Nostalgic Old Streets of Jiufen
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| Old Street of Jiufen 九份老街 |
Jiufen (alternatively spelt as Chiufen / Jioufen) is a small town in the north of Taiwan.
Founded during the Qing Dynasty, Jiufen has developed into a prosperous town due to the discovery of gold during the Japanese Occupation in 1893. This accounts for the Japanese influence on both cultural and architecture in the town.
This town continued to flourish as a tourist hot spot despite the discontinuation of gold mining in the 1950s.The place is filled with nostalgic scenes, quaint tea houses and spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean which makes it a great setting for periodic films and sight-seeing.
Yam Balls (芋圓) Treat!
We stopped by the first stall at the entrance of the Old Street as the Yam Balls are a specialty of Jiufen.
Moreover, a Hong Kong tourist group were present when we passed by the stall and hence we were persuaded to try the dessert there as well...
We tried the Icy Version but was very disappointed that it did not taste as good as what we thought it would be. It seems like the improvised version of it in Singapore (BlackBall 黑丸嫩仙草)
tasted better as they have grass jelly in it which makes it less starchy.
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| My Red Bean Milky Yam Balls (紅豆牛奶芋圓) |
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| Tagging behind Sweetie Muffin on our exploration journey :) |
Taiwan Sausages (台灣香腸)
Next, i spotted the stall selling Taiwan Sausages and yielded into temptation and bought one to share with Sweetie Muffin.Surprising the Sausage tasted better than the Pasar Malam ones we tried in Singapore. Loved the warm sensation of chewing the sausages in such cold weather :)
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| Taiwanese Sausages (台灣香腸) |
Ah Zhu Peanut Roll + Ice-Cream (啊珠花生捲+冰淇淋)
The huge surface area of the stall and the crowd attracted our attention and we queued to try this.
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| Signboard of Ah Zhu Peanut Roll + Ice-Cream (啊珠花生捲+冰淇淋) |
The vanilla ice-cream was wrapped in thin pancakes topped with peanut granules. This was the tastiest dessert we have tasted thus far ~ Worth of a Muse!
Also, their business was so brisk that they do not have enough staff to act as a cashier and hence we have to self-service and collect our change by ourselves. Hey, that takes alot of CONSCIENCE in grabbing our own change of coins!
Meat Balls from Narcissist Auntie Stall
This stall occupies 2 levels and was decorated with photos of the Lady Boss.
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| Even the base of the Staircase was filled with photo of the Narcissist Lady Boss! |
The meat balls tasted OK, it is the Fu Zhou Style Meatballs with meat fillings inside...
Grandma Lai's Sweet Taro Balls (賴啊婆芋圓)
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| Grandma Lai's Sweet Taro Balls (賴啊婆芋圓) |
Dissatisfied with our previous yam balls, we decided to give them a second chance by trying from this slightly more authentic looking stall. And indeed, we were glad we tried as the yam balls tasted better than the previous :) The taro balls were handmade from scratch by the staff there and the stall was filled with patrons!
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| Stall filled with Patrons. |
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| My piping hot taro balls! (正牌賴啊婆芋圓) |
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| A Selfie with the Taro Balls. LOL Max. |
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| AUTHENTIC Grandma Lai's Taro Balls |
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| Indeed, traditional is good. How chewy and delicious ~ |
Sight-Seeing
With our tummies filled with foodies we continued our journey around the Old Street of Jiufen.
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| Golden Masks? |
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| Enjoying the Scenery + Breeze :) |
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| Splendid View of Le' Pacific Ocean! |
Up Next: Highlights of Taipei: Keelung Miaokou Night Market (基隆廟口夜市)
P.S.
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