Beacon Hotel 碧根行館 has been around for decades and has been a landmark in Taichung City 台中市 for being the only hotel located in the heart of Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市, the largest
night market in Taiwan. Back then, the hotel was getting
too old and the upkeep was poor. So in early 2009, it temporarily closed for renovations. Luckily, when we first visited Taichung City 台中市 in October 2009, it re-opened for business with its newly renovated interiors. The downside? No breakfast on site...we were given McDonald's vouchers for...well, better than nothing...hahaha!
Unfortunately, history has repeated itself. The upkeep of the hotel was so poor that the first suite assigned to us last night had a gross and an unbearable smell. On top of that, carpet stains were everywhere. I immediately called and complained, and right away, we were assigned to the suite next door, with no smell and lesser stains (but not by much). Comparing to our 2009 experience of the suite (碧根套房), it now offers less in-room "delicacies"...less toiletries, less selections of complimentary non-alcoholic bottled drinks and NO SNACKS!!! Oh, by the way, have you ever seen a refrigerator in a hotel room that's, according to the front desk, not used for cooling purposes? Thank goodness we only stayed one night...no more for us...
Okay, after all the complaining and babbling, we still went and checked out their complimentary breakfast buffet. Pretty spacious and bright layout with a decent selection of food. It all looked good until...
COCKROACHES!!! Mother and son? Mother and daughter? Or were they father and son? Father and daughter? Whatever they were, I was choked. Of course, knowing me, I complained immediately but both the restaurant host and the front desk staff didn't seem to care much and tried to brush me off. So, I went to the next step...I immediately called city hall and emailed all the photos to health authority by request. The hotel's one and only kitchen was shut off by the city immediately until further notice.
Anyhow, it's day three of our road trip and we ate/played around in Taichung City 台中市 before making our way back to Taipei City 台北市. Our first stop was to pick up a dozen frozen bottles of pineapple juice 土鳳梨汁 from my ATF place for pineapple cakes 土鳳梨酥, Cardanwo 卡但屋. Honestly, the pineapple cakes 土鳳梨酥 from other big name places such as SunnyHills 微熱山丘 or Best Bakery 順成 are garbage. Last year, when Octopus' sister bought me a box of SunnyHills 微熱山丘, I, literally, tossed the whole box in trash after taking only one bite of it...it's simply crap!
Next, in the East District 東區 of Taichung City 台中市, we visited a local favorite, 天津狗不理湯包, an outlet that's famous for their soup-filled buns. Look at all that soup...hence the name "湯包" ("tang-bao", or soup buns). Another return for us!!!
Now, I slotted in another somewhat artsy destination (free admission, of course), the Carton King 紙箱王. Okay, technically, it's not "free admission" ($100TWD per person, approximately $3.33CAD), but the admission can be fully reimbursed at their restaurant or gift shops...so, to me, it's FREE!!! Yup, my cheap gear kicked in again! LOL!
After Carton King 紙箱王, we began driving back home. Our final destination in Taichung City 台中市 was a XLB restaurant that was featured on Super Taste 食尚玩家. Unfortunately, we were totally fooled by the show. Not recommended.
We stopped by the Dahu Township 大湖鄉 in Miaoli County 苗栗縣 for the famous Strawberry Cultural Building 草莓文化館...yup, again, it's free! Wahahahaha! This town is known as the Strawberry Kingdom of Taiwan 台灣草莓王國, but because our visit was off season (strawberry season in Taiwan is usually November to March), the museum was pretty empty. Mmm...yummy Strawberry Sausages 草莓香腸, made with strawberry wine.
Our final destination of our three-day road trip was in Hsinchu City 新竹市. Hai Rei Meatballs 海瑞摃丸 is one of the three most popular places (along with Hua-Ping 華品 and Jinchi 進益) for 貢丸 ("gong-wan", or Taiwanese Pork Meatballs). Other than the meatballs, which were amazingly firm and Q, all other food was crap. Stick with the meatballs.
We made it back home just in time for dinner and guess what my mom wanted to have? Hot pot...yup, hot pot again. Didn't we just went for hot pot a few night ago at Tripod King 鼎王麻辣鍋? Grrr... Anyhow, I quickly searched online and found TES329 Shabu Shabu Store 陶一軒精緻日式火鍋, an all-you-can-eat shabu-shabu chain with a location in Neihu District 內湖區...yup, we went for AYCE after a full-day of food...
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