I have come to my last post for my Taiwan trip. As my photos were gone and I don't have many photos to share with you guys, hence I have combined the remaining Taiwan journey in one post. Though there is limited photos, I still want to document this travel journey down.
Thursday 18/1/18
Good morning, day 6. We woke up at about 9am to prepare ourselves for another day of exploring. We stepped out of our room at about 10am and headed down to the basement of Taipei Main Station to hunt for breakfast. We settled for KFC breakfast.
Both of us have this set meal - 吮指嫩鸡烧饼饼套餐 which comes with a ice milk tea and topped up NT$20 (or S$0.93) for hashbrown. The breakfast was delicious and I enjoyed it a lot, it's a croissant wrapped with crispy fried chicken. Breakfast fare totaled up to NT$196 (or S$9.07).
After the hearty breakfast, we went to train station and took a train down to Taipei Zoo. Zoo seems like a must visit place whenever we go overseas.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Taipei Zoo is a easy accessible place by public transit, we just need to change to MRT Brown Line and take all the way until the end stop. The train was crowded in the morning filled with working adults.
Taipei Zoo (台北動物園)
No. 30號, Section 2, Xinguang Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 11656
Operating hours: 9am to 5pm daily
Nearest MRT: Taipei Zoo (brown line)
Entrance fee: NT$60 (or S$2.78)
My next stop was Wufenpu, we took MRT all the way to the last station of green line, Songshan. Before we began shopping, we have Lu Rou Fan for our late lunch at opposite Wufenpu, it was the nicest lu rou fan we have during our entire Taiwan trip.
Wufenpu is a wholesale market in Taipei with many lanes and alleys full of racks of clothing. Things were not exactly cheap unless it was those on clearance items. I bought a sport pant and 2 tops for myself, and a sweater for my dad. We also tried on taro bubble tea and mee sua. The shop owner of mee sua was kind of rude which spoil our mood a little.
Wufenpu Shopping District (五分埔)
Alley 9, Lane 443, Yongji Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Operating hours: 2pm to 11pm daily
Nearest MRT: Songshan Exit 3 (green line) about 7 minutes walk
Since we were at Songshan, our next stop was definitely Raohe Street Night Market which was 15 minutes walk away from Wufenpu. Both places are located at the same MRT station and a must visit place in Taipei.
We met up with Ah Yip, Jane and their driver to explore Raohe Street Night Market together.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Raohe Street Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in Taipei, best known for their foods and snacks, and carnival games. We tried on Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang (大腸包小腸) which was actually glutinous rice wrapped over a smaller size sausage. It was a populate street snack in Taiwan.
Since we have spare coins, we went to try the plushie claw machine but luck wasn't at our side. It's a trap.
I got my mum a handbag at NTS299 (or $13.84) and my bro a white sweater at NT$200 (or $9.26).
It was drizzling when we went to purchase a pack of Salted Mushroom (盐酥菇), we felt so full after finishing the mushroom and ready to head back to hotel.
Raohe Street Night Market (饶河街观光夜市)
Raohe Street, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
Operating hours: 4pm to 12am daily
Nearest MRT: Songshan Exit 5 (green line) next to Ciyou Temple
Friday 19/1/18
Good morning, day 7. We woke up to a gloomy and raining morning, hence we borrowed an umbrella from our hotel before we headed out. We began our day with Mos Burger for breakfast at Taipei Main Station underground, the same place we have our lunch at day 4. I have ham and egg burger set. Upon from the set each, we ordered a crispy drumstick for sharing and our breakfast totaled up to NT$205 (or S$9.49).
After the breakfast, we made our way to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
It is a national monument that was erected in honor and memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China, located in Zhongzheng District of Taipei.
I love this memorial hall because the surrounding setting resembled the Chinese dynasty period, it looked like a palace. I still joking said that I'm a 格格 when taking photos at the palace.
The rain has turned from smaller to drizzle and we were able to walk without using the umbrella.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂)
No. 21號, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
Operating hours: 9am to 6pm daily
Entrance fee: Free
Nearest MRT: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (green or red line)
My next stop was Tamsui where we took the train and sat all the way to the end of red line. We were hungry by the time we reached and stopped by to purchase sushi from Sushi Take Out located at Tamsui Station.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Tamsui is a sea-side district in New Taipei, Taiwan, it is known for their beautiful landscape and home to a large array of restaurants, cafés, shops, street stalls and the sight of North Coast.
It was still drizzling when we reached so we decided to give Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf a miss and went to Tamsui Old Street. It bounds to rain in all our overseas trips.
Tamsui Old Street is a stretch selling lots of street food. I stopped by to purchase twister potato which I didn't enjoy it very much as I feel the one selling in our pasar malam fare better. We purchased lots of other street food too.
