Getting ready at the hotel to leave for Jiufen.
Initially we wanted to get there by taking train/bus cuz based on our research, it wasnt very hard to get there. But we had our reservations since we had our luggage with us and there were 5 of us.
Along came mum to our "rescue". She was talking to this MPV taxi driver who was outside the Rainbow hotel and found out that he could drive us up to Jiufen at a very reasonable rate. Plus, he would stop at other tourist attractions along the way like Keelung and Jinguashi. So since it was more convenient, we decided last minute to take his taxi up to Jiufen.
Inside the cab
Along the way, we passed by the coast area and saw like the most big-ass waves I have ever saw in my entire life!
Check out the huge waves, i think they will just swallow you whole if you are in the sea..scary!
The taxi driver was this uncle, he's very nice. Along the way, he explained where we were passing by, sort of like a tour guide lol. He stopped at this scenic point so we could get down and take some pics.
It was freezing cold outside, as you can see we were all wrapped up and still shivering.
Group pic ^^
After that, the driver said he'll take us to Yehliu to see rock formations and also stop to have seafood lunch there.
Yehliu Geopark
Taken from Wikipedia:
Yehliu (Chinese: 野柳; pinyin: Yěliǔ) is a cape on the north coast of Taiwan in the town of Wanli between Taipei and Keelung.
The cape, known by geologists as the Yehliu Promontory, forms part of the Taliao Miocene Formation. It stretches approximately 1,700 meters into the ocean and was formed as geological forces pushed Datun Mountain (大屯山) out of the sea
A distinctive feature of the cape is the hoodoo stones that dot its surface. These shapes can be viewed at the Yeliu Geopark operated by the North Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration. A number of rock formations have been given imaginative names based on their shapes. The most well-known is the "The Queen's Head" (女王頭), an iconic image in Taiwan and an unofficial emblem for the town of Wanli. Other formations include "The Fairy Shoe", "The Bee Hive", "The Ginger Rocks" and "The Sea Candles."
'Yeliu Geopark
Took some pics of the tv outside showing a presentation slide of rock formations taken at Yehliu. The pictures were like amazing whoever shot them, must be in summer though.
Needless to say, the actual pics we took are nothing like the ones on the tv haha.
The moment we stepped into the geopark, we sort of regretted it. You know why?
because...
IT WAS FREAKING MIND NUMBING COLD!!!!
The wind was like super strong and walking against the wind was literally a huge challenge, you feel like this large force pushing against you, making it hard to walk. Even if you bring in an umbrella, its useless cuz the wind is so strong. We saw lots of broken umbrellas in dustbins inside haha.
My bro had to borrow my scarf to wrap his head in it cuz he was so cold.
My sister had to put up her jacket hood with the thick fur to protect herself from the wind.
Mum bought this yellow raincoat from outside the entrance, we thought we didnt have to buy it cuz we wouldnt need it. guess we were wrong lol.
A stone statue featuring Lin Tien -chen, a fisherman who died saving a tourist's life on the afternoon of March 18, 1964, stands in the middle of the promontory. Lines from Mrs. Chas. E. Cowman's Streams in the Desert, inscribed on the back of the pedestal, honor his bravery:
The most sacred souls often exist in unimposing men. Their holy and immaculate inner lives evoke a tender, invisible lotus, hidden in a secretive place at a crystal-clear pond.
Do you see the huge wave crashing into the rocks behind me??
Seafood lunch nearby one of the local restaurants nearby.
Jie tucking in to the seafood
The seafood was very fresh and worth the $
After the very filling and satisfying lunch, we continued our journey up to Jiufen.
On the way up, the driver stopped at this waterfall for us to take some pics.
This is apparently a very famous tourist attraction where everybody who goes up to jiufen must take a pic here haha. Syn Min was looking at my pics and said that her mum also took a pic at the same spot!
Jiufen
We booked a B&B place to stay for 2 nights at Jiufen, at Windsor B&B. Windsor has different 館 to choose from, the one we chose was this one:
涵館3
| 單日房價 | 2人 | 4人 |
| 平日 | 3,200元 | 4,400元 |
| 假日 | 3,980元 | 5,180元 |
Two queen sized beds side by side
Living room area where it doubles up at night as a sleeping area for extra bed
outside balcony area, its supposed to be a place where you can sit and enjoy the view. but it was too cold so nobody sat there at all during our stay haha.
