Taiwan day 5 – Taichung good food

From a packed 台中 Taichung Day 1 itinerary (link), we continue our Taiwan Tour with more Taichung good food and attractions on day 2 🙂

The first photo needs no introduction. 彩虹村 Taichung Rainbow village demonstrates one’s man resolve to preserve his village. From one wall, then one house, whole street, the whole village was transformed in a few decades and is now a tourists magnet 🙂

More than the bright colourful backdrops, I love the meaningful couplets, emphasizing Family and Humane values.

More photos can be found on our Facebook albums (Day 5), and GPS are in our Google sheet.

 

 

01 – 動漫彩繪巷 Painted Animation Lane
(GPS 24.138346, 120.670445)

Wall murals, animations, your favorite cartoon characters.

There are cartoons and manga from a few generations, find your favourite and pose away 🙂

Even Daddy and Mommy got their own childhood idols 🙂

We heard many of the mural walls had been torn down a few years ago, but there are still enough to pose for 30 minutes 🙂

老夫子! My kids confirm cannot recognised them.

02 彩虹村 Rainbow Village
(GPS 24.133950, 120.610013)

A Pink village. The whole village is filled with cheerful characters and cartoon liked drawings.

Some souvenirs to remind ourselves of the interesting decals and interaction. It is already tough to paint your own wall (one tone), imagine painting the whole wall with so many motifs!

Not your usual “arts gallery”, but definitely captivating. Some houses are still occupied.

If you are lucky, you might get to pose with the famous Painter uncle too. Mr Huang is already 95 years old!

The whole village is his canvas. Uncle is no longer painting, but he will forever be Rainbow Village’s mascot.

 

We suspect Mr Huang is a romantic at heart, there are many loving couplets all around.

Can you identify some of the celebrities?

One fun excursion, you do not need to be artistic to appreciate the creative murals. We would recommend 30 to 60 minutes at this village.

02a If time permits, or if you are seeking some thrills, there is a popular Gokart nearby, Rosso (GPS 24.167208, 120.582386).

The price is much cheaper than Singapore and Google reviews are good. I know the kids would be thrilled, but we did not have enough time in Taichung (Read our GoKart experience in Johor and Tokyo)

03 – 大東屋日本活鰻店
(GPS 24.163761, 120.635714)

No RSVP, and queue spotted even before shop opens at 1130.

大东屋 Unagi lunch for us, but pity too much bones.

Maybe only recommend for adults as kids got frustrated with picking the bones :p

There are delicious side dishes to keep kids occupied.

(Rate 4/5) Grilled to perfection, fishy delicacy 🙂

 

04 – 春水堂 Chun Shui Tang
(GPS 24.156097, 120.655891)

Some say this cafe is the grandfather of Bubble Tea. We cannot confirm, but we were impressed with our bubble tea 🙂

first Milk tea in Taiwan
first Milk tea in Taiwan

You know this place is happening when everything is UP sized!

Take note there are a few branches in Taichung.

Besides 珍珠奶茶 bubble tea , we would recommend carrot cake too. Do check out more delicious finger food on hashtag #春水堂 .

We would rate this cafe (3.75/5), food is generally ok but might be overated and slightly more expensive. If you are a bubble tea fan, Go 🙂

 

05  宮原眼科 Miyahara
(GPS 24.137742, 120.683384 )

The most famous Ice creams in Taichung!
Building interior looks like Harry Potter’s Hogwarts!

The Chinese name “宮原眼科” indicates eye clinic and we were initially wondering why eyes are related to ice creams :p

Taichung food
宮原眼科 Miyahara

Definitely one of the recommended Taichung good food, you will see tourists eating along the corridor. Besides the stunning interior, the boggling range of chocolate and side dishes are bewildering!

How do we choose our chocolates!

Many will recommend the house brand “日出乳酪蛋糕 Dawn” cheese cake too. I found it too creamy. You may grab souvenirs like 太陽餅 Sun cake,  鳳梨酥 pineapple cake too. (we still prefer the versions from 佳德 Chia Te )

For those who prefer to sit and enjoy the cool ambiance, there is another branch 200 metres away (GPS 24.138964, 120.681995).

The staffs at both location are super friendly. One “bowl” of ice cream costs NT360, it comes with two chocolate servings, a waffle and cheesecake slice. It is more than enough for 3 pax 🙂

Ice Creams lovers, remember 宮原眼科! (rated 4/5)

 

Miyahara is just 3 minutes from 臺中車站 Taichung train station.

 

Additional tips :

a)Do find some time to research for your sports attire and shoes. Taiwan’s sports shoes are easily 30 to 50% cheaper than Singapore (Adidas, Nike, New Balance etc). We would recommend you to buy in Taichung or Keelung, instead of Taipei, the prices are the same but service attitude different.

Those branches outside Taipei are more friendly and enthusiastic, tip-top customer service and no hard sell.

Checkout 福星路 Fuxing Road (GPS 24.176875, 120.645167) just next to Fengjia Night Market. You will see many sports outlets and stores.

b) We mention before that Taichung public transport is not as comprehensive as Taipei’s.  Transfer (train or bus) will take up considerable transport time, we had engaged 玩島玩旅行社 Round Taiwan Round (RTR) for a full day Taichung private tour.

 

Mr Gao was our driver and his Vito van ferry us across Taichung in comfort. You may read more about RTR’s services at the following link.

Diy Travelling Taiwan

We will share more about Green Hotel and Fengjia Night Market in the next post. Do pop by below photo albums and previous Taiwan posts to view our Fun itinerary.

Photo albums :

Day 1 Aowanda, Cing Jing
Day 2 Cing Jing
Day 3 Xitou Nature Education Area, Monster Village, Sun Moon Lake
Day 4 Taichung (Zhongshe flower, ShengXin station, Cycling, Fengjia)
Day 5 Taichung (Animation Lane, Rainbow, Miyahara)
Day 6 Keelung 基隆
-Day 7 Ruifang, Jiufen and Shifen
Day x Taipei HomeAway and Neighbourhood
Day 8 永康, Xi Men Ding, 象山, 饒河 Raohe
Day 9 and 10 北投 Beitou, Toyshop, 士林 Shilin

Blog posts :

** Taiwan Itinerary for families 
Day 1 Google Sheet, Aowanda, Cing Jing
Day 2 Cing Jing Farm
HomeAway Recommendations for Taiwan
Day 3a Xitou Nature Education area (溪頭)
Day 3b Monster village 妖怪村 and Sun Moon Lake
Day 4 Cycling Taichung 台中 
Day 4a 台中 Taichung  attractions
Day 5a 台中 Taichung good food Ice cream and Bubble Tea
Day 5b 台中 Taichung Fengjia night market
-Day 6 基隆 Keelung
Day 7a Jiufen attractions
Day 7b Shifen attractions
Taipei Neighbourhood around our HomeAway Vacation Home
Day 8a Yong Kang Street and Xi Men Ding
Day 8b Raohe Night Market, Wu Fen Pu and 象山 Elephant Mountain

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