After two days of boating, bicycle riding, and firefly watching, our friends didn't want to go back to Taipei even when it was raining hard. They wanted to spend more time in Sun Moon Lake surrounding areas. They didn't care about going back to Taipei late because it was only 2-3 hours drive. Also it was very precious for them to take two days vacation escaping their jobs from Taipei.
We decided to visit Taomi Eco-Village and 18 C Chocolate Factory to satisfy their hunger for more sightseeing and also for their physical appetite. Both places were easy to reach since they were on the way back to freeway 6.
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| This map was taken at the entree of the Paper Dome. The ecological village consisted a few different parts in this area. We chose to visit the dome. The entree ticket was NT$ 100 per person but we could take our ticket to exchange for same value of soft drinks, food, or other merchandise. |
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| This was one of its souvenir and cafe shops. Water lilies, lotuses, and ponds were the major visible elements in this park. |
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| Because of the ponds and plants, this park offered a desirable environment for different kinds of animals to live. |
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| This was ceiling of the famous Paper Dome which was donated by the Japanese after the major distraction of the 921earthquake in 1999. The entire dome was made of paper. The dome was covered by the metal material to avoid the weathering situation. |
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| Sixty two percent of the Taomi village was destroyed by the earthquake. The reconstruction of the village after the disaster was very difficult with financial issues. The villagers, some branches of the government and universities tried to find better solutions together to change and improve the situation. Finally, they decided to corporate and follow the ways of the natural environment which was a new concept and the trend for promoting an Eco friendly lifestyles. Today, the village offered a great ecological environment for school field trips and people who were interested in learning the ecology. |
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| The heavy rain turned into drizzling when we arrived at the park. We were lucky to enjoy the scenery. |
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| Some early blooming flowers were destroyed by the rain. Some were just awaiting for the right time to show its beauty to its audiences, just like this lotus bud. |
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| Catching the ripples and ignoring the three beauties |
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| We were enjoying this moment to have a cup of coffee with our good friends and the freshness of the nature. |
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| It was time to head to our next destination with final glimpses of the park. |
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| This was our friend's minivan. They felt ashame for their mess inside the vehicle. Well, I though it doesn't matter as long as it served its purpose. |
Next stop was to taste the most famous and gourmet chocolate store in Puli Township which location was a little out of the way from Sun Moon Lake to the freeway 6. But we still could get on the freeway from another entrance ramp to Freeway 6 in Puli.
The most touching story about the 18 C Chocolate Factory was the owner kept his commitment which was to keep the store open and make the best chocolates for their customers with his son who died at the age of 23. His commitment motivated him to improve the ways to make gourmet chocolate for his customers. Today his customers were worldwide like Singapore, Malaysia, Japan etc. At the same time, he continued donating his fortune to charities and helping the needed families because he knew his fortunes were from the people and he should share some of his fortunes with the needy which was also one of his son's wills for helping the people in need.
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| My husband and I have visited this shop several times when we drove to the east coast or took friends to visit this areas. The store has expand its size over time. This was its seating area next to its own parking lot. These pictures about the store were taken at different visits. |
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| The store consisted of three areas of chocolate express lanes, the Italian gelato area, and the chocolate display and the selection area which required customers to take a ticket to enter the display area. It allowed 6-8 people in the store at the same time in order to control the room temperature for keep the correct temperature in making excellent quality chocolates. |
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| Seating area |
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| My ticket number was 125. I didn't have to wait too long because of the rainy day. Thank for the rain. |
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| The store offered free unlimited coffee for its customers while they were waiting for their number. It was very thoughtful for the store to consider its customers. |
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| This map displayed the countries or regions which produced cocoa in the world. |
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| This was another store that the owner owned. It makes 18 layer cakes. It offered free tasting in the store and I liked the taste of the cake. Once in a while I would buy some to take home to enjoy when I was relaxing at home listening to good musics with a cup of coffee or tea. |
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| After the store got famous and attracted people to visit it, it also brought some business opportunities to other vendors in the area to sell their products nearby. |
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| One of the owner's original ideas of opening his store in a rural town was to help and improve the local economic situation for the residents there. His wish came true. He employed some young people and also brought some business opportunities to the locals to sell their agricultural products or different products. Not only his business was very successful but also he promoted the local economic and improved others' lifestyles. I thought it was a good business pattern. |
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| Time to say good bye to our friends and took a final photo together |
Links:
Toami Village: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taomi_Village
18 C Chocolate Factory: http://www.feeling18c.com/index.php
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