Wulai Atayal Museum along Wulai Old Street (烏来泰雅民族博物館) @ Taipei [Taiwan]

It's hard to miss the above building while strolling along Wulai Old Street; not with that humongous stone portrait hanging so high up! 

Although ranked 3rd in population among the 16 recognised aboriginal tribes in Taiwan, Atayal people are the most widely distributed; covering 2/3 of the mountainous area in Taiwan. 

A visit to this three-level cultural museum is strongly recommended for three reasons; it's free for all, content was really informative and lastly, the volunteers (believe all of them hailed from the Atayal tribe) were superbly approachable! 

Given the spread of the tribe, there were significant differences in some aspects of their life; for example, houses in the mountainous areas were constructed with a hollow pit (around 1.6 meter deep).

Sporting facial tattoos is a common feature especially with the older generation. According to the tradition, those without facial tattoo would be rejected by their ancestors when they die and travel to the netherworld. 

Reading about the "afterlife" of the Atayal tribe got me excited! Head hunting was a common practice in the past and it was believed that the victims (humans or animals alike) would follow the perpetrator until his/her demise. The ancestors in the spirit world would be very very happy if a tribesman brought with him a lot of fellows when he died. 

Head hunting doesn't equate to cannibalism by the way. The custom of head hunting is contentious in the current modern age we lived in and it was unnerving to read on its justification and to draw irrelevant references to the wars between countries. 

Let's continue to a lighter topic; attire! 

Like the houses, there are geographical differences depending on the environment and interaction with other tribes and cultures. The traditional material used was ramie and to make it into the final fabric product required a seven step procedure! 

A model of the traditional Atayal dwelling. 

These are earrings?!!?!?!?! Forgive me, i honestly thought they were sticks for the drums! 

Photographs of a male and female from the Atayal at the start of the tumultuous 20th century. Do you know a lot of Taiwanese celebrities are actually aborigines? For the Atayal tribe, you have Vic Chou (F4), Landy Wen  and Vivian Hsu, just to name a few. 

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Location

Along Wulai Old Street,

New Taipei City, Taiwan

Admission Fee

Nope, free entry for all! 

For an overview of my 9 Days, 8 Nights Taiwan Trip [Cingjing (清境) - Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) - Taichung (臺中) - Taipei (臺 北)], click HERE.

Waffles - StateLand Cafe Patisserie @ Bali Lane [Near Bugis]

A few weeks ago, my elder sister was rambling about a cafe located in Bali Lane known for its waffles; i assumed she was talking about Coffee Nations even though i don't quite remember having any waffle when i was last there in 2011. 

Of course, Coffee Nations has long ceased its operations and the cafe my sister was actually referring to was this Stateland Cafe Patisserie. Darn, it seems like i am having waffles every week!

Anyway, a bit of background for the benefit of everyone; three chaps, each with a family business dealing in industrial work, decided to get together and open a "vintage industrial themed cafe". And it proved to be an instant hit! 

As everyone knows, i am not that particular when it comes to decor and environment. Despite the detailed explanation provided, i was under the immediate impression that to open a cafe, you just anyhow put together a few pieces of unwanted furniture and voila, here's a cafe with character. 

My bad.

The Red Velvet Waffle

Without further ado, let's begin with the first of our waffle selections. Now, i am biased and it's against red velvet. Hence, you may go ahead and ignore the following review i had for this waffle; long accustomed to the cake form which tasted acceptable when it was moist and dense, the waffle version just didn't cut it, especially with the strings of unpalatable cream cheese. 

The Classic Waffle with Ice Cream

As far as texture is concerned, this ranked high on my list with that desirable crispiness coupled with an inner fluffiness. It was a pity that the waffle itself tasted pretty bland and required the help of the maple syrup and vanilla ice cream. Oh, one suggestion, possible to give more maple, preferably in a separate container. 

The Toffee Nut Waffle

Unlike the red velvet waffle, this unique offering totally blew us away! The unmistakable toffee nut fragrance, the perfect texture which was similar to the classic waffle and most importantly, the delicious mixture of toffee, almond, caramel and maple! 

Another picture to whet your appetite! Frankly, we almost wanted to have a second order!

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Location

30, Bali Lane

[Parallel to Haji Lane]

Breakfast & Pastas Menu

As above

The Sweet Tooth Menu

As above

Price

The Red Velvet Waffle - S$11.90

The Classic Waffle with Ice Cream - S$14.90 

The Toffee Nut Waffle - S$14.90

[No GST & No Service Charge]

Additional Information

Those with an observant eye would have noticed that the receipt reflected another waffle; the black forest. The kitchen apparently mixed up our order but instead of asking us to suck it up, they served the black forest waffle later and it was on the house! Such professionalism right?! 

