MONDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2015
The downside to having a Monday off is that none of your friends or family have Monday off. When I was making plans for Monday, I just had Celine Dion’s “All By Myself” on repeat. It’s almost become the soundtrack of my life. I know exactly how many times I’ve sung it in front of my co worker, Desiree: countless. Just kidding. I’m not that alone, haha. But it’s the first weekend in a while that I’m not traveling with Tracy. (Thanks a lot, Tracey -_-) So, if you would like to know more about my day…alone…by myself…party of 1…. then keep reading, thank you! xx.
Juifen
Miraculously, I woke up 8am and got ready to go to Juifen! Where is Juifen? Well, it’s about an hour and a half bus ride. It was pretty convenient though. I took bus 1062 from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station (Exit 1, u-turn, make a left at the traffic light and walk straight). The bus took me directly to Juifen Old Street bus stop. YAY! – I’m really happy Juifen was easily accessible. Especially since I have no wheels, my mobility is restricted to my two feet. Sometimes public transportation is a “YAY!” and sometimes it’s a “whyyyyyyyy?” Before you know it, you’ve missed the last bus that goes to the city and get stuck in some ‘middle of nowhere’ town, called Puli at 12am. (But that’s another story – I’m digressing.)
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| It was a beautiful drive up, going towards the top of the mountains. |
Let me preface, I had no idea what I was doing and where to go. I’ve seen pictures online of the town, but I did not know where to see that view. I did not have a map. Consequently, I got off the bus and followed the crowd. There were lots of tourists there, but not too bad for 11am. I wasn’t squished between people and had enough room to walk. I would definitely recommend going during the week as there are less tourists/people.
I walk maybe 3 minutes and I see one of my Taiwanese favorites: Taro and sweet potato balls. I was looking for lunch, but why not have dessert first? So, I got a bowl of shaved ice, topped with red bean, taro and sweet potato balls, and boba. YUM! YUM! YUM!
The view from the place was pretty too. Juifen is situated on this mountain that overlooks the northeast coast. If you like ocean views, Juifen is for you.
I continued walking around and following the crowd. There were a lot of souvenir shops and handmade shops. I couldn’t find “restaurants.” Most places sold snacks like sausages and peanuts. I ended up at this one place that seemed to sell food. I ordered 8 soup dumplings (xiao long bao) for 120 NT.
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| You can see the person paint it right in front of you. |
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| More owls… |
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| Souvenir magnets. I’m really like the owl magnets. |
It didn’t take me long to walk the old streets. I probably just didn’t know where to go. Then, I walked into this bag shopped. All the bags and wallets were made from cloth with juifen scenery stitched on it. As she was showing me one of the most famous views on her bags, I asked her where I could see it, and she gave me directions. And it really was beautiful. I’m definitely going back sometime to see the town at night when the lanterns are all lit up.
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| This picture was taken in front of a famous tea shop. |
Juifen is also famous for (I think) these ice cream rolls. They start with a very soft, crepe-like skin, and they put peanut shavings on it. Then they add scoops of ice cream and roll it up. I got one for 40NT. It was very tasty and just what I needed on a hot afternoon. (Yes, it was 84 degrees in November.)
I was also curious why Juifen was called Juifen. Direct translation, Juifen means nine portions/servings. So I researched it, and…. way back when, there were only nine families living in Juifen. As such, the village always requested “9 portions” every time shipments arrived from town.
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| View from Juifen 🙂 |
Golden Waterfall
Still early, and not quite sure where to go next, I knew that there was a gold museum nearby. So I hopped on bus 788 and 10 minutes later, I was in Jinguashi. I went to the visitor information booth and as I was reading their pamphlets, I noticed that the golden waterfall was nearby! (The golden waterfall was on my list of places to go). Conveniently, the bus to the golden waterfall was coming soon. So I caught the next bus and it dropped me off ten minutes later in front of the golden waterfall.
rtaiwanr.com : “Although there is no actual gold flowing forth from these falls, the
name reflects their golden appearance: the combination of regular
rainfall in this mining area and abundance of heavy metal elements
deposited in the riverbed radiate a gold-like color.”
…. To Be Continued …….
But I made it up to you and we got to travel ALLL this weekend…and no getting stuck in Puli this weekend! haha
Very true. This weekend was EPIC! 🙂