台北游记12 Day3 － 七彩屋

七彩屋 － 窗外景色

Day 3 - I browsed through the internet using our paid TW 3G SIM (No WIFI at home stay) to check out any nice food to eat. Little did I realize that this district was previously occupied by immigrants from China and they appeared to originate from Burma, Laos and Thailand or carrying some of their culture.

Interestingly, we checked with home stay owner if they could ferry us to sample nice food - and they recommended "Seven Colours" House. http://7colors.okgo.tw/index.html

It was slightly further down from the famous "Ru MaMa" which I read from internet. Homestay owner said it was opened by his friend and it was as nice though not as famous. We could also ask the owner to send us back and got a 10% discount too. So, we decided to keep that as an option and roamed around the old district there - it was supposed to be settled by old soldiers and the town was quite quiet that day. There was a museum but it was quiet when we found it. We wanted to "venture" in it to see old photos displayed in the museum but when we "on" the power for the lights, we heard a lot of buzzing bees' sound and we decided not to "risk" it especially when I spotted bees flying around at the entrance. Decided to "fly out" as fast as the bees, or rather before the bees found us. A mini-episode we have there.  

At "Seven Colours" house, the atmosphere was nice and cozy like a house. Makan for lunch starts at about 1100hrs and we were a bit hungry by then as we didnt have breakfast. Asking the waitress to recommend and she explained that the dishes were usually spicy, and some were like Thailand pancakes and delicacies.  It is interesting to know how YunNan culture actually slowly immerse into Taiwan Nantou. One of the favourite dish was this cauliflower packed with spicy meat ("Jingli" I think it is the name). The spices were very nice and unique. The background music from Yunnan let us immerse into the "mood" of border culture.  I like border culture as it usually shows the interaction of two or three countries.  I recalled going to Thai-Cambodia border and could see the mixture of goods and people from both countries. I could get a preview of the neighbouring country. 

The food tasting spurred me to find out more about the culture.  The owner drove us down to "Swiss Garden" and on the way, he shared that he was actually the chef for the food we ate. My dear said that guys were good chef usually and I felt proud hearing that as she has said I could whip up a good meal without me knowing too! The owner used to work in restaurant downtown and he decided to open the shop and could keep his family company as well without the need to travel up and down the mountain. Indeed, his roots were from Yunnan though he has not visited Yunnan before. It was still a new business for him and I could sense that he was working hard and also enjoying the birth of his baby soon (The wife was PW and still helped out in the stall).

I like talking to locals and I am more sociable when I am overseas. Interacting with them allows me to know more about local life so as to inspire me in taking better pictures. Similarly to what we experienced in France, the people at countryside seemed to be more friendly and helpful. They were not "petty" and quite sociable. 

台北游记12 Day2 －春大地民宿

Frankly speaking, I like to stay at higher ground and enjoy the scenery of mountains and clouds. Though I have spent time at Alishan, but I have not really tried a "home stay" before. This was the first time.  We surfed the web and I booked 春大地民宿 "accidentally". 

It was only recently that I have heard of the story of country and town mouse from my wife and nephew. So, it seemed that I was going to live a "country mouse" life for the next few days. The air and view were good from our balcony. We chose 精致二人房 and it also has a balcony with door "protected" by wire mesh. By the time we checked in, it was around evening time. We were greeted by a "5-cm" big moth and I started to appreciate the life of a country mouse. The room was generally clean except the presence of small insects like beetle, moth etc. They were harmless though. The LCD TV seemed to be a bit out of place with the wooden column and wooden decor like a tree house.  I read that the "tree house" concept is quite popular for yunnan people. 

I like to see stars and wanted to count the number of stars with my wife at the balcony. But it was a bit "challenging" as the lamps outsides the balcony were a source of attraction for moths at night. However, we did go out and take a quick look at the sky and it seemed to be starry night as well. This made us recall Vincent's starry night painting in Avignon. 

There was no need for air con as cool breeze flew into the room, just like the rooms in Genting. We could hear different birds' tunes in the morning and I was not "allowed" to watch the TV as my wife said we should listen to nature instead of disrupting the peace. This made me try to imitate different birds' songs that we heard。

It is easy to find this home stay as it is located besides a grand England home stay 老英格兰. The home stay owner told us that a night would cost nearly 10,000TWD. My dear said there was no need to stay in such England castle and it was better to go London for the actual stay instead.Nonetheless, it was a "iconic" building even when we were traveling up to the home stay.

