So, on the May first holiday weekend, I joined Connie and her assorted friends and co-workers in a trip to the legendary Ching Jing tea farms in central Taiwan. Getting up bright and early Saturday morning, I hopped a taxi to meet Connie and the others, and then we piled into two cars for the trip to Ching Jing. This Hello Kitty car belongs to Connie's friend and manager Monica, and despite it's small size it has a lot of power. (Just like Monica!) 
So, after zipping along the road for half an hour, we came to this highway rest-stop where we could have breakfast and give the drivers a chance to relax. The stop was filled with cool little shops selling gift snacks and tourist trinkets, I nearly bought a very cool Three Kingdoms chess set, but Connie said I could find it cheaper in Taipei, so I held off. It was also because I couldn't choose between the Chinese Chess set and the western Chess set, the Chinese Chess one had nicer figures, but I don't know how to play it! :-(
A shot of the early morning hills from the rest-stop after the morning storm had passed by.
Another shot of the distant mountains with the steam pouring off them after the storm.
The Hakka restaurant where we stopped for a late lunch on Saturday afternoon, a simple small place decorated on the inside with lots of old farming implements.
Around the corner from the bathroom I found this sad looking boy watching the people go by. Dogs are very common in Taiwan, but not really natural here with their thick fur. There are many stray dogs because they are often allowed to run loose and there is no harsh winter to keep the population under control. At least this one's owners were good enough to chain him so he doesn't wander off.
A took this one while we were waiting to get into the local Hakka restaurant off to the right of the picture. Narissa (left) and Monica (right) show off their natural beauty for the camera.
After lunch we wandered across a bridge and to the center of this bustling metropolis, what you see here is the major intersection (complete with requisite 7-11) and I think the grey building is some kind of market/community center. There were a LOT of people here as this place is a popular local tourist destination, especially on a Saturday afternoon.
We stopped for a moment at this local tourist booth, trying to decide which way to go. Eventually we decided to take the path less crowded and take the alley way past the red building you can see on the left side.
Apparently the Tung Blossoms were in full bloom, but much higher on the mountains than we were willing to go, so we had to give up our plans to see the blossoms in favor of just wandering around the town.
In case you ever wondered what a Christian church in Taiwan looked like, here's your answer. Perched on the side of a hill at the end of a lane, I quickly took a picture of this example of hybrid Taiwanese/Western architecture. It's a little boxy for my tastes, but typical Taiwanese in style.
A popular local Taiwanese snack is shaved ice mixed with fruit and sugar syrups, which tastes wonderful on a hot day. This town had a shop that was a little famous for this type of snack, so we got several bowls of it and shared them, trying out the different flavors.
Connie thinks the local ice is a little sour for her tastes. I'm not sure what Apollo is taking a picture of!
I was passing by this Taiwanese noodle shop window and thought I'd grab a picture of the cooking noodles when the cook suddenly decided she wanted in the picture too! This type of noodles is very common and simple to make, so you find shops like this everywhere here. Taiwanese love their noodles!
So I came around the corner onto the market street, and found this shop making some kind of odd dumplings. My group was actually pretty interested in them and quickly joined the lineup to buy some as they were some kind of local specialty.
So they bought me one of the dumplings and I bit into it, it turned out to be a kind've sweet and spicy shredding radish filling. Not bad, but not something I'd travel to the middle of Taiwan for again. The nice thing about living in a foreign country is all the chances to experience new tastes, so I'm willing to try almost anything once. (Except stinky tofu...)
These are balls of rice-paste shaped into balls filled with different kinds of sweet tastes. The brown ones will be sweet red bean paste, the green are green tea, and I'm not sure about the others. These are a common snack in Taiwan, a little expensive sometimes, but very sweet and tasty.
My father would truely love Taiwan, they have whole restaurants here dedicated to mushroom cuisine, and you can buy mushrooms in many forms everywhere. Here's a bunch of the local varieties for sale.
Through the gate and up the stairs lies the mysterious local Buddhist temple, so I made this picture black and white to reflect it's antiquity. I didn't go up the stairs, though, there wasn't time to check the place out.
