Just like the previous post, this was all from my Uncle's itinerary, i'm lazy and tired to type.
Mr Chong did not drop us off at the hotel. He stopped at a Tiramisu Shop. We immediately fell in love with the ice-cream and the cake with all sorts of flavor! We stuffed ourselves with tiramisu ice-cream, and carried away cartons of the cake too, as the word means “take me with you”.
This is a really big building for a tiramisu shop. I wonder what they do up there? Bake cakes?
The day did not end with the tiramisu shop. We were taken to Nan Bin Night Market (南滨夜市), next to Nan Bin Park (南滨公园). The night market was not as large as the full scale night markets in Kaohsiung and Taipei, but it had its unique features. Apart from sale of meats (including wild boar meat), dried food, fruits and vegetables, there were others like advanced kinds of toy guns, very much like the real ones. There were more stalls selling games ware than food stalls! What’s more we found fire crackers and sparklers that we liked.
We bought quite a lot of the fire crackers. We went through the gate to the park, which gave access to the beach. There we found some youngsters firing flares and threw fire crackers with deafening explosion! We joined them and soon found our own way of launching the cracker! Daddy seemed to remember how he did the job in his earlier days. He tried to launch some fire crackers in his own way, and succeeded! Soon people were all looking at the flares created by our fire crackers! One by one we took turns to light the crackers until everyone, including Grandma, had had a chance of lighting at least one fire cracker. It was such a fun-filled and a most memorable night!
It was the ninth day of our Christmas journey. We had to leave Hua Lian for Taipei. The journey took some hours, but our guide managed to break it up by stopping at many places for photos! The highway follows along the sea coast, but at times it cut through the mountains. The scenery is beautiful with the mountains blending in with the sea! We reached Taipei late in the afternoon. Just before checking into our Hotel 365 at Ximen Street (西门町) we bade good bye to our two drivers cum tourist guides. They had done their job honourably and professionally. They had gone beyond their line of duty, providing us with lots of suggestions, guidance, and help, including buying food and pushing the wheelchair of Grandma which they called “Ah Mah”. We really missed them and their services!
The day ended with a grand steam boat dinner feted by Paul Kan and his wife Mary Chee. Paul had flown in from Singapore the day before. He also joined in with our tour for the next three days! The steam boat was worth mentioning as it was grand and most enjoyable. The restaurant specially reserved a large table in a special room. There were six steam boats heated by gas stove from beneath the table top. Foods of all varieties were laid out in the dining hall where customers went around with their plates to fetch their choice selections to be cooked in the steam boats. Besides uncooked meats and vegetables, there were some cooked dishes too. Drinks too were supplied aplenty - hot drinks, cold drinks, wine and beer, coffee maker grinding and making fresh coffee from beans were also available! We really enjoyed ourselves that night! Thanks Paul and Mary!
And the whole night, i was only obsessed with this, marshmallow and chocolate fountain. I just can't get enough!
On the morning of the tenth day of Christmas, we decided on the journey to Yeh Lieu (野柳), a cape on the north coast of Taiwan. The cape, which protruded 1,700 meters into the ocean, was formed by geological forces! What was amazing were the hoodoo stones that dotted its surface. A number of rock formations had been given imaginative names such as “The fairy shoe”, “The bee hive”, “The sea candies”, and “Ginger Rocks”, etc. But the most famous among them was called “The Queen’s Head”.
We were dropped off at the Ocean World building where we bought our tickets for a visit to the geological park. The park required quite a bit of walking on foot. With a strong sea wind blowing against us, and a temperature around 13oC, we were initially doubtful whether we could complete the journey. But challenges were meant to be overcome! And the reward was the excruciating sense of joy and victory at the end of the journey!
The vista of the rough and roaring sea in the distance, and the beaches with all sorts and shapes of beautiful rocks was simply overwhelming. We were lost for words to describe it! Despite the strong wind, we managed to get as near to the rocks as possible. Some rocks were so close to each other that they nearly touch and looked like lovers kissing! Most rocks are shaped like button mushrooms. We mingled in with the rock to pose for photos. But we gave up trying to pose with the Queen’s Head. The queue must have been 300 meters long!
