Taiwan Trip (Part III)

Oh dear..this Taiwan trip seems neverending. I shall post more photos and have less words ba!

20 Nov 2010 (Day 6)
台中 -  心之芳庭 - 逢甲夜市

At 台中 is really to relax. We started our day at only 9 plus. Itinerary today is to go to 心之芳庭. Had visited its website and really want to go there. Breakfast at macs. The patty in sausage mcmuffin with egg meal was pork instead of chicken. When I opened my burger, eeks! there was a hair on the patty! I quickly took it to the counter but they couldn't make another one for me as breakfast was over, so I chose to exchange it to fillet. The staff were super apologetic, the manager sent the burger over to me and a packet of fries on the house. So nice!

What is  心之芳庭 ?

This is a place specially for couples, friends and family. It is like a haven for love and happiness. The scenary, staff and the things they sell are very very nice. How I wish I can buy everything back. Entrance fee is nt100 each which can be used for retail or food inside.

We had our lunch at 亲亲*我的家. It was fully booked and the waitress said she will call us in 1 hour's time (because when you lunch at this place, everything is slow paced. They let you enjoy your lunch and take photos of the place at your own sweet time) but when we told her that we are tourists and our hp no. are not local, she was in a dilemma. In the end, she asked if we mind sitting at a bar (high chair so most girls who are wearing skirts do not like to sit there), of coz we don't. And we got our lunch! haha.



at the restaurant:: Chin Chin



view from the restaurant at where we sat, so nice~~

When we enter, we were asked to do a pose. Hold hands, bear hug, guy carry girl on his back or mouth to mouth kiss. They will take a photo for us. Our choice will determine which kind of dessert we will have. We chose bear hug. Later then we know that we are supposed to choose the pose that symbolises our relationship. Holding hands symbolises relationship is still in the early stage. Bear hug means 热恋. Guy carry girl on the back symbolises stable relationship and kissing symbolises going to get married or already married. Haha, chose the wrong one but nevermind la, the dessert is nice. Photos shall illustrated everything.

Last but not least, this is the photo taken by them and given to us.

Behind the card was:

Dear,
很开心今天有机会能见到与分享你们的幸福。希望为您俩留下的幸福见证能陪伴你们幸福久久~。
Love,
爱天使
(haha...so romantic, but to us 老夫老妻, dun really feel anything...but will keep it la...so memorable. =))

Back to 台中市. we went to 艺术街. There were many nicely decorated restaurants, European, Asian, Thai, etc along the streets. We went to an Italian one, guess who chose it? We then went to 精明一街, where from the guidebook, this place was supposed to have many people who set up their own stalls selling artistic handmade stuff. But there were only a few stalls and the streets are not crowded at all. Walked around for a while and decided to go back to 逢甲夜市 again. haha.

FOOD!
懒人虾 (why the name is because there is no need to deshell and can eat it as a whole)

大肠包小肠 (which is actually glutinous rice wrapped around a sausage with lotsa vege)

Went for our favourite sweet potato balls again before having 麻油鸡 at another stall.

Loot for the day is only a bag for baby zq. Cute?

Decided to end here first as there are too many photos. Shall finish the whole taiwan trip in just one more post. Haha. Are you getting bored?

Taiwan Trip (Part II)

17 Nov 2010 : Day 3

Taipei 野柳 - 东区 - Shilin Night Market


Woke  up at 7am today. Our plan for today is to 野柳. Thought it is still raining, hope we still can go.
Decided to try this stall right beside our 民宿 for breakfast. It was managed by 1 elderly uncle and 3 elderly women. They were warm and friendly when we stepped in. Bacon n cheese with egg toast for me, ham 蛋饼 for hubby. It is not an omelette, but something different. It was all prepared right on the spot for you! Nothing special but it tasted really good.

