So I have decided to open another blog for posting and hopefully I will try to maintain it. I miss my previous blog thou because it was a blog from 2009. Anyway, this shall be a different genre so its ok! The title of the blog speaks for the content ( i try! ) So first up will be the Taiwan trip that I went few weeks ago with my bf. I have to apologize for the serious lack of pictures, now I realized if you want to have travel or food blog, you just have to keep snapping pictures.
So Day 0, we bought the air ticket at around SGD$300+ flying by Jetstar. Suppose it is pretty cheap because the last time I went to Taiwan, it was at $500! We took the 1am flight to Taiwan! I thought it was a good choice because you actually have one whole day in Taiwan for first day because usually tourists only got half a day left when they fly in the morning/afternoon. So we reached Taoyuan airport at around 7am and after we collected our bags, we went to look for the tour bus/City bus. You can actually see the sign in the airport and just follow the way. Our hotel was at Ximending so we bought a coach ticket and it brought us to Taipei train station and transfer another City bus to Ximen. Our coach ticket cost us TWD 90! So people if you want to save money for more shopping, I really suggest you to take the coach and not cab. There are many counters there and the personnel are all very friendly so you can just approach them and tell them you destination.
And this is the coach bus. Definitely more comfy than Jetstar. Seriously the worst thing that we were flying midnight was that I couldn't sleep in the plane. So that was the only picture of the coach and no more scenery shots because I KO straight.
Outside Taipei Train station
Here was a sneak peak of the hotel we were staying! Their lobby look so relaxing, aint it? I will intro you the hotel in a short while! As their hotel policy states that we only can check in at 3pm earliest, we went ahead with our itinerary first and left our bags at the hotel lobby. So first stop was at Tamsui. Taipei is actually very easily accessible with their Metro Train station and it is relatively cheap. We did not take any cabs in Taipei except for one which we were rushing for time and trust me you do not want to choose cabs because it is really super expensive!
Tamsui is actually the last stop of the red line. Get a small metro map from the station or info counter, it is actually pretty useful for first time travellor to Taipei. I think we spent less than an hour to reach Tamsui from Xi Men, cant remember exactly of the time; 40 mins?
So here we are. It is very different when you come in the morning and at night. Of course the streets are more happening at night and you get to see some night scenery. But we thought to get a different view of Tamsui in the morning.
There is an old street which i suppose is their morning market.
There you can see! their meat and fishes, all fresh selling. really cool! I always like to experience this kind of thing because it is like a local culture that you can understand more about them.
And there is the morning view of Tamsui street. Very much different if you can compare it with the night ones which are more happening.
and there we go to the lovers bridge, known as 情人桥. you can take a boat like that to the place. But do take note of the timing because they got fixed time slot. We bought the ticket at TWD 120 per person.
It is really very relaxing and enjoyed sitting at the cafe there with such cooling weather (probably alittle cold when the wind blows). Plus the background music are all Jay chou songs. Imagine that!
Then we are back at Tamsui street. Basically the lovers bridge is just a small area for photos taking. I super love this bbq squid. It is gigantic and super nice! I seriously recommend this and only the one in Tamsui. And this is only at TWD 90! One of my favourite Taipei food.
The street when it gets a little lively. It was really quiet when we first reach there! and I regret not buying the soft toy stitch there! super huge and cute Stitch selling at TWD 1500 which is about SGD60. You seriously wont get that kind of price for such big soft toy. As I said, I am so regretful of not taking more pictures therefore the lack of that soft toy pics. =(
After all the sightseeing and phototaking, its about time that we head back to hotel and check-in. Check out the hotel! I personally think that it is really worth the price. It is located at Ximen station and walkable distance from the station. Probably you may not find the hotel for the first time you are there because we couldn't find too! But lucky for us that Taipei people are super friendly because the cab uncle actually stop and tell us the way. How nice right! It is actually in between shops and you have to walk in to take the lift up the lobby. The hotel name in chinese is
二十輪旅店.
Visit their website and you can see the hotel and address. The picture shown below is exactly what it is in their website. You know some website pictures are deceiving. But I am really glad we found this.
http://www.swiio.com
We got the
高級客房. ok probably the website picture may be alittle wider because of the angle of the picture taken.
I think what is most important in a hotel is the toilet. seriously i can't take a dirty or small toilet. No way.
Peek-ka-Boo. The binder can actually be drawn down so don't worry about your friends or partner peeping you!
We got a window one with a small balcony outside. Yes there is a safe and a mini fridge and some hangers for you to hang your clothes. And guess the price we paid for such room? SGD55 per night! super cheap and tell me how convenient when you are just one lift away from the shopping places and food?!
So after we settled down and cleaned up, its time for dinner! super famished by then. And I remembered someone introduced me this cafe at Ximen which is famous for the dog that the cafe is named after and you will definitely see him there too!
And there he is! super adorable and huge GR! seriously madly in love with him. Everyday I walk pass the cafe I would definitely take a look at him.
The food is not bad too. Its actually stonepot Risotto. This stonepot risotto comes with a drink and a soup which cost TWD 230 per set. yummy! :)
And of course what is Taipei if you only stop at one meal like this? continue with more food hunt for us. My bf is the first time visiting Taiwan so he definitely want to try some of the popular rated food like AH ZONG at Ximen.......
Expected of his comment to say that it is really something way different from what we eat in SG. For your info, they added big intestine which is a norm in Taipei I guess.
Some long queue food that we didnt get to try!
But this is a MUST TRY! it is actually a stand alone push cart by an uncle. This is the peanut yam icecream that is one of my top list of must try food in Taipei seriously.
It is really super yummy trust me. Later in our whole trip, we realised that many places sell this. So day 1 ended for us with some explore around our area. Stay tune for Day 2 with more food and places!
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