Day Trip to Yilan! (pt. 2)

[Part 1]

Hello~

As mentioned in the previous post, Ta and I went traveling around Yilan on July 15th. Here's a quick recap of the places we went to after going to Lanyang Museum.

Armed with my portable fan and uv arm protector as we waited outside the museum for a ride.

At Toucheng Station we bought our train tickets to Yilan which was 20 mins away. The train comes every 45 minutes to an hour, so I would recommend checking out the timetable before going to the station. For the TRA (Taiwan Railway Administration), the fares are calculated depending on the type of train and distance. We took a local train as it is the most common and cheapest in Yilan.

We made a quick stop at the convenience store at Toucheng.
The drink selection at 7-11 is no joke [they even have boxed milk tea]

As we were waiting for the train, we took a stroll around the neighborhood. We found a cute little food stall that sold fried snacks. We tried the leek spring roll and fried sweet potatoes. They tasted amazing with the soy sauce and peanut sauce. 

The place is called "品誼古早味小吃" and conveniently located nearby Toucheng station if you're interested in checking it out :) 

The weather was very hot and humid, but once we got on the train we were greeted by a pleasant breeze of AC.

We made it to Yilan!

Yilan Station is also home to Jimmy Park, a small and whimsical area with sculptures.

In the daytime they had a small marketplace at the square where they sold handmade artisan items. However, it was getting hot outside so we promptly decided to move on to our next location. 

We visited POYA, which was across the street from the station. The store had 2 levels and sold many different products (cosmetics, snacks, stationary, etc...) and not to mention, very good air conditioning (perhaps the most enticing reason we went in). 

After a small spending spree, we took off to our next destination: Luna Plaza. The shopping mall is within walking distance from the station. On the way there, we stopped in front of three bubble tea stores to get a drink. Comebuy, Ching shin, and Coco were lined up right next to each other and we were in a dilemma as to which one to buy from.

Hmmm... Which one did we choose?

In the end, the bubble tea store that won our hearts was.... Ching shin, because of it's gudetama themed marketing~ Although there was a lack of English signs at the store front, the Gudetama icon was enough to win me over. I have a slight gudetama obsession. 

Embracing Taiwan's bubble tea culture by getting a bubble tea holder.

Luna Plaza had 4 levels filled with popular clothing stores, restaurants, etc... We ventured down into the underground level where we entered Carrefour, a department store that had a food court. 

Eating at the food court was a cheaper alternative to the restaurants upstairs. This was my first food court experience in Taiwan and I was impressed. Each food court stall had a separate seating area making it feel like a restaurant and they even served the food to us.   

 

      

Our next stop was Dongmen Night Market. It's not the biggest or liveliest night market in Yilan, but it was our closest option. There were plenty of options for food. 

At the end of the day we took the train and headed back to Guishan station, where we were picked up by Jacky. 

It was a fun day going to Lanyang Museum and exploring Yilan City. See you next time, Yilan~

-Candy