Taiwan Trip 16 - 23 May 2015 (Taipei)
20 May 2015 - RAINY DAY
Look at the morning Cing Jing!! Fluffy fluffy clouds like cotton candy.. *Umm*. If you would like to imagine how the starry sky is at night, just imagine the cloud are a sea of stars. You get what I mean when I said I could see stars at eye-level.
We left Cing Jing reluctantly and left for Taichung HSR Station. We rushed for the next available HSR to travel to Taipei. We were quite glad that we were ahead of time!
If at this point of time, you are thinking that we were having a swift time, you have to imagine our loads. This man carried my shopping bags all the way in Taiwan. I felt absolutely touched when I see his back view, carrying that heavy bag for me, while rushing for the HSR. This man can chiong (work hard) for me, carry my burden, sweat for me, take care of me, and he is my man. I love you Boyfriend - my best travel mate. <3
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| @chirpymitch |
In my first two trips to Taipei, I have stayed in Hotels within Xi Men Ding (西门町) area. It is a very good location cos the shopping area will be just below your hotel, just steps away. There are also many cafes, restaurants and snacks available in the area. It just feel like you are staying in Singapore Far East Shopping Centre or Bugis Village. Haha!
However, when you are ready to ditch shopping plans in Xi Men Ding and want to explore the other parts of Taiwan from Taipei, staying around Taipei Main Station is the best choice. Simply because, all the modes of transport to any other parts of Taiwan are there - Bus, Railway Train, HSR, Metro Train (MRT), Taxi. If you are still not off your shopping addiction, there are 2 stretches of underground shopping areas and a few shopping malls right at Taipei Main Station such as Q-Square (京站) and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi (新光三越).
Given Taipei Main Station's strategic location, prices of the hotel around this area are definitely slightly higher. Putting prices aside, availability of rooms are also uncertain, so you really have to plan early and book your accommodations. How early? Like EARLY. For me i started about 2 - 3 months in advance. Haha I think I'm the very kiasu (scared to lose out) type, I like to pre-plan everything as early as possible, cos this will really help me with planning the budget (very effective) and reduce chances of surprises like can't find any available hotels at the area that I want to visit. It's true because some of those hotels and resorts I wanted to book was already fully booked by then.
Our choice of hotel was iTaipei Serviced Apartment. It had to be the best hotel stay of the whole trip. Their service was good, like even we reached earlier than the check in timing, they let us check in but also subjected to readiness of the rooms. The room is also very well equipped with all kinds of necessities from toiletries to iron board, electric stoves and washing machine! There are also alot of plugs for charging your gadgets, so you need not fight with your travel mates. ;) Their toilet even have a heater function so you don't feel cold while your bathing. Amazing huh.
After checking in, we had simple lunch and went out to play!
I love Japanese food! I'll always have a Sushi Take-Away whenever I come Taipei! *obsessed*
This shop is just located at Taipei Main Station Basement.
Look at those scallops!*slurps*
We took the MRT to Xi Men Ding, and it started drizzling as we were shopping. Boo!
I managed to locate a jeans shop where I always buy my jeans at every time I go there. The prices of the jeans had gone up and much pricier. But there are also other more affordable selections which are like less than SGD20. What I like about this shop is that, not only the boss is very friendly and helpful, he is also a very skillful tailor! He provides on the spot alteration for your jeans so it can fit you perfectly... without any extra charge.
漢口牛仔屋 - 台北市萬華區武昌街2段50巷1號
Boyfriend also went to NET and bought some clothes. Apparently the clothes are there are less expensive than Singapore. He also bought a small sling bag in one of the shop in Xi Men Ding.
Hey, you see the magic of Taiwan? You can make a guy who doesn't shop, buy so many things here!!! XD
Next, we headed to Dan Shui (淡水) via MRT again. Travelling in Taipei is really quite easy, taking they MRT is just like taking MRT in Singapore, but more stops and more interchanges.
Very obvious lacking sleeps.
Dan Shui is located at far east of Taipei, famous for its old street shopping ( 淡水老街) and the Ba Li area (八里 ), and Fisherman's Wharf (渔人码头) which you can take paid boat rides to.
It was already drizzling when we reached Dan Shui, but that did not deter us from taking selfies! and shopping~
Aside from the attractions and shopping, what else to do in Dan Shui? Food hunt! How could we miss the famous 'Ah Gei' (阿给) and fishball soup (鱼丸汤)!
To be honest, we were not sure which one is the super nice or authentic ones. But there were only a couple available so we popped in here. Verdict? It's really not bad at all!!
I order the artificial abalone flavour (squid slices), ma la flavour (hot and spicy) for Boyfriend. We also order a braised pork rice (卤肉饭). Braised Pork Rice had been one of my favourite when I visit Taiwan. Many people finds it oily or unhealthy, but I really loved the fragrance of the braised pork. YumzZZ!
We also grabbed some local snacks and food stuff and Dan Shui is famous for many, such as their preserved eggs. There are many kinds of preserved eggs, those I like is Tie Dan (铁蛋) and San Wei Dan( Eggs of 3 tastes. 三味蛋). you should really try them though the taste is unique, either you like it or don't at all. There are of cos many brands around, for 铁蛋 the famous brand is Ah Po Tie Dan (阿婆铁蛋), while 醍醐大師 have the best 三味蛋!
