Day 11: The Pacific Ocean from Longpan Park, Kenting...

~ 24th March 2014 ~

We had no idea where were we heading towards. The road was quite secluded. If we were kidnapped, we wouldn't even know it. Then the road became windy with trees on both sides. We have no map with us. No plan of whatsoever.

Then, an odd-looking building came into our view. What's that huge dome for? What's the whole place about? A few words caught my eye. Something like it's a military building as there's a soldier guarding at the entrance. It must be to protect the shoreline from aliens. Our driver then parked his car quite a short distance from the building. I thought we were going into the building but in the end, he took us for a long walk to nowhere.

The nowhere proved to be the best place ever~! We were ooh-ing and ahh-ing and jumping around because it was our first time catching a glimpse of the Pacific Ocean. I only read the word 'Pacific Ocean' from the atlas, other than that I couldn't imagine the colour of it. 

IT was so blue it must be very deep. Excuse my geographical knowledge regarding this. The sound of the crashing waves were so much stronger than what I've ever heard. Just the look of the waves rolling in was exciting. We couldn't get enough of it and thus, we spent an hour or so standing at the same spot. If I was crazier, I would have run downhill and make a slow crawl back up. Those dark patches on dry land were shadow of passing clouds.

The wind was the speed of a speeding Ferrari. I'm serious, if you're planning to wear a hat, it would surely fly off. Don't even plan to fly a kite there. You might fly along with your kite :D

Fancy stepping on dried coral reefs on a hilltop? According to the driver, the whole land lifted up from the sea when the biggest earthquake shook the country. That I'll have to believe or else how would you explain dried corals on hilltop? Finally, it's time to go.

When we first arrived, there weren't many people but as we were leaving, the humans appeared from nowhere.

Goodbye... I was satisfied with just the first stop. I don't mind going back to the hotel to have a good sleep...

Day 11: Breakfast by Lealea Garden Hotel...

~ 24th March 2014 ~

I finally understand why there are people who would rather stay in hotels and made sure breakfast is provided.

Look at mi madre... all smiles :D When you just woke up and you needed the fuel to move about, it's really difficult to go look for breakfast. There's nothing much to eat around the area we stayed which was within the walking distance, so again, thank God we were in a hotel which provided really good food albeit simple. We were spoiled for choice and we ate almost everything except for this...

We were adamant not to even try a spoonful of the cabbage. We had our fair shares of cabbages... enough was enough~!

My kinda food...

Pinky and mi madre's porridge???? with the best meat floss ever~

Definitely not mine with some salad there...

Obviously not my platter~!

I discovered something new, yeah... I'm not that modern...

That's a rolling toaster? The bread rolled to the back... and dropped back down... Okay... that's really cool... and I started playing with the toaster.... 

I had a few of those... we made many rounds to the food. We were not done yet and I had so many rounds of this... I was really happy.... Looking at it now, I'm also happy...

That's really really nice... too bad our driver came to get us right on time at 9 a.m. and we made him wait for awhile because we were having such a good time enjoying breakfast. If only we had gotten up from slumber earlier... but the bed was more inviting than the food... Time to explore part of Kenting...

Day 10: Kenting Night Market - A Must Go~!

~ 23rd March 2014 ~

Picking Lealea Garden Hotel as a place to stay was the best choice ever. The moment we stepped out of the lobby, the main road greeted us and the night market was right smack there~! The looks of the night market was really inviting so unlike other night markets. Our stomach were rumbling due to lack of food.

We were thinking of walking around from end to another before deciding what food to eat so that we would not be too full when we come to the stall that we really wanted. That's the lousiest plan ever and in less than a minute, we found ourselves crossing the road because there's this stall which looked really attractive. Lights and colours do attract~!

And the aroma does help~! Pictures are important to serve tourists like me who can't read a word. When you're hungry, the price did not matter. We have spent thousands of NTs on other things, so whenever we see two digits sum, it's totally okay. It wouldn't hurt the pocket since I had the whole wad of cash strapped around my body.

We got ourselves the baby steamed buns with steaming hot soup inside. The seller insisted that we eat first before feeding my camera. It was really good and to be sure that you have customers, it's not always when we see people queuing up, we would follow suit. Good PR is needed....

He was asking us to buy the miniature dumplings and because of his persistence, we bought a few. Mi madre said we should keep for the night. It was already night so mi madre must have meant supper before we called it a day. Mind you, we ran away whenever we see crowds and we have developed some kind of phobia when we see crowds and throngs of people. So, any stall with humans standing in one snake-long line, we stayed far away from it.

We crossed the road back to where we plan to start but in less than a few steps, we fall in love with this stall. We didn't have to stand or walk along to road, holding out paper plates or plastic bags. Chewing while walking was what we didn't mind doing a decade ago. This stall came with comfortable wooden bench, so why not.... we were actually attracted to these...

Ooohhh.... ooohhhhh.... oysters... clams.... snails....

