Taiwan 2012: Beautiful ilan (B&B)

宜蘭優質民宿-真水蘭陽白鷺鷥RESORT

Website: http://www.beautiful-ilan.com.tw/

Address: 宜蘭縣冬山鄉武淵村東八路130號, Ilan, T'Ai-Wan, Taiwan

Email: beautiful_ilan@yahoo.com.tw (They usually reply in Chinese but you can email them in English if Chinese is not your strong language)

How to get there: You can get there by alighting at the Luodong train station. Book your tickets here or purchase them at the counter that is situated at the Taipei Main Station. Once there, you can either take a cab or arrange for the B&B people to go fetch you. 

View from Luodong Train Station

Review: I love staying at B&Bs in Taiwan. If you manage to pick the right one, your stay becomes all the brighter because the proprietors of these lovely places always have a few tips on where to go or what to eat. This particular B&B that I stayed at was not exactly my first choice, but it turned out to be the best one ever because Steven the B&B owner was a really friendly person who made me feel at home. 

In fact, that was his mission: to make all guests feel as comfortable as possible so they feel like it's home sweet home. To do this, Steven didn't depend on any big-name designer to do up the place. He put the place together with his own personal touches like the pebbles along the corridor and the wooden rocking horses in the relaxation room. He even scattered photos of his own kids (I think) around the place so it really does feel like home. =)

And the scenery...OMGS...it's really damn beautiful. It wasn't as breathtaking as the one in Jiufen but it was still unforgettable. Check out its lovely website here and you'll know what I mean. Hehe. My photos don't really do it justice, but if you're there...you can feel the love and effort that the owners put into the place. The B&B faces the river and it can get pretty bright in the afternoon, but it has that restful vibe that is rarely seen in the hotels of Taipei. 

The exterior of the B&B...quite a zen and
minimalist feel to it, right?

Bobby the resident African Grey parrot...I
wanted to pat him but decided not to press my
luck. LOL.

A beautiful backdrop to the counter and that's
Steven the B&B owner checking me in there. Hehe 

Beautiful greenery to spice up the place

A relaxing space for guests to chill

The bedroom! Steven told me that this room is apparently
very popular with Singaporean visitors~! It's called the 明池森林二人套房 

Dah bed

The bathroom with the AWESOME shower
area cum bathtub

HUGE, right? It comes with bath oils so you can
soak to your heart's content!

A very resort-y feel to the corridor

The staircase faces a river! I love how the water sparkles with
the sunlight.

A swing for those who want to enjoy the cool breeze

Another relaxation area behind the house

There are a lot of empty lands in Yilan...

A touch of cuteness

The place behind the main B&B building where we have
all our meals

According to Steven, the room I booked was extremely popular with Singaporeans. BUT! He does recommend 礁溪溫泉二人套房 because it has an awesome view of the river that can be enjoyed from both the bedroom AND the bathroom plus it has a balcony. You can just open the door in the bathroom to admit the view while you soak in hot water. XD

One thing about this place though...it gets REALLY dark at night and there are absolutely NO shops nearby. I'll recommend you to stock up on the instant noodles in case you get hungry at night. You're also highly recommended to complete your bathing rituals early so you don't disturb the other guests. I guess it's coz when you release the water in the bathtub, it can cause quite a ruckus that echoes loudly especially at night. If you're visiting the night market, be sure to return earlier as well since the owners will lock up the place and it's not very nice to keep them waiting up for you too. =D

Breakfast is provided in a separate little house that is just behind the main building and it's from around 8 or 830 to about 9 or 930am, I think.

How to book: You can email them at beautiful_ilan@yahoo.com.tw with your name, number of guests, type of room and dates you want to book OR you can simply register online. They will get back to you within a few days. They have a couple of booking phone lines as well so you can give them a jingle. A 50% deposit is required, which can be paid via Paypal. If you ask me, being able to email them is a great plus point for me because it's a lot more convenient to email than calling them. Hehe. 

