Day 1 - Took the flight to Taipei, Taiwan by Transasia and stayed in Deja Vu Hotel 喬合大飯店 in Taipei city, Fuxing south road 台北市復興南路一段136號 (近捷運忠孝復興站). One reminder - you must change the currency at the airport as the rate is better than Singapore's. Moreover - there is NO money changer counter outside the airport in Taipei - unlike Hong Kong, Bangkok and JB where the money charger can be found in the shopping centres or tourist areas! I had to withdraw from the ATM.
After putting down our luggage, we ate at an eatery 胖子 behind the hotel as it was too early to check in. The servings are really big. we ordered 2 bowls of soup (single serving) and I must say 2 can actually share one bowl. We also bought the fried fritters from a street vendor nearby - "双胞胎" which is the same as the 蝴蝶炸" in Singapore - much softer and more fragrant.
After that we went back to the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a steam room in our bathroom. A real blessing as the weather was rather cold - I switch it on to heat up the room before taking a bath - very relaxing! The hotel also provided the Lans cable which I can use to connect to the internet free. However, the speed is rather slow. The counter customer service is always very prompt to respond and helped us arranged for transport to and from the hotel to the airport as well as an 8hr personal tour on the 2nd day. There is free flow of coffee and tea in the lounge as well as a computer for surfing the internet free. Very considerate of them - the coffee (latte, Expresso or American) is nice too with the free snacks given.
After that we went back to the hotel. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a steam room in our bathroom. A real blessing as the weather was rather cold - I switch it on to heat up the room before taking a bath - very relaxing! The hotel also provided the Lans cable which I can use to connect to the internet free. However, the speed is rather slow. The counter customer service is always very prompt to respond and helped us arranged for transport to and from the hotel to the airport as well as an 8hr personal tour on the 2nd day. There is free flow of coffee and tea in the lounge as well as a computer for surfing the internet free. Very considerate of them - the coffee (latte, Expresso or American) is nice too with the free snacks given.
After a quick bath, we went to a shop nearby to get their phone card which cost NT350 each (around $15) - something you must get as we used it for the whole trip with quite a number of calls back to Singapore. However they need to photocopy your passport and IC. As we were already given the transit card in Singapore by our tour agency when we booked the air tickets, I just needed to top up the value in 7-11. Our hotel is just next to Zhong Xiao Fuxing station so we took that to Houshanpi station and visited Wufenpi 五分埔-成衣街(a street with a lot of wholesalers for clothes and accessories) as well as the Raohe Night market 饒河街夜市nearby. Quite a feast at the night market - smelly toufu, pig blood soup, shave ice with mango etc. I was very impressed with their dessert tofu with brown sugar and mango pudding. One snack you must try is egg roll with shrimp roe inside - unique in the night market. After that we took the train back to our hotel. As Sogo is also near to our hotel, we went over to get some snacks as well as milk and some drinks before we go for our massage just next to the hotel. The massage parlour operates 24 hr but I feel that the charge is quite steep at NT900 per hour. The location is really superb as many of the shops operate till very late (till 2pm) or operate 24 hr and it is only 3 mins walk to Zhongxiao Fuxing station which is an interchange.
Click here for more photos: Photos for Day 1
Day 2 - We took the train to Xinmenting. A lot of youngsters there. We ate at a famous local goose meat with bee hoon restaurant. I don't quite like the goose meat as it was a bit tough and the soup taste weird. After that we went over to Starbucks to have a cup of coffee. We went back to our hotel as the hotel had helped us booked a personal tour for 8 hours (NT $3500). Our driver, Mr Zhen brought us to the Taipei 101 for some photo shots first. After that my husband wanted to see the Chiang Kaisiak Memorial Hall. There were a lot of pigeons in front of the hall - I think it was called Chung Cheng square and now it is called Freedom square. There is a large statue of Chiang Kaishiak - it seemed that the former President Tan Shiu Bian actually covered the statue during his office.