Took MRT to Taipei station to take the railway train to 基隆, where upon reaching there we need to take a bus to 野柳. The train ride took about 45mins and another 30 mins by bus to 野柳. The weather was really bad, drizlling with strong winds. We had to walk quite a distance from the bus stop to 野柳 geopark. Upon reaching there, we bought 2 ponchos. As the winds were too strong and we were getting hungry, we hurriedly took a few photos and left. The most famous was the queen's head where you had to queue to take photo with it. All these natural formations are due to erosion by the sea.

After, we went to a seafood restaurant right outside and had a feast! We ordered so much! The food was good and in total, it was only nt1000. It was worth it!

Came back to Taipei and went to recce 东区. There were many nice, cosy and artistic small shops, but we didn't go in. Nothing much to buy so we went on to Shilin Night Market. We wanted to look for internet cafe but couldn't find any. In the end, we went to eat again! Other than food stalls, there were many shops/stalls selling clothes/bags/shoes too. The clothes they sell were more or less the same, which were the ones I saw the day before at 五分埔. I guessed those people with trolley loads of clothes at 五分埔 are the store owners here at Shilin Night Market. As my poor Puma sneakers had started to "open its mouth", I decided to buy another pair since we will be walking quite a lot. Bought a pair of white sneakers (first pair of white shoes since school days) at nt890, no brand. The sales lady was kind enough to offer her help to dispose my Puma sneakers for me. Bought a long sleeved top at only ny150! There were also many shops selling bags which are going at 1 for nt290 and 2 for nt500. Since I only fancied 1, I bought only 1. Hubby bought 3 tees plus 1 for me at nt900. It is not cheap as these kind of tees can be bought at BKK at a much cheaper price. But design was cute! Check out the couple tee we bought.


Food next. Had a 肉串 as starter which sucks so no pic for it. And 十全药炖肋骨 again for nt80. Yummy! We also had grilled scallop and hubby had his favourite mee sua again. Queued for the super big fried chicken chop. It was yucky and wasted our time. Finally, 豆花 for dessert. This was the first night that we stayed out late till almost 9pm. Super tired so we took a cab back. Cab fare was nt270!

18 Nov 2010 : Day 4
九份


Today, we are leaving Taipei to go 九份! We had 蛋饼 for breakfast again and rushed to Taipei station to catch the 9am train to 瑞芳. Got our tix at 850am and hurriedly rush to the platform. We were the first to get on and were happily choosing a seat. Hubby at just put 1 luggage on the rack above us when we realised that there was this Korean old man standing right beside us staring at us. Then he pointed to his ticket and I guessed we took his seat! We didn't know that we had seat numbers allocated to us. We apologised and went to search for our cabin. Luckily, we were at cabin 6 and our seats were at cabin 7, so it was just a short walk with the luggages. Haha, we made such a big boo boo.


Reached 瑞芳 in just 38 mins. There was a friendly old man at the train station who was a volunteer to provide tourist on information about the town's attratcions. He suggested us to take the bus to 九份 which costs only nt15 per person instead of the cab that costs nt180 per ride. We took cab in  the end coz it was raining (again!) and the luggages were heavy.


We got on the cab and as usual, the driver will offer to drive you to other scenic spots whereby it is not easily acessible if you are not taking the tour bus. Since the weather was not very good, we agreed to go to 4 places for nt1000.


First, we went to 南雅奇岩, which is also some kind of rock that was eroded by the sea.

The cab driver then dropped us at the roadside to have a short stroll with the beautiful sea view (although it was raining.)

Next, we went to 十三层遗址. This was a gold/bronze mine that was started during the japanese occupation. It was already dilapidated.

黄金瀑布, where the water is supposedly still contaminated by bronze. The cab driver said in the past there were no railings build around the waterfall, but some itchy hands tourist went to touch the water, which is toxic, and something happened. So there are railings around the waterfall now. Dunno how true.

This water flow down to the sea and from up above, it is clear that there are 2 distinct colours. This is called 阴阳海. I think it is not very clear from the picture.

