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. 

再见小娘惹

娘惹糕

We started our simple trip again - 4 days kinda of trip which was manageable & fun. Our luggage were hand carried one way and check-in the way back.

This time round, we selected Penang - a place that most of us will just transit when going to Thailand or down to KL. I have been to Penang for several times, mostly by bus and once by plane. Penang to me was more like a makan place with open air hawker and Penang is good for laksa and chendol. The last round I went was with my parents during CNY.

This round, we went on "makan" mission, engaging local contact to drive us around trying local delicacies. Frankly, though I knew Penang as one of the former straits settlements, I didn't connect it to Nonya and Baba culture. It amazes us for the rich culture it has. 

We also wanted to catch fireflies as part of the trip. However, it was raining and thunderstorm lurking around and I made the decision to forgo the trip for safety and assurance. I felt that the bugs won't be flying or appearing under the bad weather and hence no point to continue feeding the mozzy in the waters.  I didn't know kerbaya was a delight for my wife and we should plan it in our itinerary to avoid any disappointment. We chanced upon a local "antique" shop near Chulia Street and there was a real Nonya granny sharing with us her family photos and history, Her rich and okay-maintained kerbaya were colorful though I usually dun prefer to buy old stuff like old clothing.  As can be deciphered from the family biz that kerbaya was only a secondary biz among other antiques sold. This culture may soon diminish if we do not value or treasure it I guess. This might be the reason why the Nonya granny found joy and pride in sharing her stories with us.

Penang was real hot this time - making us reluctant going far or staying out long. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed a fair bit of outdoor excursion to Si Lek Si Temple and Khoo Kongsi mansion and went to Gurney Mall and very far Ferringhi.  One thing strikes me was the friendliness of the bus drivers and they really provided good customer service and patience to every passenger. Bus tickets are still a norm and we have to ask the driver the fare before paying. We took buses most of the time and Komtar was one of the "interchange" station for us to change and connect buses to other areas.  Like what my wife said, Komtar was not as interesting and she didn't plan it in the itinerary as she told herself she won't go there after her last trip in Penang LPC. But me as usual who remember Komtar as a "In" place wanted to go there to take a look and rekindle fond memories. Frankly, I am one that likes to take a look at places that I have been to so as to see if there are any more changes. Recollecting memories is a fun way of revisit a place and sharing old stories with my loved ones.

往事只能回味

 

Oct 11 - It is really a month that I would never forget.  Too many things happened this month - at times hard to handle.  Early this month, I finally fulfilled the dream and desire of having a family trip. A family trip with my parents, my sister and family including my baby nephew and with my wife. I knew that there would be challenges in being the tour guide for a relatively big group with different expectations.  So, going Hong Kong for the getaway was the best bet - familiar place for all of us.

We have our own time doing our own things this family trip. My parents enjoyed certain moments of the trip - the peak outing, the nice "sugarcane" juices from Central, the tim sum, the Jap package food, the vegetarian food that they always talked about. My baby nephew was "crowned" the happiest baby by my sister. It was his first overseas trip on plane, and my uncle (who also joined us) brought them to three countries - Macau, Hong Kong and Zhuhai. Baby nephew stayed with uncle and enjoyed each other's company. My wife has her own time doing photography, shopping and walking around. Me too, while most of the time spending quality time with my parents. In any case, this family trip is for my parents and for my baby nephew.

Good moments wont last forever but good memories do. I could still remember the happy faces of my parents at times. I spent some quiet time with my mother when we were waiting for my father and sister and bro-in-law to return from climbing the steps to the temple at Lantau Island. We talked about simple things. We also talked about the mosquitoes' bites that I have on my legs. About the itinerary. About the greater objectives in life. About our past trips. We changed our seats about 2 times due to the sun and insect attack.  But it was one of the peaceful moments for a nice conversation. 

登长城 Climbing Great Wall

Great Wall 

This is the second time we climbed the Great Wall. Hers was during school excursion while mine was during overseas meeting. We started early with a "booked" car, and I was excited to use my DSLR to capture the great wall this time round. Or more correct to say that I was climbing the Wall with my wife the first time.
Weather was good. Initially, my wife shared with me she thought we could take cable car up or only reach a certain point of the Wall would do. However, we not only climbed section by section and we also reached the point - Peak of Mutianyu Great Wall.
I like to trek with my wife. And this includes climbing the wall. I wanted to explore the villages nearby too but I was too ambitious. We took almost half a day to go up and down (we took cable down). This time we did put in much effort as we have not been exercising regularly. In fact, the most tiring part of the entire trek was the starting journey to the first gate of the Great Wall!!! 
Not sure if it is silly. I felt the urge to complete all other Great Wall tour if I could next time. Will the Great Wall be so distinctive? I chose this Great Wall as my colleague and guidebook reommended it as the best scenic Great Wall. Another thought rose for me to come again during different seasons.
I am a person who dun mind going back to the same place. I believe that there are always different feel, different stories to tell, different experiene each time. Which country have you visited more than once, and you will like to go back again?

玉渊潭的传说

Due to the Japan Earthquake, we had a change in itineray to Beijing instead. We didnt really plan to go Beijing as JJ and me had been there before.  For me, I vaguely remembered the place I stayed, the Great Wall and the museum, and of cos the Beijing duck. 

Sakura@Beijing

I wanted to see Sakura and I remembered my bro-in-law said before he had a few of the Sakura trees back in his London hostel. I decided to try my luck to search for Sakura sites in Beijing since the trees also exist and thriving in even faraway countries.
To my joy, there was one such site in Beijing and the park seemed to be very big. A particular advisory caught my attention - "Sakura Flower's Petal rain" (Direct translation). In my imagination, I thought it would be as romantic as what we had seen in Japan.  So, decided to give JJ a surprise while I slotted in the visit in our itinerary.
The park was easy to find. There were stalls selling goodies and drinks - but different from those stalls in Japan in terms of varieties. We chanced upon many flowering trees but we focused and headed towards the Sakura site. We found them. I was happy to be able to see Sakura despite the fact that we were not in Japan. However, the feeling of seeing Sakura in Beijing seemed different. We didnt picnic there. Not becos of the crowd, nor the mini "sand storm". We just had some tibits packed in JJ's bag and scurried off due to "stormy clouds".
In a way, I can appreciate why there are still so many people going over to Japan to enjoy the Sakura season. The feel is different. Initially I wanted to "spice up" the Beijing itinerary, but the visit made me want to visit Japan again in time to come. It is difficult to replace or substitute two different itineraries if the nature and character of the two different countries vary.  I tried to collect a few flowers but they didnt manage to survive the journey back to our hotel via packed trains. Yes, I tried to mirror what I had done in Japan to this trip. 
Each destination is different. Each place has its uniqueness for discovery.