A handful of Cherry Blossoms [櫻花]

Over the weekend we drove a two-car caravan to lunch at Green Ark in Sanyi [三義], Maioli County [苗栗縣]. The restaurant had some really nice scenery surrounding it. So naturally, we took a lot of pictures…

The grounds had a lot of flowering trees and was immaculately maintained. I think the actual restaurant was a side-attraction.

The pudding pictured above was by far the tastiest of what we had ordered.

Originally I was told that we were just heading out for lunch, so I was very delighted to find out that we were going to visit Shengsing Train Station [勝興車站] as well.

The Shengsing Train Station is located at the highest point of the western railway trunkline, 402.326 meters above sea level. The train station, completed in 1906, is built entirely of wood in the Japanese huya (lit. Teeth of a Tiger) style, which is supposed to ward off evil spirits. [source: Taiwan Hot Spots]

The whole area was a lot more touristy than I had imagined, so I practiced how to take pictures with as few people in the frame as possible. As you can see above, I failed.

Everyone posing together:

This kitten was behind the restaurant we stopped for Hakka-style tea [擂茶]. It kept a pretty safe distance from me and would temporarily run-off if I got too close, I had to use the longer lens for this:

The kitten’s mother had an absolutely vivid contrast in eye color. I’ve seen plenty of dogs with different colored eyes, but never on a cat: