SinfuL InDulgEnce

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

::Taiwan trip..A discovery journey on Buddhism::

This trip had been special...for it was not just about sight-seeing, posing for the camera, being excited about the various attractions in Taiwan. Seriously, I wasn't expecting much about the accomodation, but it simply got much better and better along the way. :D Throughout the 11 days, there were about 8 days spent visiting different branches of 佛光山..each temple with its special architecture and style. We traversed from 高雄 --〉台南 --> 嘉义 --> 台中--> 苗栗 --> 基隆 --> 宜兰 -->彰化- -> 台北. Most importantly, the spread of Buddhism (especially 人间佛教）was witnessed.

心经：Beautifully sculptured and carved. I'm still an amateur in Buddhism...learning.

I was just trying to mimick 星云大师's statue。hehh。He's 80 this year...with a clear and brilliant mind still. He's from Jiangsu Province, became a monk at the young age of 12. He set up 佛光山 in 1967, with the aims of spreading education and culture via buddhism.

四姐妹@阿里山：Meiying, Yingying, Xinhui and me~!

天仁茗茶：Although there was introduction on the tea-types in Taiwan, process of tea-making, seasons favourable for tea harvest, it still left me a little disappointed. Nevertheless, it was an eye-opener once again...to the different tea cultures around the world.

I caught this by chance on the tour-bus. Quite a funky brand 双猫感冒液！

Outside 佛光山电视中心。So hip!

佛光大学: All the way up the hills. A very peaceful and serene tertiary campus..with emphasis on the humanities and social sciences.

Special toilet sign..with an SIA logo! HAha. I wonder who placed it there. :)

台北市林夜市：I was there early with Ruying for a haircut...it wasn't as crowded..until night descended. Brought back memories of the 04 LEP Immersion where we shopped here nightly without fail. :) Huge galore of clothes, eateries, shoes etc!

Trying to climb over to the railway track. ^_^

Weilie and yunz overlooking 姐妹谭．

We went to 莺歌老街 where clay potteries are made. Along the whole stretch there were interesting small items on sale.

佛光青年两岸交流 (两岸＝大陆vs台湾)：And so we had a discussion with the Taiwanese students on how to improve culture, educational exchange on Buddhism. We were probably in a good position to discuss on this issue since we are all Singaporeans studying in China.

说好话，存好心：This was advocated at the Gaoxiong International Airport...well-wishers can hang their wishes on this makeshift tree.

The 10-year old kids at the 佛光山育幼院~!

Yunz and Ruying at 阳明山！The weather was cool~

灵山寺 aka Taiwan OBS training ground! This is 觉年法师 who single-handedly sees to the workings of this nature-like temple. We had lots of obstacles, like gorging on bitter tea (finally woke up after the long bus journey), ginger, chili, lemons! （酸甜苦辣）well..the sweetness is intangible in this case. We trekked the areas bare-footed on prickly stones, across the slippery rocks of the streams, blindfolded ourselves on the bridge, juggled pots on our heads etc etc! It was a memorable trip.

This is one of the photos that I like best, featuring Jin Yao and Ru Ying. Artistic right?? Haha...漫长等待的写照。

We visited the nursery at 佛光山。The little ones mostly come from single families. I was pretty touched just by looking at how well the kids are taken care of. ^_^

台北饶河夜市：Just by looking at its size, this can't be compared to Shilin Night Market..but it was the first night market we went..as it is very near where we stayed. Had 小吃 like 甜不辣、盐水鸡、蟹肉 etc! :p

A typical filling lunch at 滴水坊。We had sumptuous vegetarian treats almost everyday. ^_^ 果然是“不饿法门”( Another warped intepretation of "不二门" at 佛光山。:)

The view of 滨海 (coastal waters) from our tour-bus. On our way from 宜兰 to 台北。

A pictorial representation of 佛在心中。Very zen indeed.

