Mountains & Oceans

We left Kao Hsiung at 8:30 am this morning after having a good breakfast buffet spread in the hotel. I have to say that among all the breakfast buffets I've had this vacation, the one at Howard Plaza Hotel in Kao Shiung is the best, with the most variety. I couldn't decide what to eat and ended up eating waaaaay too much for my own good. I even had waffles drenched in honey and chocolate syrup! YUMMY!

We headed for Kenting which is the southest most point of Taiwan. It took us almost 2 hours to get there and our first stop was a local temple (Yes, for some reason there is this fascination with temples!) The Fu An Gong is almost as nice as Shi Ming in Kao Hsiung, although its a little less grand. After blinding ourselves with enough incense smoke, we headed to the shorter of the 2 capes on the southern tip of Taiwan.

Dad in the front of Fu An Gong

Three storey high temple

Look at the intricate details on the carvings, including the different colours used

Beautiful view from top of the temple

Magic incinerator where the joss paper apparently flies into the incinerator on its own when you place it in front of the red door.

Local fish market outside the temple

Both of the capes are in the Kenting National Park. The first was Mao Bi Tou which literally translates into Cat Nose Head. It was so windy when we climbed up to the observatory that I thought I was going to get blown off the cliff. In fact, watching the waves crash on against the rocks made me aware of how powerful the ocean really is. Although it was very windy, it was good as there was no fog, so we could see far across the Taiwan Straits to Eluanbi where we were next headed.

Dad and Me at Entrance of Kenting National Park

Visitor Centre of Mao Bi Tou which is under renovation

Can you see the cat?

Me and Dad in front of the cat

Me and Dad with the Taiwan Straits, Sophia and Theo in the background

Waves crashing against the cliff

The beauty of the sky amazes me

Dad looking emo against the nice scenery

Does the rock in the background look like Nixon?

Different shades of the ocean and me with my tummy showing

Eluanbi is home to a famous lighthouse that has been rebuilt twice. Once because the Chinese destroyed it when the Japanese took control of Taiwan and the second time because the Japanese themselves destroyed it. Unfortunately we were not allowed to enter the lighthouse and so had to settle for just taking pictures below it.

Entrance to Eluanbi

In front of the famous lighthouse

Overcast skies... Fortunately it didn't rain

Dad and me in front of the lighthouse

See how strong the wind is? The coconut trees are almost bent

Next stop, we were given a special treat as we entered a forest that houses coral reefs. Yes, coral reefs that are hundreds of metres above sea level now. We had to hike for about 10 minutes to get to the Verdant Pavilion, but it was well worth it. The view from the Verdant Pavilion was amazing. And because the sky was so clear, we could see miles away. The only thing was that it was so windy, we couldn't take proper pictures

Hiking Path Map

Verdant Pavilion so far away...

Hiking path to the Verdant Pavilion

Coral reef just below the pavilion

Fantastic view

Why do I look like I'm wearing a hat?

Damn wind makes me look crazy!

Swinging on ropes

Dad walking alone on the path

After being tired out from the hike, we had our best meal so far on the
trip at the Caeser Park Hotel. The meal was truly inspiring. Even the
fried rice tasted especially good and the consistency of the soup was
just perfect. We were all raving about how good the meal was and they
had my favourite peanut muahchee for dessert!~

Entrance to Caesar Park Hotel

The ashtray has the logo in the sand!

The restaurant where we had lunch

Great Lunch Menu

For some reason they had a pair of parakeets in the hotel lobby

Yay! More Chinese New Year decorations

We left Kenting at around 2 pm to head for Tai Tung where we would be
spending the night. It was a 3 hour drive and the route was truly
scenic. We went through mountains and drove past the Pacific Ocean. The
colour of the ocean reminded me very much of down south in Western
Australia...

Blue blue skies...

...which turned into grey skies and strong winds

The rest stop which sold a bunch of touristy stuff

We arrived at Naruwan Hotel at around 5 pm and after checking in, Dad
and me went for a nice soak in the hot springs pool. Was my first time
at a real hot spring and the experience was really good. Was also the
first time I wore my new black bikini and I am proud to say it still
fits and I don't look fat. In fact, I think it looked pretty good,
considering how many people were checking me out Oh, and after 8
days on this trip, Dad finally saw my tattoo and he simply asked "Ni Zi
Shi Zuo De?"

Tallest building in the whole of Taitung and its our hotel

Taiwanese Aboriginal Welcoming Committee

Nicely made beds

Room is fairly small compared to the other hotels

View from our hotel room

Bath!

The toilet has a window that peeks into the main hotel room. So strange!

WTF are Rape Fields? Fields where you bring people you want to rape? It just doesn't freaking make sense to me and this is supposed to be one of the highlights of Tai Tung

The hot springs spa we went to

Entrance to the spa

After an okay dinner at Jade Garden, we attended a performance by the
Taiwan Aboriginal Tribes. Their dances was pretty interesting and I was
quite surprised to find out the lead dancer was only 10 years old.
Quite impressive and she moves really well too.

Jade Gardens

Fairly nice entrance

Information on the Aboriginals

The cute lead dancer

Its been a really long day and Dad is nagging me to go to bed, so I'm about to log off, but not before this...

Because yet again, I couldn't resist...