We proceeded to Yeliu Geo park which was an hour ride away from Taipei city centre. There was a slight drizzle and the wind was so strong. The waves was pounding against the coast and it was quite an eye opener. Simply love the rock formation. Due to weathering and erosion, most of the rocks take in a unique shape - such as one known as the Queen's head. The softer rocks below the layer of harder rocks erode faster and many are at risk of collapsing. There are also a lot of potholes on the basaltic rocks. The wind was so strong and accompanied by some rain that it seems like a typhoon. So sad that I can't take more photos due to the weather. It was already dark when the park close at 5pm and we went over to Jiufen old street.
The street at Jiufen reminded me of Macau as there are so many stalls selling souvenirs and snacks 伴手禮. I bought the fried prawn balls from one of the street vendor - smells good but not didn't taste as good as the one I made. We tried the famous dessert taro balls in red bean soup. The shop also sell very interesting snacks such as peanut coated with charcoal batter. Most of the street vendors would offer you free sample to try - quite plentiful as it is a long street - just like those in Macau. We took the fried cuttlefish and meatball in one of the shops - the steam meatball肉圆 is actually more like a dumpling with lots of filling inside -something which you must definitely try - simply delicious! We went over to another shop and tried the grilled cuttlefish and escargot. Their cuttlefish is so much thicker than those we have in Singapore and so much more juicy! As it was drizzling, most of the shops started to close early so went to Keelung Temple Night Market.
Keelung is well known for its seafood but we will too full to eat any. My husband took some of the marinated snails. We took some more desserts over there including Mochi coated with peanut. The mango pudding was so smooth - better than the one we had at Raohe Night Market.
As it was still early when we get back to Taipei city centre - around 8pm - we decided to go to Shilin Night Market and the Food Centre 士林觀光夜市. We ordered the famous oyster omelette and a meat soup. I still feel that our oyster omelette is better as the one in Taiwan is soggy with the sauce. My husband also took the grilled blood rice cake and chicken backside (I didn't dare to try). I also tried their small sausage wrapped in big sausage - the big sausage is actually stuffed with glutinous rice and I don't really fancy that. After that I also tried their small bun wrapped in big bun. The small bun is deep fried and smashed into small pieces - it is then wrapped inside a crepe (like our popiah) together with red bean, peanut or chicken floss. Interesting - very crunchy when you bite it. The driver sent us back to our hotel.
Keelung is well known for its seafood but we will too full to eat any. My husband took some of the marinated snails. We took some more desserts over there including Mochi coated with peanut. The mango pudding was so smooth - better than the one we had at Raohe Night Market.
As it was still early when we get back to Taipei city centre - around 8pm - we decided to go to Shilin Night Market and the Food Centre 士林觀光夜市. We ordered the famous oyster omelette and a meat soup. I still feel that our oyster omelette is better as the one in Taiwan is soggy with the sauce. My husband also took the grilled blood rice cake and chicken backside (I didn't dare to try). I also tried their small sausage wrapped in big sausage - the big sausage is actually stuffed with glutinous rice and I don't really fancy that. After that I also tried their small bun wrapped in big bun. The small bun is deep fried and smashed into small pieces - it is then wrapped inside a crepe (like our popiah) together with red bean, peanut or chicken floss. Interesting - very crunchy when you bite it. The driver sent us back to our hotel.
hubby first attempt at chicken butt ha ha 千里香就是鸡屁股
At midnight - we decided to try the steamboat next to our hotel. The pig bone and 山药 soup base was so very tasty and you can order so many things a la cart - prawns, beef, vegetable etc - I highly recommend their fish dumpling - I took almost 20 of them! The ones in Singapore has too little fillings and is not smooth. The prawns and meat are also very fresh. What a filling night!
Day 3 - We woke up earlier today to try the hotel breakfast - nothing fanciful but they have Yakult. We took a cab to Window on China 小人国which is located @ Taoyuan. It is like a theme park with a lot of mini replica of famous buildings all over the the world. The place is quite big - we went to the area with Taiwan and China's famous buildings. After that we had to take a mini train to the another place for Asia and Europe's famous buildings. There were a lot of students visiting the centre and there were some performance by local artists for them. There is also a water splash area which we did not visit. You can also take a boat round the area.
