Day 4: Alishan to Cingjing

Dun ask me why 清境 is not Qingjing but Cingjing... Taiwan doesn't use hanyu pinyin, maybe that's why?

Initial plan was for the pre-arranged driver (photo of the name card info in the middle of this blog) to pick us up from Gau Shan Ching Hotel and then stopover some scenic places and finally end at Tsing Ching Baiyun minsu. But he called me an evening earlier to inform that there's been some landslide on the way up to Alishan.. falling rocks, causing slow traffic. Oops.. so, we would have to make our way down and meet him at Taichung station instead.

Anyway, we woke up around 4 in the early morning to get ready to join the group for sun rise at 玉山. We were told to assemble at 6am the night before when we signed up for the tour. At 6am the sky was already bright like 8am.. seriously we wondered how to catch the sunrise when it felt like the sun is already way up there??

NT$300 morning tour

Apparently, the mini van that was supposed to pick 4 pax from our minsu was wrongly informed.. there's only 2.. me and my friend. So the driver intercom with someone and then drove us a distance out to catch up with another mini van. There, it already had 8 tourists.. plus a very cute shiba inu.

Lacoste

Various stops along the way before heading for the sunrise that's scheduled 7.02am.

Husband & Wife Tree

OK the thing about short term memory means writing this blog after 3 weeks from the actual vacation in Taiwan leaves me with blurred recollection of what the driver cum tour guide said at that time while introducing the Husband & Wife Tree. It went something like, one tree died after a disease then the other died shortly cos of lightning strikes (twice?) and forest fire. They still stand next to one another, certain angle giving the impression that they are really holding hands 携手到老 <3

signage introducing the H&W Tree

the old couple with the cute shiba inu, a perfect symbol for the H&W Tree

台湾猕猴

waiting for sunrise.. the sun was supposed to peek thru the faraway peak at 7.02am

unfortunately, too much clouds *cries*

the grey clouds refused to budge, blocking out the views of the sun

the mini van which we were on.. volkswagen

baby 猕猴 on a pretty red autumn leaf tree

the mini van driver cum funny tourguide

Alishan, a place full of ancient trees over hundreds of years old

thickness of the ancient tree trunk

almost like a wall, enduring centuries and different eras

breakfast spread at Alishan.. but only managed to grab a plain 馒头 and a chocolate one cos we had to rush to catch the mini van down Alishan to the railway station

mascots at Chiayi station... old farmer couple

Chiayi HSR station

regular free seating cabin instead of the reserved ones heading to Taichung NT$365

name card of Alishan > Cingjing driver cum tourguide

Ferry ticket that includes various stopover points of SML NT$300 adult

A stamp on the arm, kinda feels like the QC chop on the frozen pork in supermarkets LOL

First scenic stop, heading over to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). The Sun Moon Star (日月之星) operates daily from 9AM to 5PM.

The ferry route is 水社码头 > 拉鲁岛 > 玄光寺 > 伊达邵 > 水社码头

At 玄光寺 there was already a whole lot of crowd, majority seemed to be China tourists. Tour guides were waving their group flags everywhere. Our purpose here today, to experience and witness the infamous 阿嬷茶叶蛋!

people mountain people sea aka 人山人海

introduction to Syuanguang Temple

directions leading to the famous mushroom tea eggs!

the granny in the legend

So here we are! The tea eggs were already pre-packed in plastic bags to facilitate the rush of the crowds for them. OK there's a story behind according to 小荣.

Long long time ago in a faraway land......... No, I'm joking! Haha :D But really, 60yrs ago this granny (then a beauty) became famous selling tea eggs, otherwise known as 辣妹茶叶蛋 for its distinctive flavor. During those days, these treasured eggs were only NT$5 a piece.

how could i ever resist eggs? haha i could have eaten a dozen myself!

阿嬷 is so cute, her signature ^^v when tourists take pics of her and the stall

The tea eggs taste very different from the ones sold in Singapore, with a hint of mushroom fragrance along with very smooth tea flavor. And the rich flavor has thoroughly immersed into the eggs that even when you bite into the yolk, you can still savour the aroma of the herbs. The temperature of cooking them has to be very well managed, given that the eggs are still soft and QQ. I regretted buying only 2 tea eggs for myself... I could have down 10 easily!!

Sun Moon Lake landmark overseeing the beautiful mountains and lake

a very primitive motorboat with just the skeleton.. probably the canvas was removed?

afternoon sun, shining on the beautiful waters

a stretch of road with food stalls on both sides

red tea ice cream spotted!

小荣 mentioned before, that Taiwan is a country which produces many quality tea leaves. Red tea is widely produced and popular in SML. So I was super excited to find this cafe selling red tea ice creams! The perfect dessert for a warm day out in the sun..

assam red tea ice cream NT$35

more stalls ahead

a very friendly lady from the 邵tribe selling the traditional drumstick rice

This stall really caught my attention. The lady was a very friendly person, someone whom I can describe as 豪爽. Not the regular hard selling kind of stall owners, very warm and passionate and full of smiles. She is from the 绍族 and this drumstick rice she sells is a charcoal grilled chicken stuffed with glutinous rice and sprinkled with spring onions and pepper. Super yummy and nice!

charcoal grilled chix with rice and spring onions NT$60

wild boar satay sticks!

In Singapore, we have had plenty of pork satay.. kurobuta pork satay.. but wild boar satay?? Anyway when it comes to food, as long as it's not seafood or creepy crawlies I'm always ready to try new things overseas! Wild boar satay stick.. the meat is not as oily, a bit tough but nice to chew. Reminds me of Brazilian meats.

the unfortunate wild boar which lost not just its meat but also, its head as a prized display LOL

wild boar satay stick, NT$35 each

A fabulous few hours spent on all the local delicacies and beautiful work of nature in the famous Sun Moon Lake.

Next stop, Paper Dome. But alas! It's closed for renovation.. *cries*

we just had to hit right spot on the renovation break

the introductory signage outside Paper Dome

nice aquatic plants surrounding Paper Dome

Paper Dome opens daily as follows:

Sun to Fri: 9AM to 8PM

Sat and Public Holidays: 9AM to 9PM

Admission: NT$100

Oh well, we were a bit disappointed for not able to visit Paper Dome and 小荣 decided to cheer us up a little by bringing us to a place where all girls will go gaga at.. 18ºC Chocolate factory at 埔里!! We had to make it a quick one cos the skies were turning dark soon.. sigh..

almost heaven

a very big place.. the Buy n Go counter, the ice cream booth, the take Q # boutique and across the road, a complimentary coffee area

Buy n Go menu

ice cream booth

the delicately made rose chocolates NT$150 in the boutique. we had to Q to go in cos they restrict the number of patrons per entry to maintain the coolness of the chocolates in the shop

complimentary coffee

Christmas decors with very pretty poinsettias

Reached 清境白云度假山庄 around 6PM and it's already pitched dark everywhere.
Thanks 小荣 for the wonderful guide to the various scenic spots from Taichung to Cingjing!

Taichung to Cingjing NT$5,000

One of the happiest and everyday-must-do things when holidaying in Taiwan is dropping by the 7-Eleven.

In Cingjing 7-11 there's a special display shelf selling the sheep milk products.. even sheep placenta supplements!