Bathroom area, the tub area is for bathing
dining area
The 館 was abit disappointing though, the pics of the place in the Windsor website looked much better in real life lol.
Its like not very well maintained and when at one point in time during our stay, the bathroom got flooded and we had to call the Windsor to come fix the problem. Plus it was like super cold, like got this drafty feeling inside and the door cant keep out the wind. We even went to ask them if they had a heater cuz it was so damn cold but they said they didnt have one there ;( So no choice, we had to sleep in the cold.
Keelung Night Market
The driver drove me, mum and bro down to the Keelung night market to take a look since we had nothing much to do haha.
We bought lots of night snacks for dinner, like oyster omelet, fried mushrooms, some other grilled seafood etc.
There were also some stalls selling clothes at Keelung and I bought a long sleeve blue top to keep myself warm.
Breakfast at the Windsor B&B cafe
I love the breakfast set, its this very healthy set including fresh fruits, sandwich with ham and hot cup of milk tea. I absolutely love the milk tea, it was so nice i requested for refill 3 times!
the whole place looks quite arty and jazzy.
View of Jiufen from the cafe
After breakfast, mum went to ask the Windsor B&B counter whether there was another place we could move to cuz we couldnt take the cold.
Wah heng ah, they really had another place that was vacant and had a better view somemore, we needed to top up abit (i think ard SGD 20). But it was well worth the top up, when they brought us to the other 館 we were like wahh, its so much better (as you can see from the followings pics!). Best of all, it came with a heater!!
Living room area
Antique looking cupboard, they stored the linen inside.
Sleeping area
Chilling out at the comfy sofa
camwhoring again lol.
Toilet
After checking-in, we decided to explore the streets in Jiufen.
Preparing to go out armed with all our brollies.
Saw this chihuahua along the street, have you ever seen such a fat chihuahua?? Must be obese from eating all the good food there lol.
Took this pic of a litter of cats curled up in a box, huddling together to keep warm from the cold!
Shop selling all kinds of kitty stuff lol.
We had lunch at this very "famous" food stall selling all kinds of meat balls.
See the walls fully plastered with pictures of the lady boss taken with famous taiwan celebrities like Jolin Tsai, Jacky Wu and other hosts. me thinks the boss is a tad narcissistic hahaha
Took a quick snapshot of this woman sitting near the cashier having her meal. If im not wrong, this is the lady boss in person!
Ordered the mixed set which comes with shark meat, fishball and some other meat ball. Actually the food only ok lah, not as great as expected. A little over hyped in my opinion lol.
There was this super cute doggy near the cashier counter, it looks like a soft toy lor!
Streets selling food, snacks and souvenirs at Jiufen.
We bought mochi from this shop there, OMG it tastes so good!! The mochi is freshly made and have all kinds of fillings you can choose from, chocolate, strawberry, mango, blueberry etc.
It kept raining through our stay at Jiufen, as u can see all the umbrellas..
One of the stall owners told us an interesting fact. Due to the location of jiufen (near the mountain top and facing a certain direction), out of 365 days in the year, it rains almost 360 days there.
ah mei cafe, wasted we wanted to go there but in the end didnt. the food there supposed to be quite good!
The next day, we returned back to Taipei. Going back to Taipei city, we were greeted by the sunny skies which was much welcome after all the non stop rain at Jiufen!
pretty artistic shot dont u think? the sunshine peeking out from the clouds
Upon arrival in Taipei, we checked in at the Wonstar Hotel at Zhonghua Road.
Lunch at this jap restaurants in Ximending, the food was pretty yummy and prices very reasonable. In fact, i would say most of the food in Taipei are very cheap compare to Singapore ;/
Momo and jie deciding what to order from menu
Mmm my favourite sashimi!!
Assortment of sushi, this wasn't so good though
Bento set with grilled salmon
pretty artistic shot dont u think? the sunshine peeking out from the clouds
Upon arrival in Taipei, we checked in at the Wonstar Hotel at Zhonghua Road.
Lunch at this jap restaurants in Ximending, the food was pretty yummy and prices very reasonable. In fact, i would say most of the food in Taipei are very cheap compare to Singapore ;/
Momo and jie deciding what to order from menu
Mmm my favourite sashimi!!
Assortment of sushi, this wasn't so good though
Bento set with grilled salmon
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