A few days ago I went to the city hall to see an exhibition of Le Corbusier, a giant of 20th century in architecture. He was dedicated to providing living conditions for the residents of crowded sites. His works can be found in a lot of countries, including France, Switzerland, India and Germany. He also had a relationship with the Soviet Union, however his proposal for Palace of the Soviets got rejected. Aside from being an architect, he was also a furniture designer, painter, urban planner and a writer. Here are some photos I have taken during the exhibition:

The fun and fancy part of my visit in Taichung is the day when we visit Cingjing Farm followed by a nice lunch in The Old England Manor. Firstly here's a summary of our 4 days itinerary:

Day 1: Take the flight from Hong Kong to Taichung via Mandarin Airlines, check in at our hotel. Evening well spent in the night market for foodtrip!

Day 2: Drive for an hour to Sun Moon Lake and go on a biking trip around the Lake. Late afternoon, drive for an hour to Nantou.

Day 3: Visit Cinjing Farm followed by a nice lunch in The Old England Manor. Afterwards go for an exhausting yet worth it hike to see the Hehuan Mountain to see the sunset. 

Day 4: Drive back to Taichung for last minute shopping and wonderful lunch in Le Mout, before flying that evening. 

In this post I will focus more on our visit in Cinjing Farm and that lovely lunch in The Old English Manor. Cinjing Farm is a family friendly area where you can see sheep in a beautiful hilly surroundings. The area is quite big and it can take a minimum two hours to explore. One thing is for sure, you can see a lot of sheep and a very active sheepdog. Near the exit, you will also see souvenir shops and small restaurants serving local delicacies. Alas, I have only spent less than three hours here, but if you have children, it will be more relaxing if you spend a whole day here. They even offer rooms starting for TWD 3,000 per night. Anyway, a lot of locals offer their nice homes to tourist as well. We spent two nights in a local's home and the place is not only cozy, the owner was very hospitable too offering us free BBQ the first night we arrived. 

Here I'm glad to present our pictures in Cinjing Farm:

Entrance for adult costs TWD 160 - 200, children's ticket costs TWD 20. For more information, you may visit their very comprehensive website here: http://www.cingjing.gov.tw/en/directions/index.php 

You can imagine how hungry we were after the visit in the farm, so lunch at the Old England Manor was such a great treat! Rating this restaurant a four star! Portions are more than enough (I have not been able to finish it) and unlimited drinks (tea & coffee) are offered for lunch.

The Old England Manor is actually a hotel and a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Based on what is mentioned in their website, this hotel is owned by the Lo Family. I can't confirm that, however I can confirm that the rate per night is a bit pricey. We got the chance to roam around the hotel and see the rooms, and we can definitely see the reason why. Every little thing in the accommodation is "luxurious" from the toiletries to the quality of the furnitures in the room, it's just splendid! Their cheapest room costs approximately TWD 15,000 or HKD 4,000 per room per night. They do not have lifts I believe, so if you are going to stay here, try to get the ground floor room. They even have conference rooms so also good for businessmen, haha! 

Anyway, these are two of my recommended sights to visit when you're in Nantou. Nantou is only 2 hrs. by bus from Taichung and it is very worth it if you spend 2 nights here. Catching the sunrise and sunset are other things you can do, being surrounded with mountains, it is just very relaxing! 

ethos comes with a lower case "e", and describes itself as a progressive lifestyle platform that offers seasonal lines of apparel, cuisine, publications, home goods and events, housed within a creative free space. Yesterday, I visited the place with my friend Johna who suggested it. It was raining hard which made it difficult for us to locate the place that we needed to ask one of the MTR staff. It is strategically located in a street next to where the Hong Kong University Campus is. It turns out we went to the wrong MTR exit.

Going back to ethos, their goal is to provide visitors an ultimate destination to put more energy into depth instead of breadth, and place high value on doing more with less, which I think is great. With Hong Kong as a fast paced city where 7 million people live, it surely is not impossible to attain. Hong Kong has a problem with expensive flat rental rates, that the majority opt for a smaller space. For Hong Kong to be able to offer a good quality of life, it needs places like ethos. 

If you will choose to sit by the wall, there is even an outlet where you can charge your mobile/ laptop. There is also a bag hanger under the table which is a necessity nowadays. This is a place where you can work and be productive. However it can be noisy, so if you need a quiet place, this is not the place to go. Johna and I recorded our podcast here, and we had some problem with the very noisy background. Unfortunately, they do no serve green tea latte which I think will be perfect in a place like this.