Taiwan: 台中 Taichung PART III

Time for food....we were out there searching.......

Street full of food stalls

Fermented tofu

伍角船板 [Five Cents Driftwood House]

A massive restaurant built out of driftwood, scrap metals, clay, stones and shells. Very creative design I must say. The restaurant was built without a single blueprint. It was soley designed by Hsieh Li-Shian who solely relied on daily communication with the builders on her ideas in mind. It sure doesn't bear any resemblance to a restaurant from the outside but once you step inside, you will be amazed by the earthy and unusual interior. It is indeed very cosy. This restaurant is very popular. It was featured in Discovery channel a while back as I was told. However, the food is not over the top, only average. The selling point is the ambience and its artistic interior. I suppose when you are busy taking photos and admiring the art, you just couldn't care less about how bad or good the food tastes as long as it is edible, yes?

Well, that's the end of my taiwan trip instalment and I will conclude it with this photo taken in Taipei through our room's window......

Taiwan: 台中 Taichung PART II - 九族文化村

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village, The largest outdoor museum in Taiwan dedicated to displaying traditional homes and architecture of Taiwan's nine principal aborigine tribes. Also serves as an amusement park with beautiful European garden and exciting rides.



We spent more time admiring the beautiful European Garden than taking on the rides.

If you have watched the Taiwanese series 公主小妹 aka Romantic Princess then I am sure this European garden will look familiar to you. Yes, it is the setting of Xiao Mai's magnificent mansion, or more accurately her grandfather's. I thought it looked kind of familiar the moment I step into the garden and it only came into my mind the minute I saw the two golden towers.

The golden tower

The garden also bears a close resemblance to the Garden in Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna except that there was no single flower while we were there. (It was winter!)

THIS IS TAIWAN........

THIS IS VIENNA........

Deja vu? Let's see again.....

Photo taken from http://vienna-photo.esem.sk/

Very similar right?

Train that takes you round the village

Aladdin

View from the gondola ride

Taiwanese bah chang (rice dumpling). Taste so so only.

Taiwan: 台中 Taichung PART I

麒麟峰溫泉 [Chi Lin Fong Hot Spring]

Ok, I didn't jump in.

Excuse #1: I forgot to bring swimsuit
Excuse #2: I was not confident enough to join the naked spa area

However, I tried their famous hot spring egg, boiled in their natural hot spring. It was half boiled just like what we normally have but tastes a bit different.

孔雀園 [Peacock Garden]

It was mating season. The male peacocks were busy flaring out their feathers to gain the females attention. I just love their beautiful feathers and elegant appearance especially their graceful walk. What a beautiful creature on earth!

日月潭 [Sun Moon Lake]

Taiwan most popular honeymoon resort. Breathtaking view overlooking the emerald lake and mountains. It wasn't as beautiful as I imagined (from the photos I googled) may be because of the gloomy weather we had that day.

文武廟 [Wen Wu Temple]

A temple built to enshrine and worship 孔子 [Confucious], 關羽 [Guan Gong] and 岳飛 [Yue Fei]