We were served 水煎包, a common Taiwanese bun, pan-fried and stuffed with meat, with sliced guava, which is pretty nasty I think, but can't complain, better than no breakfast at all. We departed at probably 9 or 10, and made our way to Yilan (宜蘭) county.
In Shifen, the usual scenery while riding our scooter is the green mountain and gentle rivers, but starting on our way to Yilan, we enjoyed some beautiful sea scenery. BTW it was searing hot and guess what, at the end of the day our skins all turned into tomato-red.
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| Quoting "the claaaaw" from Toy Story: The seaaaaaaaa... |
Before starting this Taiwan-go-round, I had researched some interesting places on our way going round Taiwan. Surprisingly, Yilan has some new attractions. For example this 四衛堡車站 or Shiweibao Station is a new bakery opened on the road, and the bakery was styled like a Harry Potter parody shooting set.
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| Almost missed it |
Shiweibao Station is like a fusion of bakery, cafe, and restaurant, designed Harry Potter look-a-like because of its long bread, which supposed to look like a wand. Then we found this precious souvenir that excite J so much that he bought one. Also sent this hideous postcard: a weird man with a pursued lips wearing crown and Harry Potter's glasses. Got this postcard like two days ago.
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| Pretty exciting, eh, imagine collecting post cards from all around the world? |
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| Lumos! |
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| From Harry Potter to Hello Peter |
Purchased only the one, we set off to look for lunch, and near the Shiweibao Station, there's a 甕窯雞 restaurant, with a line of people queuing. Curious, we parked our scooter there and I told J to find a place to sit while I order. 甕窯雞 is a famous dish in Yilan, where they boil the chicken in a secret spice bath, then plunge it into cold water, then finish it by smoking till the skin turned into crispy golden brown.
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| The man paused while holding the chicken to give me a chance to capture the image |
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| Mouthwatering |
The chicken was smoking hot and you should wear the gloves they provide (and plastic ones if you aren't sure the gloves are clean) to open up the dish. They serve it with garlic and its oil, plus rice of course. A bit over our budget though, yet it was so tasty. A full chicken for NT$600, CMIIW.
With our stomach fully loaded, we departed again heading for the city, to the 幾米廣場 or Jimmy Square. My sister will kill me for this. If you don't know Jimmy, he is a Taiwanese illustrator famous for its soft yet striking illustration and stories. My mom first introduced Jimmy when I was small, when we used to go to Eslite bookstore just for reading, and bought books that we really wanted to. I love its coloring and his stories are all so dreamy. Starry Starry Night, Turn Left Turn Right, and Pourquoi? are the ones I love the most. That's why I insisted to pass Yilan Railway Station.
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| Perfect dish for perfect hot afternoon |
Those are gelatos from nearby shop. Me and J always question each other's choice of flavor. For example I ordered sweet and sour lemon and plain green tea to match up the sour taste, yet Jeremy wanted banana and vanilla, which are also pretty weird for me. I don't like the taste of banana juiced or turned into other dish, kinda nasty, except the real fruit.
We arrived at the hotel at maybe 4 or 5 pm. After checking in, we decide to rest for a while till the night fall and we went to 羅東夜市 or Luodong Night Market. I went to this market once and I fell in love with its mutton soup and mutton fried noodles. とても美味しい！Worth it though we have to queue for about 10 to 15 minutes to taste them.
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| So many people, ah~ |
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