Taiwan, land of......what?

I honestly cannot say what I really liked, found fascinating about the country I visited for 6 days. It was supposed to be the best time of the year to visit - Autumn......temperature was in its mid 20s (read: hot as hell)! And we went to beautiful places like the Blooming Oasis where some Korean movie shot their scenes......alll 5 patches of blooming and almost blooming little flowers. Then we went to the Master Bear resort where we could try out hot pools.....yeay! It rained and there were gigantic earthworms all writhing on the earth which disguested the heck out of my little bare toes!

Oh yes, we also went to the Ah Mei Store which sold powdered fetus of deer which is
guaranteed to cure asthma, we went to the Taroko Gorge which is allegedly one of the wonders of the earth (!!!!) with its huge long bed of gravel.....I'm told it's a more awesome sight when there are typhoons and the Gorge is filled to its brim - well, unlucky me who wasn't there during a typhoon!

Ummmmmmm, food was always rice and dishes - pretty much the same soup, vegetables, pork and chicken. There was one night of wonderful dining though, at the gorgeous and unique Tree House Restaurant - it's shaped like a tree house on the inside with its furniture looking like it was simply carved out of wood and cutlery and plates and mugs that look like they belong with Fred Flinstone.

The fried oysters and wan than mee were supposed to be good there but oh so bland! The stuff you buy from road side stalls were nothing much to shout about too though the Taiwanese seemed to enjoy 'lor bak pooi'and 'or mee'(Hokkien).....

Visited the 101 Tower of course, KLCC is much better-looking and awe-inspiring. Although I saw (and spoke to!) the most gorgeous looking Chinese man I have ever seen in my entire life! He was tall enough, big enough, beautiful enough and spoke English like a native tongue - what's he doing behind the counter at Bvlgari????

The one thing I can honestly say I enjoyed were the night markets - namely the See Men Tong in Taipei and Shih Lin Night Market which are quite large and sell fantastic shoes, bags and fashion. Knowing me with my penchant for shoes, I came back with six pairs - well actually only 5 and mum gave me a pair she bought.

Knee high suede boots for only 390 New Taiwan Dollars = RM46.40 (of which I have 2 pairs), high heels for the same amount, espadrilles......OOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!! though some silly spoil sports on the tour always wanted to only spend 2 hours at the night markets because, the wimps!, wanted to go back to the hotel and sleep - STAY AT HOME WHY DON'T YOU!!!

So, that was my Taiwan trip - those of you thinking of using CTC (Commonwealth Tours.....or something) from Singapore - DON'T! Those of you who have Joanne as your tour leader.....buyer beware......