Wow wee! We are off with a good start; the morning is sunny!!!
Taroko Gorge 太鲁阁国家公园
Starting off from Astar hotel, we rumbled off to Taroko Gorge (actually I thought we intended to go Tianxiang). Along the way, Allan expounded on the purported medicinal properties of the Lingzhi drink in his thermos to all the aunties and uncles while I privately thought he was just trying to prep us tourists to purchase it from the Lingzhi Centre later in the day.
At the main entrance, we stopped to take some pictures before boarding the bus again to travel past a tunnel. Stopped again at the parking lot near the Sakadang Tunnel which has a red-truss bridge leading to it. The weather was sparkling hot that I could feel my hair frying in the sun.
Later at the Eternal Springs Bridge 长春桥 (the original aka OLD one not the new one), all of us alighted at the gates to travel by foot inwards. We heard from Allan that Tianxiang was closed due to falling rocks and that Taiwan Govt is considering closing up the inner parts of Taroko to minimise human disruption of the Nature Reserve which is gradually eroding. In areas, parts od the Mtn is becoming less stable. Not sure if he was joshing us at that time but we heard later from other F&Es that it was accessible!! Perhaps, there is really falling rocks and he felt that as there are too many oldies around, we shouldn't attempt the more dangerous parts of it. The greyish blue waters seemed shallow looking down from the railings. In a distance away is a tiny templelike architecture nestled among the greenery with water gushing out from its mouth. Its eye-catching red walls brings the visitor's attention to it seems to shimmer in the bright sun.
Qi Xing Tan (7 Star Lake) 七星潭
On the bus, we first see the oddly barb-wired fence of a military facility before we even know this is Qixingtan. Turns out this is an airforce facility. The way our guide put it: if we are china chinese, we won't be allowed to see it due to internal security reasons. When the qn was put in another way: what if one of us in the tour group was a china chinese and now a PR what would you all do? That's why china tourists can come to Taiwan in a restricted quantity and under supervision of licenced Taiwan tourguides...not allowed to photograph the facility. Oh should we be so honoured that we are singapore chinese? *rolls eyes*
There are biking trails, footpaths, palm trees, the very necessary restrooms and the obligatory 'works of art' - stone sculptures. My first impression of the lake is: oh, this looks like a new park in East Coast!
One would think that this is a sandy beach not a lake! Strangely, this lake is
Bashen Caves (8 Immortals caves) 八仙洞
Not my kind of place. It reminds me much of Batu caves (minus the bats but add in the flying swallows or birds)
Shanxiantai (The Three Fairies Islet) 三仙台
Strangely, this is one of my favourites. I don't think the others were that enthusiastic about it but I love the rocks and the way the water crashes around it.
Shi Garden Lodge 紫熹樓花园山庄
Purple Lodge is really on top of the mountain! The attendant whom I think is a native seem rather cold at first but slowly warmed to us. Think to a certain extent she is rather amused by the reactions/antics of urbaners. Lots of mosquitoes though. Was initially excited to have upgraded from a 2 person room to a 6 person lodge where everyone of our group can stay together but even with two bathrooms, it was frighfully slow for every decision/move that we made.
Tried our hands at letting off a Kong Lantern where everyone wrote their wishes on and the lady attendent set off two boxes of fire-crackers. Never had that experience in Singapore. Unfortunately, the Lantern didn't manage to rise over a few inches above ground despite the aid given by the tour guide and the lady. I don't know if it can be attributed to the size of the fire lit, the weather (pressure, wind etc) or an ominous sign that the wishes can't be granted or that the wishes are too weighty and numerous to be fulfilled.
Went to the first hot springs spa in the trip in a really off beaten track but luckily the pool was open. after showering, we put on our caps and happily splashed into the hot pool which surprisingly wasn't that hot when i took a peek at their boiler, it indicated 39.6 which is close to our body temperature. I guess the guide must be real careful as there are many inexperienced and elderly users in our group.
After the spa, we tried our hand at making Muah Chee. It is simple really. First you need to cook some glutinous rice in your rice cooker like you cook your normal rice. When it is done and still very very hot, you dump the rice into the huge wooden mortar, take up the uber long pestle that looked like a mutant boat paddle and start pounding!
After sometime, the whole mess start to become mushy then gooey and the pounding becomes very much difficult. Later on in Dakeng farm, the boss gave us a very useful tip: to make chewy Muah Chee, you need to lift up the pounder real high with the gooey substance still clinging on the paddle and to the rest of the goo in the mortar and pound the Muah chee, preferrably hitting the mortar when you land, not on the goo as this will help to grind out the rough bits of the mashed rice and introduce elasticity to the substance when you pull the taffylike goo and pound.
Pound and pound and pound like mad women till your arms ache, check the Muah Chee and flip it a bit and repeat this process till the mix is totally smooth. Then coat your hands or disposable gloved hand with some cooking oil and grab a fistful (not handful) of the Muah Chee and squirt a small round out of the hole at the top of your fisted palms into the plate of mixed ground peanuts, sesame and icing sugar. Drop that lump and squeeze your fists again. Then all the Muah Chee have been squirted into small rounds, not too big or the taste would be good, and you start to roll the small bits of Muah Chee till they are coated with the ground nut mix. Nice! Now you can start munching!
After a full day's activities, I'm ready for a rest....zzzzz
In the area
Weather Conditions
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