Day 7 - Yilan, Cake Factory, Jiaoxi Hot Spring, back to Taipei

Guess what was printed on takeaway plastic bags? "This is a non-toxic degradable plastic bag", "Reduce plastic waste, be environmental friendly. Please re-use this plastic bag". It's the little details like this which made me fall in love with Taiwan. And I hoped that Ryan would learn these good stuffs too. 

@ Yilan Railway Station 宜兰车站

As I said before, Taiwan was a land of art and cuteness, and bicycles too.

@ Jimmy's Square 吉米广场

"Is this stop an end, or an other beginning?" Pardon my lousy translation.

Dik, tapau banyak-banyak mau pi mana?

Characters from a children's book, I guessed.

"Why our bus come so late one ah?!"

"Let me show you how to play iPad."

@ Preserved Fruit Factory 橘之乡

Ok, this display just made me quit eating preserved fruits.

@ R'den Cake Factory 亚典蛋糕密码馆

This gotta be our top pick for factory tour in Yilan. We got to see real cake-making in a lovely show-factory, with free flow of cake samples and coffee.

The automated production process of dorayaki, Doraemon's (and Ryan's) favourite snack.

Next to the cake factory there was this lovely themed restaurant which sold breads and fusion food.

@ Jiaoxi Hot Spring 礁溪温泉

It was a drizzly day, and I was about to skip this spot... but Ryan was adamant to go.

And wow, it was sooooooo good soaking up our feet in the hot spring. We had a public pool all to ourselves. One hour just wasn't enough. Note: must come back next time for full-body soaking in one of the many hot spring spas.

I was absolutely impressed with the professionalism of the railway marshals. They were smartly dressed, with polished boots, and did their (boring) job with high spirits. Well done!

A civic message on the train which I least expected to see: "Protect girls, decline prenatal gender selection." High-fi society indeed.

@ Longshan Hwaxi Night Market 华西夜市

It rained all the way from Luodong to Taipei. So we decided to have dinner at the covered Hwaxi Night Market, which was just an MRT stop away from our lodge in Ximending.

It turned out to be a boring night market, selling mainly herbal food stuffs, exotic meat (snake, crocodile) and lots of traditional massage parlours.