I just came back from Taiwan. I went back the day that I finished my last exam haha. The flight was 1am in the morning though. It was such a rush because the next day was my cousin's wedding. But then one week before I went back my dad found out that the wedding was from 12noon to 3pm......But my plane arrives in Taiwan 1pm!!! So I still missed it, even though I tried to rush back for it =( oh well. Had family dinners anyway for the next 2 days. Also saw my Japanese relatives as we treated them to Yumcha, haha. During my 3 week stay in Taiwan I was out EverydaY. Seriously, not one day where I just stayed home. I don't really go out much in Melbourne. My camera went outta battery pretty quickly. But I had forgotten to pack my recharger with me =.= So had to use my aunty's camera. Strangely, Taiwan is suppose to be late autum, and going into winter. But the whole time I went back the weather was still so hot. Taipei is also very humid, which makes me sticky everytime I go out :S I thought I could've escaped some Melbourne summer time, but it was still hot in Taiwan as well......arrhh I like winter more Toucheng (頭城農場): In my second weekend, I went to Toucheng Farm, it was a 2 day event. I went with my grandmother and two aunties. Quite fun, but all I saw were kids!! No one my age. It was either below 12yrs or middle aged parents. lol. oh well. There were many "traditional" activities. First day we built Kong Yao 控窯 (sorry I don't do PinYin well), which is where, back in the old days, when kids wanna have 地瓜 (yam?sweet potato?), they light a fire and heat up dirt and stones. When the dirt and stones get really hot, they burry the sweet potato and it slowly cooks as the heat is all trapped in the dirt. Yeh I tried that and failed cos our 窯 kept on collapsing =( and it was hard to pick out the muddy dirt as it was in this HUGE pile.So in the end we got one the workers there to build it for us =P  Me feeding logs to the flame for Kong yao Dinner that night was BBQ, where we also need to start our own fire :S the only we were given were coal and matches and tinder, and a bamboo stick for us to blow air to start the fire. lol it was experiencing how people back in the old days started fire to cook their food. It took us sooo long to start the fire up, and it was not that big as well. Didn't actaully eat much, spent most of the time "playing with fire" haha. 
Trying to get the fire started......the traditional way @_@ After dinner, it was time to make Tien Deng (天燈). It looks like a huge lattern, but works like a small balloon. People write their wishes and hopes on the Tien Deng, and light a fire inside it, and it flies up into the sky and reaches the gods. The instructor spoke sooo fast. It was hard to try and memorize all the steps. Last year I went to this place where it was famous for Tien Deng festivals and I saw people lit their Tien Deng, but it all failed as some of it caught fire as it was going up and one hit an electrice pole and caught. And they were using already made Tien dengs!! For us we have to make it then lit it :S I was so afraid that I didn't do a good job and that it will not work. But luckyily ours was a big success. I saw some other people's ones kinda caught fire and burnt out in the night sky. But our one kept flying higher and higher until we couldn't even see it. Yaay. And I think my wishes did come true =) I got great exam results. 
Making Tien Deng 
Writing wishes on the Tien Deng 
After our Tien Deng went into the night skies, we went to dig out our sweet potatoes. The earth and dirt was so hot. I accidently chopped two of the sweet potato in half with my shovel when I was digging them out. Some people (like my aunty and my grandmother) woke up at 5am the next morning to go watch the sun rise on the hills. Of course, I slept in. Breakfast was at 7:30am, still too early for my liking, haha.There were many many people next morning at breakfast. I didn't realise that so many people spent their nights here as well. After breakfast we went on a 2hr tour of the farm......Went into this chicken den and some people went to the nests and dug out eggs. But it smelled bad and chicken poop everywhere, so I just went in, had a look, then came out. 
Fruit picking 
Awwww =) Lunch was also very packed as well, with 6 buses of tourist that came in and joined us. All the meals were buffet style, and there were lots and lots of different dishes. In the afternoon, we were taught how to make traditional toys outta bamboo. I made a 竹蜻蜓, but couldn't make bamboo whistle (the sound is just like a bird chirp), nor bamboo cranes. But my aunty went and stole a couple of completed cranes from the workers, haha. They teach it too fast as well, and didn't have enough time to come to each table to instruct us anyway. After that we made leaf prints on bags. It was kinda cool. 
