Heading North to Taipei

2019 Summer Trip to Asia

August 16~18, 2019 -- Chiayi to Taipei

It's time for us to head up to Taipei for the week before our trip to China. I usually like to spend a few days in Taipei to enjoy some city life. Not that I am into night life or anything, it's just that I find myself enjoying more of the sight and sound of the city. 

BIL and SIL agreed to take us to Taipei because they also wanted to visit their twin sons there. They will spend the weekend there with us and take the long drive home afterwards. Bless their hearts! Now, we don't have to drag our luggage around and take the train up this time with this door-to-door service.

Stopping at one of the rest areas along Highway 3, Qingshui Highway Rest Area  in Taichung. This is an exceptionally well-designed rest stop with everything a traveler needs on the long drive.

A cafe and seating area on the top deck.

Plenty of seats with no customers.

This has to be one of the biggest and most beautiful rest stops I have ever seen.

A huge food court and shopping mall indoor.

Plenty of choices for a meal or a quick snack.

So different from the rest areas in the U.S.

Yulan Huoyu Restaurant, Longtan District, Taoyuan City

We have made arrangements to meet with our host in Taipei to have lunch in Taoyuan. We always like to enjoy a meal of huoyu (live fish) in Longtan whenever we have a chance. The restaurant we usually go to is called Shiyuan, but on this day, our host decided to try another one called Yulan which is just across the street from Shiyuan. The restaurants here specialize in cooking several dishes out of a huge live fish. The size of the fish depends on the number of people in the group and from the size of the fish you can determine how many and the kind of dishes you would like for them to cook. 

Picking the right fish.

That's it!

This restaurant is supposedly a popular one.

Fried fish filet. I find this not to my liking. The batter was way too thick.

Sweet and sour fish tail.

Soup with fish head.

Steamed fish with fried beans.

Exterior of the restaurant.

All in all, I did not enjoy this one as much as our usual place. Next time, I will insist on going back to Shiyuan.

YongKong Street

After settling in the house that our friends prepared for us in Hsindian that afternoon, we went out to look for dinner. One of the eateries we like is the Yongkang Beef Noodle in the popular Yongkang Street in Taipei. 

Always busy.

Spicy steamed intestine.

Signature beef noodle.

After dinner walk around Yongkang Street.

This popular stand selling fried pancakes always have a long line of customers outside.

For dessert, we came back to the Smoothie House for their mango ice.

Hmm... they are serving less and less mango pieces.

Cute! But this would be our last time here.

A Day in Tamsui -- August 17, 2019

Tamsui is a busy and touristy town in Taipei. It's easy to get there taking the MRT from where we were staying so we left the car home and took public transportation instead.

Townhouses

Waiting for the shuttle bus to take us down the hill.

We were going to have breakfast at Fuhang Soy Milk in downtown Taipei, but look at the line! It wrapped around the building with potential customers, some even had their luggage with them.

Instead of getting in that long line, we just found another breakfast place nearby and had a quick bite.

Taking the MRT to Tamsui. It is very convenient to take the MRT in Taipei.

I believe that's Guanyin Mountain on the other side of the Tamsui River.

We usually go through the 'old street' of Tamsui when we visit here but this time we took the Huanhe Road (Riverside Road) on the outer skirt. 

Quite nice!

Tamsui River

We decided to take the ferry to the Lovers' Bridge on the other side of town.

Part of the city of Tamsui.

Arriving Lover's Bridge where we visited the Fisherman's Wharf and the shopping center inside Fullon Hotel. It was such a hot sunny day that it felt much better indoor.

Then, we took the city bus back to old town Tamsui where we found a branch of the Dark Palace Pork Chop Rice. We enjoyed the pork chop rice at their original location but found this store not as good. Will definitely not coming back even though this is a bigger and more spacious store.

Walking down the busy old town after lunch before heading 'home'.

Pin Xian 100 NT Dollar Stir Fries -- No. 68, Leli Road, Da'an District, Taipei

After resting in the afternoon we went to meet with our nephews and nieces for dinner. They have made reservations at the Pin Xian 100 NT Dollar Stir Fries which is supposedly a very busy place, especially on a Saturday. This is a very popular restaurant in Taipei, I was told, for people who enjoy a good meal with stir fried food with their beers. We don't drink but found this an excellent restaurant for good quality food. 

Clams

Complimentary dish from the owner of the restaurant. Excellent!

Steamed fresh shrimp

Not sure what this was, but very good!

Pork liver

Lots of food!

Steamed fish

Clams with squash

Owner of the restaurant is a very good friend of SC's niece.

Filled with younger crowds.

As we were leaving the busy restaurant.

Northern Coast -- August 18, 2019

We took a drive to the northern coast on this day. We did not have anything particular in mind, just wanted to spend the day driving around and enjoying the sights.

I believe this is called the Waimushan Seaside Scenic Area with Keelung Islet off shore.

WanLi District

Lion Park

Strange looking rocks.

Stopping at Jinbaoli Old Street for lunch.

Jinbaoli is a Qing Dynasty market street famous for local delicacies including duck.

We found a restaurant specializes in serving duck dishes. This is such a crowded restaurant that they were full of customers on every single floor of the building. We had to wait for a table with customers ready to leave and after occupying the table we had to go grab whatever they had prepared from the service counter.

We did pretty good getting all the dishes we wanted.

Including the plate of duck.

Bamboo shoots

squid

pig stomach

fried fish

Not a bad meal but nothing outstanding either.

Continued our drive north, we came to Fuguijiao Lighthouse which is the northern-most point on Taiwan Island.

From the Fuguijian Park entrance we had to take the long walk down to get there.

After seeing we still had a long way to go, we gave up our search.

Quite disappointing, because I like lighthouses.

Nice beach down there though.

From there we went back to Taipei so SC can drop us off and then they headed back to Chiayi.

"Behold I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind."   -- Isaiah 65:17