Mike and I went back to Taiwan for a two-week holiday during Christmas and New Year. The original plan was to just relax, eat and spend some time with friends and family. However, my travel bug caught up to me and I just couldn’t sit still with two weeks of spare time in my hands… I really wanted to go somewhere. And then suddenly…What!? It only takes less than an hour’s drive to get to Yilan from Taipei!?
Thanks to the Hsuehshan Tunnel, it’s never been easier visiting the unspoiled mountains and paddy fields of Yilan.
Our 2-day schedule
Wufengchi Waterfall
The Wufengchi Waterfall is just a short 15-minute drive from the Jiaosi township. There is a visitor centre at the start of the walk together with a carpark and clean toilets.
As we started the walk, we came across a street vendor selling cherry tomatoes and kumquats coated with ginger spice and sugar. Kumquats are a popular local produce that we saw everywhere in Yilan. They are meant to be eaten in its entirety (no need to peel) and are sour in taste. Mmm… I’m salivating just by thinking about them.
Follow the signs to “wufenchi waterfall” from the visitor centre, you will pass by a small dam and a picnic/bbq area.
Cindy said she loves coming out with us because CK’s too polite to say ‘no’ to me when it comes photo time.
CK is probably screaming inside ‘Whyyyy noooo I hate being photographed’ when we were posing for these timer shots. Haha!
But hey, he’s actually pretty in character. Can you tell we are really not barbecuing?
Before we started the walk, we saw more hawkers. CK showed us how to “gamble for sausages”.
Gambling with the sausage man is actually a well-known local tradition in Taiwan. The rules are: you pay a price for the first sausage, and you get a chance to gamble with the vendor by rolling the dice. If your number is bigger than the vendor’s number, you will win another sausage for free. If you lose, then you will get nothing at all.
We call the dice rolling game “si ba la” (“eighteen” in Taiwanese). Sometimes there are three dice and sometimes there are four dice. We played the four dice game this time, and the rules are:
- four different numbers = nothing, try again until you get something.
- four identical numbers = biggest.
- two identical numbers + two random numbers = the sum of the two random numbers.
- two identical numbers + #1 + #2 = smallest. E.g., what I got in my photo was the smallest…
As we kept walking, we regretted gambling for the sausages when we first saw it, because we saw more stalls!
We played the darts game. I popped three balloons so I got a can of super supau, yay.
Finally, we started our hiking quest to the waterfalls. There are three levels to the waterfall, which supposedly takes about 1.5hr to return according to the visitor office. However, our experience was that it should only take at most 1hr to complete the return walk (including photo and resting time) for reasonably fit young people.
The first waterfall that you will get to is actually the “Level 3 waterfall”. It is pretty tiny, but there’s a stream to soak your feet in and make some water splash.
According to the map, it takes around 8 minutes to get from the stalls to this waterfall – but it only took us 3 minutes!? Not sure how the visitor office did their calculation…
On our way to “Level 2 waterfall”.
Level 2 waterfall, checked.
Level 2 waterfall.
The hike to the “Level 1 waterfall” (top level) was much longer than the first 2 with a lot more stairs. Having said that, I would still consider this a beginner’s trail, especially considering that there were lots of resting benches along the way.
Hello, phytoncide.
And finally, ta-da! Level 1 waterfall!
Whilst I wouldn’t say Wufengchi Waterfall is a must-do in Yilan, it definitely is a fantastic place to visit if you are time-short and are looking for a cheap, chillax and healthy day-out activity suitable for the family.
:) Happy snap.
{Wufengchi Waterfall} Official Taiwan Tourism: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002106&id=R36 Tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g608526-d3733346-Reviews-Wufengchi_Waterfall-Yilan.html
Ko’s shallot pancake
“You can’t say you have come to Yilan without trying Ko’s shallot pancake.” I guess everyone got this memo – look at the queue!
Shallot pancake is one of my beloved Taiwanese snacks, so I was determined to have these no matter how long the line was. We came at around 12:30pm and the line wasn’t as bad as I had imagined, we only waited about 15 minutes.
The pancakes were deep-fried right before our eyes. As always, I ordered mine with an egg, and it’s only NT30!