Accomodation at 佛光山：It left me totally shocked...for I was expecting something simple and plain. But do not be mistaken, only guests and 信徒 receive such treatment, the venerables stay in plain and simple living conditions.

This is 高雄国际航空站, where we touched down on the first day. A very small airport by itself..the weather was good and we had our 便当 dinner right outside the airport. :)

福山寺：This is the place which left me awed by its architecture. The blinds on top screen out sunlight in the day and can be removed for a romantic star-gazing night.

宜兰温泉！Peggy(a new-found Taiwanese year 3 student studying at 北大医学部）and I shared a room...it was a funny experience..my first 泡汤 and we actually made stupid blunders. We turned on the hot-water tap instead of the cold one...for about 30min and wondered why the water became intolerably hot. Finally called for help and got scolded for 1min. Haha..then we hurriedly turned on the right tap and flushed away the scalding water. Eventually, we had about 10min left...I could feel an improved blood circulation and had a much more comfy sleep that night.

夫子庙：Teachers and teahers-to-be..aspiring to be like Confucius' 有教无类。I still have doubts about this. ^_^ Confucius could have done more to remove gender discrimination against the female counterparts back then.

台北阳明山国家公园：It was the 花季 period..and so I saw lovely 樱花！The garden itself is very famous for its various floral species. Hot springs are available up the mountain too!

Ruying and I at 松山火车站。We were waiting for my ex-导游：半月 (2004 Taiwan LEP Immersion) and had our lunch from 7-11 near the area :) In the end, both parties waited for each other for 1hr at the other end of the railway station. :P

台南莲花世界：There wasn't much lotus-in-bloom to be seen. I guess it's just not the right season. And so we posed with the 莲花指！

I took a lot of effort to capture this angle! Hahaa...new-found "hybrid"! :D

嘉义阿里山：The view up the mountain was scenic..with blue sky and fluffy clouds. The 5 attractions up there are: 日出、云海、晚霞、森林、铁路。As we were only up there for the morning, we could only catch the last 2 attractions..heh. :) Mountain Ali has one of the 3 forest railway tracks （森林铁路）in the world. (history of 70 plus years). The railway tracks were constructed during the Japanese Occupation for timber and logging purposes.

These 2 characters left me with the deepest impression. “ 学愚”seemingly easy..but it takes a lot of wisdom to learn to be humble at the right time.

佛化婚礼：An eye-opener for it's an expression of 人间佛教...with various societal meanings. Celebrations like weddings/babies' one-month/anniversaries/birthdays can be taken care of.

~给人方便、给人欢喜~

InDuLgeD~|3:50 PM|

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Buddha window panes. From far it doesn't look distinct.

Creative artpiece by the kids: CD-rom for the face.

An extremely filling meal..We had an equivalent of 5 meals like this everyday. :o

Cheersss! For a better year ahead~ yiQ, meiying, yunz, albert :)

InDuLgeD~|3:49 PM|

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阿荣创意咖啡厅

Piggy pottery at 莺歌老街！

献灯仪式：Beautiful lotus...with our wishes adrift.

At 佛光山：祝大家在新的一年里诸事圆满！

This bathtub-turned table was seen at 阿荣创意咖啡厅, just downslope of Mountain Ali. A young couple started the cafe 10 years ago..innovative! :)

InDuLgeD~|12:30 PM|

::Happy Valentine's Day!::

I had a lovely surprise 1hr 15 min before the stroke of 12 midnight!
As usual, after a long holiday trip, I was busy uploading photos online while everyone else was sound asleep.
The doorbell rang...once, twice, thrice...it sounded really impatient. I was a little freaked out, for I thought my elder brother wouldn't be back on a weekday.
I mustered my courage to open the wooden door...in the vivid darkness, I saw a black figure with a basket of stuff standing outside the gate..he shouted my name.
And so..my V day surprise..with flowers and bears..looks like this! :) All the way from the thoughts of a special someone in Germany. :D

Thank You DK!

Fröhlichen Valentinstag!

InDuLgeD~|12:26 PM|