If you missed out any of the previous posts, here are the links:
Day 1 Part 1 (Singapore Changi Airport - Taoyuan International Airport)
Day 1 Part 2: (Yongkang Street 永康街 - Taipei 101 台北101 - Shihlin Night Market 士林夜市)
Day 2 Part 1: (Four Seas Soy Bean King 四海豆漿大王 - Goose Meat Shop 鴨肉扁 - Ximending 西門町)
Day 2 Part 2: (Raohe Night Market 饒河觀光夜市)
Day 3: (Taipei Breeze Centre 微風廣場 - Guang Hua Digital Plaza 光華商場 - Ximending 西门町)
Day 4: (Jiufen 九份 - Shifen 十份 - Jingtong Mining Town 菁桐老街 - Raohe Night Market 饒河觀光夜市)
Day 5: (Bafang Yunji 八方雲集 - Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake 現做起司蛋糕 - Snake Alley 華西街夜市 - Shilin Night Market 士林夜市)
Day 6: (Banqiao 板橋 - Ximending 西門町)
Day 7: (Taipei 台北 - Taichung 台中 - Cityinn Hotel Plus Taichung Station Branch 新驛旅店台中車站店 - Yizhong Street 一中街)
Day 8 Part 1: (Carton King 紙箱王 - Moncoeur 心之防庭)
So in the previous post, I highlighted our travel to Taichung's Carton King and Moncoeur. Both are excellent locations for photo taking with amazing scenery, and of course Day 8 continued to be a breathtakingly beautiful day with our next two locations of Lavender Cottage and Zhong She Flower Market.
 |
| The beautiful Lavender Cottage 薰衣草森林. It was started by two ladies slogging it out in the corporate city world who decided that enough was enough and thus left their jobs in Taipei and Kaoshiung to create this lovely purple-y paradise. They started from scratch, buying this remote hill and growing lavenders and now have this romantic tourist location which is perfect for couples and everyone who just needs a break from the city life. |
 |
| There are just so many photo spots in Lavender Cottage - go crazy with your camera or camera phone here to keep memories of this gorgeous place. |
 |
| A quaint little house that gives you all the "cosy-feels" of a countryside home. |
 |
| Descriptions and write ups about various plants/flowers/herbs and their origin. Available only in Mandarin though. |
 |
| The iconic lavender cottage bear once again! There are many bears all over this place. |
 |
| A resident 3-pawed dog. Such a sweetheart. So calm and happy go lucky. |
 |
| From here on, the terrains are very steep and I would not advise the elderly or people with knee problems to climb them. My parents had to take a time out and wait for us in the cafe because it was very difficult to climb. |
 |
| I'm one of those people who firmly believe that in cold weather, you should eat ice cream because it makes it that much more satisfying. These are rose, lavender and lychee flavours. |
 |
| There is also a spot opposite the carousel and opposite the ice cream store in Lavender Cottage which allows you to write down your wishes on little paper leaves... |
 |
| ... and pop them in this box, or bring them to the top of the hill, ring the bell, and hang your wishing leaf on the tree (see later photos). |
 |
| Terraces of Lavender, so pretty! |
 |
| There are tiny steps on the left of these terraces which bring you up the hill where people hang their wishing leaves. |
 |
| Ring the bell, and hang your wishes on this tree, the bell, the pillars. Basically an empty space. |
 |
| For the NTD200 that you pay as admission fees, you get NTD200 back in vouchers to use on food, drinks and merchandise. (This is 100% of your money back in vouchers unlike in Moncoeur where you only get 50%). We decided to use on vouchers on the ice cream earlier and on food and drinks at the cafe (since the gift store is exactly the same as Moncoeur). |
 |
| Thanks for a great time Lavender Cottage! |
My verdict? A scenic place once again, but definitely not suitable for the older folk because they can only explore the lower half, but miss out the upper half (which is much more beautiful). I like however that you get back your money in vouchers at 100% (because I'm a total cheapo).
薰衣草森林 Lavender Cottage
No.20,
Zhongxing St., Xinshe District, Taichung | 台中市新社區中和村中興街20號
Admission Fee: NTD200 (comes with NTD200 voucher for food or souvenirs)
Our driver then took us to Zhong She Flower Market (which was my special request) because I saw photos online and knew my mum would LOVE to go there with the huge fields of flowers. Unfortunately, the Taichung cold was too much for her (it was evening by then) and she wasn't feeling too well, so she decided to wait in the store while we walked around.
By evening, Taichung is freezing cold, so we were also dying and shivering our butts off, and our teeth were chattering non-stop.
 |
| We were taking heaps of photos out here in the gardens and whatsapp-ing them to my mum inside just to make her jealous (and also so that she doesn't miss out on the view). |
 |
| A couple taking their wedding photos in the blistering cold. Look how huddled up the assistant is but the poor bride was wearing a short tube dress. DECEMBER is not a good time to take your wedding photos in Taiwan everyone! I'm sure they probably had their reasons for taking the photos then, but I do pity the bride. We ourselves could barely speak and we had layers of clothes on. |
My verdict? Definitely a gorgeous place, and would be a hit for the older folk (because they usually love flower fields and all that. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND going there a tad earlier than we did (in the evening) though, especially in WINTER, because it was WAY TOO COLD to enjoy the view properly. The grounds here are also easy and suitable for all ages.
中社觀光花市Zhong She Flower Market
469-13
Sanfeng Road, Houli District, Taichung | 台中市后里區三豐路469-13号
Telephone:(+886)
425576926 | Opening Hours: 9am-6pm (Weekdays), 9am-9pm
(Weekends)
Admission Fee: NTD250
- Honey shop within the grounds (fresh honey)
We were initially planning to hit Feng Jia Night Market after this (which is lauded as the best night market in all of Taiwan) but we were all dead exhausted and mum wasn't feeling too well. So we settled for curry gyozas once again all packed into a room watching a movie for the night.
Stay tuned for my next post, which is the final day of my Taiwan 2014 series (finally V, it took you like 8 months to get here. about damn time). We travelled in the daytime around Taichung with our driver, then took a train back to Taipei because we already booked a cab with our hotel there (and also because I initially had plans to have steamboat late at night but everyone else didn't want to).
Till then,
Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V
