Breakfast as usual.
Buns and paus.
Bread and eggs; best breakfast combo.
Checked out and went to 妖怪村 / Monster Village, also situated at Nantou. It's a Japanese-inspired tourist attraction with all sorts of popular Japanese monsters.
I think this is a Chōchinobake - A possessed chōchin lantern.
Got excited because I spotted a Japanese monster I know. It's 'No-Face' from the movie, Spirited Away! This movie is highly recommended along with all other Studio Ghibli films. I'm a big fan of it.
I think the Monster Village will look stunning at night with the lanterns hanging all over the place. There are shops selling food products, souvenirs and handcrafts too!
Glutinous Eyeballs / Tang Yuan
Many Japanese products too.
Souvenirs.
Handcrafts.
We got hungry from all the walking.
Baked potato.
Charcoal and Green Tea Swirl Ice-Cream. It was so niceee.
Crunchy biscuit filled with peanuts and maltose sugar.
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Then, we took a 4 hour bus ride to E-da Skylark Hotel, Kaohsiung. E-da has the largest amusement park and biggest outlet shopping mall in Taiwan. It's an excellent place for both adults and children to have fun. The outlet shopping mall is a must-go for all the shopaholics out there! Some items were too cheap to resist. I regret not spending more time doing shopping.
E-da Skylark Hotel.
Good lunch.
View of the amusement park from the side.
Map of the amusement park.
Rode on the Pirate Ship and a woman behind us puked because she felt nauseous from the swinging...
Bumper Cars.
Used to love taking this ride in Genting Higland but I got bored of it already.
This mini roller coaster ride was awesome because the seats are loose and will spin 360 degrees. The faster it goes, the more it spins.
And again, I was just observing people having fun on those extreme amazing rides.
This too. It spins 360 degrees.
There is a small 3D Museum too.
Why am I so amused by this picture.
Is this supposed to be Stitch?
Love beaches. Even animated ones.
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There was a night market at E-da. More food!
There is a Ferris Wheel at E-da too. It looks stunning at night. The admission to it is free if you went to their theme park.
The LED lightings were so colourful.
Bird's eye view from the Ferris Wheel. It stands 125-metres tall and it was built to withstand the weathers. We were told by the tour guide that E-da was single-handedly opened by one person who had a vision 20 over years ago to open an amusement park in Taiwan. Despite being opened in a remote area, surrounded by trees and nothing else, it was a great success.
Fulfilling dinner.
Well, the theme park didn't wow me much because it has very few good rides for my age. I would actually rather spend the money to go to Universal Studios Singapore because of more thrill rides there. The outlet shopping mall will be my main purpose if I am ever going to visit E-da again.
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16th December 2013
Yes, breakfast buffet again.
Hyperventilated when I saw pancakes!
Left Kaohsiung to Xinzuoying then to Hualien by train. The ride took almost 5 hours. Occupied ourselves by snapping many photos of the scenery outside and taking selfies ( that's what girls do, no? ). There's a 7eleven store in the station and once again, we bought a lot of food to snack on on the train. Don't worry if you don't have any food / drinks with you and you get hungry on the train because there are catering facilities. I wasn't able to take a look at what was being sold because I was sleeping..
Train station.
Crops and paddy fields.
Lunch here at Hualien.
Bamboo with Glutinous Rice.
We've to break open the bamboos by hitting it hard on a rock or any solid object.
At least 8 dishes were served for our meals everyday.
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Visited one of the eight national parks in Taiwan, Taroko (太魯閣 ) National Park. This place is rich with marble which was what attracted the Japanese to monopolise the place in the past.
More sightseeing!
Remember the Chinese Guardian Lions I mentioned about in my previous post? There were many over there too. According to the tour guide, these lions were placed there because of the Japanese spirits wandering and haunting the place. I'm not sure how true is that, but it's quite interesting don't you think so?
An old bridge which was built during the control of the Empire of Japan. The picture is quite blurry because I was on a moving bus.
Marble and mountains everywhere.
Such a spectacular view!
We were all recommended by the tour guide to try this Quaker product which is only available in Taiwan. This is said to boost one's energy and the tour guide claimed that it actually worked for him. We went to a convenience store nearby and swept away all of this product because everyone was convinced by its benefits. There were also other Quaker products such as clam essence and chicken essence. Mum only bought one and we haven't tried it yet. I told dad about it and he was totally not convinced. We couldn't even find any information about it on Google!
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Stayed at Parkview Hotel for the night.
Had the best buffet of the whole trip!
Pau and siu mai!
Best section of a buffet!
I had a huge appetite that night!
Chawanmushi, stir-fry cabbage, custard bun, sushi, siu mai and potato salad.
Spaghetti, prawns, okonomiyaki and fish fillets!
Herbal jelly topped with glutinous rice balls, taro, red beans and green beans.
Grabbed all the cakes displayed! Strawberry Mousse, Cheesecake, Chocolate Brownie, Caramel Mousse, Tiramisu and Fruit Cake.
Tell me how did I gain so much weight again?
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To be continued......
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