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Saturday 2 January 2016

優しい王国




Taiwan is such a sweet little country. It is not grand or lavish, but like a breath of fresh air, it refreshes you. Thanks to my dearest Anthonia, my wonderful traveling companion, we are able to set foot on this journey and explore Taiwan in depth. 


We arrived in 台中 on a plane that was called 春卷 (spring roll)。 We stayed near the art gallery, and while trying to contact the host for our stay, we had lunch in a lovely cafe with tiffany blue decor and wainscotting ~ It is such a welcoming treat. The food not only look as good as it tastes, it is also priced reasonably. At the evening we had a nice stroll in 美術園道。


We woke up and just randomly explored the city. I can spot cuteness in every corner, It is almost like walking in dreamland where there is an abundance of pretty things. We each ordered a "bubble tea" since it is the motherland of it. I chose 冬瓜檸檬 ( winter mellon and lemon) , it is very soothing for the ill. 


With  recommendation of my artistic friend and rose lover, Keith British, we got on a train and went for 田尾~ It is a small village that is almost unheard of, but it is a paradise for anyone who loves flower, cafe art and just a very slow and relaxing pace in life. There are not many tourists there, and there is only one hotel called 花宿。The hotel owner is very surprised that we are staying more than a day, as he thinks there is nothing to see.  It is more like a mansion turned into a hotel. The owner is super personable, treating his guests like family. He made us nutritious  smoothie and homemade waffles each morning, which in my opinion was better then the store bought ones. 


    In 彰化市 we leisurely walk through 摸乳巷, 老街, 九曲巷一带. According to tales, back in the days , people are very conservative , in order to meet their secret lovers, they would go to the narrow alley. Due to the narrowness of the alley, two people cannot pass , without a little body contact, hence the name.... I am very glad I was the only one walking through the alley though. We tried the sun dried fish eggs, it was a delicacy that is salty and savoury. A lovely souvenir that Anthonia brought back for her father. 


Before leaving the city, we made a brief stop at 扇形車庫. The fan- shaped train station really brings back the ambiance of 上海灘 era. My absolutely favourite place of this trip is  ice-cream at 宮原眼科. It is a historical hospital that is transformed into an ice-cream parlour . Each of the three levels has a different theme. I adore the top level with the theme of amazon forest with its hidden treasures. They creatively package  biscuits as books and tide them up in beautiful ribbons  that you can bring back as souvenirs.



The last night we stayed at 時光對白旅棧 (Story+ Hotel). It is a very new hotel but super tiny, like half the size of a cruise ship cabin. There is a huge teddy bear in the lobby and if you help fill out an survey you get a free polarid Photo :) The bustling night markets in Taiwan is another must see, I was not disappointed by 逢甲夜市. Once we wanted to order a snack, but wonder where the owner went, a boy suddenly raised up behind his silver cart out of no where and start prepping our order. 

On our last day we visited 彩虹眷村 ( rainbow village) .  This friendly old gentleman hand painted the whole village with vibrant colours. We were honoured to meet him and talked to him. He said I looked like his daughter ~ The happiness is very contagious there. There was also a masked super man dressed in rainbow colour costume playing guitar there. He handed me a postcard~ It is all very random and I was a little confused, maybe that is what Alice felt in her dreams. 



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