Third Day in Taiwan (28/4)

Our plan for the day was exploring Nantou area near Taichung.
Early in the morning we took high speed train to go to Taichung. There was a 15% discount for the ticket, since we bought it early. Most of our big luggage were left at Taipei hotel, so that it's easy for us to move around. Our train left Taipei station at 7:54 am, so, we just had a quick breakfast bought from 7-Eleven that morning. We reached Taichung around 8:45, and our driver has been waiting for us. Below is his contact.

He is a nice guy. We were worried whether we will have time to cover everything that we wanted to go for the day, and he told us not to worry because he won't rush us, since he himself love traveling as well, and he doesn't like to be rushed. He is very knowledgeable about all the places around Taichung and Nantou area. He wasn't only our driver for the day, but also our tour guide.   

First destination was 彩虹村 (Rainbow Village). It was showering when we got there.

We then proceed to 日月潭 (Sun Moon Lake). It was raining when we were on our way to Sun Moon Lake. But rain stopped when we reached the destination. We were hungry, so we had early lunch, around 11 am. The popular food was pork knuckle. But, none of us eat that, so we didn't order their specialty. Instead, we ordered a simple meal: Steam fish, mushroom, drunken chicken, vegetable, bamboo shoot. The bamboo shoot is different than the one that we know. It doesn't have the unpleasant smell like the usual bamboo shoot. It looks like asparagus, and the texture is crunchy. Overall, it was pretty good lunch.

Bamboo Shoot

After lunch, our driver sent us to Ferry terminal. The ferry ticket price was NT$300 per person. Here come another good point of our driver. He told me that since he brought us there, the Ferry company usually gives some tips (NT$100 per person). Eight of us, therefore, he will get NT$800, but he will rebate the amount to us. At that time, I didn't even have any words to reply him. How nice he is to do that. But, of course, eventually we included the amount to the tips that we gave him at the end of the day.

The ferry ticket allowed us to hop on and hop off at any pier during the day up to 5 pm.

First stop was Syuanguang temple (玄光寺). We didn't walk further inside, instead we stayed around the port to take pictures.

Second stop was Ita Thao Village (伊達邵). Here we had black tea (紅茶) Ice cream and mochi. Both taste great!  

Matithi Ice Cream at Ita Thao Village

Ita Thao Village Pier

Since we didn't intend to take cable car, Ita Thao village turned out to be our last stop with ferry. We then met up with our driver and headed to Wenwu Temple. On the way there, we passed by a park. It was a nice park with few beautiful peacocks there. All of us were busy waiting for those peacocks to show their beautiful feathers, then quickly took a picture of it. After everybody had enough of the snapshots, we then carried on with our journey.

Wenwu Temple

As we arrived at Wenwu temple, we saw few stalls selling food in front of the temple. Our driver told us that they were selling herbal egg. Indeed, another famous food at Sun Moon Lake is Ah Pho Cha Ye Dan (阿婆茶葉蛋). The egg was boiled in herbal tea. A lot of shops are selling the "cha ye dan", however, he said that the second shop (from the left) is the original one. We tried it, but, personally I don't think there is anything special about the egg. It did taste fine though, just a bit too salty for my tastebud.  

  

阿婆茶葉蛋

Sun Moon Lake

Next destination was Puli winery factory. On the way there, we stopped by a shop, called I Fu Tang to buy Tai Yang Bing(太陽餅) /Sun cake. Tai Yang Bing is originated from Taichung, so it's a "Must Buy". There is one traditional shop that I mentioned in the itinerary, but we didn't have much time in Taichung, so we decided to just get this brand. It turned out to be good. It's not too sweet for me. I think in total we bought about 20 boxes of Tai Yang Bing and 4 bottles of rice wine.

As I have mentioned before, almost all shops in Taiwan have delivery services. But, the sales woman said they couldn't deliver it, since we would be leaving Taiwan on wednesday (1/5/2013). Even though it usually just takes one day to reach any part of Taiwan, but it was sunday on that day. We almost have to carry those boxes on our own back to Taipei. It was probably ok.
However, lucky us, here comes our Hero. Our driver talked to the manager, and guess what, they agreed! Yeah... He told us that the shop manager is usually afraid of them (tour guides or drivers). If the shop service is bad, they would probably choose not to bring their customer to the shop anymore in the future.

Oh yeah, once again our driver gave us a small gift that he received from the shop. The small gift is the famous Taiwanese pineapple cake.

