Taiwan - Day 3

After a good night's rest and a reasonably good breakfast, I felt a little more positive about the rest of our days in Taiwan. We spoke to my brother about bringing forward dinnertime and having proper food for the kids and he was agreeable. We couldn't survive on street food and the kids really didn't want to even try them.

I have Sociology background so I'm usually very interested in historical architecture that reflects the cultural aspects of any given group of people. And I was hoping that the two drivers could fill me in with something... anything that would make these temples worth visiting. We visited two very old and very well known temples, but I know nothing much about them after we had left. All they could tell us was that a pillar from one of the temple is worth a million dollars.

Without sounding disrespectful, both seem very much like any other temple. I was pretty envious to witness some tour guides explaining to their tour group the carvings on walls and doors, their origins and significance. But my mum was just glad there were clean toilets there. 

In the end, the two photographers just kept taking shots of one another and made use of the rich background in their composition. Also, the kids got a chance to walk about because the temples were not too crowded or cluttered... fortunately.

At one point, the gong suddenly went off with several 'dong's that made Alfee jumped onto me like Scobby Doo. Then the firecrackers went exploding at the entrance when we tried to get out. That was probably our cue to go.

Right after we were done with the temple, we gathered outside to decide what we should do next. While waiting for one another, my brother and sister-in-law went to buy fried shrimps and some other street food. CK was reluctant but I was happily chomping down some until I remembered my food poisoning episode. Sophie was of course equally thrilled to eat deep fried food. 

It was close to lunch time but we decided to go into a 'lao jie' to take a look anyway. Frankly, the exterior  of buildings look definitely ancient but there was nothing ancient about the area. It was just a tourist attraction.

After a while, I started acting like those pesky hosts of food or tour programmes, giving exaggerated  introductions with outrageous enthusiasm. I only stopped when I realised motorcycles and cars actually go onto these 'pavements' and I had to grab hold of the kids.

Just before we could have lunch, the drivers took us to a place for free pineapple tarts. It didn't sound so  undignified then because they only told us it was a place for rest, toilet breaks and they sell some snacks as well. As in turned out, it was an establishment selling their pineapple tarts and they gave out samples and tea to patrons. So we went there essentially to get free pineapple tarts and tea... after we used their toilet.

Lunch was pretty pleasant. The mee sua was superb by CK's standard. We also had some bamboo rice which the kids rejected. And some roasted chicken which was nice and crispy. Unfortunately, we were also seated near the area for food preparation and fan. We almost choke in the smoke and soot. 

Our next stop was a 'skybridge' which was quite nerve wrecking to walk across. We had some issues with our pram as well. We couldn't use a pram on the bridge for obvious reasons, but we also couldn't leave it at the entrance because we would not be going back. Thus, we had to carry the pram across the bridge.

Just before we got off the bridge, the kids gave a nasty drama. Alfee grabbed Sophie's hairband, stuck his hand in between the grilles of the railing and pretended to drop it. Sophie, the usual 'gan cheong spider', screamed at him and ran after her hairband. In a panic, Alfee withdrew his hand and the hairband was knocked off his hand as a result. Sophie wailed and Alfee was guilt-stricken. It didn't help that the hairband landed on a galvanised roof of some stalls below. She could see it but she could not reach it! 

CK almost wanted to jumped down to retrieve it but I objected violently. We tried to pacify her by promising a nicer, pinker hairband, but she kept wailing. Meanwhile, Sophie's wail caught the attention of everyone nearby. A kind hearted stall owner came to her rescue with a pole. With that, CK was able to push the hairband off the rood and it ended on the floor below. Hence, the hairband was returned safely to its owner.

While waiting for our drivers, we bought some bananas and ate them with gusto. Alfee loves bananas and he missed eating them so much that he ate three at one go. We also saw some pineapples in a field. In a way, I'm glad Sophie get to see how pineapples are grown. She can now appreciate fruit orchard better. 

We were in a little steam train by late afternoon. It's more like a tourist kind of train, purely for experience and there was a little exhibition place at the last station. The kids' idea of steam trains is Thomas and his friends, so the ride didn't appeal to them so much. 

They only got more interested after we got off the train and saw some old train exhibits and tracks. The kids climbed up the box cars and played around. By the time we left the place, it was in the evening and the kids were tired.

We arrived at 'Sun Moon Lake' and went to a restaurant for dinner. By then, Alfee was already sleeping so he missed dinner again. Sophie was still awake but she was tired and didn't really want to eat much. The food was also not very nice despite the presentation and price.

We finally checked in our hotel yet the kids were wide awake watching TV. The room was fantastic and the lake view was simply gorgeous. The only problem was the stairs. There is no lift so we had to climb flights of stairs with our luggage. The loft was scary as well. We had to block Alfee from climbing up. Initially, CK slept there... but soon, he came down to squeeze with us because he felt bitten by bugs up there.