xavvy-licious: Hello Taiwan 2014 ! Day 2 [Part 2] - Cingjing, The Evergreen Grassland 清境农场 & Starry House 觀星園景觀山莊

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Hello Taiwan 2014 ! Day 2 [Part 2] - Cingjing, The Evergreen Grassland 清境农场 & Starry House 觀星園景觀山莊

Continuation of Cingjing Day 2 - After the lunch at Lu Ma Ma << 魯媽媽 >>, we headed to check in our luggage at Starry House, the highest Minsu in Cingjing, situated at 2106 metres above sea level and it comes included with dinner and breakfast ! But it was pretty cloudy when we arrived, we could see the clouds rolled in ! If you are looking at a place to really relax your mind, do consider coming to Cingjing and immersed yourself in the unlimited supply of fresh air !

觀星園景觀山莊

Cloudy weather

A warm and cosy waiting area

Room was simple but with full amenities. What I loved best was, the beds were equipped with heating mats to keep us warm through out the night. The room was much pretty cold that we had to close the windows and leave it slightly ajar.

Happiest to be able to explore around the bed

Eh mummy, you can plug in your charger here

Almost frozen !

The view from our room's balcony facing the courtyard where guests can dine and chill out while enjoying the scenic view of greenery and mountains far ahead.

View from our room's balcony

After checking in the luggage, we wasted no time in heading down to The Evergreen Grassland << 清境农场青青草原 >> One ticket allows you entry to three districts:
The Evergreen Grasslands
Guanshan Livestock husbandry
Shoushan Park

Some people may feel that this place has became very commercialized and why bother to fly all the way to Taiwan just to get close up with the sheeps. I would have to agree as it is a tourist spot but we did have a ball of a time, just getting up close to the mehs and feeding them, oh well, just for the children ! Even Vera got excited when she was face to face with the mehs. But if you are very particular about stepping on the poops, then this place isn't advisable for you to visit.

There will be a map right in front of the entry point to familiar yourself on where to head for.

Food dispensing machine

Pony rides for children

Vera attempted the meh's language !

That's how close we can get in contact with the mehs - zero distance

Be a good meh and you'll get your treat !

meh : sniff sniff , I smell food !

How Xav loved the mehs eating from his hand.

Mehs : Xav, don't try to run away ! You have been surrounded !

Nope we did not managed to walk further up to take pictures. All of our time were spent being followed around by the mehs and taking pics with them. The experience was a great !

We can't resist the temptation of these fleshy and juicy peaches and bought one back to Starry House.

Xiao Lee drove us to Nina's Chocolate Factory, located just at Florence Resort Villa !

You have to make your way down slope where Nina Chocolate is located.

Chocolate lovers, I bet you will love this beautiful factory with a wide selection of beautifully crafted chocolates !

We left the place with bags of chocolates, sealed and packed nicely in these beautiful tins which comes with a slit on top whereby we can convert into coin banks after we have finished the chocolates.

We planned to make a trip to Little Swiss Garden as recommended as we were told that the view in the night is more captivating. But weather was rather gloomy earlier and it rained cats and dogs the whole evening.

The day ended with a really nice steamboat at Starry house which was included in our stay. The stock was simple yet tasty! Sorry no pics of food here as I was busy handling the little hungry baby.

Believed it or not, I actually slept at 10.15pm. I up at 1.30am and felt like as if I have slept for a very long time ! I would say that that was a really good sleep and I would not have done this back in Singapore where I have 1001 things on my to do list. I went back to bed and this time round, woke at 5.30 am and couldn't get back to sleep thereafter. I guess, my body was well rested. =)

If only, I could do the same when am back in Singapore. Yes, I am trying hard to lights off by 11.30pm if not earlier. It will definitely benefit my health in the long run. If you are aware that late nights are pretty taxing on our organs.

And guess what is one of the must bring if you are bringing your child to Taiwan, don't forget an exercise book or a note book for him. You can spot "stamping" station at the places of interest and collect all your stamps as keepsake.

For me, I brought along the following in my diaper bag to entertain the 6 year old, when he gets bored :
- A notebook for him to pen down anything he wants that is related to the trip. He can draw and scribble.
- A roll of washi tape to stick photos, papers or tickets in the notebook.
- A pencil or a marker pen
- A box of portable IQ logic game box with more than 40 challenges to solve.

This was a gift from a friend to Xav. If you would like to get this, I saw it in the shop at Singapore Science Centre.

For the 1 year old :
- snacks, snacks and more snacks ! This is helpful when the flight takes off or when you are going up the mountains. This is when the pressure changes and may cause discomfort to them. The snacks do help greatly.

As for toys, she would not want any toy apart from what the brother is having ! So don't be surprise if I tell you I did not bring any toy for her for this trip. =)