We did not sign up for the sunrise tour as both of us have seen the sunrise at Alishan. Though the home stay staff said the sunrise was different at 合欢山. I actually like to catch red sunrise but I think we could not catch the red one unless we were at the peak e.g. my Kinabaru climb.  

I secretly decided to wake up to see the sunrise from our balcony - sun wakes up very early in taiwan especially in mountainous area. So, I woke up at 4 plus to check the direction and wait. Managed to see the sun rose over the mountain (Dear said that this was not really sunrise but merely sun appeared after being shielded by the mountain).  Bingo, it looked the same as the one in Alishan.  But, I still liked it. After viewing the sunrise, I went back to bed and realized that I was quite "cold" as compared to my dear dear. She woke up and commented that she was so cozy warm in bed under the blanket until I slipped back to sleep besides her. This was funny to me.

Feedback: The owner and staff were helpful and we got free lift from the owner to certain points. I think it is still a good stay as I am also certain insects do appear in other home stay since it is actually mountainous area. To me and my wife, it was a nice and "adventurous" experience as country mice.  Frankly speaking, my wife adapted better as a country mouse than me. 

http://springground.cingjing.tw/

台北游记12 Day2 － 青青草原

饭后，我们就搭公车到青青，车程不到十分钟。盖个印章就可进出草原。我们沿着指示牌走到表演区。草原很大，辽阔，空气清新。很多人已在等着看表演，我们选好位，开了有草

原味的伞，等。前排的couple还好有自动听主持人的话，收起伞，不然就"kenna" 了。表演前有小马在绕场地，喜欢骑马的，可以pay and try.

The show started on time and the NZ host was very entertaining. Despite sweating and panting while he talked, he was comical and engaged well with the audience. The finale was the shearing of the sheep's "clothes". A bit "cruel" when he held the sheep but I guessed this was the way to control or manage the sheep. We could hear "meh meh" backdrop sound. One interesting point was the use of whip and the sound effect it produced actually controlled the sheeps rather than the actual hit itself. Sheeps would follow the instructions of the shepherd once the whip sound was heard. After the show, there was autograph session with the host while we went to buy sheepy ice cream - Wife complained that her ice cream got very strong sheepy smell but I kinda liked the taste. It was fresh and refreshing for me. No chance to squeeze milk though.

我已经准备好去喂羊，买了饲料，就带老婆去找绵羊了。绵羊很聪明，闻到饲料就紧跟我们。绵羊吃了后，会用舌头“清洗”我们的手。老婆有点紧张，但也有玩。The sheeps were very adorable. I wanted to take a photo of us lying down with sheeps behind us, but forgot to bring tripod along and the sheeps were also scattered all over. 

The farm closed at around 5pm and we started to wonder the way back to our home stay. From map, it was still a distance back but we felt that it was still manageable as the sky was bright and won't be trapped in the farm.  There were designated walkways and paths down from the farm, so we were more assured that we won't be lost. Walking back though was quite remote as not many visitors took the route down. The trees did not "flower" as seasons were over. We could image how nice it would be during the flowering season. 

We wanted to take an alternate route besides the steps (I rem it was 步步高升 - name of path), but as the route appeared to be not well maintained, we didn't take the risk. However, we could see the view of the path as we walked down the steps. We passed by a fruit stall selling 蜜桃, and we bought to try. Frankly, I have not tried the fruit after birth so it was a new experience. Quite nice and soft, and we decided to buy more when we have the chance again. Also passed by a vendor holding up "bees nests" asking us to take a look at the queen bee. "No thanks". 

It was a relaxing but long walk back to "Swiss Garden" and to home stay. Luckily, there were wooden walkways down but after "Swiss Garden", we have to keep to the side of the road, took care walking down as there were no designated walkway. We walked in single file and I would keep a close watch to ensure we were safe. 

Our real "country mouse" experience would start when we checked in to our homestay...

台北游记12Day2

Day 2: We decided to follow "E-Go" bus service to travel from Taipei to QingJing （清境）。Unless you have the time to travel by rail and also ensure that you don't miss the connecting buses, the E-Go bus is the best bet since the moving off time is the same.

