16/22 lanyang museum.蘭陽博物館

 a fallen building? a sunken place? no! it's a museum!  you discovered this museum through instagram and since you are planning to visit yilan province so you just came along to yanglan which is located at the city of toucheng (頭城)

the architecture of the building is spectacular, a mirror of the outer island just at the coast of yilan called turtle island.

the interior is spacious, light and airly. it's just a pity that it's a rather wet day when you visit the museum.  it's certainly a place that worth an afternoon, the exhibition is more of the local fare with the agriculture, landscape and local culture of yilan and the interesting history of the aboriginal tribes.  of taiwan.
it's certainly an educative afternoon!

16/22 jiufen 九份

 this is your first visit to jiu fen (九份), and it's exactly how you expected it to be, a popular tourist spot, hilly and narrow streets.

 you took a reversal route, so after a few steep flight of staircase, you arrived at the famous cinema

 and this is just a perspective of jiu fen, narrow but charming, each corner has a surprise

 you're determine to try this famous taro and sweet potatoes dumplings. and this is one of the two authentic outlets where you order what you want, a mixed bowl of sweet soup

 and then take it to the eating place behind where you can eat while enjoying this view at the terrace setting

 another outlet that selling the same taro and sweet potatoes dumpling soup. you didn't try this one as your stomach has limited space

 jiu fen is really all about food, yummy delicious food that reminiscence your home town....

 red fermented rice pork bun or dumplings, you picked one up but only got to enjoy it the next day, imagine how stuffed you're that day....

 balls, assorted meat balls made of pork, fish and others...

 there are just too many choice to choose from just snacking along, that's excluding the tea house and proper restaurants.  the weather turns bad when you're still hunting for food

 the delicious sweet, so tempting but you let go of the idea...

and local specialty to bring home...

but you pick up some kuehs from this famous kueh stall in jiu fen.

a few flavors that you picked up and enjoying them on the go... the skin is incredibly soft and the filling is a little different from your acquired taste but they are pleasing to your palate. so good that if only you could have more!
this place becomes really crowded at non when the buses drop off the tourists, at that point with the rain that getting heavier, you decided to leave to your next destination.  it would be lovely if you could experience a night stay right here at jiu fen and enjoying the peace and serenity once the bulk of tourists are gone.

15/22 hotspring

 you know you can enjoy a glimpse of japan if you're at the hotspring area. this is the place where you lodged for a night with a outdoor onsen (both) with two sources of spring water at your disposal. and at the room, you have a hot bath tub with hot spring water too if you ever decided to do a private bath.

 you did the public outdoor onsen of course, the ethic is exactly the same as japan. this place is almost like a slice of japan.  after the bath, you didn't bother to roam out the hotel anymore and hence enjoy your japanese meal at the restaurant. the sashimi is fresh and the udon is legit. and the hot sake relaxes you for a good night sleep!

this is the view of your hotel, it's probably the cheapest hotel in your entire trip to taiwan.  it's shabby according to him where you have a bigger bathroom than the bedroom. you guess that the point as people come here to enjoy the hotspring and it's really tug along the road side with a country side outlook.  but that's really doesn't matter for you as long as you had a good bath (twice).

15/22 juming.museum

you've heard of this sculpture museum before, and now that you're in the northern part of taiwan and you're mobile with a rented car, so you include an overnight stop to jin shan which is basically the greater taipei around the yang ming shan on the east coast.  this allow you to get to know juming and his work better....

 it's a relatively long journey driving from sanyi to jin shan, hence naturally the first thing to do is to fill your stomach to replenish the energy to explore the compound. there's not much choice from the menu, so you choose the vegetarian lion's head with sweet potato rice, a thoroughfare of  taiwan

 after the meal, you started explore the museum, starting with the passage that finally leads you to the outdoor sculptures...

 a series of installation called armies or soldiers.  each soldier has a name but you wonder they're real name as kuomingtang's soldiers

 and the other theme also around armies, soldiers, this time the sailors and the vessel

 it's a beautiful day, in fact it became warm in the mid afternoon but the view is quite nice overlooking the coastal area and the sea at one side, but the other side is pretty much surrounded by the temples and tombs.

 as for you, despite the beautiful scenery and playful sculptures at one side, your spirit is heavy and you could feel the spirit of dead is dominating the area....

set that aside, there's also indoor exhibition with juming's experimental wood craving

it's quite a refreshing museum and you loved the fact that some of the sculptures especially the taichi series has put you into play....

15/22 山板樵臉譜文化館

you're leaving sanyi and bound for the north today.  before you physically leave this place, you requested a brief stopover at this mask making cultural center.  sanyi produces lot of wood as a result wood carvings or wooden mask painting becomes popular pastime. obviously you didn't get your hand dirty since you arrived too early and won't have the luxury of time to nurture the creativity side of you. you made a mental note, if you ever get back here next time, you will surely participate in one of the mask painting workshop and the hakka snacks making workshop.
oh well, next time, if ever!

14/22 福軒养身馆

 despite of the not so positive experience of sanyi, where you lodged is actually very refreshing.  you're the only guest here since you're here on the weekday. but the host is still serving and treating you will enthusiasm

 you cabin tucked along the forest, where you're really close to the nature

 and able to enjoy the quietness and solitary moments with the whisper of the trees, birds singing in the forest and symphony orchestra of the insects

 and your very first encounter with the famous hakka "tung" flower

porridge as breakfast it actually quite palate cleansing after a week of meow-meow's breakfast. it's a relief to your intestine and stomach to have something lighter such as porridge.

the shabu-shabu hotpot dinner on the house, some of the veg are grown by the owner. it was super delicious!

::thirteen::

taking this day low key by going to your favorite japanese restaurant in the country.  in set of the set menu, both of you order the a la carte, and that summed up two types of sashimi, unagi (eel) for you and tempura for him.  to finish off the meal, you opt for matcha sponge cake while he had a amitsu.
it's a nice way to celebrate this occasion,
thank you Jesus for the thirteen years of journey and surely many more to come!

14/22 hakka.mansion

 sanyi is a very strong hakka province. hakka community is so strong that your bnb host tells you if one speak hakka in sanyi, you will be better received than one speak mandarin.  needless to say, the whole purpose of your trip to miaoli province is to explore the hakka culture and root.  you followed your host's recommendation to visit the hakka mansion

 it's built in the architecture that you're familiar with in tainan.

 you can find the hakka print everywhere, needless to say the lanterns

  hakka are traditionally farmers and generally rather down to earth so the interior of the mansion is quite simple.

 the mansion also promote hakka's culture and its cuisine. this is a very interesting articles about hakka "pan" or snack that made of rice flour and with fillings which can be sweet or savory.

 the beautiful hakka flower that blossomed typically once in may and another time in october. you came at the second blossom season but the hakka park is not as spectacular as it should be in may.

the sun is setting, so you better hurry back to your bnb that is located at the other village before the sun set as the road can be quite challenging to drive in the night.  the wall with the slogan "let's learn hakka dialect" is your farewell to the hakka heart land.