I ❤ Taiwan - Day 4!

We all woke up bright and early today for Cing Jing Farm! We went to see the sheep shearing show and frolicked around the beautiful lush green pastures to take photos. There were activities like horseback riding at only NT100, it was quite fun but I don't know maybe the mare that I rode was alittle older so it was kind of wobbly when she walked around. There were so many pretty horses and I even saw one that looked like "AppleJack" from My Little Pony! :) As usual, my mom's totally at ease and enjoying her horseback riding experience. We also got to feed the sheep because my dad went to buy some food pellets. Honestly, I was freaked out cos the sheep hungrily gobbled everything from your palm and it felt so ticklish and icky at the same time! My sister and mom were pros though, they had so much fun and I just resigned myself to taking photos after awhile cos I can't take the "feeling" anymore. It wasn't so bad :)

     

     The lush green pastures and clear blue skies were a perfect backdrop

 for being shutter happy! 

 It was such a gorgeous winter day! 

       

Apple Jack!

Time for horse back riding

WE GOT TO FEED THE SHEEEEEEEPPPPPP!!!

Look at my freaked out face. 

Lol.

Even the sheep is caught in the act of shaking its head *tsk tsk*

And the naturals...

Natural #1

Natural #2

Feed meeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh.......~~~

At almost noon, we checked out of our hotel and set off for Taipei. Encounters to Taipei, we visited an old street called "Lu Gang Lao Old Street" in Zhanghua. This was an important port during the Qing Dynasty and they have streets that were so narrow only enough for one person to cross. They were built this way to fend off battles with pirates in the early days. Now, it's more like a historical place where you can see how life was back then and enjoy some local street food and of course visit temples if you're a believer. But for us, it was more of enjoying the atmosphere of the old street. 

 

This smelly tofu is everywhere in Taiwan! No matter which part of Taiwan you go, be it Taipei, TaiChung or Tainan, there always this dish! And you will see us running away from it cos it smells like the sewer. know people will say, you have to try it! It's their national delicacy! I just can't bring myself to get anywhere near it much less near my mouth and ingesting it hahaha...

                       

  Enjoying our ice cream on a rather warm winter day! :)

 The very narrow alleys along the old street

       Pretty sunset on our way back to the car to head to Taipei! <3

I ❤ Taiwan! - Day 3

On day 3, we had our breakfast at the patio of the picturesque homestead we stayed for the night. I think some of the pictures don't do justice to the place cos its really pretty and there's a serenity about the place that makes you feel really relaxed. 

       

   Outside our rooms

  Waking up to this view? 

Simply awesome!

                                             

          I can't resist taking many pictures but okay, I just choose one to post on my blog hehehe...

                

     Alex enjoying the view

        

    See, even my parents can't resist taking a picture with the beautiful view of the tea plantation and mountain ranges! :D

    The patio where we had our breakfast 

        

The homestead's owner has his own tea plantation and he also produces his own tea where he serves to his guests.  

    Don't you think the reflective windows make the picture look like a postcard? 

  Us with the very hospitable homestead owner!

   Thank you for having us at such a lovely place! 

Last group shot before heading to our next destination!

After fueling up, it was time for our drive to our next location in Nantou province; CingJing Farm and He Huan Shan (Chinese: 合歡山; also called Joy Mountain) is a 3,416 metres (11,207 ft). This mountain is within the Taroko National Park, which is a must go if you tour Taiwan and travel to Hua Lien. On our way there, we made a stop at an old train station where we got to see bamboo shoots that had square trunks instead of the round ones we usually see. Here we got to see some pretty Sakura blooms that were different from the ones we saw at Alishan. Taiwan has a lot of these historical old train stations and old streets where you will get to have a taste of their local produce and just interact and experince what life is like for the locals.

     

   Pretty Sakura blooms! 

        

After lunch, we headed up to CingJing area to unload our baggage in the hotel where we were spending the night and went up He Huan Shan! We were all hoping to see snow which was also why my very excited sister persuaded me to get our Uggs snow boots a few months before our actual trip! Sadly, the period where we went up the mountain was also one of the hotter days in winter where the sun was pretty strong so apparently all the snow melted :( Boohoo! No snow for us! But it was really cold at only 4 degrees Celsius! It's no joke, our hands were frozen cos we didn't have gloves. But it was definitely worth bearing the cold because the view and pictures we got to take were gorgeous! :)

 The beautiful old English styled hotel at CingJing.

Looks like a castle!

Look at the fog!

  

 Of course, I had to take an OOTD with the winding mountain road! 

                                      

Time for some jump shots!

   Here's Alex's! 

 

  Here's mine & Alex's :)

                                      
                                                       Here's Elysia's!

  Elysia's OOTD!

  Golden glow on the clouds

      

                                                          The sun is setting and the sunset we got to see atop He Huan Shan was spectacular!

  

       Time to head back to our hotel for dinner and rest for the night because

       we are going to Cing Jing Farm to see the Sheep Shearing show tomorrow! :                   Till then!~