Taiwan trip part 3 - Hualien

Part 3 was Hualien! Taroko Gorge, Qixingtan and yummy Gong Zhen Bao Zi... I'll let the photos do the talking..

Taroko Gorge - Adric trying to take off his socks while we pose for photo.. one side of his socks on the floor..

The only way to get Adric to look at the camera is to ask 'where is the camera?', then he would point to the camera..

A geologist in the making??

The geologist fell asleep midway..

Helmet time! Adric looks sooooo cute!

Adric checking out the nice Singaporean aunty whom we met on the way to Hualien.. we went together to Taroko gorge..

After 2 mins of putting on the helmet, Adric decided he didnt really like it..

Much better now!

Fake sakuras... hee

Qixingtan

Gong Zhen Bao Zi - So good that me and K ate 2 portions of the above!

Taiwan trip part 2 - SML and Taipei

On the first day of 2014, it was goodbye to Cingjing..

and hello to the very serene and pretty Sun Moon Lake (SML)!

When we arrived at SML, we left our luggages at the hotel, and immediately went for a cruise around the beautiful lake! We boarded the cruise at Shuishe, the pier which is just 5 mins walk from our hotel.. It is one of 3 stops of the cruise..

 

Check out Adric's expression in this photo, innocence mixed with a tiny bit of arrogance.. Love it!

We alighted at Ita Thao pier, and walked around the area.. the highlight of the place was this lookout area where we could have a beautiful view of the lake..

We hung out there for awhile, enjoying the view as well as some rose apples that we bought from a roadside fruit stall. Adric loved the rose apples so much that he cried like its the end of the world when he finished the last piece and we told him that there was no more.. He looked something like this but with much more tears..

So we had to walk all the way back to the fruit stall to buy done more of those magical rose apples that immediately stopped Adric's tears..

Then we boarded the cruise ship again, and our next stop was Xuanguang temple.. all i remember of that place is the long long flight of stairs, that led us to this beautiful view!

After the cruise, we headed back to our hotel. We stayed at this really beautifully and comfy little hotel which was very conveniently located.. there was a whole street of yummy food stalls just outside the hotel! Unfortunately, we were too busy eating that we forgot to take any photos of the food street! Hee..
Anyway, back to the hotel (which i cannot recall the name at the moment.. hee).. the owners of the hotel (a young couple) were very warm and hospitable... when we checked in, they asked us what time we would like to have our breakfast so they could prepare warm breakfast for us! and they did! freshly made breakfast! Yummy! Also, the breakfast area had a view of this..

Adric too absorbed with the view to look at the camera..

After SML, we took the high speed train back to Taipei for a transit before proceeding to Hualien. We stayed at the Palai de Chine which was the most luxurious hotel of our trip.. the best part was the big bath tub, which Adric absolutely loved!

Taiwan trip part 1 - Happy 2014!

We left for Taiwan after Christmas, just the 3 of us- It was our longest trip alone with baby - 10 days! So there was lots to plan.. Our itinerary, baby's meals, baby's clothing (we heard it was cold and rainy), baby's medicine (in case he gets sick during the trip).. And there were decisions to make - should we bring the stroller? Should we bring frozen baby food? Etc etc..

K (the planner in the family) is usually the one planning our trips, but this time he was busy at work, and started complaining that i never plan, so I did the planning this time round and as it turns out, I did a great job! ( haha, thick skin right)..

Anyway the trip was perfect - great weather (no rain at all), excellent hotel choices, not too hectic (a not too hectic holiday with a 15 month old is already quite tiring), and everyone had lots of fun, esp baby!

We started off with a Christmasy mood at Changi airport..

And after about 6 hours, we were in our hotel in cold cold Taipei! Even more christmasy!!

Coincidentally we met uncle Terrance and aunty Lina at the hotel lobby.. so we went on a food tour of Ximending together! Yummy yummy fried ji pa and ah zong mian xian were the highlight! 

Very soon, it was time to head back to our hotel, brush our teeth and get ready for bed!

Super love this photo of Adric, he looks soooo cute!

Next day, we woke up all ready for our Taiwan adventure! We took the high speed train to Taichung.. it was really convenient, we could push our stroller up onto the train, and there was a very pretty private nursing room where you can nurse and enjoy the outside view! love the trains in Taiwan.. so baby friendly..

In less than 2 hours, we reached Taichung.. and in another 1 hour by taxi, we are at Cingjing! This was the view from our balcony! Definitely worth the travel!

At Cingjing, we visited the Green Green Grassland..

