Chinese New Year

Wednesday 2nd February
For Chinese New Year we were given 6 days break.
I had wanted to go to Toroko Gorge but I had left it a bit late to book a place to stay and it was still a bit cold for camping.
Angel's family had invited me to a big feast on the day after we broke up. I had been trying to find out what I should bring for everyone for some time, but Angel hadn't been very specific.
I was told not to arrive until 6pm, so that gave me the morning to shop around. Pascal was in the same boat so he offered to take me to some shops with traditional New-Year-type gifts.
I got a pack of pineapple cakes for her Grandmother, some cookies and drink for her mother; a bottle of whisky for the brother who had given up his day off to help sort out my second crash; and some beer for the younger brother. I hoped this would be enough.
That afternoon I went for a hike with Pascal and his friend Hugh up a different part of the mountain. I thought it would be a good idea to work up an appetite. The hike was very steep up and down these 3 peaks. The worst part was a steep staircase at the top of the valley going up a cliff face... I'd never gripped a railing so hard... except maybe the up the wall of death on Mt Elgon in Uganda...
The walk was steep but not as long as we had expected, so we got back to the van before 4pm. Plenty of time to get back and shower!

At Angels, I gave out the gifts straight away. I think everyone was happy with them, except that Jaram wasn't old enough to drink yet, he was still 17. Whoops! I'm sure the beer will keep until his birthday! Jarhu (the older brother) wasted no time in opening his. There was a hot pot in the middle of the table with the usual pieces of tofu, sausage, egg, fish balls, octopus and shrimp. Around the edge of the table were things that are traditionally eaten at new year. Fish is eaten because the word sounds like 'renew' or 'recycle' or something. Yaram Cake is also eaten, which is very tasty, goes really well with soy sauce.
Angel's uncle and aunt live next door with her grandmother. They came over during the evening to bid us happy new year.

Thursday 3rd February.

We had thought about going to a cycle place near Taichung but after a nice lie in, Angel's mother didn't think we had enough time to get the most out of it. So instead, we scootered (well Angel scootered, I clung to the back) to a place with lots of flowers. The traffic was terrible today. It didn't take an hour to get there. I was expecting a big garden with lots of flowers but it was actually a long road with gardens on either side where you could buy flowers, shrubs and trees. In front of the gardens, and possibly just because it was a national holiday, there was a typical Taiwanese-style row of food stalls selling anything from icecreams and hot dogs to octopus wraps. The place was heaving. There were a few places where you could hire bicycles or peddle cars (The Flintstones style). We ran into Gail while we were looking round; A friend from Yuanlin. She was out with her cousin.
We passed on this idea as it made it difficult to see the flowers when you are on a bike. When we had spent a good hour looking round all of the displays we bought some food and found a park to sit down in and enjoy the beautiful weather.
We headed home at about 5. When we got back to Yuanlin, we drove to the bookshop. Angel needed to pick up a card making materials and I wanted to buy some Chinese New Year Cards to send to people back home.
When we got back to the Shen Household, her mother was cooking again, using up the leftovers of the hotpot from last night. I was surprised how much i could eat after yesterday's feast. That night we had an early night so that we could get to this cycle place nice and early tomorrow.

Friday 4th February.

The next morning we drove down to the station to catch a train to beyond Taichung. We grabbed a 7/11 breakfast, a steamed bun and a drink. The train was late and slow and had many people on board, all heading somewhere exciting in the hols.
We found a space and clung to the rail until we reached the large town of Fongyuen. We got off and headed towards the bus station and found a bus heading to the cycle place. The last time Angel came here she was in the a car so she asked the driver if he knew when to get off, but he didn't. We jumped off when Angel saw part of the track, but it turned out the hire shops were quite a walk further on up the hill.
I was expecting a big park in which you could cycle, but this was actually a long cycle track, just like we have in Europe. There were a lot of people on it too. From the very young kids to the very old. There were regular bicycles, tandems, and electric bicycles for the less active. After the Sun Moon Lake Marathon I didn't complain too much when Angel announced she was going to hire an electric bike.

We set out south along the track through beautiful orchards and flower filled fields with the mountains in the distance to the left.
The bike I hired was OK, except the seat was a bit low so I had to keep standing up to get any speed up. The pedal pace kept changing, as the path went from straight, to up, to down, to an almost halt whenever someone joined the path from a side path or road. Before long we reached a the small town of Dongshi. It had a Hakka tourist near the path and a line of stalls selling snacks and drinks. There was a white horse pulling visitors in a posh black cart. I didn't notice it, until I turned round from buying a drink. It most knocked me over.

We had a quick walk round to stretch our legs. Then got back on the bikes. Angel thought the path went further on, but Dongshi was the end of the line. So we turned round and headed back the way we came.
Now far behind where we had started was an old railtrack still in tact with a carriage upon it. We thought this would be a good place to have lunch. There was another line of stalls selling food so we grabbed a giant dunmpling thing and sat aboard the train. This was a photo oportunity not to be missed.

