Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of WuFong Ci

Day 3 of Cousin Jhay's visit (March 2nd) was an out of town outing as it fell on both Lyn & Shaun's day off and with nothing to do - we all hung out together and they wanted to take us to - SURPRISE: Yilan!!!   Shaun's favorite destination.....  All fine by me as it gave us a chance to get out of the sity without having to take the train and the bus.....

First stop was Jiaosi...  a little hike up the Catholic Sanctuary of Our Lady of WuFongCi....   I remember going to this one a few years back but ti was nighttime - so this is a different kind of experience as it was still light - better to appreciate and really enjoy the surrounding views.....   mountain trails on one side and the other side, a look down into the vast city......

This Sanctuary Retreat place is quite a popular destinations bot just for Catholics but for many other tourists....  Legend has it that it was built on the actual place where Mama Mary appeared to 5 lost hikers and helped them guide them our of the mountain trail, which was not fully developed back then....   Mama Mary's Grotto was built on the exact location where she supposedly appeared... and a beautiful church and retreat homes adjacent to it.....   as an added bonus,  the hike is blessed with beautiful water falls...   we spent quite a time here - giving respects, admiring the design of the place, and taking in the views.....  Relaxing and Peaceful place, indeed....

Afterwards, we took a dip in one of the city's many Hot Springs.....  a nice relaxing break....   after an hour's dip, we drove on a few more minutes into Yilan and went to the famous LuDong Night Market for some Taiwan delicacies for dinner....  and of course, sweet treats!

It was already 11PM by the time we got back home....  just enough time for a shower, a cup of tea and processing photos from this beautiful place.....

Sweet Saturday

Unplanned, Unexpected Outings are ALWAYS BEST!!  Such was how Saturday was spent....   with such a gloomy day and nothing really much to do, as work was all done, went along with Jewel and family to Yilan for an afternoon/evening outing....

First stop was Mr Brown's Castle....  yes, Mr Brown Coffee - is BIIIIG in Yilan... this is actually the 2nd BIIIIIIG Coffee shop they have in this town....  you already saw the other one which I blogged about previously.....   This one, though not as biiiiig - is actually even cooler as the building facade is that of a castle.....  and the view - oh what a view.....   as it is located way up in the mountains - one gets a great view of the city and ocean.....  almost like being in one of the Castle's in Northern Europe....

In the evening, we went to the actual Tourist town of Yilan....  closed to the Train Station....   always bustling with tourists...  parades of Tour buses are parked, neon signs for various Hot Springs. Spas, Hotels blinds....  and rows and rows of restaurants lines the streets....  Here, we had dinner and took a bit of a Hot Springs dip in one of the public ones....  well, just the feet but still soothingly pleasing....

Someone's had a looooong nite....  hahahahahaha.....

A Day @ The National Center for Traditional Arts

The 1st of September, we were going to take David's two nephews, Todd & Jason, to this fun place but they had other plans... so instead the two of us went ahead anyway and checked out this place in Yilan and it's various In-House Museums...
Though the museum opened in January of 2002, the concept and planning actually started way back in 1995. The Council for Cultural Affairs has approved the building of National Center for traditional Arts and dedicated it to the investigation, collection, and sorting of various traditional arts and objects as well as acting as a conduit for the preservation and passing down of traditional handicrafts and skills.

Besides visiting the various in-house museums and shops after shops of traditional arts crafts of Taiwan, we also got to take in and enjoy a Chinese Play. Like they do in Disneyland, the play includes audience participation plus not only performed on stage but actually traveled throughout the whole Park.

The Complete TRIP PHOTOS Here

Yilan Outing

Saturday, the 18th of Oct. we decided to take a trip to City Of Yilan - just to look around...check out the different scenic spots, and of course some of the town's delicacies.... normally it would have taken an hour and a half or two hour drive from Taipei... With the newly constructed and opened tunnel through the mountains - it is not under an hour.... we had a late start so of course, the first stop was to hunt down some local delicacies... a bit of a late lunch / early dinner.... and that WE DID!!!
After satisfying our tummies, we drove on to satisfy our eyes... we decided to drive a bit more to the town of Jiaosi and hike up the mountains to view the famous Waterfalls - Wufongci (5 Peak-Flag)Falls It is the oldest and most famous scenic attraction in Jiaosi... and got it's name from the 5 peaks that line the background of the waterfall which look like a flag from afar.... Within the Peak is the St. Mary's Church and Villa Located at the top of Wufongci Scenic Area, St. Mary's Villa is considered by Catholic pilgrims as a sacred place. Legend has it that, Mother Mary once appeared to 5 climbers in the St. Mary's Pavilion here helping them to safely descend the mountain. In order to remember and pay gratitude to Mother Mary, an outside Grotto with a statue of her was erected on the side of the pavilion.
After the hike and with the sun having set already, we drove down to the town center, which is running amok with Hot Springs, after Hot Springs... this MUST be the Hot Springs capital of Taiwan...The Jiaosi Hot Springs won their fame early on during the Qing Dynasty when they were known as the "Tangwei Hot Springs", and were selected by Wu, Jhu-Fan, the Qing Dynasty Kavalan Magistrate, as one of the "8 most scenic spots in Yilan". On this crowded weekend, we were LUCKY enough to have been able to at least, soak our tired feet to some really soothing Hot Springs... Across the street from where we soaked our feet, Fried Tofu and Bing Tahui was calling us... the laoban (owner) was soooo kind, and must have taken a liking to us, we were treated to a lot of freebies... I seem to think that he wanted us to sit there as long as we can in order to attract more people to sit and dine.. and it worked as more and more people came... the laoban also took his time to chat up with us... told us some town history and told us of the many places to check out, and best hot springs to go to... notes for when we return, and he is so sure we will....

Heading on to the nite market for some more delicacies before heading back to Taipei, we came across a bakery super crowded with people -- we of course, had to pop in and check out all the commotions... and we were treated to some really nice Cold Tea and slices of different muffins and sweets... all courtesy of the shop... SUPER NICE and GENEROUS shop.... all in all, the township of Jiaosi, we have concluded, is a very KIND and GENEROUS town....