Today's itinerary:
阳明山 -> 野柳 -> 九份 -> 金瓜石 -> 南雅 -> 庙口夜市

2nd day and we had to wake up super early at 6am. But well, we were all still invigorated and all ready to chiong, coz' it's only the 2nd day and we were still bursting with energy to explore the treasure island.

Before we chiong a full day cab tour with Mr Huang (friend of Meeky, whom we failed to book), our stomachs must be filled first. Thank God for this 四海豆浆店 or something (can't rmb the name) just opposite our hostel. So happy I could finally satisfy my desire for Taiwan's 豆浆油条! The 豆浆 had a very nice taste and texture, yet not so overwhelmingly rich that we would grow sick of it.


Our breakfast spread, and PW stirring the 豆浆 to cool it =D

Our 1st destination in Taiwan: YangMingShan (YMS).
It's not the flowers season now so there weren't much to see on YMS. The only flowers we saw were these.


The famous flower clock on YMS.


海芋 (I think they are called calla lily...)

The place where some households grew calla lilies was very cold and foggy. I dunno how high up in the mountains we were at, I think somewhere around this place called 竹子湖...? It felt like 15 deg brrrrr~

Our all-time fav pose. Universal across all contexts. Need I say more? ;-)

Next up:


I've been here during my very 1st trip to Taiwan. But omg. This place is now flooded with endless mainland tourists. And it was off peak travel season leh. So once again, I didn't take a photo with the famous 女王头.

From left, clockwise:
Mushroom rocks;
Shallow tray rocks;

A rock wall;
A rock that is shaped like Taiwan.

Then we saw CAVES.


And we found this...

小龙女的玉床...???

Finally, lunch time! I had initially planned to do YMS, Yeliu, and Jiufen in 1 day, with dinner and sunset watching at Jiufen. That's why I was so surprised when Mr Huang planned for us to have lunch at Jiufen instead.

I've been here every single time I go to Taiwan. I like the rustic feel of the place, but it's a pity it seems a little too commercialised now, and that we also didn't have time to go walk through some of the small alleys. So yes, I'll be back here a 4th time =)

My 3rd time at Jiufen, but 1st time tryng out all these foods.

翡翠螺


雪在烧, which is basically ice-cream with peanut shavings wrapped in popiah skin. It's quite nice.
And 炸虾球, but no pic, coz' the only pic we have is YH's attempt at snapping the young guy frying the food and he was stunned by the camera's flash. Lol~



The 陶笛 this man makes are really very pretty and cute! But I HAVE to resist buying, coz' I still have those that I bought previously :(


THE SPOT at Jiufen.

I think Mr Huang had plans for the later part of the day, but I hadno idea where he would be bringing us, since we had alr finished the 3 places we had planned to go. I could only guess Jinguashi, coz' it is near Jiufen. Unfortunately, some of the tours were closing / closed by the time we reached there. Not that we were particularly interested to join though.


Jinguashi used to be a very rich gold mine, but of coz' I think all the gold have depleted by now.


Coolie for one day.


Adjacent houses called 四连栋. I still think it looks like Qin Lang's house in 转角遇到爱.


The 太子宾馆 that was built in anticipation of the Japanese crown prince's stay, but he never came.


黄金瀑布。I expected more water though...

After this we went to see 阴阳海, which is a stone's throw away from the waterfall. It wasn't as magnificent or awesome as I had hoped it to be. But yes, can see 2 distinct colors of the sea waters (hence the name, 阴阳). The yellowish shade is due to the minerals from the waterfall that flow into the sea.


Nanya was somewhere near, and it was a scenic area I had wanted to visit. However we could only spend a little time taking photos at the area next to the road, instead of exploring the entire area.

From left:
Some pretty rock at Nanya;
A rock that resembles a frog;
“借位”.

Mr Huang funnily tried to get us to pose for some wedding photoshoot-like pic, and we got him to demo.

“我的故乡在远方~” Seriously, that was what he said, lol.

Then we gave it a shot too.

Our 故乡 are all over the place -.-


The proposal. See Cheryl so 受宠若惊 lol~


伸出“圆”手的小丁当使者。

With that, we left for Keelung Miaokou night market for dinner. By the time we reached there, we had about 1.5 hrs b4 meeting Mr Huang by the roadside so that he could send us back to our hostel. We quickly ate whatever we wanted there, and dabao-ed the rest back to hostel.

The 1st thing we had: Turkey ice-cream.
At the expense of laughing at PW who kena 耍 by the funny and charming ice-cream Turk with a cute accent.

Butter crab.

We came, wanting so much to eat this supposed highlight. But it seriously was a disappointment. It was too bland and not rich enough, and the crab's meat was too nua. I dunno if this was the stall featured in the food booklet, but I was disappointed nevertheless.