Taiwan 2011 – Yilan, Jiaosi, Taipei (Day 9)

Date: Sat 2 Apr 2011
Stay: Wonstar Hotel (Ximen), Taipei 万事达（西门）

Last day of our Minsu tour. A beautiful warm day – apparently we had met with one of the rare dry days in Yilan. Located near coast, it rains for almost 270 days in a year here. Anson was busy washing his car with spring water.

Country Grange

Anson - our reliable, knowledgeable and safe driver-cum-guide

We spent the morning exploring our homestay’s own farm area. Owner, Wu Papa has built an impressive maze of viewing platform at his eco-farm. He is a homestay veteran in the area. His eco-farm has a great variety of fruit trees, flowering shrubs, a handful of happy domesticated poultry and lovely ponds. Guests at the homestay can use the bicycles to explore the area for free. However, beware of roaming wild dogs in the area.

Eco-farm @ Country Grange

Fruit trees like mandarin oranges and pomelos can be found in the eco-farm.

We had to collect and clear our own breakfast sets. Wu Papa would give an introduction of Yilan, its surrounding area and unique culture during this time. Apparently Yilan residents have their own dialect slang. There is a feeding session of the farm animals after breakfast.

Feeding time!

Wu Papa has an interesting stall outside the farm – the stall is unmanned with pomelos in a basket and a tin can where buyers could drop the money in. It has been in operation for almost five years and Wu Papa said he got the idea from a visit in Japan. Trust in people to act responsibly and with integrity – that is his belief. Before we left this lovely place, Wu Papa stuffed two pomelos into my arms.

With warm and welcoming Wu Papa and Wu Mama

We had intended to visit the famous Jiaosi hotspring but since it was a hot day, Anson suggested that we go to the public hotspring footbath instead. That suited us fine. The water was hot – my feet were all red after a few minutes.

Public hotspring footbath at Jiaosi

Along the way, I saw a huge signboard of a bakery which I recognised from a Taiwan TV food programme. The bakery, Cake Noble 诺贝尔 found only in Yilan is famous for its cream rolls　奶冻蛋糕. We went to the branch near Jiaosi and luckily there was no crowd, which is often found at its main store. The rolls looked so tantalising! But since it has to be kept refridgerated, we bought only one signature strawberry cream roll (NT150) to consume when we reach Taipei. Anson bought two for his family as well.

Yummy strawberry cream roll from Nobel Cake - only in Yilan

As it was still early to head off to Taipei, Anson suggested to bring us to Shenkeng Beancurd Old Street, which I had mentioned to him previously. The street is near the Maokong area. We took the expressway to Taipei and along the way, went through the longest expressway tunnel in Taiwan. This tunnel project took almost 8 years to build and met with several difficulties through the years.

As it was a long weekend holiday in Taiwan (for All Souls’ Day and Children’s Day), the expressway was heavy with traffic. Somehow I felt really blessed in this trip – we managed to avoid the holiday crush as we were ending our Taiwan tour the next day.

Shenkeng old street is known for its smelly beancurd – something that I’m not fond of. The street has character with several stalls peddling homemade food stuffs. The smell of the offending beancurd permeated the air. Mum was taken by the kampong chickens she saw and we proceeded to lunch at one of the eateries serving the chicken. It was not good as we thought though.

Shenkeng beancurd old street 深坑老街

It was about 3pm when we finally arrived at Wonstar hotel at Ximenting. Bade farewell to our trusty driver/guide – he has another group to handle the next day so we sent him home early.

Ximending was teeming with youths – expected on a weekend. After checking into our room, we relaxed for a while and had tea with the scrumptious strawberry cream roll. Polished it off within 15 minutes and almost forgot to take a pic! The room exceeded my expectations – we had an executive triple-sharing room which I got a good deal through agoda.com.

Wonstar Ximen hotel - Executive triple-sharing room

Brought mum and aunt to Longshan Temple, just one MRT stop away. The temple was crowded as there was a mass prayer session held for the Japanese earthquake victims. We headed off to Huaxi Night Market nearby. I found the same food stall I had visited a few years back and promptly ordered my favourite kidney dish. Delicious!

Longshan Temple - now with a digital signboard

Huaxi Night Market

We went back to Ximending for shopping and more food. Of course I had to bring them to the famous Ah Zong Meesuah – now they have chairs outside the stall! Am not a fan but I guess for first-timers, it’s a must-visit spot.

Bustling Ximending

Mum and aunt needed to buy some local pastries. Ordered the pineapple pastries at GangJi Pastry shop 港记酥皇店 . The shop is opposite East Dragon Hotel 东龙大酒店 in Ximending. Find the street with the food stalls, walk towards the end until you see the hotel on the opposite side of a road. Cross the road and you’ll see the shop opposite the hotel lobby.

A new find at Ximending – a shop that sells foreign magazines, especially those bundled with freebies. You can see the bag samples hanging around the shop which makes it easier for you to decide which one to buy.
The shop is at one of the rows parallel to the Ah Zong Meesuah stall.

Dining at Ximending

After some last-minute shopping, we went back to pack our overloaded bags.

The next day, we took the Freego bus to the airport. Important to note that Freego bus 飞狗 does not stop at Wonstar Ximen hotel. You’ll have to bring your luggage and walk over to a foot reflexology shop opposite East Dragon Hotel, about a 10-minute walk away. The hotel only takes reservation on the day of departure. But because of the poor service at the hotel, I called up Freego directly to make my reservation. Bus ride NT140 per pax, takes about one hour, depending on traffic conditions.

Notes: There are two Wonstar hotels in Ximending area. Do check the locations when you book. There are limited eateries at the airport Terminal 2. You may want to go for early lunch at Ximending instead before departure.