He also showed us this winding path where the movie "Initial D" was filmed. As the fog was too thick and the wind was super strong, we didn't manage to take any photo. Finally, he sent us to our 民宿. Actually he also offered to come back and fetch us to PingXi to 点天灯 and to view 九份 night scenary from another port for nt1000. Told him we'll consider and will call him if we were interested. I was interested as I have even thought of what to write but Hubby said it was raining and a bit too expensive, which also made sense. Next time ba.


Our 民宿 : 八番坑 @ 旧道口

Put down our luggages and went straight to 九份老街. It was still raining! Stopped at 阿婆老店 for yummy noodles and recommended fishball soup. We also ordered 三层肉 which was so delicious when you eat it with their special sauce and a slice of ginger. Yums!

 Next, we went to try the famous 阿甘姨芋圆 (yam ball soup), which was highly recommended by my friend, guidebook and the cab driver. We ordered a hot one with red bean soup. It was really good and shiok to have a hot dessert on a cold and wet day, with a sea view.

After dessert, we walked around along th streets and took photos. There were many 民宿 and nice tea houses with a sea view. But in the end, we went to a westernised one coz it offered free wifi. I wanted to check my fb coz I had asked my BIL about baby zq, but who knows I couldn't logon. Sad, and wasted our money at this place.

We continued strolling along the old streets which were really nice. No wonder it is a must-see tourist destination. as we were getting cold and tired, we decided to head back to rest and dry our clothes.

Went out for dinner at about 6 plus and we were surprised that almost 70% of the shos were already closed and the streets that were bustling with people just now seems deserted. Luckily, the shop selling the orh kuey was not closed yet and I bought 1 (nt10) to try. Yummy and chewy, definitely cannot find this in sg. It was chewy like the nonya kueh and had 4 small cubes of yam on it.

As we have already "pre-selected" the restaurant for our dinner, we went there directly. It is called 悲情城市, where a famoust show was filmed here. We ordered a pot of tea and the waitress showed us how to brew tea the correct way. For nt80, we can brew the tea in the small teapot ourselves and the remaining unused tea leaves can be brought home. Each time, the tea leaves can serve up to 6 or 7 times before it is time to change to the new tea leaves. It was really a nice experience and the owner was a very friendly and nice lady.

19 Nov 2010 : Day 5
台中 - 一中街 - 逢甲夜市

Had a decent breakfast provided by the 民宿 before leaving for 台中. As it was raining (again! it has been raining since Saturday!), we wanted to take a cab back to 瑞芳, but there was no cab in sight. So we took the public bus for nt15 each.

Train to 台中 took 3 hrs, estimate to reach at around 1 plus. We decided to have our lunch on board. They were selling 便当 and according to hubby it is a must try. So we bought 2, 1 for nt80. Hubby love it but I think it is ok only. For a bread lover like me, I rather have yummy bread. haha.

Finally we see the sun after 4 days of rain! Took a cab to our 民宿 but as there were no exact address provided, the cab driver could only drop us nearby and we had to look for it ourselves. Spent about 15mins walking around before hubby rememebered that the auntie told him to call her when we reached! And why we couldn't find the place was because there were no signboard as it was just opened for a few months and have not obtained the license yet.

民宿 at  台中. Loved this the most! It costs only nt1100 per night!

We had a good rest before starting our day in 台中 at 4pm. As there was no metro, bus and cab are the public transport. I think they have a very extensive bus system but the interval between each bus was a bit too long. As the 民宿 was nearer to 逢甲, we had to take a bus to the city centre. Finally the bus arrived after about 20mins, we told the uncle to holler us when we reach the bus-stop. We waited and waited. We sensed something was amiss as almost the whole bus of people have already alighted and we are supposed to stop at a popular shopping street. Uncle had forgotten about us and he quickly stop the bus to drop us off, luckily just across the street there was a free bus that will go back to the shopping street. In the end, we reach 一中街 at 5plus.

