The national highways in Taiwan are not comparable to the expressways we have in Singapore; it's freakish long (again, in comparison) with multiple rest stations. Today, we shall talk about the interestingly named Lamungan Rest Station along highway 3.
In our decision to rent a car in left-hand driving Taiwan, we said never to drive at night for safety reasons but we were still an hour or two away from Taichung city and the sun was already on its glory way towards the horizon.
Hence, a rest was essential so that there's better focus for driving (for Alex) once night came. Anyway, it was a choice we didn't regret making as the orangey yolk with its splashes of colors in the sky was a soothing beauty.
Not to also mention the numerous trees blossoming with white flowers adding to the nice atmosphere! The flowers looked kind of familiar yet not native to Singapore.
Turned out they were plum blossoms! And do you know which country has it as their national flower? Taiwan! "Designated in 1964, plum blossom symbolizes resilience, perseverance, and hope as it blooms vibrantly even in harsh winter conditions, with its five petals representing the five branches of the ROC government and its three stamens mirroring Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People."
Lamungan actually means rainbow in the native language of the Bunun indigenous tribe and owls have a special place in the tribe, as the protector of infants!
With too many options for dinner, we settled for something much more easier to decide; burger king! Having travelled with Alex so many times, I am well acquainted to his eating habits and fast-food dining is uncommon.
A whopper from Burger King is a safe option for sure although one thing upped the game; the burger bun tasted freshly baked! Irresistibly delicious!
The meal with cheese fries and drink cost us NT$209. I was disappointed with the cheese fries as the cheese came from a disposable pack and tasted artificial. Come on, at least give us cheese fries similar to KFC!
A dessert was necessary to complete the meal and something caught my attention at Milk Houses. It's not something I would eat when I am in Singapore but maybe due to a friend's recommendation and the trip to Taiwan back in 2023, it just felt right to crave for it whenever I am in Taiwan.
Mochi or Daifukumochi! There were flavors like strawberry red bean, strawberry taro, but I am a traditionalist; the common strawberry one it shall be, at NT$65!
Anticipating.....
Disappointment - there wasn't a real strawberry inside; just jam, cream and cake. Why jam?! Why cake?! While not bad tasting, I am a traditionalist! Alex took a small bite and there's indeed a strawberry; just a quarter of it. :(
Time: 6.32 am. Bad thing about travelling with my dad; he wakes up very early. Good thing about travelling with my dad; he can get me to step out earlier to enjoy the fresh morning air, since I am quite the light sleeper, and an insomniac!
So here I was, immersed in the quietness of Ita Thao at Sun Moon Lake. Since the restaurant at Einhan Resort (日月潭映涵渡假飯店) had yet to open, we decided to walk down to the pier.
Thought it would be a great opportunity to take the time-lapsed video of the rising sun but the compass showed that the east side was ride behind us, and not the above view!
Random photographs as I was waiting for the time-lapsed video.
The above was a hotel said to be built 100% with cypress wood and also known as the largest building in Asia. Called The Richforest Sun Moon Lake, I guess guests would have a good night sleep given the aromatic properties from the wood!
This photo of a Christmas tree at Ita Thao sent a strong reminder that my trip to Taiwan was more than eight months ago, and my blog is only covering day five of the trip, with three more days to go...
Photographs of dad!
Birds that we don't commonly see in Singapore. Nowadays, it's really just crows and pigeons that we can find in our little red dot. I might not enjoy the racket but the population of the red-breasted parakeet has increased exponentially in recent years.
View at the Starry Sky Observatory in Einhan Resort! I super regretted not checking out the directory of the hotel the last night as I bet the night view would likely be quite nice!
Checking out of the resort and walking towards the direction where my dad and I walked to earlier in the morning. Of course I knew what we were going to do as our tour guide had pre-informed us; a cruise around Sun Moon Lake!
Sun Moon Lake Presbyterian Church; while a majority of Taiwanese believes in Buddhism / Taoism, Christianity takes up about 6-7% and about 20% indicated themselves as having no religion.
Ita Thao Visitor Centre - it looks like a ship right?
Cute green frogs near the jetty; the more famous frogs in Sun Moon Lake would have been the Nine Frogs Stack! Placed on the lake bed, the only time you can see all nine frogs would be when Sun Moon Lake is facing a drought!
Some photographs taken on the cruise around Sun Moon Lake; including the world's most useless lighthouse, a hotel with the "tallest gold plated mast" according to Guinness World Records, Lalu Island etc. Click here for more pictures!
Water clarity at Sun Moon Lake.
Technology stupefies humans sometimes; why do we need a real time display to let us know the availability of toilet cubicles? Why not invest simply in a door that is open when no one is using?
Efficiency to the max; the whole family can partake in the toilet activity at the same time! In unrelated news, I read before that someone installed a urinal in their HDB apartment as the males in the family has a tendency to pee all over the toilet seat!
Mandatory Shopping at Aboriginal Specialty Product Center where we were "educated" on the benefits of lingzhi, and persuaded to fork out exorbitant sums of money! I didn't bother.
Whatever the case, it's backbreaking having to bend down to pick strawberries! p.s. we were allowed to pick a limited amount for free consumption and boy were mine juicy and sweet!
Knowing fully well that I love taking photographs, our tour guide, KK, kindly informed me to prepare for the view right in front of the coach. It helped that I was seating towards the front given that my dad has hearing issues.
Absolutely spectacular with the panoramic view of Taichung City!
Guess it also helps to be on the elevated highway. Wait, I was wondering why we were back at Taichung City. Weren't we in Taichung in Day Two of our Taiwan trip?
Apparently, we were back in Taichung to check out Gaomei Wetlands (高美濕地)! I am honestly more impressed with the dozens of wind generators and the strong wind, than the wetlands. Another thing I remember well was the heat that day which was the hottest throughout my eight-day trip!
Glad to get back into the air-conditioned coach.
That's a lot of silver drums on the roofs.
Are they water tanks?
About an hour ride later, we reached the city centre of Hsinchu! Known as the Wind City, its significance was also reflected in the numerous windmill installations, as above.
Free and easy time at Big City Shopping Mall, said to be the largest shopping centre in Northern Taiwan! Wait, Northern Taiwan includes the capital, Taipei right?
Anyway, we were supposed to settle our dinner in the mall and I couldn't decide what to have! Let's start with an appetizer first; the vegan italian gelato from Nice Cream!
I know of Lady Gaga but what's Gaga Monster? From the videos I searched online, it's like a kids activity involving slime or a foam like matter. For a moment, I thought those different colored dispensers contained sweets.
Settled our dinner at Chun Shui Tang (春水堂); known as the founder of bubble milk tea! It's obvious I would get their signature milk tea, in addition to deep fried chicken, braised beef noodle soup and siew mai!
Earlier when I walked past, this stall had a long queue and I was wondering what the hype was. Since there's no longer a line, I guess I could maybe try this for desserts. Signboard indicated 66 cheesecake.
Queue died because they were already sold out! Of course! And I noticed from their menu that the items sold were not our usual cheesecakes. I saw something similar in Bangkok at Emsphere just last month!
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