Puli Winery Factory

After that, Ice Cream time! I have been waiting for this. 18 degree C!!! They sell fine chocolate, and ice cream. I love chocolate! Yummy... The store also served free coffee. 

Free Coffee

18 degree C Ice Cream

Black sesame flavor was my favorite. The dark chocolate was a hit too. However, most of us thought the passion fruit flavor was a bit too sour. 

Finishing our ice cream, we thought that should be our last destination at Nantou area, since It was close to 7 pm. Our agreement with the driver was only up to 6 pm. But, guess what? As what he has promised us, he still brought us to a small shop to try the authentic Nantou home food snack (小吃 ). The shop called "Su Mama Tangyuan". They sell sweet tangyuan, meat tangyuan, Lu rou fan (Minced pork with rice). We wanted to spare some space in our stomach for Fengjia night market, so, we only tried the meat tangyuan and the braised tofu. The taste was so good. The texture of the Tangyuan skin was so perfect; the meat and tofu taste were terrific! Every bite we put in our mouth, and we mentioned "Wow, enak banget (so tasty)!". Even though we were not hungry yet at that time, especially after 2 cups of ice cream for me. But still, we were glad that we stopped by. 

Yeah... Yeah..., when you are at Nantou area, you have to stop by this shop. It is a "Must Visit" and "Must Try".

Su Mama Tangyuan

No.118, Section3, Zhongshan Road, Puli Town, Nantou, Taiwan

Braised Tofu

Meat Tangyuan

Nicholas packed the Lu rou back. Unfortunately the girls didn't get to try, and the guys finished everything. They claimed to be the best Lu Rou that they have tried. I think I have to go there again if I get the chance in the future.

Finally, that was our last stop at Nantou. We reached hotel around 8:15 pm. Our hotel (In One City Inn) is located nearby Fengjia night market. I purposely chose it so that we can easily access to the night market. It is the largest night market in Taiwan. 

 

Seasoned Fried Sweet Potato

Everybody loves it. I did try few bites, and yup, it's delicious. But, it's deep fried, and unfortunately my body can't take too much fried food.

 

Chicken Skewer

I didn't try this. But, if we ask Usman, I believe he will say "Good". We always wonder whether there is any food that tastes bad to him. Haha...

Sausage

This stall always has a long queue. Suryana did try it, and she said it's good.

Soy Milk Tea

It took me quite some time to be able to find this stall. I had the soy milk tea when I visited Taichung few months back. I remembered that was the best I have had during the visit to Fengjia. I love the combination of black tea and soy milk.The soy milk filled up my stomach, and the black tea may help to rinse all the grease that I had from those oily food out of my system. 

Fengjia night market was the last one in our itinerary for the day.

2013 Taiwan Trip - The Group

The MCBers

Travel planner-Tour Leader

Yeah, it's me. 

Vina: Public Relation

She is always ready to bargain with sellers when we buy things. 

Nicholas(Vina's husband): Photographer-Translator

Aside from being our photographer, he has been really helpful in translating chinese characters written either on menu or sign board.

Usman: Photographer-Entertainer

A skillful photographer. His architect background and great imagination makes his photography outstanding. In addition, without any intention, he has always been an entertainer to us. He can disappear all of a sudden when we walk around night market, and when we see him back again, his hand will be holding food. Now, you probably have some thoughts why I said he is our entertainer. 

Welly: Chief Financial Officer

He managed our group money for the trip. His perfectionist and careful personality get rid of all our worries about the accuracy of our financial report. 

Suryana: Photomodel-Assistant CFO

She can totally act like a professional super model. Her natural reaction in front of cameras makes almost every single picture of her so wonderful. She helped with our money arrangement, and she even worked over time to be able to report to CFO the next morning.   

Rika: Creative Photographer

Another architect with great imagination. Her idea and creativity about photography is awesome. It's just amazing when she comes out with different ideas about where or how we should take the picture.    

Heinz: Photographer

A very well-equipped photographer. His tripod and remote control makes it easy for us to take any group pictures.

Synopsis:

It was a fun and memorable trip. I came out with the whole itinerary, then arranged for transportation and accommodation  A lot of research were done in order to plan for this trip. Nevertheless, everybody that I mentioned above plays a great role for the trip, nobody being more important or less important. It's like a puzzle, if one is missing then we won't see a complete picture. Eight of us are the puzzle pieces. The combination of all pieces that are placed in the right position makes a complete story for our trip. Great teamwork, guys! We ROCK!!!  

