Romping around in Taiwan...elegantly 撞翻台湾

跑去太鲁阁吸收日月精华

山峦是一层层的

石壁也是一层层的，好像我们颜色姣好的九层糕

溪水在某些段落蓝得像Listerine

相当清洁的感觉

习惯了巴生河的吉隆坡人是接受不了的

The pride of Hualien, Taroko National Park, is cut out for a scene in martial art movies. I do not remember what the descriptions said about how the interesting landscape was formed millions of years ago, but it looked like the rock mountains were slashed into halves by the sword of deities back then. The rock mountains' surface have lines in pinkish greyish hues, like the strokes in calligraphy, or rather, our layered nyonya cake. Some stretches of the streams were in Listerine blue while others are in cloudy grey. It is simply picture perfect, but be prepared for a long walk.

Let your imagination run wild and say Hi to the many faces you see on the rock surface. Here's the Monkey King greeting us at the Swiftlet's Cave.

看，美猴王在看。

There's free shuttle accessing Taroko but frankly, it is better to take the cab if you have some seniors in tow. Some cab drivers approached us and we turned them down, thinking they might be touts. After a very tiring journey trying to catch the shuttle at the right time and the long drive, I think the NT$800 they asked for was very reasonable.

接驳车的司机小姐魏秀文，为我们介绍了好几道道地美食。回柚子家途中还吃了精美便宜的黑森林和提拉米苏，才体会台湾人问什么常常把幸福挂在嘴边。晚上被小米酒和损友骗醉了。

Nevertheless, we met some new friends, like the nice lady driver of the free shuttle, Miss Wei XiuWen , who brought us to check out some great local snacks. We ended the night with exquisite and affordable Tiramusi and Black Forest at a cosy bakery along the way back. When the aunties were asleep, Sam and I and the host and an air stewardess from Taipei finished the entire bottle of high-alco rice wine bought at the lst stop of Taroko, and I spent the night crawling to the toilet to puke (cause Sam kept pouring the content in her glass into mine). Don't underestimate the local products.

翌日更要天明前起床！但是确实值得啦，到七星潭在铺满满小石头的海边再躺下，石头都是圆圆滑滑的有美丽的色调，浪退时可以听见它们齐齐滚动的声音。

Still she forced me to wake up before dawn, but it was worth it as I got to lie down again on the swathe of cold and smooth pebbles by the seaside. The pebbles were in subtle colours, and you could hear the sound of them rolling happily when the waves retreated back to the sea.

Pix: The cafe of the hot spring homestay, which occupies a condo unit.

The afternoon we reached JiaoXi, a small town in the east coast and it is famous for hot springs apparently endowned with great medicinal and beauty benefits. There was nothing except for hot spring resorts and facilities alongside only two rows of shop, but it was exactly the reason why I loved it here. We did nothing but soaked ourselves into steamy spa tubs, the drizzle made the experience even lovelier, and we wrapped up the night with hot spring veggies for supper.

我喜欢礁溪，因为它什么都没有，只有滋养的温泉和完善的温泉设施，可以什么都不做，只泡温泉吃温泉菜。

九份的童话，童话的九份。看来看去，还是老舍的温莎堡民宿最吸引，于是重回九份时又住那里，还是那样心满意足。看姑姑那样高兴的表情，就知道这实在是正确的选择。

There's a certain sense of fairytale to the hillside town Jiufen that faces the sea, an abandoned gold mine turned tourist destination. Yes it is touristy (beware of the tea houses' cover charge, always check before you enter) but it is still elegantly nostalgic, with soothing oldies lingering in the cool breeze all the time. Homestays in Jiufen are relatively more pricey, it is an average of RM100 per person per night on weekends but we had more than what we've paid for. After quite a bit of reseach, we still checked into WenShaBao on our second visit to Jiufen, the unique decor, thoughtful service and hosts' sincere hospitality completed our fairytale stopover.