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

Taiwan Trip Day 4 - Jiufen and Jiaoxi

We took a cab from Kee Lung to Jiufen after our breakfast, and after climbing up from the drop off point, our first stop is to Ah Mei Tea House (阿妹茶酒館), an old tea house was been being touted as the inspiration of some scenes of the award winning anime, Spirit Away. We ordered some tea, and the waitress taught us how to brew and appreciate it. As it was a rainy day, the tea kept us warm and sat at the tea house for quite a while to appreciate the tea and the surrounding scenery.

After tea appreciation, its time to fill our stomach with the street food of Jiufen Old Street. Armed with the recommendations from our bridal shop, we walked around the old street to look for the recommended shops.

Recommendation from our bridal shop



One of the Taiwanese sausage shop.

Remember to search for the fish roe (飞鱼卵) sausage instead of the normal sausage!

Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan (赖阿婆芋圆) - Taro Balls

Grill Mushroom

A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll

Misty's Golden Puff (米詩堤甜點王國)

We took bus 788 near the entrance of the old street back to Kee Lung. Since it is still a little early to view our wedding photos, we shared a bowl of the famous instant sesame chicken noodle at the nearby 7-11. If you have some luggage space, I recommend you to stock up a few packs of this super delicious instant noodle which is available at all supermarket and 7-11 before you leave Taiwan.

After we complete the wedding photos selection, we took a cab to Ba Du to catch the train to Jiaoxi, where we'll be staying for the next 2 nights.

There were some deliberation on whether we should stay in a minsu or a hotel with private hot spring facilitates. Eventually, we settled on 58 Degree Hot Spring Hotel, located within a 10mins walk from Jiaoxi main station. The rooms were huge with 2 storeys, and every room comes with a tub where you can soak in the hot spring water at your own privacy and convenience. 

It was great to soak in the hot waters after a long day and we look forward to exploring Yilan the next day.

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

Previously: Taiwan Trip Day 3 - PWS with Cannes Wedding Studio

Taiwan Trip Day 3 - PWS with Cannes Wedding Studio

My boyfriend and I succumbed to sales talk while we were out doing window shopping one fine day, and bought our pre-wedding photo shoot (PWS) package from Cannes Wedding Studio (台湾坎城婚纱摄影). It wasn't an intended purchase, and almost immediately after the purchase, we were quite worried about the quality of the photos, whether we over-paid, is Cannes Wedding really reliable etc etc, as the bridal studio is not well known in Singapore. After looking through Cannes Wedding's Facebook page, we started to gain some trust with the company, and it also comforted us that our questions regarding the arrangements of the photo shoot were always promptly replied.

On the evening before the bridal shoot, we sat down with our coordinator, Nydia, to discuss the style and background we desire for our PWS. Based on the information and my appearance, Nydia selected some gowns for me to try out. True to the online reviews, Nydia is very good in selecting suitable gowns, and we were able to complete the gowns selection within 2 hours. Impressively, the gown alteration was done swiftly, and after dinner, we were already able to try out the altered dresses and make adjustments on the spot.

The start of the exciting day begins at 8am, where I met my makeup artiste (MUA), RuRu at the bridal shop. She was already there doing all the preparation work, and she initiated a discussion prior to the make-up regarding the style I would prefer in order to avoid any disappointment at the end of the day. I knew I was in good hands as I've seen her works, and true to my expectations, she transformed me to a "pretty princess" with her magical hands.

Our photographer, Niu Sir arrived slightly before I finish my make up. Again, we communicated on the style and background of the photos we desire. Since we were more interested to do the wedding shoot with a natural background, it was then decided that we will go to the beaches near Yehliu, Yangmingshan, and then to Bellavita Mall at night. Our MUA RuRu was together with us throughout the 10 hours, helping me change, touch up my make-up, adjust my hairstyle, and took very good care of me (sheltering me from the sun, ensuring that I'm drinking enough water etc). It was a fun experience working with the dedicated team, and it was also a life-time "chance" to be able to change in a tent in the forest of Yangmingshan and along a busy Taipei street.

The next day, we went back to the bridal studio in the evening to view and choose our photos and the frames for the photos. We had take over 280 photos, and we are only able to see the photos one by one on the computer. We started by deleting the photos, and after 2-3 rounds of deletion, we are finally done! Of course, there were some sales talk to try to get us to purchase more photos, but they were not too pushy and did not give us any "black face" for not taking up more photos. At the end of the day, it is still our own money and decision, and nobody can force anything out of it.

Up next: Taiwan Trip Day 4 - Jiufen & Jiaoxi

Previously: Taiwan Trip Day 2 - Keelung & Danshui