illuminating it.
And the bustling night activity along the Danshui street,
with the shops' billboards & neon lights creating a brilliant image,
while the shoppers adding on to the lively atmosphere.
Some interesting local finds in the shops as well.
2) Hualien beach, rocks, and rapids & Yehliu
Natural creations.
The greyish sands spanning the entire beach.
The rocks allowing huge waves splashing over it.
The above-land underwater life.
Simply love the rapids formation as well. =)
3) Jiufen
Not much of natural scenery in the inside (of cos).
But what captivated me was the string of shops opened on the mountain.
The stretch seemed to be neverending.
Every shop brought about some degree of anticipation.
If I'm not wrong, there weren't many repeated stores.
But a maximum of 2 for some specialities?
Here's the place to find the local produce and
to eat numerous delicious 小吃.
4) Rapids near Cihmu Bridge (Taroko)
That's the best part of Taroko, to me.
Perhaps due to the severe fogged sky,
we couldn't view the mountainous scenery.
Thus, as we travelled along the winding (and giddy) mountain roads,
sometimes zooming through blurred stretch of paths,
this 'finale' destination point gave us a refreshing eye-opener.
5) Qing Jing Farm
You couldn't have missed the many many sheeps while in the farm!
Tons of them. Big and small.
So cute and cuddly.. =)
6) Taipei 101
So much for natural scenery.
Let's slot in some city landscapes.
And one would say it's the Taipei 101.
Really really tall...
The bird's eye view was wow!
We were there at night,
so all we could see were lights shining and blinking here and there,
but they all combine to form a large panorama depicting city life.
I was quite amused to be able to identify some lights from the mountains
cos they were like hanging in the clouds.. Nice..
Top 5 Favourite Food of Taiwan
1) 阿宗面线 at Xi Men Ding
Too delicious that we went back to savour it on the last day. =D
2）珍珠奶茶 (everywhere)
Drank for at least 3 times?
Dun think I had enough of it!
3) 葱油饼 at Hualien
Unique rotiprata-like dish.
But made with eggs.
4) 阿婆芋圆 at Jiufen
Refreshing dessert..
but filling to the stomach.
5) 鸡排 at Shihlin
Who can miss this?
Very large piece, as compared to those found in S'pore.
6) 地瓜酥 with sour plum powder at Yue Lao
I guess it's the sour plum powder that made it nice.
In general.........
I like the people there, at least those who had met
somewhere along the trip,
especially Auntie Liu of Stone Minsu,
her hospitality was indeed remarkably excellent.
She really attended to most of her guests' needs
and made it a point to help us take photographs and videos
while we played our sparklers.
It was really fun staying at her house-'hotel'.
Night activities include playing of sparklers, kong ming lantern
and exercising our artistic flair on pebbles..
I like the weather there then..
Luckily it wasn't the hot period yet.
In fact it was alternating between 21-23 degree celcius.
As for the food,
oh well.. i like some but not used to some, e.g. the taiwan-style oyster omelette.
Some amusing discovery..
THe single-ticket for metro is given out in the form of a token,
and not those cards as used in S'pore.
Some of the bus stops in Taichung are really hard to locate!
And you can actually board a bus in the middle of the road??
Lolz..maybe for tourists only.
It's kinda hard to find a dustbin on the streets or public places.. hah
And...
It took such a risk and caution just to cross about less than 50metres of road to the opposite side.
The vehicles just zoom past...endlessly..
And I had been wondering what's the job of the 'traffic controller' with the luminous light stick
who stands in the middle of the road.
you can only stand and be part of the pushing crowd.
Packed to the brim.
You can't move a single step..
