So others may live

Have been following closely the situation in Japan. There is a saying, "it does not just rain, it pours". This is indeed so true. There are so many unfortunate events going on and everyday, you still hear about strong aftershocks. The survivors are left still fearing for their safety due to the strong aftershocks in the wintry weather that provide no warmth.

Despite the difficult conditions where they receive little water and food, we still hear the stories that survivors in the shelters are sorting out their waste for recycling! I am totally in awe of these people! Amazing resilience folks who still think about saving mother nature despite the tough time they are experiencing.

I also immensely respect those firemen, policemen, technicans and workers working against the clock and radiation to prevent a worse disaster in the troubled nuclear plant. These are usually the ordinary folks, those not in the highest positions and those who do not earn the most/highest bucks that are risking their lives.

I remembered reading a book very long ago about a elite rescue force. Their motto is "So others may live". Putting others lives before your own, this seems to be what these people are doing now, choosing to risk their lives and stand by your responsibilities so that others can live. I have only admiration for these people. In such trying times, human nature are really put into test and the good and bad side can prevail. Despite our seemingly insignificance in the face of mother nature, the spirits of these people shine brilliantly through the difficult time! I sincerely wish them success in protecting the land and people they care about!

Day 4 Lavender Forest ( 薰衣草森林)

Lavender Forest (http://www.lavendercottage.com.tw/), I heard about this place online. The story of its founders (2 gals) was pretty inspiring, and I thought I wanted to visit it. They wanted to spread the message of love. It seems though sadly at the moment one of the gals is suffering from stage 4 cancer.

The place is indeed a popular place. I heard its place for lodging is fully booked months if not a year in advance. Packed mostly with local tourists. The marketing of the place was quite well done, they have a very consistent theme there. Similar to the whole town concept, Lavender Forest also seems to protrary "Wishing you happiness" message. There is a place for you to write your wish and hang on the hut; post boxes with names like "Happy Me", "Family", "Buddies" etc; wishing tree; board that mentioned "Dreams come True" .... The air is injected with a feel good factor. I think it is actually infectious to a certain extent!

And of course there is also Lavender. It was grown on a hill but the patch of land used to grow lavender is really not that big. Still it is lovely to watch the lavender growing there.

After visiting Lavender Forest, Mr Xu brought us to another beautiful place with lots of flowers before we needed to rush for the 3 hour bus to Taipei. It was a pity that we were in Shin She for such a short time. It has so much to offer. I think many people only come to this place for the Lavender Forest and then leave. But really from the looks of it if you are someone who like nature, you can budget 1-2 days instead of a few hours there.

Day 4: Shin She 新社

This was really a busy day for us. Too many places to cover and too little time.

We woke up to a clear brillant sky at Cingjing and set off at 9.30am. Reached Sun Moon Lake and took an hour ferry ride touring the lake. Then rushed to catch the 1-hour bus to Taitung. Upon reaching, took another 1 hour bus to Shin She. Everything was packed according to bus schedule so that we would not miss any.

This would be one of the highlights of our trip. I had called the local town government tourism office at Shin She the previous day to enquire about the way to reach the town as well as the transport in the area. I learnt that there was a Guo Guang bus (NT 250) that we could take though we needed to indicate our interest early (normally 3 days in advance). Upon hearing that we were coming the next day, they said they will make the necessary arrangement for us.

I was surprised when I received a call from them to confirm with us the time of our connecting bus. On the connecting bus they called again to check we were on the bus. Wow amazing service. It was also the best deal that we had.

After alighting from the connecting bus, we were picked up by the Guo Guang Bus.

Shin She (新社 http://www.shinshe.org.tw) is a place where the tourism board has themed it as a happiness town with a purple heritage (紫色古乡，幸福小镇). Indeed everywhere you go, you could distinctly feel the sincerity and effort they put in to bring the message across to visitors. According to the tourism board, they wanted visitor to feel at home, romantic and happy.

Being a rural area with lots of farms etc, it gives a rustic idyllic feeling. The driver of the Guo Guang bus, Mr Xu was extremely helpful and informative. He dished out many information about the plants and farms we see along the way to Lavender Forest.