P.S. Please browse through my blog, and you will find what was going on during our trip in every single day.

Second Day in Taiwan (27/4)

Before we left for Taipei, we had breakfast at the B&B cafe. The breakfast they provided was pretty healthy, and it tasted really nice. We had sandwich with fruits, and the drink is either tea, coffee or hot chocolate. It was raining, but luckily not heavy. 

We left Jiufen around 11 am, then took taxi to Ruifang station. Taxi cost is NT$200. The train is quite frequent from Ruifang to Taipei, and we were able to catch one at around 12 pm, and reached taipei before 1 pm.

Direction to the ticket counter at Ruifang:

As you enter the station, turn to your left, then left again, you will find the ticket counters are there.  

In Taipei, we stay at New Stay Inn. It is considered a budget hotel, but I personally experienced a very nice and comfortable stay when I was there. I forgot to take picture of the hotel, but if you go to their website, the pictures showing were similar to what I have seen there. The location is awesome, just by the side of Taipei Main Station. From the station, take direction towards the underground mall, then take exit z8, the hotel is located at the fifth floor of an old building. We booked our rooms by email and phone, and we were able to get better rate compared to online booking.

It was still too early for us to check in to our room, so, we just left our luggage at the reception, then proceed for our lunch at Din Tai Fung. 

You'll be able to find Din Tai Fung in few countries around the world, however, the one in Taiwan is the very first opened. We went to the restaurant at Daan district. It is the oldest Din Tai Fung. 

Appetizer (made from Seaweed)

Appetizer (Mushroom)

Xiao Long Bao

It's a must try. Some of my friends said that the pork inside that makes it different than the one in Singapore. 

Spinach

Not only the appearance of the vegetable looks so fresh, but also the taste was so delicious. 

Prawn Dumpling

Minced Pork Noodle

 

Pork Chop Fried Rice

Dan Dan Mian

Noodle with peanut sauce. It's slightly spicy.

Black Sesame Bun

 The black sesame filling is very rich and nice. From my point of view, this bun deserves the best dish of the day. As my knowledge about black sesame, it has a lot of health benefits in it. It is a good source of Vitamin B1 and calcium. There have been few scientific studies about the health benefits of black sesame seeds. You may click on this website to find out more about it.

Taro Dumpling

 The taro filling is very original, and it is very soft and creamy. I am not sure if we will be able to get the same quality of taro in Singapore. I rate the taro dumpling as the second best dish after the black sesame bun.

All of us were full after lunch at Din Tai Fung. If my stomach still had some space, I would have probably ordered second batch of black sesame bun. 

Our next destination was Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. After the delicious lunch, we decided to walk there, and it took us about 15 minutes. 

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂)

We spent about 1.5 hours taking pictures in front of the hall. Then, proceed to a sport hall nearby (opposite CKS memorial hall at Xinyi Road). Some of us were interested in getting new badminton rackets. I have done some research, which concludes that Yonex and Victor branded rackets are slightly cheaper in Taiwan. I got a Yonex Arcsaber FB. In total, we got 3 rakets from the shop. The owner was nice to give us more discount and also to agree to send our rackets to our hotel.

Actually, in Taiwan whenever you buy anything, you can ask if they can deliver directly to hotel. Most of shops have such service. 

Then, it's dinner time. Our last destination for the day was Gongguan area (near National Taiwan University).  First stop was Chen San Ding (陳三鼎) bubble tea. The famous one is their milk tea with tapioca pearl. The unique thing is the tapioca pearls. They cook it with brown sugar, and the taste of the brown sugar is pretty strong. Most of us ordered their specialty. However, after our heavy lunch and also knowing how much calorie a cup of bubble tea contains (close to 400 kcal which is roughly equal to 1.5 bowls of rice), I skipped the buble tea, instead, I ordered Xian Cao Hei Tang (grass jelly with brown sugar). I love its brown sugar fragrance, but, it's way too sweet for my taste bud. 

    

Picture was taken by Nicholas

When there is a popular and famous food, expect a long queue. Same thing happened here. But, the queue moved pretty fast. They even drew lines with chalk on the road to make people standing in line.   

Lan Jia Gua Bao 藍家割包 (Pork Bun)

This bun is really good. You can choose whether to have fatty or lean meat or their combination. We chose lean meat. 

After that, it was shopping time for the ladies. I wasn't sure what the guys were doing though. But, they claimed that they were mostly seated in KFC. Opsss.....

That's pretty much it for the day.