Keelung (基隆) and Jiu Fen (九份)

We headed over to Keelung on Saturday to visit my host's son. It is rather common for families to be apart in Taiwan as some universities may be located far from home. It was a 3-4 hour drive from Tainan to Keelung which is somewhere in Taipei. Upon arriving at Keelung, we had lunch at 河豚很多, which is a restaurant that his son use to work at as a part time job. So.... desserts were on the house by the boss. Haha. The restaurant is actually in a cave so there was no reception inside. I thought the rock walls looked a bit fake but it is actually natural.. Haha. Too bad I didn't capture a nice photo of the rock walls as it was kinda dim.

There are at least 30 Vongoles on this plate of pasta.

After lunch we went to 和平岛 (Peace Island), 海角乐园, to have a scenic view of Keelung (基隆) harbour and to view the interesting shapes of rocks naturally sculptured by waves. Keelung (基隆) got its name because of the shape of its mountains which looked like a rooster coop ('鸡笼').

This is said to look like a rhinoceros facing the moon.

This is said to look like the Pig's leg.

When water level rises, you will see beautiful waves gushing through the sea trench (海蚀沟) . 

After that we went to JiuFen (九份). Funny how it is named as 九份 which means nine portions in mandarin. So I was really curious if the name was originated from anything related to portions of food. And true enough it is. A long time ago, there were 9 families who lived in there and they would request for 9 portions each time shipment arrived from town (Source: Wikipedia). Later the village was renamed as Jiufen (九份). This place is also known as city of sadness (悲情城市). 

This place is one of the setting that the famous Japanese Manga artist

Hayao Miyazaki (宮崎駿) used in his book. I was attracted by the pretty lanterns

and old streets which will make you feel like you are back in the 80s.

This place has lots of different quirky masks and allows you to take pictures F.O.C.

This place sells really delicious fishballs! Do check it out if you are there.

Jiufen used to be rich in gold but goal mining activities declined after
World War 2 and the mine was shut off in 1971. (Source: Wikipedia）

  This yam ball dessert is simply delicious and the shop provides a good view of the Jiufen. 

We stayed in this retro theme minsu (民宿) called 九重町. Service is good and they provide breakfast as well. It's located in the old streets and you can get a really good view if you stay in the honeymoon room. haha. 

Stay tune for more updates on Cingjing Grassland!