From the train, we cycled further down hill. Up until now there had been no incidents. One boy who was coming up the hill veered across onto my side. I stopped but he kept coming, so either his brakes weren't working or he had forgotten how to use them. Wack! He was fine OK, but I saw he was a little shaken so I stopped shouting at him and gave him a smile and a thumbs up. Soon after that we reached a point where two paths joined. We took a sharp right and headed towards the mountains. The path went over a huge bridge and on the other side it went into the mountain.
The tunnel was dimly lit and it was freezing inside. It was difficult to see what was coming on the other side, so everyone went at the speed of the slowest, which was pretty slow. After what seemed like an age, we came out the other side. It was an easy drop to the horse show place. It was difficult to tell what went on inside, either a zoo with just horses, or circus/showground venue with just horses.

I wasn't that fussed about seeing it, it was getting later and it cost $200 to get in, so we decided to give it a miss. We headed back up the hill to the mountain... We could see people outside the mountain putting on coats before entering to keep warm. We pressed on. Angel had mentioned there being a very good icecream parlour, on the other side of the bridge, so we went to check. Sadly they only sell them in the summer time. Ridiculous! It was a shame because the garden was perfect for relaxing and eating icecream. With a heavy heart I carried on. It was after 4:30 and I remembered the long uphill we yet had to do. But then the voice of an Angel, well Angel noticed an cafe selling icecream. Happy Days! We sat down and ordered a chocolate sundae and a cup of tea. It was the strangest icecream I had ever eaten. It was like eating snowflakes. Delicious icecream snowflakes with chocolate!
When the sundae had settled, we set off on the last leg of the journey. My legs were beginning to ache. I was glad Angel had the electric bike to carry my bag.

At last we arrived back at the bicycle hire place and returned the bikes.
My plan was to take Angel to a nice western restaurant in Taichung that evening. It is the 2nd biggest city. How hard could it be to find a restaurant?
Well after walking down 6 blocks for 20 minutes the only places I could find were Mc Donald's KFC and Subway. So I had to admit that the place I remembered must have been further out of town and we settled on eating at a very long night market.

A trip to the farm!

AS part of the Winter holiday camp programme some of the kids had been invited to a farm for the day. I found out about this on Friday afternoon, when Charles was telling me about the games he had been organising for the trip. Then on Friday evening Rita asked what my plans were for the weekend... I should know by now - read between the lines - Do you want to come to Chaiyi farm? Meet at school. The bus leaves at 8am. Sigh. At least It'll be a nice day in the countryside I thought and Rita promised that I didn't need to do anything: just have fun.
I knew most of the kids on the coach. The driver played ice age 3. It started off in English with Chinese subtitles, then half way through the journey it changed to Chinese... very confusing. We were the last coach to arrive. There was one from each of the other 2 schools.
After a quick look round, it was apparent that this was an activity centre rather than a working farm. We were put into groups and then the fun began. We started with a few wide games and relay games with Charles; took me back to my school days running round the yard. After that the kids had to work together to get a ball along a series of pipes by tipping them at the right time. I was genuinely shocked when one actually got all the way along.
After that we went to an olde style oven: a big pit with a fire going. The kids were given a sweet potato to throw in after being told a bit about the pit by an old woman. I wondered if we would ever see those potatoes again.
After that we went to see how the traditional Chinese fans are made... printing the cloth with either a butterfly or tiger, then dry it. Then put the cloth against a thin frame and paste thin paper to either side of it. Charles and I were given the prize job of hair drying the kids art work.
After that we were all glad to hear it was lunch time. It was only fried rice and chips, but sooo much fried rice. The kids tried to keep up with me and Charles. We could barely finish it all.
After lunch we walked up to the top of a hill and saw what looked like toboggans with rubber tracks on the bottom. How on earth could they slide? we wondered. But the answer came: they don't they roll on Caterpillar tracks. I'd never seen anything so impressive. They were like mini-tanks!
The sheep from the goat were soon sorted. 3 kids sat down on the bench looking pale. The rest were racing to be the first on the sledge.
I was thinking how this wouldn't ever happen in England. No real barrier at the bottom, just a hedge over hanging a small cliff. No helmets or padding in case you fall out. The leader pretended to push someone down backwards. Me and Charles encouraged him, but he said "No; that would be dangerous!" I laughed a lot. Oh, that would be dangerous!
The teachers were all forced to have a go. I wasn't as scary as it looked, but then I do cycle down the mountain every day.
From the hill we went to a butterfly reserve to see how many different ones we could see. There were some amphibians on display but it was hard to tell if they were alive or stuffed or just dead.
From there we went to the hillside to look for worms or other bugs that bury into the ground. I think they were told "Dig a hole, pour some water down, look for a bug coming up, if no bug pour some more water on."
But what they heard was "Dig a hole, pour some water down, pour some more water."
Before long the whole hillside was flooded, and if any bugs survived, no body saw them.
From the hill we walked back inside into a big old-school games room. There was a giant pinball machine. marbles, skittles, things kids played before the gameboy was invented. Great fun!
After that it was time to head back home. We popped back to the dining area and to my surprise, we were handed the sweet potatoes that had been cooking all day. The skin practically fell off: best sweet potato I've tasted.
On the coach on the way home. We watched Shrek 3 in Chinese, although I drifted off for most of the journey.