A Day in Taoyuan

A Short Trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan April 2018

April 22, 2018 Sunday

It's always a joy to meet with friends, especially old friends like Mr. and Mrs. Shi and Mr. Lee, whom we have known for years. Mr. Shi just recently retired from the shipping industry as chief engineer on oil tankers and Mr. Lee is a retired postal worker from Southern California who is taking care of his elderly parents in Hsinchu nowadays. We will be spending our last full day in Taiwan with these old friends making up for lost time. 

                                        

Before Mr. and Mrs. Shi picking us up for our trip to Taoyuan, we took an early morning walk to Yongkang Street where we bought some pastries for breakfast. It was very calm and quiet in the morning.

Buttery Bo Lo Bao (Pine apple Bun, there is no pineapple in it whatsoever). This is actually a popular Hong Kong specialty so I was glad that I was able to find this here.

With a cup of coffee, making it a simple breakfast.

We were picked up and then drove about an hour away to the Longtan District in the City of Taoyuan, a little south of Taipei. The reason we were here was to see if we could find the fish restaurant that is famous for cooking a fish in many different ways. Our other friends brought us to one of the many live-fish restaurants here many years ago that we enjoyed so much but did not remember the name of. Then a relative tried and brought us back on our second visit but that one was quite disappointing. Now, we are trying for the third time to find the right restaurant for those memorable fish dishes. Let's hope that this will be a success! 

This is the half way point between Hsinchu and Taipei, so it was just the right place to be meeting up with Mr. Lee at a huge park near the National Chung Shan Institute.

Shiyuan Huoyu (Live-fish) Restaurant

This area is famous for huoyu restaurants and I suppose they all have their special ways to attract customers. I have asked some of our friends who are familiar with this area about their favorite ones even before the trip and was given many different answers so we figured it would be best just to follow and see what this will bring.

A nice, little pond in front of the restaurant.

Certainly a huge sign of Shiyuan Huoyu.

Medal winning restaurant in Taoyuan.

First we needed to select the fish and decide on how we want it cooked.

They listed ten different ways of cooking the fish.

Health benefits of consuming fish.

fish tank

That was the one we picked, poor fish! This was a ten-pounder.

This explains how it works. Each pound cost $150. It takes 2 pounds to make one dish. If you desire to have 4 different dishes, the fish needs to be at least 8 pounds. No matter how many dishes you order the cooking and ingredient fees for each table is $300. 

A little bit of background history of the restaurant.

Braised fish tail

My favorite, fried fish filet. Crispy and hot.

Fried rolls

Fish head is always good in soup.

We had so much food!

I made sure we ordered this--fish in fried minced bean. Yummy!

The minced bean was well-prepared and added a unique flavor to the fresh fish.

I think this was the bones and cartilage of the fish.

What an excellent meal!

Newspaper articles posted on the wall.

Now, we just have to remember this.

I will certainly want to return for more.

With the Shihmen Reservoir being so close nearby, it was natural that we went there for a little walk after lunch. One can easily spend a whole day here at Shihmen Reservoir.

The dam and the power plant at the reservoir.

A gentleman walked by and helped us with this group picture.

This is actually a very nice place with walking and bicycling trails around the area.

There was suppose to be a little park with the water view from this restaurant, but now they have closed it off for their customers only. We didn't think we need to see anything more than what we have already seen.

Chang Gung Health and Culture Village

We have heard about this 'village' for many years and some of our friends are considering moving to this village after they retired. Shi asked if we would be interested in visiting this place since we still have time to spare. Sure, we all agreed. As we are all entering 'old age', having alternatives is not a bad idea.

A water fountain right at the entrance of the main building after we entered the village.

Schedule of their shuttles. They run shuttles to Taipei twice a day.

Main Lobby...

...where residents relax and meet with friends. 

We were taken on a tour after watching a video about the village here.

One of the many buildings in the village.

One of the models that was shown to us.

Quite nice!

Hallway inside the main building.

Posters of planned religious meetings. They do have separated meeting rooms for Protestants, Catholics, and Buddhists.

Service center

Even a 7-eleven but it doesn't open 24 hours.

Cafeteria

cafe

To check-out the sports facilities of the village, we decided to take a hike up through the farm and garden area to the upper level of the village. 

It was a really nice walk.

Sports and exercise building on the left with some newer residences on the right.

We did not get inside to see the facility but there is a swimming pool, exercise rooms, etc. in this building.

This is a very well-planned community for seniors. It's quite expensive to stay here though. It seems like most people whom we talked to enjoy their stay there and they are content and happy being there. Many overseas Chinese returned to Taiwan retiring at this village. As for me, I think it's just a little too far away from the city to fit my lifestyle.

Yongkang Street

After saying goodbye to Lee, Shih brought us back to the apartment in Taipei. They were going to take us to dinner but we wanted to spend some time on our own to explore this part of the city on this last day. We also felt that we had taken up too much of their time already. They will come back tomorrow and take us to the airport. Meanwhile, we walked over to Yongkang Street to look for dinner. Of course, there are many choices but we went straight to the Yongkang Beef Noodle where a line was formed outside the restaurant when we got there.

Yongkang Beef Noodle

The line with locals and tourists alike. Many Japanese tourists were there that evening. 

We were in line for about 20 minutes which was not too bad at all.

Steamed chitterlings Szechuan Style. 

No, we didn't order all these. This was a poster of their specialties on the wall.

The famous beef noodle.

Instead of the regular noodle, we ordered the glass noodle.

Not bad, almost as good as mine.

Still a line outside when we were done.

For dessert, we went over to the Smoothie House for some mango ice.

I had been here with ChC but a first for MOR.

That was what we shared. Refreshing and wonderful!

CNN recommended

This is their main store on YongKang Street.

Then we got some Pineapple Cakes to take home from this famous bakery.

Crowds at the onion pancake stand where ChC got some onion pancakes last time.

Yongkong Street at night.

We found this very special old-fashion pastry that Christine left for us to enjoy.

These are quite expensive and not easy to find nowadays. Bless her heart!

Tonight we need to pack our suitcases and ready to leave in the morning, ending our two-week vacation in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

"It's better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man."              Psalm 118:8