Taiwan (Day 2: Sun Moon Lake, Fleur de Chine, Ita Thao Village, Shilin Night Market

On our second day, we headed to Nantou to visit Sun Moon Lake. We booked a private van that left around 9:30 am and arrived at the lake at 1:30 pm. At this point, we were so famished and decided to check the nearest hotel called Fleur de Chine. It was only after we left our trip that we realized that this hotel is from the same group as Palais de Chine.

The hotel mentioned that they had a teppanyaki restaurant called Rainbow Cloud. We decided to try it out as the other restaurants were already closed. To our surprise, the teppanyaki area is located in a very private area and there is no a la carte offered. They only provided us a set menu where the choice for your main course is beef or lamb. I decided to get the beef set!

I will let the photos do the talking…

Our lunch was definitely a stunner! The ingredients were fresh and every dish was cooked to perfection! The chef prepared every dish as if it was an art form – very well executed! He made me appreciate teppanyaki cuisine even more. I will definitely come back to eat here again!

After lunch, we headed to Ita Thao Village. Weather did not permit us to board the ferry right way so we had to wait for awhile until the fog cleared up.

Alas! We were lucky to be able to take one of the last ferries around. Sun Moon Lake offers a very calm setting with jade-like waters. Although away from the big city, they still offer modern amenities for tourists. You can even find a hostel or boutique hotel if you would wish to stay here, Definitely a must visit if you want to relax from the hustle and bustle of Taipei.

When we returned to Ita Thao, we went around the small shops and stalls. A must-try when you are here is the pork buns and Assam tea. There is also what they call tea eggs located along Xuanguan Pier. Unfortunately, we were not able to try most, if not all, because of the bad weather. Most of the shops were closed for business that day.

Other suggested sites to visit around the lake are Wenwu Temple 文武廟, Ci-en Pagoda 慈恩塔 and the Sun Moon Lake Ropeway Cable Car.

It was already 10:00 in the evening when we returned to Taipei City. We decided to head straight to Shilin Night Market for some late dinner.

Now, this is more like the street market we expected! Time to do some food tripping!

We tried some blow torched steak, grilled scallops and deep fried mushrooms.

You must also try the popular cheese potato 王子起司馬鈴薯 located in the entrance of the night market.

Apart from the numerous food stalls you can try, there is a good amount of stores to shop as well. You name it, they have it! Though this was one of the most popular night markets around, there was not much people around due to the rainy weather. Still, Shilin Market was fully operational when we visited. Way better than last night’s night markets.