@-->---: January 2017

Day 2 - 11 Sept :

Yilan to Hualien :

- At Yilan, we checked on Tangweigou Park

and on the way to Hualien, we stopped at :

- R.Den Dessert Factory

- Meihua Lake 梅花湖風景區

- Zhu Dayu Culture Museum 祝大漁物產館

- Nan Fang Ao Suao Fishing Port & Market

- Nanfang Ao Observation Deck

- Ching-Shui Cliff ( Qing Shui Duan Ya / 清水断崖）

- Qixingtan ( Qi Xing Tan / 七星潭）

- Hualien / Luodong Night Market

Overnight sleep at Crossing The Rainbow Bridge Bed & Breakfast

2nd day started with full energy and excitement to explore.. we started by walking around Tangweigou Park, it was indeed beautiful with the bonus of cool air breeze in the morning.. so refreshing..

Journey continued to a dessert factory.. still full with breakfast but we are ready for the sweet indulgence in the morning ! Ha !

Well.. it is not a real factory.. it is actually a big shop selling cookies and cakes.. one unique thing in Taiwan cake shop is, you can try as many cookies sample as you want and they provide free coffee and tea.. visitors will line up in front of the shop to take a cup of coffee with them and you can enjoy your time to taste cookies they sell with your coffee.. customers are spoilt !

Just next to R.Den Dessert Factory, there is another bakery shop and souvenir shop.. I was thinking we shouldn't have breakfast at the hotel and should go straight to this place !

Those prawn crackers above are good ! You can enjoy nice view and ornament at the shop area..

Our next stop is Meihua Lake 梅花湖風景區 , beautiful lake which usually used for a wedding picture..

My husband is exploring this area with his lenses.. while I mostly sit down enjoying the view because I am too full 😅😅😅

Next stop is Zhu Dayu Culture Museum 祝大漁物產館 . This is a very small museum, in fact I think they should not name it museum because it is actually a shop 😏 , it becomes attractive to tourist because there is a 3D painting next to the museum and take as many photos as you like..

The museum is located in the same area of Nan Fang Ao Suao Fishing Port & Market and also Nanfang Ao Observation Deck, but we took our lunch first because it is getting late..

Our local guide took us around the port to the fish market and lunch at the local seafood restaurant. That was the best prawn I ever had in my life. Super fresh, no smell at all and taste sweet.

Many Indonesian sailors work here, spotted an Indonesian flag at this port.

The fish market.. you can choose fish or other seafood you like and bring it to the restaurant, they will cook it for you immediately. You will find sea harvest just uploaded from the boat directly sell to the customer.. I really love this market !!

This is the restaurant where we had lunch.

At Nanfang Ao Observation Deck

Journey continue to visit Ching-Shui Cliff ( Qing Shui Duan Ya / 清水断崖 ) . It is a historical place with a breathtaking view. Can you see the train tunnel ?

Next place is to visit the 7 Star Lake Qixingtan ( Qi Xing Tan / 七星潭 ) . This is one of my favourite places.. this lake has a special rocks.. why special ? just see the photos below..

All of those rocks are smooth with different colours and pattern and it's feel like you have a foot massage when you step on it.. we were busy finding unique colours and pattern and my husband found a "love" rock 😍 It was really cute and we're very happy to find it.

I took a picture of sunset at Qi Xing Tan.. enjoy..

We end our day by visiting the biggest night market in Taiwan.. it was really huge ! A must try is pork sausage and fried chicken. I love the packaging of Taiwan food.. it's adorable.. love it !

It was really a full tiring day but we were really surprised when we checked in to Crossing The Rainbow Bridge Bed & Breakfast.. it was a really nice hotel, very clean and comfortable.. very nice owner and it was really a peaceful place and hopefully I can have one when I am retired :) more photos of the hotel will be put in my next post..

Day 1 - 10 Sept :

SIN - TPE

From Taipei to Yilan :

- Visited Kostin bakery at Taipei : Kostin Bakery - 可仕町專業烘培

- Drop by to eat Salty pancake : 礁溪柯氏蔥油餅

- Tried Peanut Ice Cream, just next to the salty pancake

- Walked around Hot spring

- Visited Local supermarket

- Eat Steamboat for dinner at 上鼎日式涮涮鍋

Spent 1st night at Jaee Hotel 和風嘉一館

Important things you can do at Taipei airport :

1. buy local Taiwan SIM card with data plan
2. change your money to TWD

Before we reached the immigration counter we went to buy local Taiwan SIM card with data plan.

Tips : choose with a higher price because it covers more area especially went you travel to small cities.

There is a money changer counter before the immigration, make sure you have enough TWD with you.

Make sure you already had TWD with you because there is only 1 money changer counter.

Immigration counter was full of people but everybody queued patiently. Officers act with full attention, que was fast and effective.

We reached Taipei around 2pm, it was past lunch time.. at first we plan to have a proper lunch but taifun came (small taifun = very heavy raining with strong wind ) so driver took us to a bakery shop to save time worried taifun became worst.

We reached Yilan after about 1 hour and stop to try the Taiwan pancake.. long queue even it was raining..

I called it a salty pancake.. you can choose the seasoning and spread yourself..

Next to the salty pancake shop, there is a stall selling ice cream wrapped in a popiah/lumpia skin with grated peanut and chinese celery.. a new and unique taste for me, my sweet tooth husband liked it very much. The brown block thing is the peanut block, grated and put on to the ice cream roll..

After all the delicious snacks, we checked in to our hotel.

This hotel reminds me on the old type of motel in Japan with small lift and quite old interior, but it is clean.

Breakfast was simple yet delicious.. they serve vegetarian food..light and comforting your stomach.. one unique food for me was the preserved tofu, very salty with a bit of smell..