Life, the universe, and other amusements: Miaoli + Taichung

The conference finished after visiting the national park, so Kit and I took the train from Taipei to Miaoli (where his parents live). I was thoroughly exhausted and sick of trains by that point, so we had dinner and crashed.

Dinner was hotpot with beef and a whole plate of things. And a 500mL bottle of beer :P

Magical tiny baby mushrooms. I'm pretty much in love with the magical tiny mushrooms on stalks.

The next day we stopped in to see Kit's uncle (who was over from Japan, so it was an Event) and grandfather. They have koi carp.

and even better...

They also have one of those amazing trees. This time it was appropriate to put Hamish on and take a photo. Changing topic, I got a haircut. And used lots of shoop, just for the hell of it. I still haven't really got the hang of this photoshop thing, so that's why it sucks XD

We then hopped on the train to Taichung to go shopping. We started at the department store...and they had a Liz Lisa store that was having a half price sale! However, I stayed strong and didn't buy anything (actually, I really liked the new season stuff not the stuff that was on sale, so I couldn't afford it.)

I didn't take photos inside the store for obvious reasons, but this is the outside and some of their new season stuff. Despite buying nearly nothing in the 13-floor department store, I was still tired and hungry so we stopped at a bakery.

On the left is a giant pineapple bun with a custard/cream/condensed milk filling (and I wonder why I put on weight here!) and on the right is garlic toast.

We also had sorbet - green mango and kiwifruit. Oddly enough, I think this is the first time I've actually had kiwifruit sorbet! Also, banana seats.

We then proceeded to go to a VERY fancy apartment done in baroque style. Lots of gilt/chandeliers/suits of armour, and the apartment door is fingerprint entry!

Yeah, see? I felt awkward taking photos of someone else's house (this was only the entrance lobby), but HOLY CRAP the view/all the marble and granite/all the everything excessive. We also had fancy dinner which was 5 courses (salad/appetiser/soup/main/dessert) for about 500NTD (so like...$25NZD. Ridiculously cheap.) This is Kit's dessert.

And my tea with a flower in it (chrysanthemum)

We then went to the night markets, but that's another separate post and the reason I ran out of money...so to finish, the Best Idea Ever - having a petting zoo attached to a restaurant (bunnies, guinea pigs, goats, a pig, some random geese, chickens...)