Wandering Fel

Showing posts with label Flowers. Show all posts

Taiwan Travel: Jianguo Holiday Flower and Jade Market, Taipei

"Earth laughs in flowers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Taiwan Orchid Flowers at Jianguo Flower Market

I've been into flowers lately but I seldom buy ones. It's simply because I don't know where to put my flowers because I'm renting a room in Singapore and my things are scattered all over in the room. If you happen to live in Taipei, there is one famous weekend flower and jade market located at Jianguo Road.

The market is always crowded because the flowers sold here all very beautiful.

All kinds of colorful flowers can be found here. I did not buy any though because my room condition in Taipei back then is kinda similar to my room now in Singapore. XD

Flower seller at Jianguo Flower Market Taipei

The market is very big so this makes walking inside is quite comfortable as you don't have to worry about keep on bumping other people.

Other than flowers, the market next door sells all kinds of jade. Jewellery, accessories, sculptures or simply jade rocks. Some are expensive while some are not. But you have to know how to differentiate the different quality of jade. Or even the imitation one.

Jianguo Flower and Jade Market is located at Jianguo Road right in the middle of Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT Station.

Singapore Travel: Flower Dome, Gardens by the Bay

One of the iconic two conservatories in Gardens by the Bay, Flower Dome offers a wide variety of flowers and greens. And it offers a great place to escape under the hot tropical weather during the day (yes, it is fully equipped with air-con).

Entrance to Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay

Welcome to Flower Dome! The area at the centre is usually decorated according to the season. When I visited Flower Dome, it was around mid to end October so the flowers have halloween theme.

Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay Singapore

I love the yellow flowers.

Yellow Flowers at Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay

Even though the conservatory is called Flower Dome, there are other plants that you can see inside here. Like this white leaves which look like it comes from the winter world (it's actually a desert plant from Australia).

Desert Plant at Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay Singapore

Or a unique type of cactus.

Cactus Plant at Flower Dome Gardens by the Bay Singapore

The most interesting plant inside the Flower Dome are these baobab trees. The trees have water belly. But they sure don't need to go on a diet. #envy?

Flower Dome is located inside Gardens by the Bay. For information about ticket pricing and direction, you can read my previous post here.

Spring in Taiwan: Yangmingshan Flower Clock Trail

If you like to walk around the mountain while enjoying the natural surroundings, you will love walking in Yangmingshan Trail. There are a lot of trails in Yangmingshan but since I did not really have a lot of time, I just walked around the Flower Clock area. (To read on how to get to Yangmingshan Flower Clock, click here. )

There is a small waterfall along the way.

A field of lavender. They are still small though.

You shall never go hungry in Taiwan. After a few steps into the trail, there's a food market selling tea egg, fried chicken and other stuffs like sausages. Awesome!

We came out from the other side of flower clock. Here is one last shot of another pretty flowers along the way. So pretty!!! I must pay a premium to enjoy this kind of view in Singapore. Hmmph!

We're going to explore another place in Yangmingshan after this. Stay tune! =)

Spring in Taiwan: Viewing Sakura at Yangmingshan

If you never ever see sakura in your life, you may have the chance to do so in Taiwan. Yep, you read that correctly, you do not have to buy your ticket to Japan just to see sakura. You can simply go to Yangmingshan National Park.

There are a number of ways to go to Yangmingshan. You can get the detail here . I opted to go to Jiantan MRT station and ride R5 bus all the way to the last stop, Yangmingshan.

From the last stop, you still need to take a smaller bus to visit the scenic spots at Yangmingshan. To be honest with you, I did not really know which bus I should take after I stepped down the R5 bus. I overheard a bus driver shouting 花鐘 (huā zhōng/ Flower Clock) and simply rode that bus because I read that name before somewhere in the internet. Trust your intuition much, eh? Hehe.

I glad I did, I love this place!! I hereby welcome you to Yangmingshan Flower Clock (陽明山花鐘/ Yángmíngshān huā zhōng). =D

The flowers here are oh-so-pretty. ^^

And there are the cherry blossoms trees. Sakura season is rather unpredictable. I was glad to be able to catch it before all the flowers petal drop to the ground.

Close-up shot of the beautiful flowers. For your information, sakura is called 櫻花 (Yīnghuā) in Chinese.

There are other flowers in the vicinity too. These flowers are pretty-in-pink. Just like the sakura? Hehe.

Another type of flowers, this time in red.

Are you a fan of flowers? If yes, you must go to Yangmingshan in spring. The air is fresh and the flowers are pretty. Make sure you layer up properly though because the weather can be rather cold up here in the mountain. Is sakura your most favourite flower? For me, it surely is. =)