on the next day, we set off from Sun Moon lake to Cing jing. it was only a one plus hour ride so it was really manageable for the kids. in fact, the kids had gotten so used to travelling long hours on the bus to get from place to place, they gushed about how fast it was to reach anywhere in Singapore when we came back. ha
the bus driver was affable and agreed to the change in the transport arrangement and did not mention anything about extra payment for going to Taichung from Cingjing. He also brought us to this winery along the way...ha...papa did tip him 1000 twd at the end of the trip for his fantastic service though. Taiwanese were really friendly and genuinely nice people.
tong wanted to check out the pond...he really liked fish, and there were giant wine bottles there.
went to walk around the winery for awhile and we headed to Cing Jing.
xun spotted some flowers along the way and insisted on taking a photo. So tong was into fish and xun was into flowers.
reached the entrance, the driver estimated we would take 2.5 hours to cover the entire place. Eh...we took much longer though, ha, we liked to amble at a leisurely pace and we could create fun anywhere, simply by being in one another's company
lots of lambs, papa texted photos to his cousins' chatgroup, teasing Denise biaogu that we saw lots of her in the shop as her animal horoscope was lamb
ooo the sheep pooped and peed everywhere, ha xun requested for papa to carry her as she did not like the filth
the weather was so cool and balmy, it was 心旷神怡 feeling to be immersed in this pastoral landscape
wanted to buy animal feed but they were sold out so we used grass instead!
we were jesting of taking a family photo with the horse and sending it to uncle alston, saying that he was here with us in the photo as he was the 白马王子
the unshorn lamb were a dirty brown, gosh!
you you had loads of fun feeding the sheep, he liked animals ha
xiaoyi had her signature mouth agape look for every photo...apparently it lengthened the face and made it look slimmer, some modern fad among the youngsters. San yi was not a fan of insects, creepy crawlies and animals...haha she scurried faraway from the animals. and poor san yi had awfully sweet blood, she had numerous mosquito bites after two days at Sun Moon Lake. the mountain mosquitoes were deadly, the itch lingered for days...arghhhhh everyone got bitten, but the worst was definitely san yi.
jie wanted to take a pony ride
tong declined initially but decided to do it later on and you each took 2 rides, with tong choosing the bigger horse on his second ride, that daring boy.
had lunch at the market place there, how wonderful, a piping hot meal in the mountains, surrounded by greenery and enjoying the cool crisp air
xun requested for a photo with this charming tower, looked like something that popped out from fairy tale books
we were just asking for directions to the foot of the mountains and the boss asked us to view how honey was made.
the sales lady was fierce, she snapped at the kids when they kept nattering...ha...but we did buy after all, each family got a bottle of pollen, hardly see any bee farm selling pollen...and san yi and mama bought a huge container of honey...
wai po had a good time bantering with the sales person and took a photo for keepsake
san yi remarked how the 武侠小说 ladies survived on honey so they enjoyed great beauty and everlasting life. we laughed till our bellies hurt, san yi always had such funny comments. mama revealed that I ate lots of honey so they concluded it must be true as mama had such lovely skin...ooo
plodded on...
quite a taxing walk as we had to take some 400 plus steps downhill to reach the bottom...hmmm I supposed it beat going uphill?
everyone was breathless and weak in the knees literally when we reached the bottom
we went to the Swiss Garden, mama heard it was beautiful so san yi was eager to check it out too.
indeed, it was...
colourful windmills dotted the landscape
there were some water fountain shows at some timings, we managed to catch the tail end of one
the displays would be lit up at night, I supposed that would have been splendid
so you kids were getting edgy and refused to take shots together..ha
tong saw the swans and ducks and wanted to feed them. alas, we did not have a single cent on us to buy the feed. ha
some delightful displays...oooo wondered if tong would ever want to learn the piano?
when you you could talk, I could imagine all three of you yakking non stop together
there was even a chapel for weddings.
beautiful sights all about
then finally at 4 ish, we decided to head to Tai Chung.
While the adults checked into the hotel, xun and tong were fast asleep on the bus. Somehow, it was inexplicable and most baffling, xun's cat got lost at this point of time. Mama surmised that she woke up dazed and sleepy when the taiwanese kids came onto the bus. She shifted and the cat tumbled down the steps (jie was sitting just next to the door). The bus driver told us he saw a soft toy but did not know it was ours. sob.
mama felt bad about it as she thought it would not have happened if xun was sitting on the seat behind us with papa. mama did not want to squeeze with both kids so I gave you a pack of skittles and some other snacks and sat with papa for the journey to Taichung.
The two of you were so endearing with tong sleeping on your laps, that was why we took the photo which served as evidence that we definitely had the cat on the way there. sobs.
