Live, Love, Feel, Grow

January 6, 2010 –

Sun Moon Lake -

peace...

Thoughts going through my mind when I enjoyed this mornings sunrise was…

1. How lucky I am to be able to travel and be alive ‘n healthy to appreciate this

2. How true quietness is rarely achieved or experienced these days in our lives

3. How amazingly beautiful this place is

Today as I got back from Sun Moon Lake back to Taipei, I heard a song that touched my heart. Lately (perhaps due to a new year and a new decade) I’ve been looking for inspirations, doing a lot of soul searching, and thinking/doing things that make me happy. So you may laugh when I write this…when I heard this song this afternoon it made me think of the picture of the lake I had taken this morning and it also brought tears to my eyes. It’s amazing how our minds connect things together logically or illogically…anyways, the song that touched my heart for the day is: “When You Believe” by songwriter/composers  Kenneth Edmonds and Stephen Schwartz. Parts of the lyrics is below…but i think it is both the lyrics and the music composition together that truly moved me.

…There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It’s hard to kill
Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe
Somehow you will
You will when you believe…

Apart from my possible emotions of melancholy, missing the US, or  moody day…regardless, Sun Moon Lake is truly breathtaking…from the beauty of the lake itself to the early morning hikes where you can see the mountain and the clouds playing tag with each other, to learning more about the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan…it’s a trip worth taking.

December 29, 2009 -

Went to the Longshan Temple which is a buddhist / folk religion temple dedicated to GuanYin (The Goddess of Mercy). It’s located in the Wanshua district, which is one of the older districts of Taipei. Nearby is the famous ‘Snake Alley’ night market. The temple is very ornate and from the looks of it, very crowded with tourist and locals alike.

Address: 211 Guangzhou Road (near junction with Guilin Road, Wanhua district) and is open daily from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. The nearest MRT station is ‘Longshan Temple’ on the Ban-Nan Line.

Dec. 27, 2009 -
There’s just something so delicious about handmade piping hot dumplings that makes you all warm and happy inside. I tried the Din Tai Fung’s dumplings at their branch located in the new Sogo shopping center (level B2). For two people, we ordered food for like 4…and guess what…we ate it all! Except for the plate of stir fried spinach which was left due to being over stuffed and the Pork/Glutinous Rice Shaomai which unfortunatley was not our crowd favorite. I would highly recommend the Spicy pork ‘n spinach dumplings in chili oil for those who can take a bit of a kick…it was my favorite one. Of course, no one should ever leave the dumpling house without trying the famous steam pork dumpings. Enjoy!

Din Tai Fung (???) – 45 Zhong Xiao East Road, Section 4
Taipei City 106 Taiwan, Level B2 of New Sogo