Thursday, April 26, 2012

About Nature and Altitude 2 - The Fallen and Rise!

The previous night in Alishan ended with cards, jokes, kuachi, and some alcohol. But then we were forced to wake up at 3am just to catch the train to the pit for sunrise. According to our lecturer from KMU, the sunrise is magnificent~ As I mentioned in the previous post, April is Alishan's raining season~ Fat chance to be able to get any sunrise, but we were still counting on it, as long it doesn't rain that morning, we will go~Sure enough, we woke up at 3am and the sky was clear (still freezing cold with strong wind of course).


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It was freezing, with those strong wind, so wana rush back in my thick blanket.




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When we reached the train station, was pretty curious by the way people was queuing up. Later only realized that the crowd was so huge that you have to start queuing from the floor above and slowly move downwards........




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Look at the crowd!




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In the end managed to cramp in the small train but stand for 25 minutes~




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Still have to walk a distance to another viewing point that has lesser crowd




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As forecast, the mist was too thick for any sunrise to be visible~ Plus, it started raining when we reached the viewing point~ What a kill joy~




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Wasted~




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This tree got its fame by standing there aloft setting off the beautiful scenery of sunrise in Alishan~




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Everyone was shivering and every inch of skin was screaming with coldness~ Time for some hot ginger tea~




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The last train leaves the pit and we have to walk all the way down to the lower ground~ Took around an hour~




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Again, no disrespect~ =P




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Thats all for Alishan, and we spend the remaining morning shopping for tea, biscuits and some souvenirs(free food testing also~ =P)


After a pretty disappointing and uneventful cold morning, we boarded the return bus down the mountain, only to stop middle of the journey, about an hour away from Alishan - Fen Qi Hu ( The Rising Lake!奋起湖). Though the name might imply the presence of a lake, but its a misnomer as in Hokkien dialect, Hu(Lake) means a low-lying area~


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View from the bus while went down from Alishan to Fen Qi Hu.




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The scenic area map~ Too bad we did not have enough time as there are only 2 bus that leave the area daily, one at 2pm(the one we came by), another at 5pm. So in the end, we decided to just shop around the old street instead of touring the scenic area.




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The old train station, which was remodeled to be a museum 




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Cheese~




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The price of goods are relatively cheaper than Alishan




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Wondered what it was when I first saw it. After some explanation, realized it is the raw material for Wasabi - Horseradish~ Just grind it and you will get fresh wasabi~ Take 2 years to grow~




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Apparently it is a product from high altitude~ First time we tried wasabi nuts~




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It was Sunday afternoon, quite crowded~




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Entrance to the old street~




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Iron tea egg?! tasted like our tea leaves egg, but harder texture




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When you mention about Fen Qi Hu, must know about the railway bento (铁路便当). 3 weeks of Taiwan life taught me that most of the Taiwanese take bento for lunch and dinner. It is very easily available, a bento of 1 main course and 3 side dishes might only cost you about 50-80 NTD. Economic, nice and fulfilling~




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The Railway Bento got its fame from the olden day, when they sold these bento to passengers on board of the train that used to pass by and stop in Fen Qi Hu.




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Almost every stall was selling the railway bento and we finally resolved to the one with the most customers~




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时尚玩家( Supertaste ) had been here also~




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Besides railway bento, she also sells Stinky Tofu~




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Was it nice? Err....I really don't know how to judge~




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It was a bit crispy, but sourly~ Don't really like it~




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The famous railway bento...with 8 dishes!!!




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110 NTD~ Quite pricy eh~




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This funny owner of the shop insisted that we take a video of how he prepare the "sea-birdnest"




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First, cook the sea birdnest, then allow it to cool down~




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A faster way would be to add ice cube directly, then you will get a jelly like dessert, which tasted quite well~ =P




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What a long queue~




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Taro Cakes (芋头酥)......




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Really anticipate how it tastes~




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Gosh~ have to wait another 10 minutes~




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Finally




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6 for 100NTD




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Still hot from the oven




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MMMM......HMMMMMM!!!! Tasted so good!!! The skin was thin, soft and crispy! With thck filling, not too sweet, just perfect~




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Heavenly...a must try, and its worth the long queue after all




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After that, about time to take the bus back to Jia Yi Train Station.....everyone was so tired when we reached Jia Yi~ Plus, the direct train back to Kaohsiung was completely sold out. No choice have to take their local train which stop by more stops. To make matter worse, the train delayed for 40 minutes and we have to stand throughout the 2 hours journey back to Kaohsiung~ It was a great experience nevertheless~ Ha!




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While waiting for the train, some fireworks was set off a distance away for almost 20 minutes~ What a happening day~ and we just watch as the fireworks rise again and again......



