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Lunar New Year Trip to Taiwan - January 7 ~ February 6, 2020
Taipei - February 2, 2020
MOR has a group of college friends that he keeps in touch with all these years and they make it a point to have a gathering every time we are in Taipei. A time for good fellowship and good food. I was a little leery about meeting during this time of the outbreak but it was all good.
Good that we had a private room at the Northsea Fishing Village.
Smoked chicken and with that icy greens again.
Abalone stew
BBQ prawns
Crab pot
fish soup
Stir-fried rice noodle
squid and vegetables
chicken soup
veggies
Brown sugar cake and black sesame seed rolls
After the sumptuous lunch, we visited Lin's family and spent our afternoon there sipping tea and enjoying conversation about the past, present and future.
It's just amazing to see how a new generation came into our lives through these years. Needless to say, we are old!
February 3, 2020
Another day without any appointments and this would be our last chance on this trip to enjoy a sukiyaki lunch at one of our favorite spot in Taipei, I-fan-di Sukiyaki. Again, we were there early since we did not make reservation and taking a bus there was easy enough for us.
They did raise the prices a little bit since the last time we were here but still an excellent value for an all-you-can-eat meal. Service was great also.
Had another wonderful lunch.
Even though we were very full from lunch, we just had to get in line for the famous pepper cakes nearby to take home as snacks.
Fresh and hot out of the oven. I must say that its best to eat it right there and then for best result.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the Taipei Train station. There are many eateries and shops here just like a mall. We ended up buying some pineapple cakes to take home from the specialty shop here before heading back to Xindian.
February 4, 2020
Our host and hostess reserved this day to take us out. We really appreciate their thoughtfully in making our every trip to Taipei a pleasant and perfect vacation. Today, they will take us to Yilan, a city on the eastern coast of Taiwan. Yes, and we will have another "Cherry Duck" meal there. Yay!
Traffic from Taipei to Yilan was not bad at all on this day because it was a weekday again. We were in Yilan the last time we came back to Taiwan but the places that we visited were all very different. This time we were just in the downtown Yilan area near the Yilan Station, which turned out to be quite attractive and interesting!
Jimmy Park
Jimmy is a popular artist/illustrator in Taiwan and this park with whimsical sculptures and characters were basically taken from books that was written and illustrated by him. It has a fun, imaginative feel that can make one smiles. It's like taking us away from the real world into a child-like fantasy. Very cute!
A little house with flowery roof.
Colorful lanterns.
Characters came alive.
A fake train station that works as a snack bar.
Right next to the real Yilan Train Station.
Right opposite the Yilan Train Station is the Jimixinghong Station/Diu Diu Dong Forest.
Colorful and quirky at the same time.
The flying train hanging from the ceiling.
With the added LNY decorations during this time.
Then there's the Yilantonghua Park with the sculptures of school kids waiting at the bus stop.
Even the convenience store can be a spot for photographing.
Yet further down, there's the Happiness Transfer Station where there is a huge, spacious kids play area and an indoor activity center/store/cafe.
I assume that young people growing up in Taiwan are very much familiar with Jimmy's work and this whole area probably brings back lots of memories for them.
Even for us old folks who are not familiar with Jimmy enjoyed this area very much.
Red Lantern Restaurant, Silks Place Hotel, Yilan
Since our last visit to the Red Lantern trying out their very famous "Cherry Duck" menu, we made a decision that we would come back for seconds. It was that good! To show our appreciation to our host and hostess, we will be treating them with this delicious lunch on this day. Reservation was made and we were hungry and ready for this meal.
Much less people than our last visit here.
With our small group we were put in the smaller room on the other side of the huge banquet room.
Much cozier and nicer. Those are the long 'red lanterns'.
That was what we had, set menu for 4.
Our gracious host and hostess.
Eight dishes of appetizers.
Abalone
Cherry Valley duck
Table-side preparation.
Loved, loved these duck skin sushi with rice and cheese.
This has to be the best duck-skin wraps.
Then there are other kinds of wrap also.
Wraps with duck meat.
We also picked our side dishes.
With the duck soup that we couldn't finish but they were able to pack all the unfinished portions nicely to take home.
Taro paste with candied fruits as dessert. Wonderful!
After lunch, we had to walk off our calories around the hotel grounds.
One of the restaurants inside the hotel.
An 'underground' display of gourmet food.
It was time for us to head back to Taipei. Our afternoon exploration will come next.
"I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done fur us." -- Isaiah 63:7
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