Ahjumma..... Fighting!: Family Taiwan Trip

Cingjing (Matina Mill Bakery) - Puli (18 Degree C, Guang Xing Paper Mill, Liao Mayor Black Tea) - Sun Moon Lake (Doris Home)

We checked out from Cingjing Guest House today and will be making a few sightseeing stops before checking in our accommodation in Sun Moon Lake.

Check out!

We booked the chartered cars for today and the drivers are already waiting for us at the carpark when we checked out.

First Stop - Matina Mill & Bakery

Doesn't it look impressive? Feels like I'm in Europe! I was browsing through travel blogs while planning this trip and I chanced upon the picture of Matina Mill and fell in love with the architecture immediately. Most people will visit Old England Manor in Cingjing but I prefer places that are off the beaten track.

Matina Mill is a café, bakery and a B&B accommodation. Do note that you need to make reservations before you visit as the meals are prepared on demand due to their understaffed situation. I got in touch with the lady owner via Facebook to make a reservation and she asked for our meal/drink orders. There is a minimum spending of 1 set meal per adult and all items are available whole day.

Chocolate fondue set
Image from Matina Mill

The journey up Matina Mill was a treacherous one. It's located at the top of the hill (oh well, the whole Cingjing is on a hill right?) The roads were narrow and winding. At one point, it felt like the car was on the edge of the cliff! Scary ~~~ Luckily our drivers were experienced and made it to our destination safely. And the views that greeted us made all the fears worthwhile.

Group photo

While our meals were being prepared, we walked around and explored this beautiful place.

Even the toilet is so special!

Before long, our meals were ready!

Light bites for the princess as Mummy is worried about
her getting carsick later

Hamburger

Curry Chicken

Salmon in Bread Bowl

My happy family!

After our lunch, we made our way down to the town of Puli. I was keeping a close eye for any discomfort on my princess but somehow she managed to snooze all the way. Phew ~

Our first stop at Puli was Feeling 18 Degree C which is famous for their chocolates .18 degree Celsius is supposedly the right temperature to maintain the freshness of these chocolates, thus producing the best quality and taste. To achieve the temperature control, they limit the number of visitors into the shop. You need to take a queue number to enter and while waiting, you can get yourself a cup of coffee compliments from 18 Degree. Only my sister-in-law and myself went into the shop while the rest of the group enjoyed their gelato ice cream at the seating area.

Life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you'll
going to get

Selection of gelato ice cream flavour

I applaud Taiwan's recycling efforts

Our next stop was King Garden. When we arrived, the place was packed with tourist buses and it was so crowded. We took a quick look at the place - it has a casino themed restaurant and shops which sells local products. The locals called it 伴手礼 (loosely translated as accompanied hand gift), meaning gifts that you bring back for your family and friends while travelling. It's usually foodstuff like cookies and pastries etc. We thought the whole place was touristy and left in less than 20mins. There was not a single photo taken! We must have left in a hurry to escape the tourists. Haha.

And since we have some time on hand, we decided to pop by a paper making factory called Guang Xing Paper Mill. Here, we learn about paper making process by hand and a tour of the factory. The admission fees can be used to offset any merchandise you purchased from the gift shop. You can also make your own hand-held fan at a fee.

The experienced master sifting water out from the pulp

The drying procedure

Next stop is Liao Mayor Black Tea. Located in Yuchi town in Nantou, the former mayor built this place to promote the local tea culture. Given the mild temperature in the region, it's the perfect place to grow tea trees. There is a museum that documents the history and development of tea making, a gift shop where you can sample all tea variety (and hopefully buy them subsequently) and a café to chill.

Our driver told us Alishan is famous for its Oolong Tea, Sun Moon Lake for Black Tea and Cing Jing for Green Tea. So we are at the right place then! Being tea lovers, I must say that the tea quality at Liao Mayor is of a good grade. So do pop by if you have the chance.

The iconic car at the front porch

Oh wow! They have stamps too!

Tea sampling counter

The café to chill
Was told that the tea leaf egg was awesome!

It was getting dark and we quickly made our way to our accommodation at Sun Moon Lake.

Doris Home is a cat-themed B&B located at Yuchi town, Sun Moon Lake. The good reviews and high ratings on tripadvisor prompted us to stay here. I was a little sceptical initially as I was concerned about the princess (and mine too) fear of cats (as a matter of fact all animals). After much pondering, I thought it might be a good chance for her to interact with pets to overcome her (and my) fears.

Nestled away from the hustle and bustle of the city center yet near enough to commute by foot, Doris Home is certainly the perfect place to rest your body and soul if you are visiting Sun Moon Lake. The rooms are immaculate and you can find meticulous touches of cat ornaments around the house. There is a lift, so you don't have to worry about lugging your stuff up to your room. The dining area is open to guests till midnight, so you can buy food/drinks to chill there as there is nothing much to do at night. The cats are friendly but shy to visitors - they won't growl at you but they hide away most of the time.

Doris Home is really popular amongst the locals and tourists. The rooms gets fully booked really fast especially during peak period. So do book early! You are required to pay a deposit upon confirmation of the booking and there is a strict cancellation policy.

The B&B owner whom I got in touch with is Greg Yu. He's the most helpful, patient and understanding host I've ever seen. And he can communicate in English! What a relief - no more typing an email painstakingly in Chinese! Greg even helped me coordinate our group transport needs. You can even buy ferry/attraction tickets from him, saving you the time to queue.

What more can I say??? This hidden gem is highly recommended!!! It has a modern yet cosy feel to the place - just like home.........

Doris Home

Dining area

Doris Room

Bathroom. The princess loved the rain shower!

Hand soap and holder

Basic bathroom amenities

Found this in the wardrobe! Adorable!

Bottled water provided

Tissue holder and calendar

Wall clock

Cats figurines at kitchen shelf

Lounge to chill out with friends

We planned to have dinner at Sun Moon Restaurant which was highly recommended but it was closed for renovations when we were there <sad>. So our B&B host Greg recommended another restaurant 翔喜餐厅 to us. Most restaurants would stop taking orders from 8pm onwards, so do head out for an early dinner. There is really nothing much to do at Yuchi town after dark (no night market here). The only place that opens till late is Starbucks and of course 7-11.