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.
No comments:
Post a Comment