一中街 is a shopping place for youngsters. There were also many stalls selling food just like the night market. Food again! Deep fried sotong. It was not bad until we realised that there were some unknown filling inside. We only finished up the sotong. 葱抓饼, our favourite! You can choose any flavour you want and we ordered 1 with the egg. It is actually like prata but is much nicer and crispier. Deep fried mushroom 盐酥菇. Ok but a bit too salty.

For retail, I bought 2 singlets for nt100 each only. Cheap!

We decided to leave for 逢甲夜市. Wow! It was really very big. It is situated right outside 逢甲大学. It is literally outside in the sense that once you step foot pass the gate, you are in the night market! There are suer a lot of people. Both of us think that this place is much more happening than 西门町 and Shilin night market. Stuffs are also cheaper here. Bought a cardigan for baby zq at only nt100! 2 cardigans for me at nt700 and 4 pairs of socks at nt100! (seems like we kept buying socks)

Went to 陈妈妈 shop for some hot soups. It is famous for its 麻油鸡. Little did we know that it is not stir fried but in soup style. It was a bit too oily and heaty (coz of the alcohol) for us. Ordered also 猪干排骨面 for hubby and 鲍菇排骨汤 for myself. Not bad.

End of day 5.

miniature dachshund?

I need to continue my Taiwan post but haven't had the time and energy to go edit all the photos yet. I'll post something interesting and cute first. 


check this out!

cute? :) it is called nanoblock which is like a super tiny Lego. bought this on the last day in Taiwan at a bookshop. we bought 2 actually, one is this which is a dachshund and the other I shall keep you in suspense until I've completed it. since baby zq is not at home and I have some time, I decided to start with the dachshund.

there is an instruction manual inside that is in japanese but the illustration is sufficient. so exciting! me and my sisters loved to play with Lego when we were young and this is like going back to the times when we played, except that this is miniature in size and I'm playing it by myself now. duh! -_-''' Well, it is certainly not difficult and I've finished it in like 15mins? but it is really fun, to see the body formed, then fixing on the legs and tail, attaching the head, and finally a treat (bone) for it.

And... VIOLA!!!!!!

adorable? *beams*

  

the good thing is, many extra pieces were provided and you can put them back into the plastic and seal it up like a ziplock!

p.s. stay in tune for the next nanoblock!

fabulous day off

10am : breakfast @ wild honey in mandarin gallery
**with hubby, big sis and BIL**

11.10am : movie "the next 3 days" @ cathay cineleisure
11.10am : haircut + soft rebonding @ shaw towers

2pm : lunch @ creations in shaw towers

3pm : facial @ spacasa in waterloo street
(had to cancel coz decided on rebonding my hair at the last min, hairdresser said: "NOOOO, CANCEL IT!!!")
while hubby went to bras basah to collect his figurine

430pm : movie "the next 3 days" @ cathay cineleisure
**review -> 3.5/5 stars, as the ending is expected.**

645pm : shopped @ the editor's market in orchard cineleisure and bought 2 pairs of shoes, 1 bag and a belt for $120
**happy! nearly missed it until I saw the price tag. It says, price for a bag or shoes (for e.g.) = $35, 3 items (mix & match of bag/shoes/clothes) = $29, and so on...I think it is super worth it. Maybe next time need to jio more people to go and we will all enjoy the discount together!** (i bet my small sis heard of this shop before and is calling me a "sua gu". Well, you can't blame me since I haven't been to town in eons!!)

7pm : appt for vpl @ amore

730pm : dinner @ handburger in 313
**this is gonna be my first and last time. guessed coz I ordered the wrong dish?**

9pm : home sweet home

p.s. : baby ziqing is still in jb with her grandparents as mama just came back from her vacation only yesterday.

Taiwan Trip (Part I)

The day of our long awaited trip (almost 2 yrs!) finally arrived. As my mother had to accompany my grandma back to China to visit her relatives, (meaning baby ziqing will have to stay at JB), we took this opportunity to also book a vacation. We planned to go Taiwan!


