Precious Memories: More Food in Southern Taiwan

Family Reunion Cruise -- Roundtrip Keelung, Taiwan on Diamond Princess

Pre-cruise Tainan, November 16, 2018

At the border line of Chiayi County and Tainan City on top of the mountains, lies the quiet resort town of Guanziling Hot Springs where locals come for their muddy hot-spring baths. That was where we were headed today. Not for the hot springs but just a visit to the legendary Water and Fire Cave.

I couldn't sleep very well the night before and woke up around 3:00AM. Couldn't go back to sleep and finally got up at 6:00. Walked over to the neighborhood 7-11 for some breakfast and then got ready for our trip to Guanziling.

On the way, we stopped at a place that I have seen on TV called Mama Tian in Liuying, famous for their mantous and buns made with fresh and natural ingredients. This is a dairy farm operation so their mantous and buns are all made with fresh milk. Something different and worth trying.

Mama Tian fresh milk mantou and bun.

A small dining area where customers can rest and enjoy their snacks.

Hello, cow!

Delicious buns!

soft and flavorful

cheesy mantou

On the way up to the mountain top we stopped at the Houshan Biyuan Temple for the spectacular view of the area.

FIL, MOR, and BIL

Reaching the Water and Fire Cave where vendors lined along the entry way. For some reason, this place seemed to be getting smaller and a bit run-down. Actually, that seems to be the norm at most touristy places in Taiwan nowadays. Quiet and run-down with not many visitors.

The Legend of Water and Fire Cave

Water and Fire for 300 years

The fire burning alongside the water is fueled by natural gas emitting from the cracks on the rocks. This has gotten smaller after the major earthquake a few years ago causing the main fire hole diminished.

Another interesting sight is the Sausage Trees around this area. Huge potato-like fruits but these are inedible.

With sign posted.

After the Water and Fire Cave, we started our drive down the mountains and stopped at the Hongye Park after passing through many hot springs hotels.

This is a huge, quiet park. We did not visit the whole park, just the part near the parking lot

Gigantic tree with very large leaves.

BIL brought us here for some clay-pot chicken. Apparently this restaurant called Mountain View has been recommended by several celebrities. We certainly enjoyed a wonderful lunch here!

Fresh local vegetables

stir-fried pork

crunchy cabbage

bamboo rice

The chicken that was baked in clay pot.

Served by the friendly waitress.

Absolutely delicious! Crispy on the skin but with tender, moist, and flavorful meat. These are local free-range chickens.

Fried fish

After our adventure for the day, we came back and rested in the afternoon. Then BIL picked us up again and took us to Hsinying where we found a small restaurant famous for their beef soup. We could see that from the T-shirts on the waiters and waitresses and the wall decoration that the owner is a Christian, which is quite rare because there are only 2% Christian in Taiwan as I was told.

Passing by the kitchen at the store front as we enter the restaurant.

A small restaurant with six tables.

Pictures of all their 'weekly specials' served in the past.

stir-fried beef, OK

Their beef soup is like the Vietnamese pho. Beef soup base pour over raw slices of beef so you would want to finish the beef slices before they turned tough.

Order the beef soup for $110 and enjoy all the white rice with braised mince-pork you want. I actually liked the mince-pork rice better than the beef soup. Not healthy, I know.

Another stir-fried beef dish.

Exterior of the restaurant

We ended our day with another good meal here.

Pre-cruise, November 17, 2018

Nothing was planned today because BIL was busy with his family business. He was kind enough to go to Liuying again just to get us more of those mantou and buns from Mama Tian for breakfast.

We took the opportunity to walk around the wet market in the village and see if we can find anything interesting. Sure enough, ChC found the stall selling freshly made peanut pancakes so we got some as snacks.

Making deep-dish peanut pancakes right before our eyes.

part of the wet market.

90-year old FIL riding his tricycle around the village.

For lunch, ChC and I went over to 7-11 and got ourselves some frozen sushi. They were quite delicious. We did not need a big lunch since we knew that we were going to have a big seafood feast for dinner that evening.

Chicken and pork sushi rice roll.

We did some packing in the afternoon just so we won't be rush in the early morning for our bus ride to Keelung. We would be leaving around 5:30 AM for the four-hour ride up north to get on Diamond Princess.

Another wonderful seafood dinner at our favorite restaurant in Beigang with family members.