Taiwan Day 3 (B): Cingjing

The cherry blossoms in Cingjing were very beautiful indeed. They could be seen in patches everywhere. It was my first time seeing the cherry blossoms and I was really surprised to find them in plentiful in Cingjing. Cingjing is a unique place. It does not look like your average Taiwanese town. In fact, European achitecture inspired buildings can be seen everywhere.

This is the minshu that I stayed as it looks in the morning.

Taiwan Day 3 Part A: Mount He Huan & Cingjing Farm

Day 3 - 4/3/2011

Wake up early in the morning to a sumptous breakfast at the minshu. Even though it should be considered a relatively simple one, brown rice porridge with dishes such as cabbage, eggs, peanuts and bamboo shoots, it was one of my best meals in Taiwan.

After breakfast it was time for our 4 hours half-day trip to Mount He Huan (NT 500) . We decided to do a half-day trip that started at 9.30am instead of the sunrise trip that started at 4.30am as the sky was cloudy thus the chance of a visible sunrise seemed lower. It was the right choice apparently that day.

Before we left, the minshu caretaker was asking us whether we were going in our current attire. He said that what we wore may not be enough even though we had wore every thick clothing that we had brought with us to Taiwan. He went to the back of the minshu and returned with 2 worn out but thick jackets to lend us.

It was lucky that we have those jackets with us. Mt He Huan was certainly cold. At some point, the temperature dipped to -1 degree celsius. Even though the sky was cloudy, we managed to take a few clear shots that day when the sky cleared for a short while.

After Mt He Huan, we went to the Cingjing Farm. There were many sheeps in the farms and we managed to catch the sheep show and the horse show.

In the sheep show, they showed us how trained dogs are used to round out sheeps in those nomadic cultures. It was amazing seeing the dog going about doing it.

Taiwan Day 2 : Flower Expo

Day 2 - 3/3/2011

We wake up early to go to the Taipei International Flower Expo. Our schedule was changed so that we could go on a weekday as we heard that the queue would be very long on a weekend. Entrance fee is NT 300.

We took the MRT to Yuanshan station. Indeed there were a lot of people but surprisingly it was a very orderly event. Most of the visitors seem to be local residents. The expo encompasses a very large area and can possibly take a few days to view everything.

One tip though, go to the various stations to get your viewting tickets first before starting to view those exhibits that do not need tickets. Most exhibits do not need tickets. When we managed to get some tickets, the viewing time was for 3 pm to 7pm which were too late for us.

The flowers on display were dazzling.

You can really smell the scent of flowers as you walked among them.

After the expo, we took the High Speed Rail to Taichung (about 1 hr, NT 700). The HSR was clean and nice. Reaching Taichung, we took an hour bus to Nantou followed by a 50 min-taxi ride (NT 800) to reach Cingjing that is at an altitude of 1750m. It was close to 8 pm when we arrived at our Euro Country Villa Minshu.

Tsunami

Saw the devastating pictures of the Japan Tsunami. Nature forces are enormous while we are all so insignificant relative to them.

Hopefully the casualty will be limited.

Taiwan Day 1: Tapei 101

Went to Taiwan 2/3/2011 - 7/3/2011 with a friend who also like me have a few days of leave to clear before end March.

Day 1 (2/3/2011)

Flight from Singapore to HK to Taipei (Cathay Pacific)

-- Oops forgotten to bring HK currency. Even though it is a 1 hr transit, will be nice to have brough HK currency so that we can buy snacks.

Taipei at last! Everyone on the plane was in jackets, well prepared for the weather.

I remembered vividly the government weather bereau that I checked several times forecasted temperature at 18-20 degree in Taipei for the period.... But the outside temperature was 13 degrees!! Hmmm.... it was due to a sudden cold spell as I would learn later.

Checked in Taipei Garden Hotel. Nice hotel that is 10 mins walks from Ximending.

After putting the bags we went to Ximending. At night, we went to Taipei 101. The night was so cold. The highest point of Taipei 101 was shrouded by the clouds. It played peek-a-boo as the clouds flies past.