April 13, 2026
Back to Main
Today's breakfast, just here as a place holder to maintain the timeline. It was another typical Zhong Ke Hotel
all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast, with, as usual, several new items on the menu this morning. Here are a few
of the available selections.
Around 9:30, Zhiwei, with Mingqi riding shotgun, picked up me, Mei-O, Meihui, and Wenxin and, after stopping
by a Starbucks drive-thru for a coffee for Zhiwei, we headed to 彰化 (Changhua), about a
30 minute ride from the hotel.
Changhua is the home to 八卦山 (Bagua Mountain) where a Great Buddha statue, guarded by two ferocious-looking
lions, sits atop a big hill. We drove through
this gate, up to the parking lot at the top, avoiding the long walk
up the statue-lined pathway leading to the Buddha with statues
like this and this and
this guiding you to the Great Buddha.
We all gathered before the Buddha for a selfie taken by Zhiwei. Looking straight ahead over the empty
dragon fountain, there was a great
view of Changhua below.
Mei-O, Meihui, and I ventured inside the Buddha where we found this altar. Both Mei-O and Meihui
lit candles (NT$100, about $3, for two),
baibai-ed, asking for blessings for our families, then placed the candles
on the altar (the two up front on the left). The three of us then climbed
a narrow stairway to the top of the Buddha (where there's a dirty window
facing 大佛寺, the "Big Buddha Temple"), viewing
dioramas about the life of the Buddha on the various levels as we climbed.
...into Changhua to look for lunch. We were planning two special treats. First, at 彰化老担阿璋肉圓,
we'd have a bawannote"Bawan" is
Taiwanese for 肉圓 and, being a Taiwanese food, that's what we always call them. (one of my favorite Taiwanese
foods, and these were good, though watching them boiling in oil does seem to make them
a little less appetizingnoteMei-O makes bawan at home, but instead of boiling them in oil,
she steams them, and they're so much better. ), then...
...we were off to 貓鼠麵 for some noodles that Meihui, who had eaten there many
times and really liked it, suggested we try. We had these, which we found to be
okay, but nothing special. Read this not-so-complete story about the restaurant....
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We took a few more 
