Mushroom Monopolization

Yesterday, we went on an escapade to the Shinshe mountain in Taichung county. It's a scenic escape dotted with streams, herbs and flowers. According to the guide book, Shinshe is a place that "presents itself as lavender romance and aroma of mint."

Unfortunately, most of the flowers bloom only once a year (in November). But, even in its off season, the place held quite the charm.









Not only did we smell flowers and herbs, we tasted them too. At a little cafe nestled in the mountains, they served icecream in lavender, mint, rose and lemongrass flavors. Jake and I tried the rose and lemongrass (see picture below). I have never considered "rose" as a flavor, only a scent - so that was a first. We also tried rosemary tea ... very very strong...and fragrant. Though I have never sipped liquid air freshener, I suspect it'd be much the same.



Apparently, it is a custom to write down one's wish and tie it to a "wish tree" located on a hill next to the cafe. So, that's what we did.





(above picture) The three Taiwanese girls in the picture are students from Nan-Jeon who accompanied us on the trip. In this photo we were at the lavender cafe, having just finished declaring our wishes. From left to right: Sheryll, Cindy, Alice, Jake, and me.





(above) Alice tying her wish card.



After tying our wishes, we were told to ring the bell in the following photo -- to signal that our wishes had been presented.



We also visted Mushroom Village, which specializes in, you guessed it, mushrooms. According to the guide book, "Shinshe provides almost 60% productions of mushrooms in Taiwan." In the back of the store, there was a green house with rows and rows of mushroom plants. A flood of customers from a recently arrived tourbus flooded into the greenhouse with baskets and bags, ready to pick their share of fresh mushrooms.

In the front of the store, mushrooms were sold in every way possible. Dried mushrooms (of all types) were bagged in huge quantities. At the counter, workers offered freshly cooked mushrooms. I tried dried mushrooms, mushrooms on a stick, mushrooms in some-sort-of-mushroomy-sauce, battered mushrooms, mushroom tea and mushroom icecream. That's right, mushroom icecream. In looks, it resembled a chocolate fudge icecream bar. In taste, however, it resembled nothing of the sort.





In all, it was an interesting trip, though I suspect I'll be avoiding mushrooms in the near future.

Next week, we plan on an adventure to Kaohsiung -- so, you can expect even more photos.

Thanks for reading. :)