Wanted to take jetstar but it was so expensive! Round trip tix for 2 costs about $1700+!! For budget airline? For the same price, I would rather take other airlines that still offer food and on board entertainment! We found Cathay Pacific that costs only $660 for each but need to transit 1hr at HK. We are totally fine with it. It is cheaper and at least there is food and entertainment for me.


14 Nov 2010 : Day 1

SG - HK - Taoyuan - Taipei (西门丁)


Being kiasu, we had booked the earliest available flight there and the latest available flight back (haha, to fully utilise our leave). So our flight was at 815am. Had to leave our house at 630am. Actually it was not that early too. Flight to HK took about 3+hrs, 1hr transit, 1hr from HK to Taipei. Finally we reached Taoyuan International Airport at 4pm. From there, we took the airport express bus into Taipei city which took another 1hr.

And finally, we reached our 民宿 at around 530pm. As it was autumn, the sun has already set at 530pm and it was already dark. Waited for quite some time for the tenant to meet us outside the apartment to get our keys. He arrived finally on a scooter and our room was at 4th level. Poor hubby gotta carry both luggages all the way up 4 floors. Below is the pic of our room. It actually looks nicer from the website but ok la, what do you expect? It costs only about $65/night and it is just 1min away from the MRT station!




We quickly dumped our barang and headed straight to 西门丁! As it is a must-try, we went directly to queue for 阿宗面缐! Hubby loves it. To me, not fantastic, but worth a try. Everyone just stand around and eat, and I must say it is good to have it during winter coz it is hot and spicy and really warms your tummy.



Next, we bought a sucky hotdog deep fried in flour. Both of us took a bite and threw it away. Don't buy it!


Bittergourd juice!! Shiok, I like! Although the weather is already quite cooling, but it was really refreshing to drink it. I will come back for another one before we leave Taiwan!

Kept walking past people selling 地瓜球, I wanted to try it but hubby didn't want. But finally, he succumbed and we bought from an old couple. It was yummylicious! haha..throughout this trip, we had this the most number of times.
We decided to try their 大排档, which is just like a shop selling cooked food. We ordered fried oyster, 卤肉饭 and 貢丸汤, which is just like meatball soup but their meatball is nice and big. All 3 were good!

Wow, I was actually quite surprised. Had heard many conflicting reviews on Taiwan, but just after 2 hours spent here in Taipei, I am very satisfied with the food. It was actually only 7plus but as we were really tired and it had started drizzling, we decided to go back and have a rest.

p.s. check out the mineral water that we bought. call me "sua gu" but I think it is very cool.


15 Nov 2010 : Day 2

Taipei: Taipei 101 - 中正纪念堂 - 五分埔 - 饶河街夜市



Left our 民宿 at 9am to search for breakfast nearby. As we are staying near 市政府 MRT station, it is quite bustling with people going to work in the morning. There were many small stalls around especially along those 小巷. Finally decided on 1 shop that sells only 小笼包 and soya bean milk. 现做现卖. 1 小笼包 cost nt6 (which is ~25cents). We ordered 8 to try. The skin was a bit chewy but it was totally filled with meat. It was really a very small shop with about 7 seats. Should have taken a pic of the shop.

We decided to walk to Taipei 101 since it was quite cooling. In any case, there was no near MRT near Taipei 101. It was about 30mins stroll from our MRT station. As the weather was not good with light showers, the 91st floor was closed. We could only go up to 89th floor, which was the observatory deck. Couldn't really see much as the visibility was not good, which the counter staff did warned us before we got our tickets, but it was ok for us. BY the way, the big round thing shown in the pic below is the damper. It is located at 88th floor. The purpose of the damper is to absorb all the swaying/vibrations during earthquake. All tall buildings do have their own dampers.