We were undecided what to order and after some mental calculation, I don't think it's a good idea to order something that will make us full immediately.

The price came in three digits and it's not good according to my mental arithmetic. But in the end, we ordered what we loved most....

Our large clams...

Oysters~!

Some may think this is disgusting... but we're good with these snails.... 

Enjoying the seafood~!

The uncle who manned the stall even gave us a free huge clam just because I used Hokkien. He must be excited to hear a foreigner speaking their Taiwanese language... haiyo... Uncle, thank you for being nice but most Penang lang can speak Hokkien leh.... then you will have to give many free clams away :D

Our free clam in soup... Thank you... Really appreciate the kind gesture...

When we're done, we left a big mess on the once clean table...

Mi madre's suggestion of supper came too early. We just had to gulp down everything. They were so good... and no, we don't miss the glutinous rice dumpling because we could make better ones :D

Look at the price~!! It's so cheap~ and the soy sauce grilled chicken was so good. I think I bought two thighs and took back to the hotel room to feast on those thighs. They were so good I regretted buying two only. Should have bought all seven plus some bishops' nose *chicken arse* Looking at this now, I need to again, upgrade my cooking...

Pinky got this or was it mine? Can't remember... soy bean milk? Don't remember at all... Frog milk *eeewwwww* No such thing la...

That looked tempting but we didn't get it... dunno whhhhhyyyyyyyy *wailing* I really like Kending's night market with no crowd and really good food. Please, forget about always going to Taipei just because everyone's going to Taipei. Be a more adventurous tourists and start looking at Taiwan's own down south. Kaohsiung and Kending, in Pingtung county were two of the best places according to us.

If you can't stand night market food, there's always Smokey Joe's for you to try out. We're not keen to try on any Western dishes in a Chinese country.

Should have bought that phone clip for the hubby. Hubby would like to have that gadget on the table so he did not have to hold on to his phone.

Koala, I'm Going to Get You...

It's about time that I roll out the luggage and blow the dust off. I'm a good planner but I don't think I will be those who pack their luggage two weeks ahead. I will probably start packing one night before and then rush to get all stuff ready for the next day's flight. Maybe it's time to change and be a predictable person. I don't know how to plan for this particular trip maybe I'll just go figure out all those places or roads found printed on my Limited Edition Monopoly... very tempted to do so... will start searching... 

I have yet to finish with my last year's holiday photos and my travel buddy says I might not even finish them before this coming trip. *sigh*

Day 10: Lealea Garden Hotel, Kending...

~ 23rd March 2014 ~

After being driven through quiet highways and lonely towns, we finally see some live on the road. Will show you the night market along the shoulders of the road soon. The van driver dropped us by the road side and our hotel was really by the road side. We wanted to pamper ourselves with better hotel stay so Pinky booked for us Lealea Garden Hotel in hope of a sea view and sea breeze. Such were our imaginations gone totally wild. We really pictured ourselves in a hotel room with such beautiful view that we were quite shocked to find our hotel by the roadside. When we were in Sun Moon Lake, we saw that Lealea Hotel and we told ourselves, we needed to be rich people to stay there as it has such expensive and classy-look. Our words came to pass so soon and before we knew it, we were standing in front of Lealea Garden Hotel. Such was the blur-ness of my travel buddy who didn't even realize what sort of hotel she booked and it's a four-star hotel with no garden view at all.

None-the-less, we were really excited and we were on top of the world. Forget about any garden or sea view. It's not like we would stay in the hotel room to enjoy any scenery outside. Do you know that we wouldn't even realize whether there's a window or not in our room? Even if there's a window, we would make sure that the shades are drawn and our room well-shaded from the sun or from the outside world. Hermit-living we enjoyed :D

We were greeted with this welcoming board, people penning down their wishes. We stood there for some time, reading and laughing at some funny phrases.

The lobby might not be top notch like some hotels but after staying in so many minsu without lobbies, we were quite happy to see one. We imagined ourselves sitting there, resting but that never come to pass. We never even rest our butts on the sofa set. We were too busy running around.

We wanted to tour Kending. Mind you, what's written in the tourism board was so unlike what we experienced. All those beautiful printed coloured photos with holidaymakers were not even real. As the Malay saying goes 'Indah khabar daripada rupa'. What you see is not what you get. Since we did not make any plans, smart me told mi madre and the travel buddy that since we were staying in a 4-star hotel, definitely they will be able to arrange something for us. Thanks to my Kuching experience where I got the hotel to arrange for me a driver to drive me around. So, in less than a minute we got ourselves a driver for the next day's tour. 

When we entered the room, our mouth were gaping open like a fish out of the aquarium. There were two queen size beds for the three of us. Usually we would only have one queen size and one single bed for the two of us. The bed looked so inviting but we were cautious not to jump straight onto the bed lest we break our bones if those mattresses were rock solid hard like those mattresses in Alishan Gou Hotel, made of solid rocks. 