The verdict: Ko’s shallot pancake was pretty good, but I have had better pancakes fried in the same fashion elsewhere in Taiwan. Don’t be deterred by the line, it moves reasonably fast. If you’ve never tried Taiwanese deep-fried shallot pancakes, you should definitely give it a shot. If you are a deep-fried shallot pancake lover, don’t keep your expectation too high as it is, like many others, just another decent shallot pancake stall in Taiwan.
{柯氏蔥油餅} Google link: https://plus.google.com/110296479198802913106/about?gl=au&hl=en
Wu’s peanut rolls
Another one of my favourite Taiwanese snacks and a fond childhood memory: traditionally made ice-cream (Taiwanese calls it “ba-bu” because the ice-cream man always came out with a rubber horn bulb in the old days. I remember getting so excited whenever I heard the “ba-bu” sound as a kid) and freshly grated candied peanut shaves, topped with sprinkles of coriander (yes – they will ask you if you want it, you do!), all wrapped in a fresh spring-roll sheet.
The verdict: Wu’s peanut shave was delightful. The rolls were larger than the average size that we get at night markets in Taipei. This is definitely one of the best peanut ‘ba-bu’ rolls that I’ve had!
These award-winning rolls are right next to Ko’s shallot pancake, so there’s no reason not to give it a try when you’re in the area.
{Wu's peanut rolls} Google link: https://plus.google.com/113219434628404660396/about?gl=au&hl=en
Jiaosi (hot spring district)
The Jiaosi “Tang Wei Gou” Park is a park surrounded by streams of hot spring that’s free for everyone to enjoy a hot foot spa any time on the side of the road!
You don’t see this every day in the middle of a town.
Cute telephone booths in front of the Jiaosi Tang Wei Gou park.
The world’s hottest chili shop right next to the park.
For some reason, the panna cotta cake rolls are really popular in Yilan. People living in different cities would group-buy them and have them shipped all around Taiwan. I tried some (free tasting!) but I didn’t find them very special. Yih Shun Shiu sells them and it is right opposite the park. Even if you don’t fancy the panna cotta cake rolls, it’s worth a visit as they also sell traditional Taiwanese pastries and sweets such as pineapple cake, beef tongue cookies and nougat.
{Yih Shun Shiu} Website: http://www.pon.com.tw/product/product13.asp
Cake Nobel is another pastry shop that has a branch in Jiaosi (near Ko’s pancake).
{Cale Nobel} Website: http://www.pieart.com.tw/
Cosmos field
We took a wrong turn while looking for our B&B, and I was so glad that we did, because…”Scarecrows!” Cindy and I both exclaimed when we saw these well-dressed dummies standing on the side of the fields wearing the words “Welcome to Mei Fu compound”.
They were so many of them! Even CK said he hasn’t seen a scarecrow in a long time.
As we drove past the scarecrows, Cindy and I also saw the pink cosmos field behind the scarecrows. “Can we stop and take some photos, please please please!”
So we did. Yay.
There are a lot of cosmos fields like this during the fallow season in winter (Nov-Dec/Jan) in the agricultural townships including Yilan.
We visited one of these flower fields years ago and took a photo with the exact same pose!
Besties since 3rd grade.
<3 The best kind of holiday is one spent with loved ones; and being in a mood ready to take a detour whenever and wherever for the wonderful things that we randomly come across. It’s the journey that counts.
T2 B&B
There are countless B&B’s in Yilan, each with its own unique characteristics and styles. A good browsing website is Fun-Taiwan B&B (http://yilan.fun-taiwan.com/).
I picked T2 B&B as I liked the design of their rooms and the relaxing atmosphere. It’s completed half a year before our visit and I could tell that the owners had put a lot of efforts in designing and running it.
Look, even the outline of the building reads “T2”!
T2 B&B’s outdoor deck overlooks the paddy fields.
I took a nap in this comfy lounge chair in this sunny and lazy afternoon. Yawn.
The lobby/common area with the sun shining through.
The piano style staircase.
Cute stairway lights!
View from the second floor, where our room (“Water Rose”) was.
Our “Water Rose” room. The photos on their website are 100% honest and this room was exactly what I had imagined. Happy!
