Taiwan Day 6: Hualien
10:00 PM
14 December 2013
Today's drive down the mountains made me feel a little nauseated, which is so off-putting because I used to be stronger than this.
Hit a 2°C on the mountains earlier on and my nose felt like it could be plucked off. Still prefer the 15-20°C range for sights like these. As we descended the hill, we drove past a temple they built to commemorate the aborigines who lived here centuries before. Every thing holds a history and you could tell that modernisation took its toll on the villagers who built their homes along the mountains. They ended up having to learn Mandarin to converse with the tourists and other locals because the government opened the place up.
such gorgeous views
convoys of motorcycles while we were descending the mountains (you can't see the rest cos they are in front)
squirming because it was that cold
notice the yellowish grass behind that would have been a luscious green had we gone earlier
steamed dumplings we found by the roadside cooked by a family of native Taiwanese who looked a little Malay
setting foot into Hualien
a dried-up gorge
beautifuuuuuuuul 七星潭
checking into our homestay apartment
souvenirs from guests including an SGD5 note and writings on smooth pebbles
and we found home
my love for all-things flour: Taiwan's famous 棺材 bread (sooooo good)
ending it off with some local homemade ice-cream
Hualien is a small town along the ridges of the mountains but it faces the sea as well. The view is breathtaking... The sea is so blue and pretty and calming although waves crashed on the shores continuously. Also, Hualien is famous for their Mochi and they have a factory there every 50m or so. They're really generous with their testing pieces, me likey.
Chilled at our homestay apartment afterwards from 4pm (it was turning dark so soon). And we braved the rain for 自强 night market. I realised that night market in every town has its uniqueness. Today's night market had more Western food and places for customers to sit. It was difficult finding oyster meesua or soya-bean drink for that matter which is rather unusual.
And like always, we brought lots of food back to the apartment to enjoy for supper heehee.
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