Adric and daddy enjoying the view of the grassland.. 

There were lots of sheep roaming around the grassland, and we could interact with them up close! Wanna know what Adric thought of the sheep??

Sheep sheep pls don't come near me!!!!

Oh no... he's commingggg!!!

Daddy, let's go!!!!!

He did like the big toy sheep at the minsu thou.. Hee

After the sheep, we went to Swiss garden... we were stuck at the entrance for some time, because of this..

See the little jet of water in the photo? Adric likes all kinds of water jets... he can be entertained for a really long time playing with the tap in the bathroom at home.. So, of cos we could go nowhere when Adric saw this..

See how happy he is...

Mummy pls dont go...

Finally, only the birds could distract him.. and so we managed to enter the garden...

Adric enjoying the pretty flowers..

enjoying feeding the ducks and geese..

not wanting to stop for a break... haha

After Swiss garden, we went to the 'town center' and saw that they were preparing for the new year count down party.. 

 

N we realize we could see the performance from our balcony! To our surprise, we even had an unblocked view of the fireworks! So K and I had a romantic new year count down from our balcony, complete with fireworks and a peacefully sleeping baby! Hee.. Perfect way to start 2014!

                   

No longer a baby..

Adric is really learning very fast these days.. Few weeks ago, he watched a u tube video on baby signing, and he immediately picked up the sign for baby.. He has been using it ever since.. Whenever anyone says the word 'baby', he would put his hands together and show the sign. 

Then 2 days ago, we were reading a storybook, and there was a baby in the story.. So he immediately showed the baby sign, so I said, 'yes that's a baby.. Are you a baby?'.. Adric immediately shook his head! Just like that, my baby has decided that he is no longer a baby! He is a big boy now..

Happy new year of the horse!

The first day of the horse year was simply wonderful! Adric really enjoyed himself.. more than his 1st CNY last year..

This year he participated in the reunion dinner..

He was amazing, he sat throughout the steamboat dinner (which lasted a good 1.5 hours) in his high chair! This is definitely the longest he has ever sat on his chair.. Usually he would be screaming to get out at around the 5 min mark..

After dinner we went home and changed into our new PJs..

Adric was really excited, and refused to sleep.. He just kept running around the house.. N guess what time he eventually fell asleep? 1am!! Well, tradition says daddy mummy will have long life if children sleeps late on eve of cny.. So we let him..

Adric woke up at 10am in the morning.. N it's ang pow time! Adric has to give 2 oranges to daddy n mummy to receive the red packet.. But he was more interested in throwing the oranges around than getting the red packets..

After that we went visiting.. 

Adric was the first to be ready, so he was playing at the playground while waiting for daddy..

Then we went to pai nian at grandpa grandma house..

At 2nd grand aunty's house.. There was a big garden with a mini children's playground.. Adric loves it! He doesn't look very happy in the photo cos we had to interrupt his play to take the photo.. Hee

Then we went to gong gong's house.. But no photos there cos Adric fell asleep.. N also we left our camera at 2nd grand aunty's house.. Hee.. Anyway, we'll see gong gong again tdy, we'll rem to take more photos..

Gong Xi Fa Cai!!! 

Adric in action

There are so many things I wanna blog about.. Christmas, our super fun and wonderfully planned Taiwan trip (guess who planned it? Heehee), my newfound parenting ideas (just read a few good parenting books..), Adric's cuteness (it's a mum's prerogative to go on and on abt her baby's cuteness right? Hee).. Anyway the list goes on.. Where should I start??

Adric's cuteness of course! 2 weeks ago I came back early from a work trip and got to spend an afternoon with Adric at grandma's.. I usually don't get to see what Adric does on a weekday afternoon, cos I'll be at work..

Anyway here's what he was up to at grandma's, it was non stop action..

Pushing my luggage around.. 

Playing with his sandals.. Adric always has a tinge of cheekiness in his eyes when he is up to something.. I love it!

Playing with the loaf of bread.. The only time he stops is when he is really really tired..

Adric is really growing up to be a fearless boy.. He doesn't cry when he falls down.. He had his first fall (complete with a wound n blood.. sobz) at the playground last week.. He just stood up, touch his knee, and went off playing again.. My brave little boy..

This is the almost recovered wound..

Last weekend when I brought him swimming, he fell into the water (with his head submerged), I quickly picked him up, and was all 'baby are you ok?'.. He looked at me and gave me a why-r-u-so worried-look, and just carried on playing..

My baby cries for many other reasons, (like when I don't allow him 'nang nang'), but fear is not one of them it seems!