We also went to check out Believe It or Not Curiosity Museum where entrance ticket was NTS89 (or S$4.12). It is not a museum to visit for weak heart as it showcased specimens of rarest creatures (four legs chicken and 2 headed animals), weird living animals, poisonous animals, mummy preserved and pictures of unique human.
Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街)
Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 251
Nearest MRT: Tamsui (red line)
We then took a train down from one end of the red line and travel to the other end of the red line to Taipei 101. We slept in the train because it was such a long journey.
The first thing I did when I reached Taipei 101 is to use their toilet. I'm actually quite particular in using toilet at overseas, it has to be clean and seated (first world problem). I'm not comfortable in using the squad one which is commonly found in the toilet here, I nearly slipped and fell when using one of the squad toilet in Taichung.
Apart from being a office tower, Taipei 101 is a multi-level shopping mall, food court, various restaurants and branded stores, just like our The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, where all the high end brands are located.
We have our dinner at Din Tai Fung where we had fried rice and Xiao Long Bao. The bill came up to NTS682 (S$31.57). The price was similar to Singapore.
Taipei 101 spans over 101 stories and is on of the world's tallest building. It is the icon of Taipei. We didn't went up to Taipei 101 Observatory because it was foggy and drizzling. Today has been a drizzling day.
Taipei 101
No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Nearest MRT: Taipei 101/World Trade Center
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Since the time was still early, we went back to Ximending again which is one stop away from our hotel. We bought some street food from Ximending and went back to purchase some more local snacks to bring home. It was already 9pm when we reached Taipei Main Station, we went to purchase Krispy Kreme at NT$84 (S$3.89) before heading back to our hotel room. We went back early to pack our luggage and to rest.
Saturday 20/1/18
Good morning, day 8. We woke up feel Saturday blue because we have came to the end of our Taiwan trip. We are heading back home today, back to reality and the hectic work cum school life again. Happy times always passed so fast.
Today we woke up slightly later since we will be staying in hotel until checkout time at 12pm.
Before we checkout, we went up to the rooftop to see the day view of our hotel surrounding. The weather was very windy at the top.
After we were done with the check-in registration and my luggage at about 1.30pm, we went for our lunch at the food court. I have Teriyaki Chicken Rice at NTS140 (or S$6.48) from a Japanese stall. We also bought a cup of bubble milk tea to go with the meal.
Before boarding the plane, we spent our remaining money in our EasyCard to get some bread as our dinner on the plane. We bought 3 breads at NTS118 (or S$5.46).
Scoot was having flight delay, we were supposed to board the plane at 3.10pm but the boarding was delayed until nearly 4pm. Nevertheless, we still managed to reach Singapore in the stipulated time 9pm.
My 8D7N travel to Taiwan has come to an end. It was by far my most enjoyable trip. The only regret was the lost of photos. Oh well, time to create new memory again.
Thursday 18/1/18
Good morning, day 6. We woke up at about 9am to prepare ourselves for another day of exploring. We stepped out of our room at about 10am and headed down to the basement of Taipei Main Station to hunt for breakfast. We settled for KFC breakfast.
After the hearty breakfast, we went to train station and took a train down to Taipei Zoo. Zoo seems like a must visit place whenever we go overseas.
Taipei Zoo is a easy accessible place by public transit, we just need to change to MRT Brown Line and take all the way until the end stop. The train was crowded in the morning filled with working adults.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Taipei Zoo is a famous zoological garden in Taiwan (even have their own MRT station) and one of the largest zoos in Asia, with a total area of 165 hectares. It was indeed a very big area and we covered the area by foot without taking the tram.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
We arrived at Asian Tropical Rainforest Area and spotted Orang Utan, the long-armed ape.
The tropical forest scenery allows the visitors to experience the humid air, the smell of animals and plants, and the howls in our ears.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
We spotted Malayan Tapir which has white patch from their shoulder to the end of their body.
The warm from the sun combined with the cooling weather made the temperature just right. I can shed off my cardigan and just walked comfortably in the breezing weather.
Today's outfit was a denim long sleeve top with black legging.
Heading up next was Desert Animal Area. The bare terrain is home to the oryx, various antelopes, and the two species of camels.
At the camels viewing spot, this was my second time seeing a camel. The first time was in Zoo Johor.
I love the eye catching details on the back of my denim top. This top is definitely a statement that will make people take a second look at you. Moreover, the material was comfortable too. Thanks GF for getting me this top from Japan.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
A close up of the camels. Camel is known for their humps on the back which consist of stored fat to metabolize when food and water is scarce.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Reaching African Animal Area where the exhibit simulates the East African savanna. There is a pond with nearby shady trees and bushes nearby for the animals to gather during day time. Here at the Elephants enclosure.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Moving on to Australian Animal Area where we spotted zebras and giraffes.