The cab driver whom brought us to the place waited for us and brought us to Danshui 淡水.We could not see the sunset with the bad weather. It was drizzling so we had some seafood nearby. Don't quite like the peacock clams which they highly recommended but love the fried tapioca leaves which is so different from Singapore's. The fish is average as I find the the sauce too mild - it seems that those living in the north prefer less salt, less spice etc. I managed to buy the famous preserved quail egg 阿婆鐵蛋 (NT100 per pack) . Though there are other brands which are cheaper this is the one which is highly recommended.
We took the train to Beitou 北投 and change the train towards Xin Beitou 新北投. The train which connects Beitou to Xin Beitou is so unique with decoration simulating a spa. There are screens which are placed on tables which look like bath tubs introducing the hot spring at Beitou. We went to a hotel nearby for a private bath in the hot spring water as the sky was already dark even though it was only 530pm. A lady from the hotel was stationed outside the MRT and she called a driver to bring us up to the hotel. It cost us NT$1100 for the use of the room for an hour. The room has a big tub which we can soak in the hot spring water , after that we can have a steam and bath - everything is provided just like a hotel room.
After the bath at the hot spring, we took the train to Longshan Temple 龍山寺. There are quite a number of night markets around here. We took the peanut soup with fried fritters from a stall just above the station - nice! We then went over to Hwaxi night market 華西街觀光夜市 which my husband tried some of the exotic food. He took the snake soup which came with five small cups. The shop owner taught my hubby how to drink the five cups which contained the snake blood, poison etc. His face was so red after taking them but the owner ensured him that it is good for the skin. He also ordered fried cocoon and quail. I took a little bit of the quail but I didn't dare to try the cocoon. There are also white mice in the restaurant - I wonder whether that's part of the delicacies or for the snakes?
I also bought the corn from the night market but I still prefer the one from Johor which is more crunchy. The one in Taipei is similar to Bangkok's which is more sticky. We also bought a dumpling to bring back to the hotel as it look quite cute - very different from Singapore's.
Day 4 - Our hotel location is really superb as it is near to the Zhongxiao Fuxing station (just round the corner) and is a interchange for the blue and brown line. The blue line brings us to places such as ximenting, longshan temple, wufenpi and taipei train station direct to the zoo. We reached the zoo within half an hour. It is big in terms of area but does not have that many animals and there are no animal shows. We had to take their mini train from the bird area back to the entrance. The main purpose of our visit was to look at the Pandas and the red top crane. The zoo was very relaxing - more like a park than a zoo. We tried the Macdonald in the zoo - I still prefer us as their bun is smaller and the patty thinner. Their nuggets are very crispy but there is no chilli or curry sauce available.
I also went to the 7-11 to claim my free coffee with the coupon which was given to me by my tour agency together with the transit card.
After that we took a cab to the National Palace Museum as we were given free tickets to the Museum. I went to the Taiwan visitor centre at UIC building (near to Raffles city MRT) the day before our departure to get some maps and they were kind enough to give us the free museum tickets and NT200 night market voucher.
The museum was literally flooded with visitors from China. We had to queue to see their National treasure - the white jade lettuce and the jade pork belly. Not very impressed by that but was impressed with the 清明上河图 which is a picture depicting life in ancient China - they even animated it!
As the Museum is in Shilin - we decided to go back to Shilin food centre to try out more food. It seems that the government wanted the vendors to move to the basement first but we didn't see any stall. The present location next to the Jiantan station is still much more convenient for tourists. The new one is still under construction and there are street vendors near to a temple nearby. This is where I had the best mee sua in Taiwan - better than the Ah Chong Mee Sua in Ximenting which is highly recommended. It contains more ingredient and is smoother and less sour.