Link: http://www.t2villa.tw/room04.php
One of the key features that I had my eyes on was the full-length surrounding windows.
Serenity.
The was the view right outside of our room. I couldn’t be happier!
Balcony.
Bathroom.
The bath has a high ceiling with a light-well. Unfortunately, the side window looks out to an air-conditioning unit so it’s not possible to enjoy the view while taking a bath.
This was the balcony of the “Water Cube” room (Link: http://www.t2villa.tw/room02.php). Whilst I liked the interior of the “Water Rose” room better, the “Water Cube” room had an amazing view of the paddy field from the bath! Although you might want to check if people can peep through the windows before you take your clothes off;)
The complimentary afternoon tea: homemade cookies, fruit and a drink (hot/cold/coffee/tea).
Complimentary breakfast: croissant with ham and cheese, fruit, salad and a drink.
Sunset from T2 B&B.
T2 B&B at night.
We absolutely loved our stay at T2 B&B: The rooms were clean, well lit and classy. The surrounding was quiet and had a panoramic view of Yilan’s signature paddy fields and mountains in the background from the full-length windows in your room. The complimentary meals were decent. The common room and outdoor deck were comfortable and beautifully designed.
The only suggestion that I would make to the management is to keep some Panadol at the reception in case of an emergency. Mike had a huge headache in the morning but there was nothing at the B&B.
{T2 B&B} Website: http://www.t2villa.tw/index.php Address: 269, Yilan County, Dongshan Township, Dongwu Road
Red Lantern at Silks Place Yilan
Another much-anticipated highlight of our trip was the “cherry duck” banquet at the Red Lantern restaurant at Silks Place Yilan. To be honest, I had never heard of it until Cindy told me about it when I mentioned the Yilan trip idea to her. Apparently it’s a recently made famous delicacy invented by the Red Lantern restaurant, and a lot of other restaurants in Yilan have followed suit and are offering similar dishes also named “cherry duck”.
We went during the New Year long weekend, so we could only order the 4-people banquet menu and not a la carte.
It was seriously a lot of food.
Plum cherry tomato. Not the best I’ve had.
Spicy beef tendon.
Cooked oysters.
Braised assorted duck pieces (including duck tongue and duck web).
Stir fried “Sansing spring onion”. Sansing is a town in Yilan and it’s famous for its spring onions.
Finally, the duck is here! It looked a lot like a Peking duck to me, even the way that the chef was slicing it. The ducks are cooked five ways, all included in the banquet.
We were guessing why it’s named “cherry duck” – is it because of the colour? Or is it because it tastes like cherry? Or…is it because the ducks are fed cherries? The waitress explained, it’s called “cherry duck” because the ducks were a bred originated from Cherry Valley in the UK.
Wait, are these…duck skin sushi? This was the first duck dish and the one that I was most looking forward to.
I carefully put the whole of the much anticipated duck skin sushi into my mouth…I took the first bite… Eh, that tasted like a mouthful of duck oil.
Unfortunately, this was a bit of a let-down for me. It sounded like a good idea but the execution was rather underwhelming.
The second dish made from our duck: stir-fried duck San Choy Bau.
Peking duck styled wraps. The skins were made with Sansing spring onions so it’s green in colour.
I think I much prefer the traditional Peking duck.
The remaining duck meat and skin.
Fried prawns.
Duck soup. This was pretty awesome.
The verdict: If you like to eat duck and don’t mind paying $1000NT per person, you should try this restaurant as it offers a different spin on roasted Peking duck style ducks. The restaurant itself was nicely decorated and would be a good place for celebrating special occasions. However, if you are neutral about ducks, I would say forget it as the other dishes included in the banquet were nothing to write home about.
{Silks Place Yilan - Red Lantern Restaurant} Website: http://www.silksplace-yilan.com/n/food_red_lantern.html
Orange Cafe
Orange Cafe is a go-to places in Yilan for its panoramic view and nightscape of Yilan city.
We went there after our cherry duck banquet (full to the max) so we didn’t go in. However, the view right outside of the cafe was equally good, and it’s free!
Good night, Yilan.
{Orange Cafe} Website: http://gama.399.com.tw/about.htm Address: 19, 264, Taiwan, Yilan County, Yuanshan Township