Taiwan Trip 2015 (台灣30天環島記) - Day 16: Tainan 台南 (Leo Ho Hostel, Nan Yuan Street Pot Stickers 南園街鍋貼, Seed Museum 種子博物館, Lian De Tang Bakery 連得堂餅家, Confucius Temple 孔廟, Bao Ge Hei Lun Instant Noodles 保哥黑輪, Hayashi Departmental Store 林百貨, Koxinga Ancestral Shrine 鄭成功祖廟, Narrow Door Cafe 窄門咖啡， Gong Yuan Road Glutinous Rice 公園路米糕, Shen Nong Street 神農街)
Today I bid goodbye to Kaohsiung and headed up northwards to another popular city in Taiwan, Tainan. Tainan which is known as a street food haven in Taiwan, is also very historically rich, since this was where Taiwan was actually first founded by KMT decades ago.
From Tainan train station I then walked towards my hostel in Tainan, which was Leo Ho Hostel. The hostel is about 10-15 minutes walk from the station and quite near to all the attractions so I really liked the location. It is also relatively new and clean with a decent price tag. Since the hostel didn't have a sign board so I was a bit skeptical at first whether I am at the right place lol. It is located at the end of an alley and is the only building looking brand new.But all my doubts were cleared as I entered. I was supposed to stay here for two nights but I cancelled one since I opted to spend one more day in Kaohsiung. One of my slight regrets though. This place, and Tainan in general, was quite awesome.
After settling my luggages I then headed back to Tainan train station to meet up with two of my Tainan friends. I was really lucky for them as they had agreed to fetch me around on their scooter and to show me around. So for the first time in the past 15 days I need not had to worry about my itinerary haha.
Our first stop was at Nan Yuan Street Pot Stickers (南園街鍋貼) to fill up our tummies and my first taste of Tainan's street food. Each of us had quite a few of the fried dumplings (NTD 6 per piece) along with a bowl of Szechuan styled soup. And this is already for lunch lol. I am not a dumpling fanatic but these are really quite nice (& huge) in general.
Next we visited a rather unique attraction, which was the Seed Museum （千畦種子博物館). If my memory serves my well, the museum is opened by an ex-lecturer who had a great interest in seeds and started his own collection. And now he is opening his 'museum' to the public. Having said that, you cannot just walk in to visit the place as you have the book your spot with the museum's operators.
Then, at your allocated time slot, there will be a tour guide who will bring you around the place and explain every seed bit by bit to great detail. It was quite an interesting tour knowing all the different types of seeds out there in nature, and more importantly which seed can be used to poison people (just kidding ok).
Adenanthera pavonina:
Or more popularly known as the love bean (相思豆), can be used as make up (胭脂) during the olden times. Be careful if you are wearing white as the stain is quite impossible to wash off. This seed is also toxic when eaten raw.
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| Cotton seeds |
Huge variety of seeds on display!
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Seeds made into pretty decorations:
Apart from seeds, they also managed to extract essences from various flowers and plants in which you then spray it into drinking water to enjoy the flavour. I tried the osmanthus (桂花) flavour but it wasn't really that strong haha.
2nd stop was at Lian De Tang's bakery. This place has been here for decades and all their products (biscuits and cookies) are all traditionally made with a single simple manual machine. Hence the production per day is quite low and their stuffs run out really, really fast. My friend actually had to pre-order a dozen packets a few months back and was really kind to give me one packet for me to try.
I had the chance to try the peanut biscuits and it was really delicious. But since it was hardly available I guess it would be really tough for the regular tourist to get their hands on these biscuits. Heck, even some people Tainan do not even know about this shop haha.
A visit to Tainan is not complete without visiting their historical temples. One of the main temples here would be the Confucius Temple (孔廟) where students usually pray before their final examinations to get a good grade haha. Around the vicinity temple there are also other temples for tourists to visit. Everything is just really nearby hence you don't really need to travel much to visit different attractions whilst in the city area.
One of the shrines also houses wordings written by past Taiwanese presidents as a part of their commemoration.
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| Wise words from Ma Ying Jiu. |
We then stopped by briefly at Fuzhong Street (府中街) to visit a shop exhibiting and selling paper handicrafts which were all scissor cut by hand. My friend also brought me to try a shop selling fried instant noodles which seemed quite popular with the locals. I had to tell her that Malaysians are already eating indomie or maggi mee goreng every other day, and at a cheaper price too haha.
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Taiwanese style fried instant noodles by Bao Ge Hei Lun Instant Noodles 保哥黑輪 |
Up next is one of Taiwan's oldest shopping complex which is the Hayashi Departmental Store (林百貨). This mall was built during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan and was also one of first to have an elevator (albeit a really tiny one). Entering this building feels like a passage back in time and they also preserved some of the damages inflicted by the US when they bombed this building many many years ago.
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| Hayashi Departmental Store at night |
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| Damages from the past |
We also dropped by a really cool cafe called the Narrow Door Cafe (窄門咖啡). To get to the cafe you have to pass by a really narrow walkway to reach the stairs leading up the cafe. It really amazes me all the time on how Taiwanese really utilises every inch of the available space, whether to build a house or start a restaurant doing business. The owner was kind enough to let me explore around the cafe but no photos were allowed unfortunately.
My last food stop of the day was at Gong Yuan Road Glutinous Rice 公園路米糕. Unlike glutinous rice back in Malaysia which is usually paired with chicken, the ones here are paired with pork belly and topped with chicken floss. However for such a small bowl I would think the price was a bit steep but nonetheless worth a try.
And finally my Tainan city tour of the day ended in Shen Nong Street (神農街). It gave me the feeling of Jonker Street back in Melaka with really heritage looking shops lining up along the streets. This is definitely one of the place that I will return again as many shops were closed and there is just so much more to explore around by foot.
This sums up my visit to Tainan city for the day. Once again I am deeply grateful for my two friends who chauffeured me around visiting the various attractions and even footing the bill for most of my meals. Here's a huge thank you to both of you!
- Day 16 end-
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