Our first destination of Day 2 was Shilin Guandi (士林官邸). Took a morning stroll in the park of the former residence of late ROC President Chiang Kai-shek and his wife Song Mei-ling. We did not enter the villa though. Guess the ‘yummy’ theme did not warrant the $100 NTD entrance fee into the villa.

 

 

Lunch @ Shihmen Fish Cuisine followed by walk down Dasi Old Street (大溪老街) to eat the famous dried bean curd and Moon pastry (月光餅).

 

 

Neiwan Old Street (內灣老街): our maiden visit to the bustling town with sloping streets lined with stalls.

 

 

Despite knowing that a dinner feast awaits, we couldn’t resist trying out the exotic delicacies on sale. Pomegranate ice cream and roasted maize!

 

I thought the maize painted with layer of sauce looked tasty but I was wrong. The maize was rather dry and the sauce tasted quite weird. I was smiling for the camera not in approval of the maize.

 

 

Well at least dinner was good. We had the famous Hsinchu bee hoon (新竹米粉) and meat ball soup (貢丸湯). The bee hoon was extremely thin and light; very different from what we have in Singapore. We were told that the special texture is due to the fact that Hsinchu is a windy town which causes the bee hoon to dry mostly by wind rather than by the sun.

 

 

And there was dumpling which we kept for supper and ate in the hotel that night.