Ali-Shan Food Walk + Hearty Dinner
A 3-hour car ride along winding roads brings us to Taiwan Famous - Alishan Mountain where we stayed overnight for a morning trek to the mountain top to hopefully catch a glimpse of the acclaimed "sea of clouds" & sunrise picturesque view! The trip was all worth it as the scenery of this quaint town atop the mountain was very refreshing, laid back, & very surreal. :) It's very Baguio-ish but with more preserved natural resources & historical hot spots. We made a quick stop at a bustling food bazaar strip called "Fen Chi Hu" to check some of their local specialties & to take advantage of the various food samples (haha!). It is very unfortunate that due to recent landslides that hit this particular side of the mountain that tourist visits drop a historical low according to the local vendors.
We started our Food Walk following an old rail which apparently was very old but surprisingly will soon be in operation! This rail goes all the way up to Alishan Mountain top. Turning left upon seeing the train stop we started our stops entering a long row of small shops selling different (and sometimes same goods) goodies! Let's see what we sampled... (-,-)
The Food Walk was filling (haha *burp*) and made us comfortable during our last 30 minutes ride to the top :) Arriving around 630-ish already, it was dark and foggy not to mention getting chilly already. The small community was quiet with just a few commercial stores open. We met with a friend there who took us to this restaurant for dinner (yes, MORE FOOD!). For me personally, this dinner was just the BEST! We were served with the freshest veggies I've had in years - I bet they grow these in their backyards. I really truly believe that Taiwan Veggies can make a convert our of anybody who dislikes eating vegetables - they're just so yummy!
taken from the photo frame of the restaurant, hence, the snowy walkway
we sat on these bamboo chairs, making our tushies feel sooo comfy :)))
the menu with English translation! thumbs up!
Mapo Tofu!!! The best tofu dish - my personal favorite!
Ahhhhhhh Veggies! Love Love it!
Hot Pot! Woooohooo!
Tasty Tasty - fish dish!
Cold Chicken cuts - winner with the adults table haha!
Vegetables! I've never been so happy to eat my daily dose of veggies! Mmmmm,.,.
Bamboo Shoots - firm texture yet juicily flavorful!
Golly! Look at that table! That's not even complete!
compared to Manila heat... this is comfort cooling :)))
looooooooooooog way to goooooooooooo
this is where we sorta register before going up
and this man came out to greet us then actually went with us all the way, according to him, going up the mountain is his daily morning jog ??_seriously_??
it was very foggy, you can't see a thing - no sea of clouds, no sunrise :(
fresh dew in the morning. the rainforest was giving off loads of fresh oxygen that morning... INHALE!
the group enjoying the scene (or lack of)
thick fog envelopes the mountain side
a pretty web of early morning dew wraps itself around this shrub
if its foggy, look at this illustration and use your imagination, hahaha!
clouds clear up and allows the rising sun to beam through ;) this happened for a quick 2 minutes only before the gate of clouds closes in again.
it was a prrrreeettty sight after walking / trekking for more than 3 hours :)
going down the mountain using another path... :)
a glimpse of a possible "Sea of Clouds"
We arrived at the jump-off area around 7:45am - talk about a very productive morning! - and our tummies were growling for carbs!!! We hit the nearest convenience store and chow down some pack noodles and me getting-japan-nostalgic-again got the Oden! yummmmmmmmmmers! :)))
tired & cold? this is soooo hot & gooood *_*
^^ _ ^^
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