Romping around in Taiwan...elegantly 撞翻台湾

The term "Lavender Farm" will instantly catch our attention, and upon knowing that there was a place called Laventer Cottage, we made our every effort to be there even though it is about two hours drive from TaiChung city, which was where we decided to stop by to prepare ourselves for the bus ride to Sun Moon Lake. One thing strange about Taiwan, is that cab drivers can solicit business in front of the private bus operators' kiosks and both of them won't fight. The cab uncle said it would cost almost the same for us to charter a cab, compared to taking a bus to catch the shuttle that links several farms in Taichung. It was a correct decision. Sorry, I can't remember how much it cost, but the message is, be open to the cab drivers who approach you, they are most probably not touts like the ones you often see in KL and China.

薰衣草森林，新社花海，香菇火锅晚餐。。。全情冲入花的氛围。

I would say it is too much of an effort to travel so far for Lavender Cottage alone, but adding in a couple of other destinations along the way makes the journey a refreshing experience checking out the floral industry in the more laidback parts of Taiwan. The beauty of Lavender Cottage is founded upon an aspiring story of two girls venturing into an industry totally alien to them just because they loved lavender. They quit city jobs to go to the farm and now products from their farm are penetrating into the major cities in Taiwan. The lavender farm is not big and dense enough to leave a deep impression but like other Taiwanese, they have the knack of making things unique and exquisite, so there are still quite a host of things to check out there, such as an aroma labyrinth, lavender ice-cream by lavender farm and a retail outlet selling everything lavender. Thank god for taking the cab instead of chasing after the buses, what we missed in Lavender Cottage was compensated by the sea of flowers we saw in Xinshe. The cab uncle managed to rush us there moments before it was closed for the day, it was a great finale before we settled down for delicious mushroom steamboat nearby for dinner.

Pix: TanHui Homestay, sorry my mama is a bit prosperous but she is very cute.

My memory of Sun Moon Lake is made up of the tranquil lake (but I wasn't lucky enough to see both the sun and moon's reflections on the lake), rice wine made by the indigenous people, mushroom ice-cream with flavours you could never have guessed, TanHui Homestay where we stayed for the second time and to our pleasant surprise, firework splendour amid rural tranquility. TanHui is still the best option, lavishly renovated, jacuzzi tub and near to all the activities. Do bear with the proprietors who are not so computer-savvy as they are retirees, so you may not get a reply to your emails, but call them up, they will get everything ready for you.

第二次来访，我们看见烟火萦绕的日月潭，喝原住民做的小米酒和吃热腾腾的烧肉，还是住在三位阿姨经营的潭晖民宿，深秋的山中大湖，洋溢着热闹的青春的快乐的气息。

After Sun Moon Lake, it was CheCheng, Taipei, YangMingShan, YeLiu (the Queen's Head, seriously, do not bother going) and the Floral Expo which we found disappointing probably because we could not entre the main pavillion. However, I am lazy to write about all that already and I do not have anymore nice photos to share. So, for further info, please visit 4dime.blogspot.com.