Taiwan Trip Day 6 & 7 - Back to Taipei & Review of City Inn Hotel Ximending

Zheng Chang Xian Rou Xiao Long Bao (正常鮮肉小籠包) was highly recommended by some travel websites, so we did not want to miss the chance to try this meat stuff dumpling (Xiao Long Bao -小籠包) before we make our way back to Taipei. There was an outlet in Jiaoxi near our hotel, and we bought a box to try. Verdict: We were kind of disappointed; there wasn't enough soup in the dumpling, and the skin was a bit thick to our liking.

After breakfast & more soaking in the hot spring, we drag ourselves and luggage to the bus station for our journey back to Taipei. There were 2 bus companies serving this route, and the journey took about 1 hour. 

We then took the MRT to Ximending and check in to City Inn Hotel Ximending, which is conveniently situated near Ximending MRT station. I usually stay near Taipei Main Station, and decided to do some thing different this trip. This is my first time staying in a City Inn Hotel, although they have quite a few branches around Taipei, and will definitely not be the last time. The rooms were compact but comfortable, and I especially like the basement of the hotel, where you can bring food to eat in the open area while using their washing machines and dryers for free. We were also very touched and impressed by the friendliness of the staffs, who wrote us a letter (hand-written), recommending breakfast venues near the hotel, as we had casually asked for some recommendations while checking in.

We spent Day 6 & 7 exploring various shopping centers, food stalls and night markets in Taipei. 

Up Next: Taiwan Trip Day 8 - Travelling to Shen Keng & Shifen by bus
Previously: Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 2 - Luodong Night Market & Jiaoxi
See also: 8 food you cannot miss in Ximending

Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 2 - Luodong Night Market & Jiaoxi

From Meizhou 2nd road where all the factories we've visited are, we took a cab to Luodong Night Market. You can also take the train to Luodong station, then walk around 15 - 20 mins to the night market. Otherwise, you can also take a cab from the train station. Luodong Night Market is a popular night market in Taiwan; many people travel all the way from Taipei to Yilan just to visit this night market. Some of its famous food stall includes the herbal mutton soup, scallion pancake (葱油饼), and chicken chop.  We did not try the mutton soup as we are not a fan of the lamb, but there was already a long queue even though we were there quite early. For the scallion pancake, we thought that the one we had in the morning from Ke Shi (柯氏) was much nicer. The chicken chop is highly recommended; it was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. 

Chicken chop

Scallion pancake

Other than food, there were also games stalls, clothes and accessories stalls at Luodong Night Market.

Heading back to Jiaoxi, we stopped by a noodle store (有麵煮私房小吃) which attracts us with its  aroma every time we walked past the store. We had a bowl of noodle and a plate of dumplings before going back to the hotel.

Our hotel, 58 Degree Hot Spring Hotel, was just above the Chili Hunters Cultural Creative Museum, which sells all sorts of food (even ice cream) made from chili, and next to Tangweigou Hot Spring Park, which is an outdoor hot spring park where you can soak and relax your feet in this public hot spring pool after a long day of walking. The hotel gave us some vouchers to try the fish spa for free, so before we called it a day, we went for the fish spa to let the fishes "feast" on the dead skin of our legs.

Up next: Taiwan Trip Day 6 & 7 - Back to Taipei & Review of City Inn Hotel Ximending

Previously: Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 1 - Yilan & Factories Tour

Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 1 - Yilan & Factories Tour

A visit to the Yilan city is not complete without eating the spring onions grown in Sanxing, a town in the western part of Yilan, or more famously known as San Xing Cong. As such, after having our MOS Burger breakfast provide by the hotel, we hunted down the scallion pancake (Cong You Bing - 葱油饼) from Ke Shi (柯氏), a famous store just down the road from our hotel. Fresh from the wok, the scallion pancake was crispy on the outside and filled with the crunchy San Xing Cong in the inside. 

On the way back to the hotel, we saw some interesting art work along the road side.

After a short break, we made our way by train from Jiaoxi to Yilan.

Yilan Train Station

Our initial plan is to have meat stuff dumpling (Xiao Long Bao -小籠包) from Zheng Chang Xian Rou Xiao Long Bao (正常鮮肉小籠包) which is near Yilan Train Station, but unfortunately, it was closed.

We chance into Xing Fu Zhuan Yun Zhan (幸福转运站) while trying to find other places for food. This is a new add on to Jimmy's Square (幾米公園) but not well known to public (yet), hence there are lesser people visiting this place. This place as photo-worthy as Jimmy's Square. After snapping some photo shots here, we made our way to Jimmy Square.

Jimmy Liao is a famous Taiwanese author, and Jimmy's Park was set up next to Yilan Train Station, after a temporary exhibition held there showcasing Jimmy's work became so popular that a permanent park was built.

As there are many people crowding the exhibits, we only stayed for a while and then move on to this store selling smoke duck rice noodles (第一家蒜味鸭赏面线). I didn't pin too much hope as it seems to be just a typical road side store, but I was so wrong! The gravy was so well cooked and goes very well with the rice noodle. We also ordered a rice dumpling which was nice as well, but we sort of regretted ordering only 1 bowl of rice noodle.

The Yilan Distillery was near the store, but it was closed for lunch.

We then took bus 772 from Yilan to Dapo to began the factories tour. There were a few food factories near Dapo, and our aim is to visit them all. The first stop after a 10-15 mins walk from the bus stop is CP Cheese Factory. We gaze at the lovely cakes and tarts on display in this cheese-theme café, but as we still full from lunch, we did not stop for tea.

Next stop was Agrioz, a place selling everything made from kamquat such as bread spreads, sweets and drinks. Kamquat is a fruit which is grown in Yilan city, and 1 of the benefit of eating Kamquat is that it helps to relieve sore throat. They also host classes to teach visitors how to make preserved Kamquat, and you can bring home your work (the preserved Kamquat) after the class.

Not too far away from Argioz was R.Den Dessert Factory. They provide free coffee for all visitors, and we took a break from the warm weather and had some cheese tarts, which goes extremely well with the coffee. We also bought a few boxes of their famous honey cake home for our family to try.

After a 10-15mins walk, we arrived at Village Churrasco, more famously known as Shanzhai Monster Village (窯烤山寨村). This Monster Village is actually a bakery, and we had some fun taking photos with the monster statues in the village. 

Here is the map to show you the location of each factories.

1 = Bus Stop

2 = CP Cheese Factory

3 = Agrioz

4 = R.Den Dessert Factory

5 = Village Churrasco

Up next: Taiwan Trip Day 5 Part 2 - Luodong Night Market & Jiaoxi

Previously: Taiwan Trip Day 4 - Jiufen & Jiaoxi