Taichung – Taichung Second Market, Taichung Sixth Market, and a Visit to Dawncake

For our stay in Taichung, I selected Le Meridian. The rooms were the most comfortable of all the places we stayed at in Taiwan.

And there was a vast and good breakfast buffet.

The variety was quite impressive. A nice variety of Western and Asian dishes.

You were provided with a card for your table. You left it on the "green" side for when you went exploring for food…..

And then flipped it to "red" when you were done to let the folks know they could clear your table.

We enjoyed our breakfasts here.

We enjoyed our time here.

Unlike the other places we'd be visiting, I hadn't made any plans for our full day here. We had one destination in mind for the day, we needed to get some pineapple cake from Dawncake for my MIL. And while Miyahara was owned by Dawncake, we decided to walk on over to the main store on Taiwan Boulevard.

During our walk it seemed like Taichung is a bit spread out and there was only 1 MRT line in the city at the time of our visit. So, we didn't do much except explore. Like in other cities in Taiwan we found an interesting contrast of the modern and stylish….

With the old…..

As the architecture seemed to change on every block on this portion of Taiwan Boulevard.

There were many alleyways winding their way around, with some of them specializing in electronic shops or hot pot and the like…..

There also seemed to be a large number of 24 hour arcades in the area.

One of the places the folks at the hotel and the Missus's Instagram searches recommended we visit was Taichung Second Market. While we weren't very hungry due to just finishing breakfast, we headed on over to have a look.

During the Japanese Colonial Period, this was known as Shintomichō, a high-end shopping area. 

Now it's known as a place to get "good grindz"………

And as we soon learned, lines are usually a good thing in Taiwan and they can move pretty fast, like at this Lu Rou Fan stand.

There's quite a variety of food available.

Along with the expected produce, seafood, and meat purveyors.

Taichung Second Market
No. 87, Section 2, Sanmin Rd.
Central District, Taichung City, Taiwan

We stopped for a short tea break.

Where the Missus noticed a super long line going down around the block. She went to investigate and I crossed the street to take a photo.

Apparently, this is a very popular place selling Castella Cake, named Banshin Castella Cake.

Yep, those lines……

All of this and it was just after 9 am!

We headed further up Taiwan Boulevard, to the rather modern Xitun District, full of office towers and high rises.

 We came across what looked like a hotel….it turned out to be the Splendor Hotel, with a bunch of vendors selling all sorts of plants and crafts. The Missus read one of the signs and noticed that the building is called "Park Lane" and on the third floor was something called "Taichung Sixth Market". Since it was still early and Dawncake didn't open until 10 we decided to check the place out.

We caught the elevator up to the third flood and arrived at what I'll call a very modern food hall/market of sorts. There were some food stands but they weren't open yet.

Like I mentioned earlier; we were struck by the contrasts of the old (Second Market) and the new.

While all the food stands were closed, we found this tea booth.

The young man working the stand was so kind and friendly. The Missus loves Her tea and he took the time out to explain the source and flavors of all the tea; which was from his family's farm in Alishan and told us to have a seat.

He proceeded to make us multiple samples of each! Telling us to take our time and enjoy.

It was such a nice experience and we bought a couple of bags of tea. 

We'll make sure to return if we're back in Taichung!

Taichung Sixth Market (in Park Lane by Splendor)
403 Jianxing Rd.
West District, Taichung City, Taiwan

By now it was after 10am and Dawncake was open.

The Missus's Mom enjoys pineapple cake, so we decided to pick some up on every stop during our trip. Dawncake is probably the best known brand from Taichung.

The shop is large and bright. We were given some samples and the Missus got Her Mom a box.

Meanwhile, I came across something I had seen the previous night at Miyahara.

And this time I just had to get it.

It's actually tea that is sold in what could pass as an album cover. So, the Missus got more tea and I got that wonderful album cover…because "I'm forever missing them….."

Dawncake
No. 512, Section 2, Taiwan Blvd.
West District, Taichung City, Taiwan

Happy Mother's Day!