Leaf prints on bag 
Bamboo crane 
Wishing tree: tying my wish on On the way back there was a HUGE traffic jam on the high way. Even before getting on the high way, we were stuck near an intersection for about one hour!! Everyone was trying to get home. Got home 3 hours later than expected, hahaa, and had to go in this tunnel that was 12.9km long. Yehliou (野柳) This is a famous sight seeing place in Taiwan as it has lots of strange shaped rocks. I've read it in books since I was eight, my now I finally went to it at age of 19 =P and its not even that far away as well (from Taipei, about 1 hr-2hr drive). I remember some famous ones are mushroom rocks, ginger rock, tofu rock, candle rock, and Queen's head rock. The queen's head was funny, me and my aunty were trying to find it but saw nothing that looked like it. But then we saw this crowd of people around this rock, but from our angle (we came from the left side of it), it looked totally not like it. More like a strange bird head rock. Then we went to the right side of it, and BAM, it became the Queen's head that we had been looking for o_o 
Candle rock 
Queen's Head 
Queen's Head, from another angle... Shopping I don't reckon I shopped a lot....but I still came back with 37kg worth of luggage :S Compared to last year I really thought that this time I havn't really bought that much things. I think it's because I was buying for 3 people. My mum and sister didn't go back this year, so I was shopping for them as well...  @ Metro Shopping Street, the one day that I I really went crazy shopping with my aunty. Inside the black bag are another 3 bags of shopping. Even one of the shop keepers commented that we look liked on a shopping craze. But when I unpacked, I don't really see that much stuff. Hmmm.....(maybe the plastic bags just look big xD ) 
Hungry for curry after the shopping spree 
Shoes that my Aunty and I bought in one hour Only 4 pairs are mine though, the others all belong to my crazy aunt, haha 
Dayeh Takashimaya Department Store 大業高島屋 Also went to ShiLin night market 士林夜市, which is also a famous tourist spot for people who come to Taipei. Went there 2 times and still couldn't get around to all the shops. At Gongguan 公館, met up with my NZ friend whom I haven't seen for 3 years!! We sat at a resturant for lunch for 3hrs =P and afterwards went shopping until 7:30pm, at the end my legs were so tired. Its a pity didn't go to Taipei 101, I used to go there everytime I go back to Taiwan. Grandma's Birthday We celebrated it earlier because her birthday is one day after I came back to Melbourne. My aunty took us to a restaurant in the mountains (陽明山). It was nice and sunny that day, but as we ascended further and further up the mountain it became so cold and even rain heavily!!and big winds as well :S But inside the place was really nice. We had to take off our shoes because it was tatami style, and nice gentle soothing asian music in the background. Apparently its very popular and in holidays its all booked up, and its hard to get a reservation o_o 
Soup.....the flower is edible as well :S 
Our "chamber" 
Grandma and I 烏來 Wulai Went to 內洞 and hiked a bit, to see the three-tier waterfall. It is said that near waterfalls are a lot of anions, which is good for our body. An average person needs 700 anions per day, but in the city we only get 300 each day. At the waterfalls, it says that there are 10000 per square metre of air, or something. Haha. Yeh the air was really quite refreshing, a change to the polluted city air. Wulai is a tourist attraction for its hot springs and indigenious culture. 
Wulai 老街 八里左岸 Near the sea, and many people went there in the weekends. It has got many themed restaurants, and bike rentals for you to ride along the beach or the park. There are also 2-person bikes. 
One main thing that I did in taiwan was DINING/EATING. Just at 2 weeks in Taiwan my jeans felt a lot tighter. There was never a moment that I had felt any signs of hunger. Even just going to the night market for shopping, I still ate a lot of delicacies. When it wasn't meal time, there's always so much snack to fill me up :S 
Mister Donut (I reckon its better than krispy kremes =P ) 
Japanese buffet 
鼎泰豐Ding Tai Fung, famous 小籠包 
I've been piggin out too much Pets Now for some random pics of my aunty's cats. I can't get enough of them~!!I love them. One of the reason I go back is because of the cats xD !! haha  
Xiao Di Tai Pi  
Tai Pi on my bed....this cat thinks he is the boss!! He bites and scratches. Once In the middle of the night I woke up and saw him sleeping next to my bed..........On my Pillow!! But I couldn't get him off :S | 