We looked behind the door and there was another queen size bed. We were so excited to see three queen size beds. 4-star hotel it was! We looked a few times thinking it was the reflection of the bed through the mirror but it was really three beds in one room with ample of space for us to mess around.

We hardly stay in hotels because we have the same kind of thinking whereby we would only need a place to sleep in and the next day, we would be bouncing off already. So, why bother paying so much for just a few hours of rest? Well, now I truly understand. You pay for the comfort if not the service. That's all.... comfort. The travel buddy said that according to the Chinese mentality, everything must be taken home no matter what. Therefore, being Chinese, we helped her grabbed everything into the luggage. No wonder our luggage were exploding.

Then, the mini coffee area was fantastic as well. The whole room was painted in apple green. I could accept that colour but I like the red of the door most.

We had more than enough towels but in the end we rescued the room from being flooded as there was a big leakage from the bath tub and the water spilled out of the bathroom. We used the towels to soak the water. Instead of calling the hotel service department to make a complain, we changed up to go for dinner. We're not those fussy people who complain but when we do complain, it's not good news anymore.

We like the table lamp and that standing television remote control. Shouldn't we take those two home as well? Nah... there's not enough space in the luggage and it's equivalent to stealing. We've heard a lot of stories where the Chinese tourists would take everything home including the toilet rolls. They took so many rolls home that by the time they reached home, they could keep those toilet rolls in the storeroom to be used for another month.

The only view we had was facing the lobby area. The next morning, we didn't need an alarm clock to wake us up. There's one whole bunch of Chinese tourists who spoke so loudly like they were talking in the marketplace. That really messed up our mornings. We did not like our sleep to be disturbed before our alarm clocks rang. That was the only incident that spoiled our stay there. Such unaccounted for morning calls of loud, rambunctious talking. Overall, the location was perfect for those pining for food.

Day 10: Goodbye Kaohsiung, Hello Kending~!

~ 23rd March 2014 ~

By the time we crossed over back from Cijin Island, the sun has set. It was getting dark and we still couldn't think of how were we going to travel to Kending. We were not even worried about that. There were some stalls along the road and we stopped to get something to munch. There was a temple there, must be the famous temple where everybody visited. No photos, as not to defile the camera. We took our own sweet time to walk. There's no more element of rushing. It just disappeared.

I think I had the sausages while Pinky had that flattened fish cakes on skewers. I have no idea what we ate but I saw something that made me lose my appetite.

I wonder whether that big huge pot was the famous oyster rice vermicelli. Sometimes, my brain works overtime when it shouldn't be doing so. I looked at the brim of the huge pot and it was stained with gravy which has splashed out while stirring. The pot was so big, it was bigger than our nasi kandar's kawah. Then, I was thinking if they couldn't finish selling, what would they do with the unfinished food? Recycle or throw away? It was a really huge pot and really if you need to throw them away, it can feed a whole village. Thus, I didn't dare to even try a sip.

After getting our food, we had to take the train back to wherever we came from . Again, I have no idea where we came from. Don't even know where's the minsu. Don't even know the name of the minsu. Oh, well. I saw this advertisement in the train. I had a good laugh at the name Curry University. I was thinking to myself, why would anyone want to study in such a university? I can cook better curry, should I open one as well? Curries worldwide taste differently, and I have a book with 500 curry recipes. In the end, mi madre translated that it's a restaurant where you can get your food delivered with 5 or more orders. A moment ago I thought Taiwan has gone crazy with their food that they needed a university to experiment with food. As crazy as how Beijing has Fengshui University.

Then, I turned my head and had another good silent laugh. The guy was wearing a floral-printed shirt. I wouldn't even wear that. I know I'm mean. Okay, but I like his tiger backpack. I saw that in Danshui's night market but I had no idea how to carry that bag home. We were already overloaded with so much excess baggage and if I get this one, I think we'll all be thrown out of the plane home. I prefer the Siberian tiger's bag.

While we're approaching the minsu, actually still very far away, we saw a group of taxi drivers sitting around and talking. One old man approached me and asked whether we needed a taxi service. I told him yes and when he asked where to, I straight away told him - to Kending County. He asked us to wait while he asked around for us. While waiting, we 'robbed' Patty of whatever cash she has in exchange of Pinky's Renmimbi. Yeah, we're poor again. We needed cash to travel. After we got our cash, the taxi man came and said there's a van sending a few passengers to Kending and it's so perfect that the van has three more empty seats. You see why were we not worried at all? Keep calm, God is in control. The van driver even took us back to our minsu where we parked our luggage and Patty has to take back her scooter. The van driver was also very nice to wait for Patty and I to go to the nearest and largest electrical shop to get a few memory cards. Yeah, I blew my memory cards to the max after ten days.It was a hurried goodbye to Patty and I'll always remember her for her kindness and hospitality. Before we knew it, we had our luggage packed up in the van and off we went for a two hours drive down south.