Taiwan 2016 Day 6 – Arrival To Cingjing Farm And Swiss Garden

The sunlight shone into the room through the big windows, I woke up at 6 to close the curtains and made milk for K. As he coughed, we sprung into action to catch puke, but he didn’t.

The usual routine of waking up to prepare meals while waiting for K to wake took place. By the time we were ready for breakfast it was already 8 but the buffet would stop service at 830. I went to ask if I could bring the food back and was approved on condition of returning the plates. Took a plateful of mostly Taiwanese cuisine and return to the room where mommy  ate while I ate at the restaurant with a view of the mountain.

Breakfast restaurant at Tian Xiang youth hostel
Many tables available
Sitting area inside the hostel

After returning to the room from my breakfast, K woke soon after. Fed him some porridge and got him to change clothes before  we started to move out. It was already 945.

View from our room

Drove the same route yesterday on the journey to Cing Jing. After 15mins of driving, we met yet again another road block. We had to stop for 1hr as the work crew had to clear loose rocks on the cliff side. We had nothing to do and had to entertain baby in the car and fed him yoghurt. Upon the completion of 1hr as indicated, the road was cleared and we were on the move again.

Workers removing loose rocks

K got cranky along the way but finally fell asleep and it was a relief thereafter because it was a super long drive with a lot of bends. After he slept, I could drive faster and it wouldn’t give him car sickness. I felt for most part of the journey we were always climbing. The highest we got up to was 3k above sea level as indicated by the signages while on the way up. Although there were some attractions along the way, such as Hehuan mountain (合歡山), we didn’t stop at all because we want to reach Cing Jing before K woke. Still there were short stoppages along the way as some construction was ongoing. The higher we went, the more foggy it became and had to drive with caution as we couldn’t see too far ahead. The fog totally cleared while at the top and it was clear blue skies with a lot of sun. I then started to felt headache due to altitude sickness and rapid ascent and descent.

Driving above the clouds
Elevation above sea level

We finally arrived in Cing Jing at 2pm and k also just woke up. The accommodation was on the slope of the mountain and I had to drive on a narrow single lane to get to Euro Country Villa. Checked in and took a short rest before proceeding to the Old England Manor for tea, 5mins drive away.

Euro Country Villa
Euro Country villa eating place
Bedroom
Balcony with a view
Bathroom with a tub
Beautiful view of the grassland

Parked at the large but almost full parking lot there and went into the medieval design hotel. It was quite grand looking and had lotsa feels. K ate his lunch there and was quite cranky. We had a 3tier cakes and pastries with 1 large teapot of earl grey, costed 550NT each. After our lunch-tea meal, we then went out to take photos.

Old England Manor
Corridor of the England Manor
Fruits before the pastries
3 Tier pastries tea
Luxurious set up
Decor on the external walls
Huge clock and bell at the top of the building
View from the Old England Manor

Left the manor and reached the Green Green Grassland at 4pm, 10 mins drive away. The closing time of the farm was at 430 so we skipped going in. As we got back down to the carpark which was at a level below, we saw from outside the fenced up grassland some sheeps grazing and showed K. He wasn’t very interested though.

Green Green Grassland sheep area
Green Green Grassland
View of sheep on the grassland

Then we drove to the Small Swiss Garden and visited for 130NT. It was a small garden with fake flowers and a not so impressive lake. It wasn’t fantastic but at least K had fun feeding the ducks, walking on stones and taking some photos, and thought it was funny trying to wave off irritating tons of flying bugs while we were walking back. As the sun set, the garden started to light up in colourful lights.

Swiss Garden
Entrance of Swiss Garden
Inside Swiss Garden
Fountains in the lake
Pumpkin faces
Windmill display
Ducks and swans
View of lake
Many man made exhibits complement the flowers
Under sheltered plants with fake lighted tulips

We left for Carton King store (紙箱王) just next door but it was a very tiny store. Spent some time to look at what’s on display and bought something home.

Carton king miniature displays
Animals made of carton paper

While K and I went back to the car to wait, mommy went to Mos burger to buy dinner. It took very long so I brought him to buy his favorite bread snack from 7-11 when mommy finally returned. Seemed like Mos was crowded and popular as a dinner choice.

Swiss Garden area at night

Drove back to hotel and because of its rural location and its low number of street lamps, it was dark. On the way in, some cars needed to exit so I had to reverse and wait for them to pass. Went back to the room when we finally could rest. I then popped 2 panadols to ease off my day long headache.

Mommy cooked while I laid in bed feeling feverish while thankfully, K had fun all by himself. After resting a while with the panadols taking effect, I felt much better and ate my Mos dinner, burger with taiwanese special taste, which was not too bad. Then we fed K who waited very long for his pasta but he should be still ok as earlier he had snacked on so many pieces of bread already.

Mos burger Taiwan flavour

After dinner, I bathed K in the tub and we prepared for bed after some TV and video on HP. Fell asleep at around 10, me included to end off a really tiring day.