花莲换工旅游 Hualien Working Holiday Day 2

Day 2: On the job training

As there were no guests yesterday, all of us could sleep in. I am thankful for the extra time for my much needed rest. 

This view greeted me when I opened my door. :) The crisp, cooling weather woke me up from my tiredness immediately. 

After breakfast, we headed to 静巷里的二十七号 to clean up the house together. 冠羽 demonstrated the process so that I know his expectations. I love the feel of the house. Those who know me well will probably agree it is my style. I shall share more about the house when I start staying there. :)

We had some customers over at 法采's cafe in the afternoon and 冠羽 prepared hand-drip coffee for them. Good coffee-making requires precision and lots of experimentation. 

Here's an interesting quote from a book I read yesterday -

 '咖啡，对我来说是一种思考的工具，可以沉淀思绪，拥有清楚脑袋' 

The effects of caffeine? :)

Here are some shots of the place I am working at. This is the cafe area:

As this is a long weekend in Taiwan, it is full house today and tomorrow. We will need to wake up early to prepare breakfast for the guests. Some preparation in advance:

Freshly baked buns by 阿仰。Love 祐钺's expression here. :p

A simple dinner we had tonight. Japanese curry prepared by 祐钺 and chicken and mushroom soup prepared by 阿仰.

There is less awkwardness on the second day and I am feeling more warmth. This place feels like home. :)

花莲换工旅游 Hualien Working Holiday Day 1

Day 1 Let the Adventure begin!

After much waiting and traveling, I finally reached Hualien. The boss of the homestay, 冠羽 came to pick me up. 法采时光 is located about 10 minutes drive away from the train station. 

The first day was mainly settling down. I will be staying here temporarily, after which I will be staying at 静巷里的二十七号, another homestay owned by the boss.

冠羽 brought me to 静巷 to take a look. As the occupancy rate for March is low, I will basically have the whole place to myself for the whole month. ^^

阿仰，the chef at 法采时光 prepared dumplings for us. After dinner, we shared the pandan cake I brought over. 冠羽 prepared coffee using Columbia beans which tasted a bit acidic and fruity. Together with the February helper 祐钺, we all had a nice chat. The initial awkwardness I felt was gone after having a meal and chatting with them. Throughout our conversation, I have learnt much from them. We talked about food, lifestyle, work, coffee, etc. Meeting people from different countries really widened my horizons. One takeaway was the serious attitude they have in all that they do, so that their guests can have the best experience in Hualien.

Preparations for Working Holiday - D-1

Packing - In an effort to be a minimalist

Learning from my past lessons, I told myself I have to go minimal this time round. With two months away from home and being in the midst of a change of seasons from winter to spring, it is quite a challenge to pack my luggage. 

 

I decided to replace my usual black suitcase after I struggled to bring it down the aisle in the Busan KTX train. The other embarrassing incident was falling over my luggage when I got off the train in Korea, which my ex-colleague called 'Girl Over Luggage', a pun to the hit-drama 'Boys over Flowers'. It was indeed such an unglam situation! 

With my shorter than average height, it is definitely more feasible to bring along a suitcase that suits my frame. Heh. Thanks to my mum who loaned it to me. 

This is the suitcase I am using: 

http://www.samsonite.com.sg/Finder/B-LITESPINNER-67-24-EXP.html

There are different ways of packing, ranging from simple folding, using ziploc bags for individual days and using mesh cases for the rolling up method. 

Here are some of my thoughts: 

1. Ziploc bags

Pros- Waterproof, can pack for individual days

Cons - Need to release the air in the bag, uneven and awkward shapes

2. Mesh Cases (Rolling up method)

Pros - Maximise use of space, can pack according to tops and bottoms

Cons - Clothes may appear a bit more crumpled

Since I will be staying at the same place for a month, I decided to go for option 2. I bought the mesh cases from Daiso. 

 

2 types of mesh cases

Due to the unpredictable weather, I decided to pack a mixture of short-sleeves, long-sleeves, light and slightly thicker jackets (black and off-white hoodies, red windbreaker, navy sweater, black light down jacket). I also packed some innerwear of basic colour tank tops and spaghetti tops for layering purposes and I also threw in 3 scarves for different looks. Last but not least, one mesh case was also used for my running gear and two sets of pyjamas. 

5 long-sleeves tops

Short-sleeves and inner wear

2 mesh cases, 2 pairs of jeans and a pair of capri pants fit nicely into the corner of my suitcase. 

Somehow, with other things thrown in, the luggage is filled to the brim. Again. 

Bottles of 羚羊

As I am allergic to NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs), common fever medicine such as aspirin and paracetamol are out for me. The only thing that helps is 羚羊which are pre-packed in containers. Hopefully I will not need to take any!

At the other corner of my luggage is a bag of lingerie and 4 pairs of shoes - slippers, running shoes, loafers and sandals. Herbal tea, American ginseng tea, medication etc filled up the rest of the space. 