We met Lan shu shu at Taichung and he brought us to this posh restaurant which served lobster soup and buffet
the most lavish meal we had thus far in Taiwan and the food was delicious. the cost was hefty, it came up to S$550?!?! and he bought us lots of gifts, a porcelain mug for wai gong and papa, 30 boxes of pineapple tarts, jewellery for mama, er yi and san yi, one 12 animal horoscope ornament for xiaoyi, one glass laughing buddha for wai po, one unique chess set for papa, three packets of black peanuts for ah gong, three packets of taiwanese noodles for papa...it was...really...overwhelming in the face of such hospitality and love
some cute random photos below because mama could not place them in the correct sequence. Ha, every one was taking photos and shared at different times so all my photos were jumbled up! ha it took me a long time to reorder them and I had to discern by examining the colour of the clothes we were wearing...
ha learning point - share the photos IMMEDIATELY after taking, if not, as quickly as possible once one reached the hotel and could get free wi-fi...and oh to bring driver's license too, ha mama always forgot that, should bring it in case we ever needed to rent a car overseas.
tong the vain pot!
smiley you you...
ya mama felt so sad for the heartbroken jie who sobbed so despondently and lamented how she only got her xiao mao mi, Sparkles, for one night...we did call the hotel staff to check shortly after we confirmed it must have tumbled out of the bus. No luck. Along the way back, we actually spotted the bunny which was stuffed inside the kitty. must have burst open and the bunny fell out...the bunny was all black and sooty...
well, mama hunted on taobao for the kitty and found the exact one, though it cost so much more! about sS20? when it took maybe less than 100twd for san yi zhang to catch one? san yi zhang was hunting for another cat for xun when we went to the Feng Jia Ye shi. could not find any though.
The hotel was spanking new and comfortable. There was even a shooting game cum alarm clock which entertained the kids for quite some time. papa was actually happy at the turn of events as he was a city rat, he much preferred the comfort offered by modernity. plus we got to visit the Feng jia ye shi which was broader and less crowded. though we hardly bought anything from night markets anymore, it was still interesting to just take a walk.
Next morning, breakfast at the hotel's cafe
Lucas was so hardy and muscular, and he loved vegetables, amazing. mama loved his pudgy body...oooo maybe our baby didi would be so manly too? ha
ha beds on the ceiling!
the wind was so strong... could not imagine if we encountered a real typhoon
where else could you find such barmy people who would do such silly antics like pretending to be blown away by the wind, except for your very own sisters?
went up to the top floor and there was a lounge with food, drinks, soccer table and gym equipment! NICE
View from the balcony just outside the lounge
ok time to check out.
there were some filming crew on site
it really was a superb hotel
as we were setting off from Tai Chung, the ride back to Taipei was only 2 ish hours. The rain was quite heavy, good thing we were not stranded in Cingjing. Things worked out so wonderfully, praise the Lord!
yes, the narcissistic tong who asked for a selfie and mama photobombed his shot
we went to Taipei Underground Mall for lunch as the rain was pouring relentlessly outside
then we dispersed to shop around
tong asked for a hair cut at QB house. ha...eh...just after a few snips, he asked papa if he was handsome
'jie and I sat outside and wait for tong
ah the handsome boy
for dinner, we met lan shu shu at a restaurant, after braving a 15-min walk in the downpour. Lan shu shu was surprised that we did not take a cab. hey, i thought we were much hardier than most tourists, we walked and took public transport quite a fair bit!
the dinner was sumptuous as usual. papa wanted to pay but the waitresses replied that Lan shu shu had already paid. Eh...when we talked to wai po later on, she revealed that she saw Lan paying at the cashier at the end of the dinner. He had collaborated with the staff to deceive papa. ha.
ha Jeremy wanted a picture with xun xun jie jie.
group shot. How heartwarming that our friendship had endured and blossomed even after we returned to our own countries. They had become a part of our Lu Family, with Lan and Sharon calling our parents mama and papa too...heh and they were gonna visit us in Singapore next year! Scoot now flew from Kao Shiung, which was super convenient for them and the tickets were really affordable.
highly anticipate their trip to Singapore where we could repay the kindness they showed us when we came to Taiwan
Back to Puri Hotel
the kids clamoured to go to Wai po's room to play...ha, so we dropped them there and went to buy some goodies to bring back to Singapore. ah ha, and mama must clock her goal of eating the legendary ah zong mee sua.
san yi zhang told us that he ate it almost everyday!
Finally on the 8th day, checking out of the hotel
Lan shu shu and his family came to send us off. No teary farewells this time as we knew they would be coming over really soon. it felt like we were never far apart for very long before we would meet again...such friendship and kinship...heh...what affinity and fate
while we shopped and waited for the delayed flight (from 330 to 645!), er yi went to Taipei 101. Ha, somehow they booked the wrong return date. Tong was asking why we could not stay in Taipei for 9 days too...I supposed he missed the place
Finally, flying home. ha.
while ah gong picked us up to go back to Linear, San yi and san yi zhang were gorging on good food again.
mama and papa were such efficient packers that we unloaded everything, sorted them neatly, washed a load of clothes, all ready to sleep by 2am (we reached home near to 1am?)
The next day, lan shu shu sent a photo saying Jeremy missed xun xun jie jie. ha...er yi and er yi zhang also came back safely to Singapore...well...we were on our usual activities, going to church and ah ma's house. ha...though xun still asked if we could flush toilet paper down the pipes...ha...papa declared it was such a satisfying feeling being able to do so...
and of course, we still loved our little red dot the most at the end of the day.
well, with er yi and san yi trying for babies next year, we probably would not be flying anywhere. We would target to go to the Mindef Chalets on Bintan and task Uncle Alston to plan...not that there was much to plan but the boys declared that they set small tests first to see if Uncle Alston could meet the mark. then we could possibly fly to Japan or Korea in a few years' time? Ha san yi announced that she would not want to do the planning again, far too stressful. So perhaps we could task Uncle Alston, if he was still around then, or just take a packaged tour...ha...
Till then...sweet memories of the taiwan trip!
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