Hotel amenities provided? Yes

Rating: *****

Conclusion: I will highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to get away from it all. Take the time to explore Yilan and recuperate from your daily toils. =)

Taiwan 2012 - Dongshan River Water Park (Yilan) & Luodong Night Market

Sorry for taking so long to post this up. Not sure if my computer's problem or it's my ISP's problem but every time I try to upload a photo, my internet inadvertently gets cut off. As a result, I have to resort to uploading them one by one--a very time-consuming task. >.<

Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy my post!

Dongshan River Water Park is a huge park in Yilan, something in the manner of East Coast in Singapore but with better scenery. Hehe. The Dongshan River runs alongside it, bringing with it a constant yet cooling breeze that feels really refreshing. In fact, this place was built to cater for several recreational activities. The architecture was designed such that people could sit along terraces to enjoy water races etc. Quite neat huh.

It's a great place for a day trip, especially if you're coming from Taipei. You can rent a bicycle or one of those 2/4-seaters to explore the park in its entirety and enjoy the fresh air. One thing about this place though. There are lots of tiny bugs flying in the air, so be sure not to...well...open your mouth too often. LOL.

Even the sky is bluer here

The tunnel that leads to the park from my B&B, cycling is
a rather popular activity here! XD

The first glimpse of the park

A well-kept path that meanders along the river

A map! You can see that it's a really huge park.

The iconic red bridge of Yilan - Lizejian Bridge 利澤簡橋

Water sports galore...you can even sit along the terraces to
enjoy the breeze

You can tell that it's a really popular spot for water-sports
lovers

An abandoned coffee place...but it DOES have the air of a
modern Taiwanese love drama setting, right? 

Another place in which to admire the scenery

I'm not sure what this building is for, but it appears to be
empty as well.

So nice and peaceful, right?

Gorgeous expanse of grassy fields for the picnic lovers

The benches are like something out of a fairy tale, no?

Even the shelters are so pretty! Not just chunks of shady concrete.

DINO! They definitely planned this park for the
kids.

Truly a kid's world

Food for the hungry & bicycle rental

There is not much to eat nearby...a couple of restaurants that requires a good deal of walking after you've crossed the Lizejian Bridge (the red bridge that is pretty iconic in Yilan) to the other side, but you can always consider visiting the Luodong Night Market which is located in the middle of the Luodong Township near the Luodong train station.

Now the night market, like any other in Taipei, is absolutely PACKED. There are loads of delicious food and you can see long queues of people in front of popular stalls that can also be found in several locations scattered throughout the night market. So what exactly does one eat here? Regrettably, I didn't take a lot of photos of the food. But here is a post by Kampungboycitygal that not only includes a map where all the delicious treats are, it also has loads of pictures for your visual feast! XD

Whole streets of food, fun & shopping
at Luodong Night Market~!

You can get here from the Dongshan River Water Park via a cab. It's easier than taking a bus & it doesn't cost much either. I took a cab and the driver was so friendly. Hehe.

My thoughts:
Not exactly a touristy spot, but it's good for a leisurely day trip. You can also take a small boat from here to the National Center for Traditional Arts. The park is very pleasant, but you can't help but feel that it was meant to be a more commercialised area. The beautiful yet empty buildings that you walk past are a mute testimony to that. About the only shops that survive around here are the food and bicycle rental kiosks because people love to come here and cycle or buy some food to share with their friends. On the whole, Yilan appears to be a sleepy town with not much happening. There are a lot of B&Bs around though, so you can count on a restful vacation if you decide to come here. Among the more popular ones are Rothenburg Lodge and Sunday Home, but do note that these places are extremely popular so if you want to stay there, you gotta book fast and way before you make your trip into Taiwan. =D

I didn't get to stay at these B&Bs coz they were already booked by the time I got around to doing the nitty gritties BUT I did manage to score myself a room at the Beautiful Ilan B&B. I'll cover that in my next post. =)

Taiwan 2012 Itinerary

Hi guys! Wow, it has been almost a year since I first started my travel blog after I returned from Taiwan for the first time. Well, I love the place so much that I went back again! This time, I took a longer and more leisurely vacation because there were so many friends to meet up with. Hehehe...

