THE EMERALD UNDER THE MAHSI MOUNTAIN,
an incredible green oasis called the Fata’an Wetlands’s Shin Liu Farm, where we experience the culture of the Amis. In fact, I’m wearing
a traditional Amis headdress that I braided myself upon arrival. (CDN PHOTO/JUDE A. BACALSO)
WE were driven around by a Watermelon.
At least the driver, in limited English (always prefixed with “I’m sorry my English is so bad” in these parts) insists on being called that.
Whether it was an unfortunate translation or an actual nickname from a childhood among cantaloupes, Watermelon made the best transporter on this road trip that brought me and our merry bunch of 10 from the Northern tip of Taipei, southward through the Eastern coastal towns of Yilan and Hualien, down to Taitung on the Southestern side, and back up in a six-hour journey to Nantou (which, in fact, is only a 2 ½ hour journey from Taipei).
We had traveled the length of the country, and not once set foot on a mall or set sight on its famous attraction: the skyscraper called Taipei 101.
“We have 300 registered leisure farms in Taiwan,” says the bedimpled Calem Ngan, who works for the Taiwan Leisure Farm Association, and is our guide on this road trip.
To the uninitiated, a leisure farm is just as it sounds: Taiwan’s strong agricultural sector takes pride in the transformation of their existing farms into learning centers for various crops and produce, complete with their own accommodations that range from quaint bed and breakfast types to sprawling digs that feature an eight-story hotel with en suite onsen-style spas.
NO MENU restaurants are the best. A few kilometers from
Agrioz is Old Mother restaurant that serves only four items, the centerpiece of which is this huge serving
of their roast chicken. (CDN PHOTO/JUDE A. BACALSO)
And as expected, the dining is organic and impossibly fresh, often plucked by you in their popular DIY activities (a prerequisite to be accredited as a Leisure Farm), and cooked by the owner’s daughter herself, as in the case of Fairy Story Organic Farm in Yulin, where Yi Hsuan takes me to their backyard to pick scallions, shows me how to chop it in a large table behind the main house, and roll dough to make the town’s famous Green Onion Pancakes, the main produce in the area.
At dinner, my little masterpiece is served to the approval of the rest of the group, together with a beautiful Hot Pot arranged like a bouquet, a fitting welcome gesture.
Later in the evening, we pack her car to visit the Luo Dong night market, abuzz tonight because it is the third Sunday of March in the Lunar calendar, which means street parties at almost every corner, a variety show, and set dinner menus on streets closed for the festivities.
At the end of the raucous dining, we find ourselves in a quiet corner, dimly lit only by neon signages. We pick our seats around a folding table and enjoy a cool bowl of touhua, soybean curd or taho, which they serve with sweetened shaved ice and a choice of peanuts or barley on top. “The place has no name,” says Yi Hsuan, “only the locals know.”
It’s this kind of intimacy with a place that somehow gets lost when you travel a certain way. Living among Taiwan’s natives, including the aboriginal tribe of the Amis (who, I later learned, have the closest genetic ties to the Filipinos!), brings you back to the earth and waters that nourishes them, and allows you a glimpse into a people’s consciousness that is both fascinatingly exotic, and yet feels—unsurprisingly—like home.
(To inquire about experiencing Taiwan’s leisure farms, log on to www.taiwanfarm.org.tw or shoot Calem an email at koklim88@taiwanfarm.org.tw)
PURPLE COFFEE,
a signature drink at Sanfu Leisure Farm is topped with
purple sweet potato foam. Their hillside manicured gardens and koi ponds
are incredibly
picturesque. (CDN PHOTO/JUDE A. BACALSO)
DUSK AT Master Bear Resort. Unique accomodations here range from log cabins made from wood imported from North America and assembled without a single nail…to an adorable campsite of trailers converted into couple’s rooms. (CDN PHOTO/JUDE A. BACALSO)