Oh what's this?! Naraya!! A couple of people thought I must be crazy to buy Naraya in Taiwan. But hey, guess what, the shop was having sales!!! The price is almost same as what you bought in Bangkok. So chillz ya! I bought 2 here. I wanted to buy more, but.... I need to control.... XD
Another famous snacks here but I didnt get, were Fish Crackers (鱼酥). Cos we are not really a big fan of it. =/ Some other shops you can explore are the Playboy store, Porter International and Porter Cafes. At least these are the places that I wanted to visit the next time we come.
We had really wanted to head over Ba Li or the Fisherman's Wharf but unfortunately it started to rain heavily so we decided not to take the boat rides and head back hotel to unload...... and head to Shi Da Night Market (师大夜市)!
To be honest, we were not sure which one is the super nice or authentic ones. But there were only a couple available so we popped in here. Verdict? It's really not bad at all!!
I order the artificial abalone flavour (squid slices), ma la flavour (hot and spicy) for Boyfriend. We also order a braised pork rice (卤肉饭). Braised Pork Rice had been one of my favourite when I visit Taiwan. Many people finds it oily or unhealthy, but I really loved the fragrance of the braised pork. YumzZZ!
We also grabbed some local snacks and food stuff and Dan Shui is famous for many, such as their preserved eggs. There are many kinds of preserved eggs, those I like is Tie Dan (铁蛋) and San Wei Dan( Eggs of 3 tastes. 三味蛋). you should really try them though the taste is unique, either you like it or don't at all. There are of cos many brands around, for 铁蛋 the famous brand is Ah Po Tie Dan (阿婆铁蛋), while 醍醐大師 have the best 三味蛋!
Black Sugar Jelly and Black Sugar Tea in many flavours (黑糖海燕窝， 黑糖茶(不同口味)). The black sugar jelly are what my friends and I like very much. 海燕窝 is made of seaweed and corals, cleansed and processed into powder. Some people further processed and flavoured it into black sugar cubes like what we saw. All you need to do is boil hot water and melt the cube in.
For making jelly, cool the liquid after the cube melts totally and you can have it chilled!
For the tea, you can just drink it hot or chilled.
Oh what's this?! Naraya!! A couple of people thought I must be crazy to buy Naraya in Taiwan. But hey, guess what, the shop was having sales!!! The price is almost same as what you bought in Bangkok. So chillz ya! I bought 2 here. I wanted to buy more, but.... I need to control.... XD
Another famous snacks here but I didnt get, were Fish Crackers (鱼酥). Cos we are not really a big fan of it. =/ Some other shops you can explore are the Playboy store, Porter International and Porter Cafes. At least these are the places that I wanted to visit the next time we come.
We had really wanted to head over Ba Li or the Fisherman's Wharf but unfortunately it started to rain heavily so we decided not to take the boat rides and head back hotel to unload...... and head to Shi Da Night Market (师大夜市)!
Shi Da is located 10 mins walk away from Taipower Mrt Station (台电大楼站). This night market is one of those very trendy ones and attracts a lot of graduate students there to shop. I pretty like their shops better than wu fen pu (五分铺). As far as I have been there before and researched online. I know their fashion styles are mostly Korean and Hong Kong style. I find it difficult to shop there because their shops always look cluttered, the quality of clothes are also not that good. Compared to Shi Da, the clothes at Shi Da looks to have better quality and trendier, even some clothes can be pricier than Wu Fen Pu's. Once I bought a pair of shorts at Wu Fen Pu, the zip was actually faulty. =/ But remember the jeans shop in Xi Men Ding I mentioned earlier? The uncle also helped to fix it for me without charge even though it wasn't purchased there. Up to now, the zip is still in working condition.
Look, the shops are so much spacious and comfy to shop in! Most of the sales staff are very friendly and could give good recommendations and suggestions. Some will also take measurements of the dress to make sure you can fit. I do not know whether it is a fortunate thing that it rained because there were not much crowd around, and I can shop freely without having to squeeze among the people. =P
Shopping like a queen. ^.^
All in all, I managed to buy 2 jumpers, 2 skorts, 2 dresses and 1 top. Hahaha. I know it sounds little but since I go often, these were enough for the time being, and I also maxed my budget. Quality beats quantity. ;)
Hungry after shopping? Time for supper!! The famous Lantern eatery (灯笼卤味). It is one of the famous street food in Taiwan, but not all can make it right. Lantern is one of the good ones around. In this shop, you will need to select the ingredients/food that you want, order a drink each at the counter, and you can look for a seat.
it took quite a while for the food to be ready as business is really good. We love it!!
Look, the shops are so much spacious and comfy to shop in! Most of the sales staff are very friendly and could give good recommendations and suggestions. Some will also take measurements of the dress to make sure you can fit. I do not know whether it is a fortunate thing that it rained because there were not much crowd around, and I can shop freely without having to squeeze among the people. =P
Shopping like a queen. ^.^
All in all, I managed to buy 2 jumpers, 2 skorts, 2 dresses and 1 top. Hahaha. I know it sounds little but since I go often, these were enough for the time being, and I also maxed my budget. Quality beats quantity. ;)
Hungry after shopping? Time for supper!! The famous Lantern eatery (灯笼卤味). It is one of the famous street food in Taiwan, but not all can make it right. Lantern is one of the good ones around. In this shop, you will need to select the ingredients/food that you want, order a drink each at the counter, and you can look for a seat.
it took quite a while for the food to be ready as business is really good. We love it!!
The stay in Taipei was short, cos there were too many places to go (or shop). Did not manage to follow the itinerary through, i felt quite disappointed about it. Some places were Taipei 101 and Jay Chou's Mr. J French-Italian Restaurant (義法廚房北醫店). I will definitely make it up next time!
*Lights off*
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