Taiwan 2012: Day 8 (Yilan- nature park, cultural center, and Luodong night market)

Good morning!!  Rise and shine, because it's time to go sight-see in Yilan!  *grabs and pulls on your arm*

We woke up and were on our way to some lake with a big temple at the top.  It was SUUUUPER hot; I could see the heat waves coming off the parked cars in the parking lot @_@  And the sweat that was flying off my sister's face.  ... Your welcome for the lovely imagery ;)

Steve, Jaden, and Michael in a row~

We were feeding the fish in the lake :)

* Do my sister and I look alike? :)

* Grandma!  *heart* ^^

There were a lot of visitors at the park, and there were tons of bikes for rental... including the bikes where you have 4 or 5 people pedaling hard :)  Yay!  First time for that for me, so the family piled in.

* Hehehe, my two aunties~


Oh HAY!  Ride?  Wid meee?  Okaiii ^w^

*  Here we are!
* OMGAHHH Sweating on the leather seats =O="
'
* :D  Our cousins up front!

Since they're better at navigating the roads!

Around the lake we goooo~  We stopped at a middle area to take in the view ^^

Steve in Godzilla mode :3

Uncle coming my way!

:)

I'll save you!

* Jaden helping the older ones

Hehe, it was so funny, because you can tell who's not pedaling!  We caught our younger aunt not pedaling and just letting us pant away uphill, and then she said her excuse was to let us younger ones get some exercise XD  Then we were trying to race carts, and my dad's cart was pedaling so hard, but my mom and grandma were too lazy to pedal :P  He he!

We stopped at a little cafe on the lake.  It was opened by a famous Taiwanese star (I forgot which ^^'').  Super cute!  It's called  Little Bear Book House!


My cousins were putting cigarettes to the stuffed Ted's mouth =_=''  Boyyyyys.
The view from inside-- I see our bike carts!

Lots of people taking a break inside!

I got fruit tea-- soo sweet = soooo good = doesn't taste like tea at all :D:D:D

My sister got an iced latte~

And my cousin ordered oysters! :O

My first oyster ever.. *gulp*  SO BIG O_O 

It tasted like salt water.

DELICIOUS.  I LIKE OYSTERS NOW XD

After returning the rental bikes, we went up the mountain to the temple.
We were riding around that lake!


Paying respects~

Pretty crazy how the moss doesn't grow towards the altar, right? :O

Mountain airrrr!  *inhale* ^^

Did someone say lunch? :3

Appetizers and sharkfin o_o  I don't like sharkfin-- spongy and weird x_X

Half-picked sushi :)

More sashimi!

Soup!  He he he, what's so funny?~

Big shrimp @_@

Salted chicken-- nom nom~

LOBSTAHH noodles, and very yummy *O*

Remember the 3 Varieties of Yilan?  Here they are again!

Steamed fish

Huge fishballs in soup

-o-!  So full!  Time to rest in the car while the cousins drive us to the next stop~

Zzzzz *drowsy*

Do you remember the Yilan Cultural Center we spotted while riding our bikes yesterday?

We're going there!

I've been there before on my 1 month OCAC camp before going to college, and here I am again! ^^

Candy maker performing his art--  The many layers of folding make it extra crispy!

It would always look like the candy would touch the ground (it was soft), but he would always save it!

The center is like a town where you can visit shops, learn about a certain art or craft, and buy stuff!

Including these claw models! ^w^  Kyuuuu~

You could watch people make them!

I ended up buying a pair of teddy bear earrings made of crystals in a shop next door ^^

What's this?  My cousin bought us candied tomatoes, dates, and apple on a stick!  Wow, so yummy!

There's a sugar coating that's crispy when you bite into it and sticky for the rest ^^  Sugar, yummy yummy~

The shop owners would call out for customers, and I was tempted to get another!

There were also special boba thingies in the shaved ice served there~

These tapioca spheres had dates in the middle :O  very special~

Feeding fishies with fish feed again :)

We went back to the hotel, and the kiddos (cousins + my sister and me) set off to the night market!

My sister was feeling kind of gross (ate too much?  too hot?  not sure), so she puked on the side of the road @_@ and then we set off to the night market it full health... HOORAY?!

Squish, squeeze, smash, smoosh!  People!

Never-ending stream~

Stopped for a dinner of stinky tofu soup

There were also new creations I haven't seen before-- stuffed tofu on a stick!

Inside?  Cucumbers, pickled cabbage, and lots of delish sauce :)

Me?  I prefer my nightmarket go-to snack of choice:  Mung bean slushie!  Omgah, so good!  I ended up drinking 2 cups that night ^^''

My sister's night-market fetish?  SHOES.  Always buying shoes.. It's like she has 92324 feet or something! :P

Michael looking at wooden keychains for couples!  ... He cracked a joke that turned out to be so untrue ^^''

And here is also another Yilan specialty!  Taro cream, peanut shavings, and cilantro wrapped up in a crepe!  

SO GOOD!  Cold ice cream that didn't really melt even though the wrap was freshly made and warm ^^

What is this little cart selling that's drawing such a crowd?

Literally translated to "Big sausage wrapped around a small sausage!"  It's a Taiwanese street food specialty, and it's definitely not for the health-conscious :P  The big sausage is glutinous / sticky rice wrapped in sausage casing, and the small sausage is the sweet and meaty Taiwanese sausage.  My sister and cousins all ordered something from the cart.  x_x''  Ergg too much of that Taiwanese sausage for me-- I like the rice, but after dinner, 2 mung bean slushies, and bites of this and that, this snack was definitely not too appetizing to look at for me XD

My sister's portion!

They also offered the "Double Twin" option, which was TWO Taiwanese sausages wrapped in a sticky rice sausage.  Omgahhhh sounds disgustingly oily @__@  But knowing my guy cousins, Michael and Steve both ordered that!   Eep!

BIG BITE STEVE ^O^

Welp, that's the night market at Yilan!  We snuck back into our rooms at the hotel and instantly fell asleep (grossly unclean, hahaha)~  Gotta take a rest for yet another day in Yilan! ^^b

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