Taiwan Translated: Day 9 at Alishan

We got a wake-up call from the hotel staff at 0545 hrs in the morning, as we were supposed to take the van up the mountain to see the sunrise.  Baby J was extremely grumpy at being woken up by the telephone and got even grumpier when we piled on the layers for him until his hands were sticking out at his sides.  He then proceeded to sleep for the entire journey up the mountain, and missed the sunrise...  So was the sunrise worth waking up for, despite the zero degrees weather?  Take a look at the pictures, then you decide:

(The boy finally woke up after the sun had risen, and was less grumpy after that!)

We had lunch at a restaurant in the village, and ate the most sensible thing you could have during winter: Hot pot, this time with a yummy pumpkin soup base.  The restaurant (The great beauty of Richu or in Chinese, Richu you da mei) is worth a visit for their decent food, warm service, and charming decor.  The place was lovingly done up by the lady boss, and is full of all sorts of hand-painted pictures, lots of teddy bears and all sorts of lovely things.  Even the menus are handwritten!

The weather was gorgeous, so we went for a walk around the area which is full of old trees like cypresses as well as cherry trees (but those were bare).

We got to see various oddly shaped trees, and stop by to take a look at the 3-generation tree, which consists of a living tree, growing on the trunk of another tree, which grew from the trunk of another tree... Amazing!

After the walk, it was off through the mountains again to meet hubby's uncle and his family at a plum farm, where we were supposed to stay there for the night.  We got lost along the way, as we took a wrong turn, and ended up at another plum farm instead.  We ended up taking a short break, and our walk to the lav brought us through all the plum trees out in full bloom... The sun was setting, and it was picture perfect, but our camera battery gave out on us right at that very moment!  Sigh...

After the break, Baby J got grumpy again during the car ride, and proceeded to throw up all over me in the car, so by the time we reached the correct farm, both he and I are drenched in vomit and I am down to wearing only a sleeveless, vomit-soaked top in winter.  Sigh... the joys of parenthood!