After Taipei 101, we wanted to take a bus back to our MRT station but got up at the wrong direction instead. But nevermind, we just wait and see where it takes us and planned to get off at the next MRT station. There are many elderly people in Taiwan actually, or maybe they are more active that Singaporeans coz I see them everywhere. This bus that we took was a small bus (like those shuttle bus from eg. novena MRT to KKH), and the ride was quite jerky. There was this old lady who got up and I let her have my seat. She was swaying from left to right, and nearly fell, I just put out my hand to support her. She thanked me profusely. After I sat down behind her, she still turned around and nodded a few more times. She couldn't stop thanking me. Even when she got up to alight, she again turned to me and thanked me again. I was overwhelmed.
Finally got to Taipei rail station. We went to KMall where there is this place called 台湾故事馆 where the whole place was decorated/built reflecting the old days, selling the stuffs that we play/eat when we (means the 70s,80s kids) were young. The entrance fee was nt280 where they gave you nt150 coupons which you can use inside. Walking down the old streets, there were some items that we really could relate to. It was quite interesting.


We had lunch here, not fantastic but ok since we used up the coupons. It was actually very filling considering it costs only nt150.

After lunch, we went to 中正纪念堂. It was super windy and there were soldiers practising their marching there. We quickly took some pictures and left as it was quite cooling. The entrance to 中正纪念堂 was closed anyway.


Next, we went to 五分埔, a wholesale market selling clothes/accessories/shoes. I was expecting something like Platinum mall in BKK, but it was more like Chak tuk Chak in BKK instead. The stocks were all placed in big plastic bafs on the floor in front of each shops. Can you imagine the narrow walkway/aisle between shops like in Chak tuk Chak but with many people pushing/pulling their trolley full of clothes rushing here and there, not forgetting that every 3-5mins, there will be 1 motorbike passing through??!! It was that crowded and busy. But at least it was not hot like at Chak tuk Chak coz of the cooling weather. No pics taken though. I had hoped that I would be able to do some shopping here but sad to say, nothing caught my eye and anyway, most of them are selling autumn/winter clothes which are definitely not suitable for sg weather. So disappointed! I think we spent only about 20mins there and decided to leave for 饶河街夜市.
On our way there, we passed by a massage shop and decided to go in for massage. It was done by those blind/nearly blind people. It costs only nt200 for 20mins! Head & Shoulder massage for hubby and Waist/Butt massage for me. Shiok shiok already then we went to the night market.
Food again! First up, 胡椒饼. It was recommended in the guidebook. This was the pioneer shop and there was a queue for it. The crust is like pong piah but filled with meat inside. We were happily munching away until I remembered I need to take photo of it. This is about 20% left of the 胡椒饼.


Then we walked past 十全药炖排骨 (which translated into Bak Kut Teh for hubby). This was also recommended in the guidebook. 1 bowl costs nt60. It was not bad but the soup was not rich enough.


Walked on and saw a lot of people queuing for 鱿鱼大王 and we decided to give it a try. It was actually kangkong with cuttlefish but I think it is special becoz of its sauce. There were still seats for us to sit and have our kangkong on the 2nd level.

Oh yah, I forgot to mention that there was NO mirror in our room! So when we walked past a shop (something like those $1.99 shops in the past in sg), we bought a small pocket mirror. And we saw a stall selling 6 pairs of socks for nt100!!! Super cheap, it was only $4! Chose 3 pairs for baby zq, 2 pairs for hubby and 1 pair for myself.
Last but not least, we had beef noodles. This stall named 齿牛香 looks famous as there were many photos taken with many different artistes. We decided to give it a try and yes it was good! We ordered a bowl of 贡丸汤 and 红烧牛肉面 to share. Yums! This stall was not mentioned in our guidebook, we think it should be!

As the walk back to the MRT is very long and it was cold and wet, we decided to take a cab back. The starting fare was nt70 and when we reached home, it was only nt85. Although our 民宿 is quite near, I think it is not expensive at all. Reached home at only 815pm but it feels like it is already 10pm in the night as the sky had already turned dark at 5pm. We just nua around and prepared for the next day!
p.s. oh gosh!! pls kill me! this is the first time I did a post with so many photos. just uploading the photos and adjusting them to the correct paragraphs makes me wanna die! am I doing it the stupid way or is there a easier way to upload and position them? pls tell me..~~