A Day Trip to Tamsui for Cherry Blossoms, Part 2: The Little White House

March 9, 2012 — A Day Trip to Tamsui for Cherry Blossoms, Part 2: The Little White House

By the time we left Tianyuan Temple in Sanzhi and reached Tamsui, it was already past noon. We had a clear destination in mind: the Little White House beside Aletheia University.

I had assumed there would be plenty of places to eat near a university entrance, but once we entered Zhenli Street, we found only a handful of shops @.@'"

Belle, our clever little sprite, knew perfectly well that a family outing was her chance to indulge at Dad's expense. I offered to take her for Tamsui's famous a-gei, but she shook her head immediately and chose An-ka Café across the street instead ~.~'"

Photo associated with An-ka Café on Zhenli Street — An-ka Café, Belle's choice for lunch.

The interior felt very homey—no, wait, that is not quite right—warm and cozy is what I meant ^.^

Warm interior décor at An-ka Café — A cozy corner inside the café.

Another home-style interior view at An-ka Café — Another homey detail inside the café.

The meals were rather “high-class” in price, but the food was wholesome and delicious XD

Lunch at An-ka Café, partly eaten before the photo was taken — A wholesome lunch, photographed after the first bite.

Sorry about the photos—we had already taken a bite before remembering the camera @.@'" Please ignore all evidence that the food had been disturbed XD

Another dish photographed after the meal had begun — Please ignore the evidence that we had already started eating XD

Time to eat ^.^ Coffee and dessert followed afterward... but we will skip that part.

Once we finished lunch, it took only a short walk with Belle to reach the Little White House.

Rainy-day arrival at Tamsui's Little White House — Arriving at the Little White House after lunch.

Tamsui's Little White House and its surroundings on a rainy day — The Little White House in the rain.

The rainy weather made visibility poor. Otherwise, we should have had a clear view across the river.

Rainy distant view from the Little White House — Rain and mist obscured the distant view.

There was also a broad lawn behind the building.

Lawn behind Tamsui's Little White House — The broad lawn behind the Little White House.

A staff member “helpfully” introduced us to another famous attraction on the grounds: the little Little White House.

Yes, it was the restroom (faints) @.@'"

The restroom on the grounds nicknamed the little Little White House — The “little Little White House” introduced by the staff.

We then ran into a group of elementary school students on a field trip.

Students on a field trip during our Little White House visit — A field-trip group visiting the Little White House.

Student group visiting Tamsui's Little White House — The field-trip group brought some bustle to the rainy grounds.

We also saw two couples having their wedding portraits taken. Belle promptly copied them and started striking poses of her own ^.^

Belle imitating wedding-portrait poses at the Little White House — Belle began posing after watching the wedding couples.

Belle bundled in warm clothes and posing at the Little White House — Belle's own little wedding-photo pose ^.^

Belle posing in warm outerwear during the rainy cold front — Bundled up and round, but still posing seriously.

The Little White House may be small, but it really is a lovely place for wedding portraits ^.^

With rain and a cold front arriving together, we had bundled Belle up until she was as round as a little bear ~.~'"

Our Belle can look very cute when she dresses up too ^.^

Belle dressed warmly and ready for another photo — Our bundled-up and very cute Belle ^.^

Next time, we will come back and take another set... hmph...

March 2012 — A Day Trip to Tamsui for Cherry Blossoms, Part 2: The Little White House

March 2012 — A Day Trip to Tamsui for Cherry Blossoms, Part 3: Oxford College and Fort San Domingo

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