So how was the waffle? I would put it as a notch higher than red velvet although i personally didn't quite like the bitter cocoa aftertaste. The rest enjoyed it though. 

Oh, do note that there are two units under Stateland along the stretch, separated by just one empty shop. So if you could not find any seat, do pop by the next unit. You might just get lucky! 

Taking the Cable Car to Yun-Hsien Park & Resort @ Wulai [Taipei]

For those with a fear for heights, it might be a hair-raising affair to visit Yun-Hsien Park & Resort at Wulai; as i mentioned before, it seems like taking the cable car is the only option to get to the nostalgic-charged amusement park. 

From Wulai old town, you can choose to walk or take an old school tram to another section 1.6 kilometres away where you eventually would have to hop up a few flights of stairs. 

Right at the end would be a building with a Wulai Tourism Office on the ground floor. If not for the noticeable cable cars on the second level, i would have turned away, thinking i must have lost my directions to find the station. 

Ticketing booth - your tickets would allow you to take the cable car AND include the admission fees to Yun-Hsien Park & Resort. It might also be comforting for you to note that accident insurance was also covered for all passengers. 

The cable car - initially, i thought this would be similar to the gondolas cable lifts at Genting Highlands. At close up, it was an image of another transportation vessel; that of a mini school bus! 

Well, that was the appearance. Within the cable car, it was a scene of familiarity with the gondolas at Genting; albeit with more seating for aching bones like mine. 

Time to go up! 

One major highlight of taking the cable car was the impressive aerial view of the 80-metre high Wulai Waterfall. Almost everyone with a decent camera was scrambling to the waterfall side in order to take photograph after photograph; thank god the cable car was sturdy enough to withstand the tilt. 

Cable car travelling down from the other side; frankly, it really did look as if it was a mini-bus that was being transported down the mountain! 

At a speed of 3.6 metres a second, the cable car would cover a distance of 382 metres with an elevation of around 165 metres! From calculation, the journey should take only about 10 minutes.

Spotted a smaller waterfall along the way! 

The surrounding views include my right side with rolling mountains barely showing a pathway leading to Neidong Forest Amusement Park (don't ask me why is it called an amusement park when internet sources suggested it is a place known for its waterfalls and nature trails). 

At my back would of course be the cable car station.

To my left would be Wulai Old Town, our starting point for Wulai. More about that town would be made available in this blog by this week. Do look out for it. :) 

After a short exploration of Yun-Hsien Park & Resort, it's time to get back! Honestly, it was more a touch-and-go visit and i am kind of regretting not spending more time at the amusement park. 

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Ticket Prices

Adult - NT$220

Children - NT$150

For an overview of my 9 Days, 8 Nights Taiwan Trip [Cingjing (清境) - Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) - Taichung (臺中) - Taipei (臺 北)], click HERE.

Rong Liang Restaurant (荣亮阁) - Char Siew, Roast Pork & Chicken @ Clementi [Behind West Coast Hawker Centre]

I believe in fate and it is exactly this mysterious force that somewhat deterred me from bringing along my trusty Nikon D7100 in my last three visits to Rong Liang restaurant.

So on the fourth time i visited, something good must happen and i would elaborate about it shortly. Anyway, do note that the restaurant is more our typical kopitiam with no air-conditioning and available seating can be hard to find during mealtimes.

Rice

Nothing amazing about plain white rice although it has always been the sweet, savoury sauce that made all the difference. The restaurant obviously didn't scrimp on the sauce yet it wasn't that much to overwhelm the rice.

Roast Chicken

The meat was extremely juicy and tender which was secondary considering how much i really adore roasted chicken skin that was so thin; it didn't require much effort to detach it from the meat!

Char Siew, Roast Pork Platter

The first three times i had my lunch at Rong Liang Restaurant with the Lau sisters, Ms Tan (and occasionally Ms Louis), it has always been the char siew i would attack relentlessly.

It was nicely flavoured, of the right charrness and would count as one of the better ones in Singapore (even though not on the same level as Kay Lee). I would prefer a higher ratio of fats but for the sake of health, this would still do.

On the roast pork that day, fate decided to give me one of the best roast pork (sio bak) i ever had in my whole life! Despite having a marginal layer of cackling pork skin, the taste was just perfect without the saltiness that often swamped my taste buds! It was so delicious; i was constantly eyeing the last piece on the plate. Thank god it eventually landed in my mouth!

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Location

Block 725, Clementi West Street 2,

#01-190/192 [Behind West Coast Hawker Centre]

Map

As above

Price

Roast Chicken - S$12.00

Char Siew Roast Pork Platter - S$8.00

Menu

As above