After that we took the train to Yuan San station 圓山站 (just a few stops away) as I heard that there is a night market near to the Confucius temple. There was an activity in the temple - going through some process of self realization. We took some pictures and walk towards the Dalong Night market nearby. We tried the braised pork rice 魯肉飯, braised pork leg and the deep fried salted chicken rice set. Simply love them! After that we took the train to Shida Night Market師大夜市 which is near to Tai Power Station. However we alighted at Guting station which is a longer walk to the Night Market. The Night Market was simply too crowded. Bought some snacks and proceed to another night market near our hotel - Liao Ning Night market. We took the famous sesame oil chicken with the dry mee sua. I love the mee sua but not so for the chicken as the rice wine made it bitter.
The museum was literally flooded with visitors from China. We had to queue to see their National treasure - the white jade lettuce and the jade pork belly. Not very impressed by that but was impressed with the 清明上河图 which is a picture depicting life in ancient China - they even animated it!
As the Museum is in Shilin - we decided to go back to Shilin food centre to try out more food. It seems that the government wanted the vendors to move to the basement first but we didn't see any stall. The present location next to the Jiantan station is still much more convenient for tourists. The new one is still under construction and there are street vendors near to a temple nearby. This is where I had the best mee sua in Taiwan - better than the Ah Chong Mee Sua in Ximenting which is highly recommended. It contains more ingredient and is smoother and less sour.
After that we took the train to Yuan San station 圓山站 (just a few stops away) as I heard that there is a night market near to the Confucius temple. There was an activity in the temple - going through some process of self realization. We took some pictures and walk towards the Dalong Night market nearby. We tried the braised pork rice 魯肉飯, braised pork leg and the deep fried salted chicken rice set. Simply love them! After that we took the train to Shida Night Market師大夜市 which is near to Tai Power Station. However we alighted at Guting station which is a longer walk to the Night Market. The Night Market was simply too crowded. Bought some snacks and proceed to another night market near our hotel - Liao Ning Night market. We took the famous sesame oil chicken with the dry mee sua. I love the mee sua but not so for the chicken as the rice wine made it bitter.
We walked back to our hotel and along the way, we were attracted by a strong aroma - it came from this charcoal grill shop which serves a la carte buffet. It is very popular and was full. We went back to our hotel and rest for a while before deciding on going to the restaurant as I could not forget the charcoal grill smell. The restaurant operates till 130 pm so when we went back at 12 midnight - it was still crowded and they managed to find seats for 2. Love the meat and the charcoal grill favour. The sauce was fantastic and they serve this Japanese milk ice cream that was so tempting that I took my husband's share as well. There is quite a variety of dishes and free flow of drinks. I just wonder how they can survive with their charge of NT 439 (which is around S$20). I was really awed by the number of plates (at least 20) which the teenagers finished on the table next to ours!
Day 5 - As we have completed almost all of Taipei city - we decided to take the high speed train to Taichung. It took us less than an hour from Taipei to Taichung as I had chosen the train which makes only one stop in between - there are some which make more stops in between. I booked the return trip as well and it cost us NT1000 per trip per person for the business class (2 seats instead of 3 seats per row so it is less cramp). We booked a cab to take us to Nantou where Sun moon lake is. It seems that Nantou is the only area which is not near to the coast and is surrounded by mountains. We tried the president fish and vegetable 山苏 which is unique in the area. Again I like the vegetable but not so for the president fish as it has too many bones.
After lunch, we went to Wen Wu temple and I bought some stone key chains. The temple is very big and has a display of a boat made up of money. From where the temple is, you can have a view of the Sun Moon Lake.
After that we went to take the ferry at Sun Moon Lake - love the view from the ferry, especially the reflection of the sun setting on the lake. The charge for the ferry is NT 300 per person with 2 stops. At one of the stops - there was a performance by the local tribe and I bought the famous egg cooked in tea leaves 阿婆茶叶蛋. A bit too commercialized now and again swarmed with tourists from China.
