Today's itinerary:
- Li Zai Ge Lu Rou Fan 李仔哥爌肉飯
- Feeling Eighteen 18度巧克力工房 (Also known as 18°C Homemade Chocolate Factory)
- The Old England 老英格兰
- Green Green Grassland 青青草原
- Carton King 纸箱王
- Small Swiss Garden 小瑞士花园
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Breakfast Vouchers from Tuntex Minsu.
Only applicable for nights from Sunday to Thursday. |
Two of us freshen up and went down to the sky lobby to find the cafe to redeem our free breakfast! There is a choice of 4 different breakfast set for the voucher, however, if it does not suit you, you can top up for other choices available in the menu.
We chose to take-away our breakfast to enjoy it in the comfort of our room.
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| The cafe where we redeemed our breakfast |
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| The breakfast menu. |
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| Self-service drink station |
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| Number tag to wait for our breakfast to be ready. |
The breakfast set comes with a drink, a salad, a bread, a portion of pasta and the choice of meat. It tastes quite nice for all the sets we took (which is each of the 4 choices).
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| Breakfast with our view |
After our breakfast, we cabbed down to HSR Station.
By now you will noticed that we took quite a number of taxi, do go ahead with the taxi as the drivers are pretty honest and goes with the meter, except when it is for long distance which you might have to check online for the market rate or go with your guts. Generally cabbing for short distance is not expensive, especially you have a group of 4pax, but of course, public transport are much cheaper.
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| Cute looking bus stop |
In Taiwan, huge amount of people travels using motorcycles and the government really cares for the motorists to create a special area for the motorists at the traffic junctions and a special lane for the motorists.
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| An area, at the traffic junction, just for the motorists. |
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| The motorists' special lane |
And we reached the HSR Station. The drop-off point for the cabs is inside the carpark, so don't worry if the cab did indeed goes into the carpark.
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| Kaohsiung HSR Station (proper name is Zuoying HSR Station) |
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| The HSR which is being cleaned up at the terminal station before the new |
We reached Taichung station and met up with our Taichung driver, Mr Lin, who brought us around Taichung and up Cingjing.
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| A 3D map that Mr Lin, our driver, has on his cab. |
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| The hills and terrain of Taiwan is shown in the map. |
The first stop in Taichung, the Li Zai Ge Lu Rou Fan 李仔哥爌肉飯.
It is a well-known 30 odd years restaurant in Puli, Nantou, with two levels. The first level is for ordering of food and some seating space while the second level is more seating space.
The restaurant is self-service, hence, make your order and wait for your meal before proceeding back to your seat. However, do find a seat first before making your order.
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李仔哥爌肉飯
Phone Number 電話：049-2989719 / 049-2420282
Address 地址：(545) 南投縣 埔里鎮 信義路 326號
(545) Nantou District Puli Town Xinyi Road 326
Opening Hours 營業時間：Morning 早上6:00 ~ Afternoon下午3:00
Closes on every second and fourth Monday of the month. |
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| Take-away corner |
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| What we ordered |
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| Our lunch! YUMS! |
After our lunch, Mr Lin brought us to the next stop, which is the Feeling Eighteen 18度巧克力工房 (Also known as 18°C Homemade Chocolate Factory), a common stop that most people who travels pass Puli will visit. It is more of a shop that sell chocolate rather than the factory itself.
Extracted the background from their website:
"The provenance of Feeling 18 ℃ Hand Made Chocolate was inspired by a father's love for his daughter and son, who both share a passion for chocolate. With selfless devotion to his children, Master Mao delved into the profound world of chocolate and now has over 30 years of experience as a pastry chef. By conveying the spirit of love and sharing through chocolates,
Feeling 18℃ Hand Made Chocolate was founded.Feeling 18℃ Hand Made Chocolate started as an online venture in 2006. The brand name 18℃ was inspired by the fact that the temperature of 18 ℃ is perfect for the production, preservation and flavor of chocolate; it also ensures optimum quality. Our focus on temperature was not only our original intention, it is also our unchanging promise. Our determination in maintaining the chocolate's quality has been well received by the public; consequently, a brick-and-mortar store was created in the small town of Puli in 2007. We took a gamble and chose to open a store in a residential neighborhood because we wished to establish a foothold in Puli; in so doing, we have avoided storefront rentals in an urban area and instead focused our investment on good food ingredients to produce premium chocolates that deserve to be savored and appreciated.