The chargers, adapters and toiletries will go in last. I think I am almost done! Looking at the filled luggage, perhaps I need to work harder at being a minimalist. ;p

2013 Taiwan Trip Day 6 (Hualien City- Whale-Watching- Taipei)

19/6  花蓮賞鯨+市區慢遊180度看海→洄瀾海灣→坐船出海賞鯨→撒固兒步→道將軍府→
     從花蓮坐火車回台北

After a delectable breakfast, it was already late morning. We headed for some scenic views, visited Y Ming's wife's second hand goods store and tried the famous sugarcane ice dessert before going to the Hualien Port to catch our ferry for whale-watching. 

有的没的二手店 sells handmade items and second-hand goods. You can find interesting furniture, clothes, books and other knick knacks. It feels like a mini flea market. At the time of writing, the shop would have moved to Y Ming's residence and only opens by appointment. 

有的没的二手店

Supporting fellow Hualien businesses

After visiting 有的没的二手店，we checked out the popular old dessert store 丰春冰果店 which was sold out the first time we visited. 

There is always a queue

Large bowls of sugarcane ice ~ Yummy

Various toppings are available 

Traditional methods

The bowls of sugarcane ice is something we are unable to find in Singapore. The toppings were generous and the ingredients fresh and tasted real. Yam was in the right colour - No purple please. We were filled to the brim after the ice dessert. 

丰春冰果室
地址：花莲县寿丰乡寿丰路1段79号
电话：03-8651530 / 0919-901098

Before we know it, we were running late for the whale-watching tour. Fortunately, we made it in time! 

Attendance-taking and tour briefing

 

Some advice for those who are interested in the whale-watching tour: 
Do not go for the tour on a full stomach. The waves were really choppy. Quite a number of people on board started vomiting less than halfway through the journey. I must applaud them for holding a bag of vomit in one hand and taking photos with the other. 
Thankfully, my folks were fine and to my amazement, not only did they not vomit, they were snacking on board. ^^ 

Taking photos of the whales  dolphins were really a feat. The above are my best shots. Sigh. I shall not blame my camera. 

You must be wondering by now where are the whales. Whales are not guaranteed, but dolphins are. Being able to see a whale is somewhat like striking lottery. Perhaps they should change the name of the tour to dolphin-watching instead of whale-watching. Haha. At about SGD30 per person,  I think it is still quite a reasonable price and likely cheaper as compared to other countries. 

Do note the whale-watching tours are only conducted during certain months of the year. April to October is considered the ideal season, in particularly mid May to September. 

鲸世界（赏鲸生态之旅）
http://www.huadong.com.tw/


After fighting the choppy waves, we went back for our last round of Hualien City yummy food before bidding farewell to Hualien. 

For those who love 葱油饼，this is famous. It is crispy on the outside and fluffy in the inside. I suggest you don't look at the pot of oil. ;p  This is worth the calories. :)

The blue van fried spring onion pancake stall

老牌葱油饼（蓝色货车）
地址：花莲县花莲市复兴街110巷2号旁

Y Ming brought us to buy some bento sets for our dinner on the train back to Taipei. 

The thing I love most was the rice. 

Goodbye Y Ming and Hualien! Till we meet again...

2013 Taiwan Trip Day 6 ~ 境外漂流

19/6  花蓮賞鯨+市區慢遊180度看海→洄瀾海灣→坐船出海賞鯨→撒固兒步→道將軍府→
     從花蓮坐火車回台北

The above was the intended itinerary for the day. However, we started the day late due to a few reasons...

We woke up at about 5 plus in the morning to catch the sunrise. After crashing back into bed, we knocked out till about 8am. Oops. By then, my parents were already having their breakfast and raving about it...

Home-made soup with the freshest ingredients

Second or even third helpings are welcomed. Freshest ingredients from all over Taiwan.

Wanderlust's boss introducing every item on the plate

With the boss introducing every item (origin, how it was prepared...) on the plate to every guest and offering second helpings, you probably can understand why breakfast took a long time. The service was impressive. What surprised me was he promised a different breakfast each time the guest returns. His record is 10 times! 

Although service and food quality is top-notch, somehow it did not impress me for long. Not that I am someone fussy, but in my honest opinion, the service was professional yet something was lacking. Perhaps we did not managed to interact much with the boss and his wife? However, I must compliment them on their thoughtfulness by setting aside our tea set in the fridge knowing we will miss it (The accommodation comes with a tea set). There were 3 to 4 pieces of cakes and pastries in the box and we were told this was not even half the set! 

Besides providing a sumptuous breakfast and tea, instant noodles were provided too. No wonder the boss told us proudly that his HK guests did not have to go out for meals the whole day. ;p

The room was comfortable and spacious. It was generally clean but not the cleanest of all. 

Full-length window 

Some massage shower which I did not bother to use

 

Love the handle

Interesting structure

Generally, I would recommend this minsu which was awarded top by Yahoo in 2009. Make sure you catch the sunrise, take your time to slowly enjoy the food and simply laze around the garden or balcony. That will be a relaxing holiday. :)

境外漂流

花蓮縣壽豐鄉鹽寮村福德65號

电话：+886 928 671 403

www.wanderlust.com.tw/‎