Thrilling Taiwan (Part 1)

January 15, 2010

Thrilling Taiwan (Part 1)

The trip was absolutely fabulous, but the news of my results upon returning to Singapore sure was a wet blanket. Since this post is dedicated to beloved Taiwan, I shall not infuse unhappy stuff here then... Have always wanted to go Taiwan, now the dream has finally been fulfilled. Can't express enough thanks to my mum for sponsoring the tickets and hotel charges, and my sister who accompanied me for this trip. Really hope to go again next time, and hopefully after receiving good news for A level results.
I think this post is going to be freaking long Here goes:

Friday 1 Jan
1445
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport
Really unsure of how to describe the jubilance in me. I, am, stepping, on, Taiwan, ground! Like a small child who is learning how to pronounce each and every word clearly and accurately. Amazed at everything, the weather, the airport, (not as nice as Changi, but because it's Taiwan's airport, lol), the people... Can't believe I am approx 3k plus kilometres away from home, away from my place of work and stress. After checking in, we proceeded to take a bus to hotel. Before we could do so, a taxi driver approached us and offered NT$800 to bring us to our hotel straight, and claiming that there is a huge jam on the road. Sounds convenient of course, but ultra ex! You can form a car pool, provided people going to the same area as you, then it would be cheaper lor. Don't really know how to reject initially but of course didn't take up the offer la. Yea one very big problem of mine. I don't know how to reject people who keep persuading me. Same thing happened at Wufenpu, which I will talk about. The bus...took quite long to arrive, and the journey...was long too. However, it was not because of huge jam lor. Reached Taipei Main Station, then took a short taxi ride to hotel.

1650
Rainbow Hotel
Unbelievable. Took so much time. After settling down then walked outside to Ximending :D Our hotel is actually within Ximending. Want food just head down and grab something. Want bustling atmosphere just go down and join crowd. Talking about bustling, as Friday is a mini-weekend already, the place was really full of people. Ximending is full of rubbish bins, that explains why the streets and generally clean. Ate lots of yummy food. 葱抓饼, is the Taiwan version of roti prata, and I love it.

Tasty chicken, but sadly, there are bones

Grilled Mochi!!!

Yep, Taiwanese are generally polite and nice, as what I've heard. I happened to hold a piece of garbage in my hands and when the 7-eleven cashier saw it, she offered to help me throw into trash bin behind her. A small gesture, but great great warmth. Of course, there are more instances of them being nice la.

Wanted to eat Ay Chung vermicelli, but the queue was, ahem, LONG. So never mind, decided to go back another day. See the ultra long queue.

1952

Longshan Temple MRT Station

One trip "ticket" was in the form of a counter. So cool :D Later then realised it was better to just purchase their form of transport card. Walked around aimlessly, and spotted a shop selling shoes for NT$199. Really inexpensive, so my sister went to get herself one pair. Finally stopped by a night market.

2018

西昌街观光夜市

Actually nothing much here. Ate 综合羹 from a random stall and...it wasn't nice. You might have heard of this dish on TV before, but maybe you wanna eat it at a renowned stall. Later went to 八方云集 to eat dumplings. I really like that name of the shop, and their slogan. (this stall is recommended in a travel guide) The dumplings are nice, but the boss had attitude problems. Never mind, there were more nicer people to cover this fault.

2102

Ximen MRT station

Returned to hotel and rested... then went out again :D Since the queue for Ay Chung vermicelli was much shorter now so we had it for...supper, you can say. Time we had it: 2240. And wow, it was delicious!

Saturday 2 Jan

1045

Reception counter of Rainbow Hotel

Very helpful receptionists. We enquired how to go Yangmingshan and they talked in such a patient and clear tone, with smiles constantly on their faces. In fact, they really offered us much help for our trip... We left for Zhongshan MRT station and took bus 260 to Yangmingshan. Got a little lost before we found the bus stop... And the bus stops simply have two or more stands there. No shelter, no seats, and hence, not distinctive enough.

1223

Yangmingshan

Greenery everywhere, with salubrious mountain air. I truly felt peaceful and relaxed. Crazy to walk by yourself, coz you cant get to most other areas, unless driving. It's advisable to take the bus up the mountain and to other places like 擎天岗; the bus stops at places of attraction. 擎天岗 is a place we didn't go. I think choose around 2 stops like this can liao, because firstly, may feel very tired, and secondly, mostly just green and green, see a bit too much gets boring ah. We went 冷水坑 and 七星山. 1415, we returned to the "base" Yangmingshan bus stop, where we were originally at. Then took bus back to Taipei city.

View from Mt Cising

At Leng Shui Keng

1514

Jiantan MRT station

We alighted here due to a little dispute with my sister. One of us said to alight at Taipei Main station, the other said to alight at Zhongshan station. I forgot why we alighted at Jiantan anyway, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Miramar, the ferris wheel place which appeared in the Taiwan Idol drama "换换爱", was one of the places we planned to go. And so happened that there was a free shuttle bus just outside Jiantan station! The plan had such a smooth transition man...

1538

Miramar Entertainment Park

Basically just boarded the ferris wheel and snap pictures... Didn't shop or eat there. Well, day two only, dare not anyhow spend leh. Anyway got a lot others haven't eat one.

Miramar Entertainment Park, yo. Can see the ferris wheel ba?

Boarding the ferris wheel in the day doesn't matter, because you can see the landscape clearly ar... At night cant see as clearly, but the lights make the place pretty. So I personally think both timings are fine :D After we decided to leave Miramar, it was time to grab a bite. We asked a taxi driver how to get to a restaurant we planned to go and wow, he told us it was within walking distance. Again the plan went so smoothly. Feel kind of stupid for not crossing the traffic lights earlier. We were trapped between an endless stretch of no traffic lights and a long distance from the traffic lights we missed. So...jaywalked lor. Wow, it was cool...The roads were relatively busy and we crossed the first half when the lights for vehicles turned red. Same for the second half.

1703

Five Dime Driftwood Restaurant

Gosh, this restaurant has a really really interesting architecture. Look below:

Exterior of Five Dime Driftwood restaurant

Interior of Five Dime Driftwood restaurant

It is very special and theme-related. FYI, this restaurant only opens at 1700, at least for the branch we ate at. The food, a little ex though... There were I forgot how many types of set meals, catered to individuals, because the serving of each dish tells. Though there were two of us, we only ordered 1 set, costing NT$600. However, the waiter said that each person must order something, so ordered a side dish, 三杯鸡. the restaurant has a lot of storeys...and I wonder if it would ever be filled/客满. Finished already, taxi-ed to our next stop.

1840

Shihlin Night Market

Eat, again! Come Taiwan of course eat eat eat de la. But sad leh, I think I didn't gain much weight upon returning here. Should be happy that I might never become a fatty, or sad that I wasted money and never grow? D: It's a Saturday, so what do you expect? Tons of people! Oh gosh, so many good food leh!!! Bought 盐水鸡, as what I often see from the food programmes on TV. BUT, I personally don't like it, one of the reasons is, it's cold. This part use pictures ba.