Thursday, July 09, 2009

Taroko National Park (Hualien, Taiwan)

This is me wearing a traditional hat from the Taroko aboriginal tribe. 

Taroko National Park is situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan and covers more than 92,000 hectares. This is a really beautiful park featuring high mountains and sheer gorges.


There are varied mountain peaks, numerous waterfalls, diverse plant forms and animal life.


The aboriginals were headhunters until the it was outlawed during the Japanese occupation.


Look at the mountain peaks...

....... the deep gorges meandering through the marble rock mountains...



... with its man made roads tunneling through the heart of the rocks....


....there is a richness in this place, with its diverse texture and unique ecosystem.....


...... till this soul came to witness ..... nature..... so sublime in its splendor and beauty....


......  the cries of the swallow in the grottos that indent the walls of the mountain walls....


...... the coming of mankind and cars...... merely is but a moment in its history......


.... likewise the coming of two monkeys who will never survive a day in this wilderness....


... in this wild terrain where many mysteries reside....


..... where visitors come to glimpse its intrigue and........


...... the streams ushering its music...... in its own rhythm...


.... while the distant hills echo a different tune......






Dessert from Kaohsiung

It is really hot here in Kaohsiung even at 11pm at night. I brought all long sleeves for the trip. I had to buy this green T shirt while shopping to change into.


We stopped at this place for dessert to cool down.

A lot of the desserts you see in Malaysia and Hong Kong actually originated from Taiwan ie. pearl tea (Zhen Zu Nai Ca). They started a trend whereby they make pearl beads from starch and you need thick straws to suck up the so called "pearls".




Tofu fa and pearl beads


Mango and ice cream



Lunch at a gourmet restaurant in Kaohsiung


Cincau drink (black jelly)


Taiwan beer! The beer is very very very smooth.


a pork dish!


Fish kidney! One kidney per fish, so wonder how many fishes are there on this plate?



a fried fish.



Dragon beard vege. My first time eating this.


Taiwan cauliflower in a sour sauce. The cauliflower is different from the west. It has a very long stem.


Liouhe Ye Bu (Kaohsiung)

This was a really interesting place. It is called Liouhe Night market, I saw many things including a shop that was selling snake soup.


There is even a stall to play mahjong with the vendor (open street).



Cold pomello drink.


Lovely beef noodles. Much nicer than in Malaysia where the beef sometimes taste like buffalo meat (tough).


Wednesday, July 08, 2009

Taiwan- Kaohsiung


This is my first trip ever to Taiwan and to a place called Kaohsiung.

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I normally will just stay back in the hotel, exercise then dine-in, do my reading and work, and call it a day with a few beers.

This time I was fortunate to meet the MAS crew that flew us in to Kaohsiung so we went out for a bite and a look around.

The Malay guy Farris was the co-pilot for the flight in and has only got his wings a month ago. If I knew this I would not have boarded the aircraft :-(. Only joking!



Farris' dinner - fish etc


Hui Ting's order - pork in a soup w/rice


Beef in a claypot soup



Not sure what this mess was but it was Lougan's dinner order.


My stew beef order. Kinda okay only!


Hui Ting a Penang girl. Charming isn't she? She is even more charming in person with her smile that wins, and a tint that will glow in your heart. She is a really warm person.


Sian Tian and Hui Ting. These 2 girls from MAS was far prettier than any Taiwanese girls I saw the whole night :-).


Rice cake made with pig's blood.


Myself next to a "wishing tree". Want to wish for something - just write it down and hang it on the tree.


Sian Tian was holding a bottle of slimming tea. She drank the whole bottle after the meal.


The slimming tea. Wonder if it really works?