Sunday, December 8, 2013

Taiwan 2013 (Day 6 - 23 Nov 2013)

 
It's Day 6 of our holiday in Taiwan. Today, we head to Shin Kong Chao Fong Farm Ranch in Hualien (Address: No. 20號永福街 Fenglin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan 975).
 
Ms Lim from our minsu arranged a taxi driver to pick us up after breakfast. The ride took about 50 minutes from our minsu.
 
The farm has an area of 726 hectares. A part of it is dedicated to crops, another section is a zoo and there s also a diary farm that houses thousands of cattles.
 



Since it was difficult to cover the entire area by foot, there is buggy for rental. You just need to fill up a simple form. Rental rate is NTD 500 for first 2 hours. Subsequent hours is NTD 200 per hour. The driver must produce his/her driving licence.
 

 

 
Before the trip, Mommy read a review that there were people who were stung very badly by mosquitoes. Hence, we came prepared with mosquito patches and repellent in order that we can enjoy ourselves without worry. In fact, we found the review to be true, as Daddy had three mozzie bites on his nape within the first 30 minutes of our arrival.
 
At the aviary.

 

Different breeds of chicken
 

 Cassowary
 
 
The Ostrich was getting real close to us.
 

  

And it kept following us...
 

 
The baa baa goat... it kept 'baa-ing' non-stop!


One-hump camel
 
 
Close up with the one-hump camel.
 
 
 
David's favourite Horsey...


He got really excited when the horse came near.
 

  



 With the donkey.
(I really like this picture taken by Deborah. She takes really good pictures.
No filter done, by the way.)

 
 
White monkey.
 

A raccoon hanging on the fence.
 

 
 
 
A pair of loving black swans.

 
The pink ladies - Flamingoes.

 
Enjoying the breath-taking scenery while sitting at the back seat of the buggy.

 
And then, it was all about cows.......
 
 
Making a pose before entering the diary café.


David just loved looking at them again and again.
 




 
Where the cubs are kept. And that cub came talking to David when it saw him.


 
And more cows...

 
David was asking where he would see the milking process.

 
 
We were at the dairy farm at around 12.30pm but could not find where the milking process would take place. After lunch, we made a 2nd trip back to the farm to find out that the milking takes place at 4am and 4pm daily. So we came back a 3rd time at 4pm and finally got to see the milking process.
 
And we were this close to the cows...
 



 
 
Along the way, there are places to roam around freely and take pictures.
 
Doesn't Daddy look more like he was trying to stretch his body after a nap? Haha.

 
Deborah calls this "London bridge".
 



  

 
We found these giant tortoises which the children had never seen before.

 
A gorilla statute in the centre of the park.



The "white house" has a restaurant that serves some decent meal.



My sad face after I dropped my iphone and the screen was smashed. So did my heart.
 

 
The shining lady knight.

 
And the masculine knight.
Learning to drive the buggy.

 
Daddy on the swing. Hmh... I am sure the bar did not curve after that.

 
 
Just love the colour of the flowers behind...and of course, the kiddos that always gave a beautiful smile infront of the camera.

 
We left the farm at 4.40pm and the same taxi driver came to pick us up. We then headed to Zi Qiang Night Market for our dinner.
 
There are only two night markets in Hualien - Zi Qiang Night Market and Nanbin Night Market. I Qiang Night Market is bigger than Nanbin Night Market, but much smaller than those in Taipei.
 
The must-eat in Zi Qiang Night Market is this coffin-like toast bread with lots of, lots of filling of your choice.
 
You will need to take a number to queue for the stall that is most popular. According to most reviews, it tastes much better. We did not queue for it because of the long wait. Nevertheless, we tried this stall  run by a middle age woman and a young boy. And it taste good too! In fact, we love it so much, I am regretting that I didn't have my second helping!
 
  

 
And then we were lured to the authentic smelly tofu stall and couldn't help but ordered a plate of it to satisfy our craving. It was really delicious!!
 

 
And this is the face David gave when the adults were enjoying our smelly tofu.

 
We also had tako balls, Taiwanese sausage, meat skewers.
 
 
In this night market, we found that there were a number of fruit stalls selling cut watermelons, papayas, dragon fruits, pears, apples in pre-packed transparent boxes. I was more hesitant to buy from the frui stalls in Taipei because the cut fruits were usually left in the open. 
 
We also noticed there were several stalls selling fruit juices and all kinds of milk shake, which is very popular and crowded.
 
Another distinct thing about Zi Qiang Night Market that I did not see in Taipei were stalls selling steak on hot-plate with pasta. We did not manage to try it we were getting too full.
 
The good thing about Zi Qiang night market is that most stalls provide tables and chairs where you can enjoy your meals, however it is limited especially when the crowd starts to come in.
 
Since the night market was not very big, after about an hour or so, we contacted the driver and headed back to the minsu for the night.
 

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