We have an early night at Y Hotel and went to Taipei Train Station to meet up with E-Go bus operator. Have read reviews that it is a good service and we boarded the bus on the dot. There were toilet breaks along the 5-hr journey and we topped up our food and tibits along the way. Called or emailed our 民宿 for alighting point and they mentioned the drop-off point at 见晴 was the nearest and it was within 5 mins short walk to our home stay at Spring Ground 春大地。 Checkin time was strictly 2 pm so we dropped our barang and bought the tickets to 青青草原，瑞士花园，纸箱王makan. The owner was sharing that the weather was good today and we should go for such excursion. So, we took up the offer and the owner granted a lift to 国民宾馆 where the swiss garden and makan place were located.  As it was a Sunday, there were public buses from this point to the farm and each pax at 15 TWD. The makan place was uniquely "paper" and I was worried if the paper chair could tahan my weight.  The waitresses wore "Girl Guides' uniform" and this attracted my wife's attention until I have to signal her to "stop". The food was okay, just a very unique makan experience.  Our drinks were served in cute paper box which could be converted to be "piggy bank" - really innovative. 

There was a 7-11, post office and the swiss garden there. There were also "Bees" decoration for the "paper makan place" and I wondered Y.Frankly, we were very excited to see the "she eps" roaming around freely in the pasture. The home stay owner shared that there would be a "sheepy shearing" performance today as it was a Sunday at 1400hrs so we were keeping track of the timing to ensure that we hopped onto the public bus to the farm.  I didn't really have the chance to enjoy playing with the sheeps in Australia as I was on training. My wife didn't have the chance too so it would be a fun experience.  I was thinking of sayanging them and also squeezed milk =).

After a full meal, we headed off to the bus stop slightly downslope (where traffic police officers stationed), and prepared our gear and coins to the farm (fun) journey. Weather was cool and so no sweat.  I got a bit annoyed with the long umbrella that the home stay owner lent us in case of rain. Hee, it was "restricting" my movements esp when I wanted to take pics.  Nonetheless, the owner was a nice person and his voice did sound like "康康“. 

台北游记12 (Day1)

It has been some time since we last stepped onto the land of Taiwan. My last trip here was in 2008 CNY when I came with my parents. It was a rainy CNY though.  Cosmo Hotel was the choice hotel as it was near to Taipei Train Station.  This time, however, we stayed at YMCA Hotel - it's known as Y Hotel here. (We didn't book Cosmo cos its website was not accessible at that time of booking)

Y hotel was convenient as usual, just like its HK one. There was a 24-hour book store but only its first storey opened 24hr to be exact. Our Day One was for my wife to do her shopping as this journey was primarily focused more to be a "country mouse" type than a "town mouse" type.  I like to use the "mouse" analogy as I only recently got to know about the story through my nephew and wife! There were changes in Taipei even at the Airport. Though there was a delay in transit flight, we were still happy as we were traveling. I love traveling! 

After shopping, we took the train to night market. It was a walk from train station to the night market and we saw a long q for this "pepper bun". We decided to makan other things first including smelly doufu. Initially, we went around, hot and sweaty to find for food. Got a bit "frustrated" as all stalls were full and packed on the Saturday. I came with the mentality of eating a bit of everything and so we went around sampling. I recalled bringing my parents over here. Night markets in Taipei were quite fun and really got good food. Due to hot weather and stuffy environment, we were too lazy to use DSLR.  I rem hearing someone saying that there was a nice bean curd there so we went to try. This time round, forgot or lazy to read Lonely Planet for makan recommendations, so we would look at the Q and then try.

Our last stop was the pepper bun and it was quite spicy and nice. After all the sweating, we were too lazy (ya, lazy) to think of walking the way to train station again. As I recalled passing by the railway station, we decided to pop in to see if we could take a rail ride back to Taipei instead. Bingo! Dear said it was a good decision and cheaper option (by about 10 TWD I think). So, we went into the trains, and hopped onto a train down to Taipei. I have thought that the trains were not so frequent as compared to the MRTs that we used to come Raohe. 

We have to be back early as it was a early bus ride tomorrow for our country mouse journey.