The fruits of our dedication have been acknowledged and cherished by the public. Our patrons enthusiastically pass on their thoughts about our chocolates to others, and this in turn has made Feeling 18℃ an essential tourist destination in Puli. At Feeling 18℃, we are not complacent about our achievements, and we always strive to refine our products. In 2009, the natural low-fat, low-sugar "Gelato18 Italian ice cream" was launched; it reshaped people's impressions of ice cream. The delicious ice cream topped with nothing but fresh fruit is a healthy dessert choice. In 2010, in order to reduce wait times for chocolates, we handpicked some of the signature products in the store to create a fast selection and checkout area. On September 18 of the same year, we opened a "Baumkuchen 18" bakery; Japanese technology was introduced, where imported Japanese flour and premium Taiwanese longan honey are combined and painstakingly baked to produce Baumkuchen, a kind of layered cake. We do not dare to be complacent and aim to uphold our persistence towards delicacy.
At Feeling 18℃, we have proven that diligence and determination can ultimately realize any dream! Besides our three existing brands, we intend to provide delectable handmade jam, exquisite baked biscuits and unique flavored fruit pastries in the future."
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18°C Homemade Chocolate Factory 18度巧克力工房
545 南投縣埔里鎮慈恩街20號
No.20, Ci’en St., Puli Township, Nantou County 545, Taiwan (R.O.C.) |
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| The board that shows what chocolates are available |
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| A sub-shop that sells jams and cakes (Baumkuchen), just beside the free coffee that FeelingEighteen provides. |
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| Sample of Baumkuchen that were freshly baked. |
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| The items the sub shop sells |
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| The area where the Baumkuchen are freshly baked. |
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| The fruit jams |
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| A sample of the jam |
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| And we bought the jams! |
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| The express lane for the chocolates. |
We were not that interested in chocolates, hence we chose to try out the gelato instead.
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| The handmade gelato shop beside the original FeelingEighteen shop |
After that, we made our long way up to Cingjing and along the way, Mr Lin stopped by a corner which have amazing view.
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| Us and our Driver, Mr Lin |
The next stop was the Old England 老英格蘭莊園, where we stopped by to snap some pictures.
The Old England is actually a minsu that was styled in European-castle. The cheapest night-stay in Old England could easily cost NT11,500, which is roughly around SGD500! It is easily the most expensive stay in Cingjing.
This pricing comes with exclusiveness and the services. To enter the minsu, one will have to either be staying at the minsu or entering the restaurant for high tea. The high tea set cost around NT450. Don't think of trying to sneak in, their security at the entrance are real tight. Even if you entered the minsu for high tea, there are still certain areas being restricted, so as to ensure exclusiveness for the people who stayed there.
If you are thinking of wedding photoshoots at the Old England, yes, they do have certain packages for wedding photoshoots. You can check out their website for more information.
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| The Old England 老英格蘭莊園 |
And we arrived at our minsu, Misty Minsu 雲濛仙境. It is conveniently located with pretty views and yummy food.
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| Minsu Ladyboss and Mr Lin |
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| Our room. |
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While waiting for our room key.
Spot the window?
That window is actually the window in the toilet and it is just located at the height of a guy's face.
So, do remember to close the window in the toilet to prevent peeping tom. |
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| The huge and comfy beds! |
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| Alfresco dining area outside the lobby/dining. |
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| Decorative fireplace which did not use real charcoal or has real fire. |
After freshening up in the minsu, Mr Lin drove us up to Green Green Grassland 青青草原. We bought the youth rate tickets by showing our youth badge that we applied at the airport.