For more illustration,log on here~

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

About Nature and Altitude 1 - Alishan (阿里山)

It took me quite some time to sort out all those photos and most importantly, to edit each and everyone of it. Gosh, for the first time since I start blogging, I was having thought block as to how and what to blog about our weekend trip to Alishan. Finally decided to split the entry to two, and so, part one is here, and will try to be as informative as possible.(Well, was suppose to be a food and travel blog afterall~)

We have long planned this weekend trip, even way back to the time we was first accepted for Taiwan electives. All the accommodation and transport together with those interesting attractions was decided ages ago. Some brief introduction about Alishan, it is a Taiwan National Reserved Forest with forest, ponds, pagoda, and temple just to name a few~

Ordinary day, was suppose to be a great trip with tranquil environment, breezing fresh air, and breathtaking scenery. Too bad we went on wrong timing~ IT IS RAINY SEASON!


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Woke up at 5am and start walking to Kaohsiung Main Station to catch the 6.20am train to Jia Yi Train Station~ (嘉义)Everyone seems so distress eh~




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Quite a comfortable journey~ Cost 189 NTD and took around 2 hours to reach Jia Yi.




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I started fallen asleep as soon as the train start moving~




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Around RM20~ Erm...consider cheap I guess?~




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Free hot water in the compartment




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LOL~ No disrespect~ =P




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Reached Jia Yi around 8.30am, gona grab some breakfast before boarding the shuttle bus to Alishan~ Whats most famous food in Jia Yi?




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Turkey Rice~




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They said is a must try~




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Totally uninteresting~ overated and mediocre~ duh~ wasting my time~




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Waiting for shuttle bus to Alishan, 221NTD with a 2 1/2 hours ride~




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Slept through the journey~ Everyone is the same I guess~ The entrance ticket to the National Park cost 100 NTD with student card~ (Half Price)




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Before coming, was forewarned about the cold weather, but was way beyond our expectation~




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13 degree with cold wind constantly blowing....




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Our accommodation ~




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Suppose to be a church, 400 NTD per nite per person~




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Only 4 of us in that 6 persons room~ So very spacious~




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Few interesting facts about Alishan~




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To tour the National Park, you can either walk all the way up the park(Quite some distance, with slops and winding road), or you can just take a 7 minutes train to reach the scenic area~




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Miss this train we will have to wait another 1 hour, so....RUN!




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During Spring seasons, there will be alot of Sakura along the way....would be nice to view these scenery with a cup of coffee and nice music~




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Rather empty~




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Sigh~ Starts raining.....hot coffee~~~




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Raincoat checked~ Ready to roll off~




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Lotza traveling group from China~




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Actually the reserved forest was re-planted in the 70's....... The original one had been deforest during the era of Japanese Colonization~ Hence, besides all the new trees, we could also see alot of such tree stumps all around the parameter.




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The sisters' pond - this is the elder pond if I' not quite mistaken~




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Quite some scenery eh?~




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The temple (受鎮宮 ) was under renovation...... but whats so special about this temple?




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The statue and inner structure was built of solid gold~




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Would have been long gone in Malaysia~




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This sign was somehow intimidating~ as if it is not strong enough to hold greater weight~




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I thought 6??!!!




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Another stump




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The Japanese who deforest the whole area believed that these trees are sacred with soul and hence they built a pagoda as a memorial for these sacred trunks~




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Photo taken infront of the award winning sacred tree in Alishan... There aren't much of such trees remaining since the Japanese Colonization and this is allegedly the best of all~




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Aged 2300 years with a circumference larger than 10 mans hug~




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Most importantly...the name is Xiang Lin's Sacred Tree(香林神木)~~ =P




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It was damn cold and everyone was shivering and wanting to go back~




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Soaked to the skin




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We bought the train ticket for next day to the viewing point for sunrise~




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It was barely 5pm but due to extreme cold....everyone was wanting some hot stuff~ Such as steamboat~ *grrrr*




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We decided to take the 4 dishes steamboat..... regretted when we finish eating, coz just next to this shop, 6 dishes steamboat only cost 800 NTD~ =.=




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The mushroom was very nice! (probably due to hunger~)




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Bamboo shoots was fresh without the fishy smell we encountered elsewhere~




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Fragrant and juicy~ gulp




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Not so good~




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Awh! Hot stuff in icy cold rainy day...perfect~




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Even the diet fella took 2 big bowl of rice~ =P




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Heavenly great~(exclude the pricing issue)




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Our motto for this entire Taiwan journey~ (We are here to eat!)




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Decided to have some alcohol and snacks to burn the night~But Ice-cream in such extreme weather??!!! @.@




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Ya~ thats what we call life~




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Cheers~




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Fallen asleep before 10pm~ but woke up at 3am the next day for the sunrise~


Thats all for the day~ More to come for part 2, stay tune....