It was an early day. I met Lori and her friend, Hwang for a typical breakfast, Taiwanese style. During breakfast, Lori suggested I tag with Hwang to Jiufeng, a scenic mountain town at the outskirts of Taipei. Hwang teaches at Jiufeng and its on the way. I thought that was a good idea and we made arrangements to meet the next day.
After the quick breakfast, I proceeded back to my hotel for Winnie and Alex to pick me up. I arrived on time and we are off Yilan!
On route, Alex deliberately took the longer route going via Hsuehshan Tunnel, which is 12km long and the longest in Taiwan. The tunnel, 4th longest road tunnel in the world took a whopping 14 years to construct. Before and after the tunnel, I was amazed at number of mountains there are in leading to Yilan alone, not too mention Taiwan!
Once in Yilan, we stopped by an roadside restaurant famous for baked chicken for an early lunch. There was a long queue but the service was really fast. We ordered in the queue. By the time we sat down, lunch was served. The famed baked chicken, took a while more to arrive.
When I took this pic, the baker asked me how was the meal was and whether any improvements are needed. (Notice a baked chicken fresh out of the baking pot on his right hand). Of course we told him it was very good!
After lunch, we arrived at a popular trekking area and decided to to a bit of impromptu trekking ourselves to midway on a mountain where a church is located. The view from the church was magnificent and we stayed there for a while before trekking down again.
After the trek, we explored other parts of Yilan before heading back to Taipei for dinner. The plan was to have dinner and street food at the famed Shilin night market but the place turned out to be too crowded and and we had to made changes to our plans. Alex suggested an excellent place for pork knuckle, Taiwanese style. Another great dinner !
We even had the chance to visit the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall for a quick look.
Winnie and myself had a second round of drinks at XinMenDing till the shops closed before calling it a day!
Below : Toy plant spotted in Yilan
I thought it would be a good idea to share what camera gear I use. I use a Canon EOS500D with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM zoom lens and EF 50mm f/1.8II. 
Taiwan rocks!!! Even though it's tiny, but it has almost everything u need to live a comfortable life...mountains, beaches, nice food, 7-11,etc. I can't wait to get back to taiwan~~yoho!!
Nice shots of CKS memorial hall & Yilan.
Posted by: May | 01 July 2009 at 10:34 AM
Hi May,
this part of the reason why I try to visit Taiwan every year. There seems to be so much interesting stuff. Very friendly people too.
Posted by: David Tan | 01 July 2009 at 11:18 PM