taiwan trip-day one and two

ok, so here is my real post on my Taiwan trip!
foodie post will resume after this:) photos have been uploaded in a slide show cos it takes too much time and effort to post up all..
a simplified itinerary of out trip...
there were 8 of us. mummy, sis, grandma, auntie and uncle plus two cousins. too bad daddy could not come cos his stupid company did not allow him to take leave.cissss

day one:
took the flight at 2.40pm. EVA air..
reached Taipei airport at 7 and went through all the immigration and stuff.
met out tour guide, a Taiwanese guy, Johnny Hu
took a double Decker bus to our hotel in the city..
first culture shock...ppl in Taiwan drives on the LEFT side. it was so weird to see the oncoming cars from the opposite direction.
anyway there wasn't anything planned for the first day. checked in the hotel and we took a short walk by ourselves. but most of the shops were already close :(

day2:
rise and shine at 6.15am. the sun was up shining merrily at 5 am plus. so its not so bad, getting up so early. had a buffet breakfast and headed out at 7am. our group was pretty co-operative. a very good thing. but there were too many annoying little kids for my liking.
first stop was Chang Kai Shek Memorial click on it if you're interested in finding out more.
the weather was so freaking HOT. the sun was burning!!!
and weirdly enough Johnny said the morning sun is the worst. and it will get cooler in the afternoon.

next stop was chiufen or known as little shanghai. its high up on the mountains, so we were rewarded with beautiful scenery of the pacific ocean on the way up. it was really breathtaking... chiufen used to be a gold mine. according to history, nine families went up to the mines and they found a really huge piece of gold. so it was divided to nine parts. chiufen literary translated of nine-shares.

then we headed off to yilan. specifically to a hot spring resort where we got the chance to dip in the hot hot water. it was so relaxing and the place was very nice too.*no photos yet, have to get from cousin *

next and last stop for the day was the place that we were going to spend the night, shangrila farm resort. its a very different place. unlike the busy cities its basically back to nature. but there was no compromise on the hotels, in fact the hotel was quite luxurious, with two double beds.had a good night's sleep cos did not get much on the first night. the only thing was that there were insects hanging out at the corridor. we had a tour round the orchard, met the resident piggy, ah bui which was very cute (for a pig) black and pink and fat. it was "wagging" its tail even :P and the resident terrier, toi toi, which was so so small, cute and adorable ^-^ then dinner and night activities-top playing, making tang yuen and releasing lanterns. and a night walk again at the orchard to admire the view from the mountain top. absolutely beautiful. and back again to play bubbles...its like going back to childhood again. lol, as if we are that old...

day 3 and 4 soon to come...