I was there from 9th to 16th October, a total of 8 days--the last day being sort of redundant coz I had to make my way to the airport early that day. Anyway, here are the various places I visited. You MIGHT find my itinerary sort of lazy and uninspired, but it was all very nice and relaxing for me...which was sort of the reason why I took the vacation. LOL. To make things easier for you, here are the places I visited:

1. Dongshan River Water Park (Yilan)
2. National Center for Traditional Arts (Yilan)
3. Luodong night market (Yilan) 
4. Beautiful ilan B&B (Yilan)
5. Wulai 
6. Ximending (to take in the night crowds that I missed the first time round!)
7. Danshui
8. Longshan Si
9. Bopiliao Street
10. Qing Guang Shi Chang
11. Woobar @ W Hotel Taipei 
12. Chia Te Bakery (for the famous and yummy pastries!)

I will be covering them in the upcoming posts so do keep your eyelids peeled for them!

Taiwan 2011 - Maokong Gondola (貓空)

Maokong (貓空, literally translated as Cat Empty) Gondola is located in the Wenshan district of Taipei and used to be the largest tea growing area in Taipei. To get there, you can either take a bus or a cable car to the last stop along a string of stations that include Zhinan Temple.

Popular folklore (and my Taiwanese friend) say that unmarried couples are not encouraged to visit Zhinan Temple because they will break up after that. It is said that the temple's main deity, Lu Dong Bing, is jealous of lovers due to his unrequited love for He Xiangu and will break them up if given the opportunity. So if you're going there with your boyfriend or girlfriend, visit the temple at your risk. =)

Married couples should be fine, I guess. Don't ask me why. XD

Zhinan Temple is the stop before Maokong Gondola so don't walk downhill if you want to avoid the temple after you reach the last station.

To get to Maokong Gondola, you must first take
the MRT to the Taipei Zoo Station.

The signs showing the right direction to take the cable car up
Maokong.

A dreary and rainy day, as usual on a day in November. Once
you reach the place, you have to grab a queue number and buy
a ticket but if you have the EasyCard, you can go on right up to
ride on the cable car. People usually take the normal cable cars
though coz they are cheaper.

You can either choose to take a bus up the Maokong mountain
or take cable cars, the normal ones or the crystal cabins which
allow you to see what passes beneath your feet. The crystal
cabins are slightly more expensive, of course but you can pay
for the rides using your EasyCard. =)

The view below: if you take a crystal cabin...do bear in mind
that you're not allowed to take a cabin alone or in a couple
so you have to share cabins with another couple or a few
other people. Guess they don't want any hanky panky to happen.
Hehe...

Maokong Gondola is the last stop at the top of the mountain
and is the perfect spot if you want to have some tea with a
beautiful view. The way downhill is to the left of this picture.

Information counter

A nature's paradise, surrounded on all sides by Mother Nature

A food place~! Empty at the moment, probably coz it was still
early in the day...

There were no pavements but strips were designated as
pedestrians' right of way.

Foggy skies, thanks to the incessant drizzle

You will see this town if you walk down the mountain...they
have a lot of tea places for people to chill out.

A tea place where they apparently sell nice Yakitori...

Tea leaves being grown...

One of the roadside cafes where you can sip tea atas-ly

It would have been nice had it not been raining... >.<

One of the temples you can consider visiting...

I walked past this little shop that sells excellent pastries such as
sun biscuits. And they had a doggie that was quite friendly. XD
They wouldn't allow me to take photos of the interior though. =/
This is a recommended place to get your sun biscuits, oh and
hand-made soap that is quite good for the skin as well.

Thanks to my usual blur-ness, I took a mini bus in front of the above little shop and ended up at the bottom of the mountain again. =x But the thing is, if you don't want to take the cable car down, you can always try taking a bus. They have these bus signs where you can wait next to until the bus arrives but no shelter, which could get tricky if it rains.

All in all, lots of walking to be done if you want to explore the place in depth. But if you're just there for the tea, then don't forget to buy a box of pastries before you go there coz it will taste great with your tea. =D