The boss of the brown sugar cakes offered to bring us to Taichung since he was heading there on a business trip. When asked what time he was planning to leave, he told us 6am in the morning! So we had to drag ourselves up at 4.50am (which was rather unbelievable since we were sleeping till at least 8am since we got here) and headed over to his place around 5.30am or so. He was already up, steaming his cakes, but then here came the catch.
We both turned up in flip-flops, our favourite choice of footwear from the countries we came from, and he noticed it and hinted his disapproval. However we didn’t get his hint, and headed to get breakfast at the mart next door instead. Ate our breakfast at the train station while watching the first train pulling in, and the station master called out to us to see if we wanted to get on. Of course the train departed without us. After more than an hour of waiting, the boss finally said that he was good to go, but this time round he pointed his disapproval out loud on our footwear.
Out of respect, we dutifully walked back to our hostel to changed into flats, because he was rambling about how Taiwanese felt that people in flip-flops were of lower class, and had no standards (seriously?) and he felt much ashamed to be heading out with people like us. Hmm. Changed and headed back and finally we departed this time for sure.
Passed by this awesome looking mountain enroute to Taichung. Unlike the coastal train line which runs along the sea, the highway was closer to the mountain line from Zhunan to Zhanghua. From Hsinchu to Sanyi, it was more of an uphill climb, but after that it was downhill all the way.
He dropped us off at Taichung train station, but absent-mindedly left my maps inside his car, so we were walking around aimlessly for a period of time, while trying to look for some significant markers or maps so that we would know where we are. Eventually found a signboard which directed us to their civic hall.
They had an art gallery opposite it, but the downside was that it won’t be open till 1pm in the afternoon. Next, we headed to the park which was the landmark of Taichung.
Shade provided by the trees were much needed, because it was another hot summer day in Taiwan but sadly, rather limited. Even if there was a shade, chances are that it was already occupied by some others feeding the squirrels in the park, which left us out in the sun most of the time, and I felt like I was being slowly fried on a frying pan. Passed by a qigong group, who were just finishing up their routine before we finally reached the structure.
Built to commemorate the visit of the previous Japanese Emperor, Hirohito, it was rather empty or bare inside. Save for cuddling couples. I can’t believe we walked all the way in the heat for this.
Ducked out into one of those convenience stores to hide away from the heat, and also to get ourselves cold drink while waited for the pickup time set by the boss. We then walked back to the train station to look at the food they were selling, and bought one which had a savoury custard filling, and smelt really good, but the taste was just so-so.
The boss picked us up and we headed back to Sanyi for lunch. According to him, Sanyi has one of the best pork noodles around, and the shop was just located near the train station. After getting a parking, we still had to line up for our turn for a table, and the restaurant was jam-packed. Finally we were given a seat and waited terrible long before we served a huge bowl of pork noodles.
Honestly, the noddles tasted very bland for me, and I added large spoonfuls of chilli into the broth before it became more acceptable for my tastebuds. The boss was shaking his head at the amount of chilli we were eating, but we didn’t dare to say it was because it tasted bland. I would trade this noodle for some wantans any day.
Reached Neiwan in the afternoon after a very uneventful day, save for being sunburned.
この長い旅で 