Me and the cartoon QUEEN HEAD.
We visited the Four Joined Japanese Style Residences, and were totally absorbed by the living art exhibits of the life of the office holders of the mine – their bedrooms, toilets. There were many other places which we went to, but we merely rushed through the places as time did not permit us.
Next we moved on to other spots of Yang Ming Park, Mt. Datun (大屯山), Xiaoyukeng (小油坑), and the hot springs.
The drivers took us to the Datun Recreation Area, a volcanic basin popularly known as Datun Nature Park. It actually formed the western section of Yangmingshan National Park. The area contained the marshy Datun Pond.
We visited one of the hot springs. There was a pond into which the hot spring flows. Visitors were allowed to soak their feet in the pond. There was also a shed with hot spring showers which were free for visitors. The hot spring was maintained by the city government.
Our journey next brought us to a most scenic and most memorable tourist village, Wulai District (烏來區) in the New Taipei City.
When we first came into the town, we felt as if we were coming into an historic old town! Wulai was in fact a rural district occupied by the Atayal tribe. Wedged in by two rows of mountains, it offered the tourists stunning views of scenery, and was famous for its hot spring baths and waterfalls! Visitors would go to the numerous hot spring hotels, public baths, as well as the Wulai river. The water in the river was warm.
Getting down from the car, we were stunned for a moment by the unique beauty and history of the place. Then slowly we started walking along the road, almost aimlessly, taking in all the sights and sounds, and the scent of the cold air.
There was also a museum, the Wulai Atayal Museum. We didn’t have time to visit the museum, so we shelved the idea for our next tour to Taiwan! Of waterfalls, the largest was the Wulai Falls (烏來瀑布). A gondola could take visitors to the top of the Wulai Falls where there was a hotel with lots of facilities! The Wulai Scenic Train, a converted mine train built during the Japanese era, was still operating. It took visitors from downtown Wulai to the attractions at the base of Wulai Falls. We could not resist the temptation of taking a ride of the train. It carried us around for about 20 minutes, and returned us to the same place.
Getting down from the train we continued to walk along the same road, following the crowd that seemed to get more and more congested! As evening drew nearer, the day got darker and darker! We crossed a bridge and came to a market of sorts. Lining up along the road were stalls that sold all sorts of food and meats. As we had not as yet taken our dinner, we availed ourselves of the opportunity to eat some sticks of barbecued meat, a cup of strawberry and some other fried stuff. We walked to the end of the shops, then turned around and walked back to where we started. The drivers were waiting there to send us back to our hotel!
And then we went to visit this place: (Sorry, couldn't see this in my uncle's itinerary, so i had to type it myself)
Climbing up the stairs was really tiring, so our uncles and aunties did not go up as my grandma needs to sit on the wheel chair and it was really inconvenient for her to walk all the way up. So, she missed this:
Yeap, behind me, that guard he was actually a real man, he was paid to do this... Didn't even blink.
Statue lvl: over 10000
As you can see, everyone was really impressed, some kids even tried to poke him and make him laugh or so.
I really wanted to know what they're thinking at that time. Mum told me that they're honored to do this job, and i bet the pay was really high! No doubt.
Just look at how firm and stiff he stands... Like a boss.
But sometimes i can see his gun moving, and a little bit of a vibration.
The twelfth day of our Christmas journey had finally come! We reached the end of our adventure! We carried our luggage and hand-carry bags down the hotel lifts at 7.30 am. One of the drivers was already there to load our luggage into his car! The other car came soon after. We were soon on the way to the Taoyuan International Airport! Good-bye Hotel 365 and good-bye Ximen Street! We reached the airport in about half an hour, and checked in at the Cathay Pacific counter. From the check-in counter to the immigration and security counters took up quite a bit of time! We were finally led to the boarding hall to wait for the flight at 12.00 pm.
Again the presence of Grandma and the wheel chair gave us advantage of being priority passengers, and we were led by a Cathay Pacific official to the boarding hall! Thanks Cathay Pacific Airways! We are very pleased with your services!
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