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| Prices for entry to Green Green Grassland 青青草原 |
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One side of the ticket shows the map of Green Green Grassland 青青草原.
If you are planning to bring a pram for your kid, I will advise you not to bring as the road at Green Green Grassland are not flat and you might end up having to carry the pram around. |
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| Another side shows timing of the performances |
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There is a self-service stamping booth for you to stamp your hand so as to get re-entry if you happens to have the need to leave and come back.
If you are bringing kid/s along for your trip, you can prepare a little booklet of your kid/s to collect stamps of locations that you visit. Certain tourist locations will have the stamps, do look out for it (normally near information centre or entrance) and it could be a fun journey for your kid/s. |
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| Some flowers left on the bare trees. |
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| The sheep performance area. |
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| Gifts from Mr Lin, Taiyang Bing and pineapple tart. |
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| Sheep Castle. |
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I love eating ice cream in cold weather! It rocks!
But ice cream makes of goat milk does not appeals to me. |
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| Vending machine for purchase of feeds. NT10 for one box of feeds. |
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| Attracted this sheep for this close-up picture with the feeds |
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| Sheep roaming around freely. |
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| There is a bazaar/street food area in the middle before you enter the windmills area. |
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| This is super yummy!! |
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| Sausages that are grilled and filled with different ingredients |
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| Yummy! I'm missing it now |
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| An analog thermometer to show the degree of the weather |
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| Green Green Grassland is at 1864.3m above sea level. |
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| The iconic windmills of Cijing but fogs came and we could not take much pictures |
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A stairways to heaven?
No, it's the ShouShan park which we did not attempt as the sky is turning dark. |
Reached the 499 steps, known as 步步高升 (a Chinese idiom saying that every steps you take, it will be better), where one is supposed to climb up the stairs. It is a stair with 487 steps, so we chose to go down rather than climb up.
In different seasons, you will be able to see blazing maple trees, white plum trees, and pink cherry blossoms, however, as we went in October, the trees are all bare. A weather with nothing to see but chilling and relaxing.
Right down the 499 steps, there is a small market and we sent our postcards out from here! They have wooden to metal postcards and stamps. After writing your message on the postcard, you can let the friendly storekeeper know where you want to send the postcard to and she will let you know how much it cost.
Moving down, we saw a small France town (SHINE), but it was nothing much in my opinion.
Carry on walking the wooden path and we reach the area where the Small Swiss Garden 小瑞士花园 and Carton King 纸箱王 is located.
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| The view when facing the Carton King 纸箱王 . |
Went in to visit Small Swiss Garden 小瑞士花园, but there is nothing much to see at night, especially with fogs, except the water fountain show.
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| Small Swiss Garden 小瑞士花园 |
After the walk in Small Swiss Garden, we went to look at Carton King
纸箱王. It is famous for having all its product made with carton paper, including usable chairs.
A little shop right outside of the Small Swiss Garden is the shop called Cats' shop (literal translation from its name in Chinese). It is a shop that sells postcard, notebooks and stuff with cats printed on it.
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| Cats Shop |
Another little shop in the same area is the Carton King's post office where they sell postcards and also provide the service of mailing.
In the same area, it also have a big convenience shop (7-11). You can grab some foods and drinks before heading back to your hotel/minsu as you surely do not want to venture out in the middle of the night with no street lamps or even barricades to prevent you from falling off the side.
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| The way into our Minsu |
Back in our minsu to enjoy our cosy dinner! A homely meal prepared by the staff in the minsu.
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| Cosy little corner |
Went back to our room to rest for the day.
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| Items provided by the Minsu |
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| Our loots of the day |
That's the end of Day 3!
Right down the 499 steps, there is a small market and we sent our postcards out from here! They have wooden to metal postcards and stamps. After writing your message on the postcard, you can let the friendly storekeeper know where you want to send the postcard to and she will let you know how much it cost.
Moving down, we saw a small France town (SHINE), but it was nothing much in my opinion.
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