At another stop, there is a street lined with restaurants and shops selling snacks and souvenir. I bought the dried mushroom which is also a local delicacy. It seemed that there is a famous temple 月老庙 which even local artists came to pray for good marriages. However it was destroyed by the recent earthquake. The island in the centre of the lake was partly submerged due to the earthquake as well. While waiting for the ferry, I bought the local milk tea and there is a very colourful parrot displayed outside the restaurant.
Back to the jetty, we tried the grilled wild boar meat, grilled chicken with tea leaves in a local restaurant operated by the local tribe . The local seems to like dogs a lot - there were many cute ones around. My husband gave almost half plate of the grilled wild boar meat to the dogs. The hand rolled biscuit is also very nice. I love the black sausage which is actually made up of the squid ink. Taste nice though it look awful. After that the driver brought us to the highest point to look at the lake again. However it was getting dark and the view was limited. The journey back to Taichung took us another hour.
After that we went to the famous Fengjia night market 逢甲夜市in Taichung. Took some dumpling soup which we don't quite like. Again the night market was too crowded for our liking. Most of the stuff are the same as in Taipei. We have visited a total of 8 night markets!
We took the Hi-speed train back to Taipei. Luckily we bought the return tickets as it was fully booked. We took the transit back to our hotel. We walked around our hotel and saw another restaurant which has a long queue - it was a shabu shabu a la carte buffet restaurant - the charges was even lower for this restaurant only NT349 per person (S$16). We waited for our turn and was led to the 2nd storey. A very unique way of cooking the meat in the soup and then dip in raw beaten egg. We finished 6 trays of beef and some vegetables with a dessert. There are some guests who finished at least 6 trays of meat each - that's why when we finished our food, the waiter was quite taken aback and asked if there is anything wrong with their food. Most of the guests would finish dozen of trays and would not finish so fast. I ensured them their food is delicious - 6 trays of meat is definitely a lot for us! Would highly recommend the restaurant!
Day 5 Photos part 3
Day 6- our last day in Taipei. We took the train to Taipei Train station ( just 3 stops away) and went to the underground street臺北地下街 . We walked pass the National Museum to get to the 228 memorial park and had our breakfast there - the toast and rose Latte were fantastic but not so for the waffle. A very nice park with pavilions and a pond. We walked towards the President Residence and we saw some CID and police patrolling the area - the President election campaign is taking place now and security is tight. Such as coincidence as when we were in Bangkok- there was an election campaign as well. There are some tourist buses parked opposite the president residence and some tourists taking pictures. It is also the country's 100 anniversary this year. We decided to walk to Ximenting as it is nearby. I tried the famous An Chong mee sua but I still prefer the one outside the temple in Shilin.
Day 6- our last day in Taipei. We took the train to Taipei Train station ( just 3 stops away) and went to the underground street臺北地下街 . We walked pass the National Museum to get to the 228 memorial park and had our breakfast there - the toast and rose Latte were fantastic but not so for the waffle. A very nice park with pavilions and a pond. We walked towards the President Residence and we saw some CID and police patrolling the area - the President election campaign is taking place now and security is tight. Such as coincidence as when we were in Bangkok- there was an election campaign as well. There are some tourist buses parked opposite the president residence and some tourists taking pictures. It is also the country's 100 anniversary this year. We decided to walk to Ximenting as it is nearby. I tried the famous An Chong mee sua but I still prefer the one outside the temple in Shilin.
We took the train to Zhongxiao Xinsheng (one stop away from our hotel's) to visit the Guang Hwa digital mall 光華數位新天地. It is like our Sim Lim complex where a lot of digital hardware can be found. There are many street vendors around the area and we ate at this shop which sell milk red bean soup and tempura 甜不辣. Nice - highly recommended!
After that we took the train back to the hotel and used the computer to surf the internet in the business lounge while waiting for our airport transfer.
Day 6 photos
After that we took the train back to the hotel and used the computer to surf the internet in the business lounge while waiting for our airport transfer.
Day 6 photos
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