When we passed by the home of Giant Tortoise, we noticed that there were some onlookers looking down at the home of Giant Tortoise. Naturally we went over to take a look as well. To our surprise, we saw that one of the Giant Tortoise flipped on back and was having difficulty getting back. There was another Giant Tortoise (assumed to be the partner) was trying very hard to push the flipped Giant Tortoise and helped it to regain back its position, but was unsuccessful. Crowds starting to form and trying ways to help the Giant Tortoise, we eventually managed to help the Giant Tortoise flipped back with the help of an umbrella and the combined strength of a few men. That's how heavy the Giant Tortoise is. It took about 20 minutes to free the Giant Tortoise.
I felt exhausted after conquering Taipei Zoo, my feet was feeling tired from the non stop walking and my stomach was screaming for lunch. We initially intended to travel up to Maokong but skipped that idea as time has overrun.
No. 30號, Section 2, Xinguang Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 11656
Operating hours: 9am to 5pm daily
Nearest MRT: Taipei Zoo (brown line)
Entrance fee: NT$60 (or S$2.78)
My next stop was Wufenpu, we took MRT all the way to the last station of green line, Songshan. Before we began shopping, we have Lu Rou Fan for our late lunch at opposite Wufenpu, it was the nicest lu rou fan we have during our entire Taiwan trip.
Wufenpu is a wholesale market in Taipei with many lanes and alleys full of racks of clothing. Things were not exactly cheap unless it was those on clearance items. I bought a sport pant and 2 tops for myself, and a sweater for my dad. We also tried on taro bubble tea and mee sua. The shop owner of mee sua was kind of rude which spoil our mood a little.
Wufenpu Shopping District (五分埔)
Alley 9, Lane 443, Yongji Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Operating hours: 2pm to 11pm daily
Nearest MRT: Songshan Exit 3 (green line) about 7 minutes walk
Since we were at Songshan, our next stop was definitely Raohe Street Night Market which was 15 minutes walk away from Wufenpu. Both places are located at the same MRT station and a must visit place in Taipei.
We met up with Ah Yip, Jane and their driver to explore Raohe Street Night Market together.
Raohe Street Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in Taipei, best known for their foods and snacks, and carnival games. We tried on Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang (大腸包小腸) which was actually glutinous rice wrapped over a smaller size sausage. It was a populate street snack in Taiwan.
Since we have spare coins, we went to try the plushie claw machine but luck wasn't at our side. It's a trap.
One interesting thing we tried at Raohe Street Night Market was Dragon Breath - Liquid Nitrogen Corn Chips which creates the effect of smoke coming out of one’s mouth and nose when consuming it. It looked like the breathing of dragon when we exhaled the nitrogen. Stand by your camera and capture the image quick because the smoke vaporised fast.
This was the effect we got when we dropped one of the corn chips on the floor.
Be careful when consumed the corn chips because it might burn our tongue if we didn't handle with care. The corn chips are not exactly tasty, but the effect was video and photo worthy.
I got my mum a handbag at NTS299 (or $13.84) and my bro a white sweater at NT$200 (or $9.26).
It was drizzling when we went to purchase a pack of Salted Mushroom (盐酥菇), we felt so full after finishing the mushroom and ready to head back to hotel.
Raohe Street Night Market (饶河街观光夜市)
Raohe Street, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
Operating hours: 4pm to 12am daily
Nearest MRT: Songshan Exit 5 (green line) next to Ciyou Temple
Friday 19/1/18
Good morning, day 7. We woke up to a gloomy and raining morning, hence we borrowed an umbrella from our hotel before we headed out. We began our day with Mos Burger for breakfast at Taipei Main Station underground, the same place we have our lunch at day 4. I have ham and egg burger set. Upon from the set each, we ordered a crispy drumstick for sharing and our breakfast totaled up to NT$205 (or S$9.49).
After the breakfast, we made our way to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
It is a national monument that was erected in honor and memory of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China, located in Zhongzheng District of Taipei.
I love this memorial hall because the surrounding setting resembled the Chinese dynasty period, it looked like a palace. I still joking said that I'm a 格格 when taking photos at the palace.
The rain has turned from smaller to drizzle and we were able to walk without using the umbrella.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂)
No. 21號, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
Operating hours: 9am to 6pm daily
Entrance fee: Free
Nearest MRT: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (green or red line)
My next stop was Tamsui where we took the train and sat all the way to the end of red line. We were hungry by the time we reached and stopped by to purchase sushi from Sushi Take Out located at Tamsui Station.
It was still drizzling when we reached so we decided to give Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf a miss and went to Tamsui Old Street. It bounds to rain in all our overseas trips.
Tamsui Old Street is a stretch selling lots of street food. I stopped by to purchase twister potato which I didn't enjoy it very much as I feel the one selling in our pasar malam fare better. We purchased lots of other street food too.
We also went to check out Believe It or Not Curiosity Museum where entrance ticket was NTS89 (or S$4.12). It is not a museum to visit for weak heart as it showcased specimens of rarest creatures (four legs chicken and 2 headed animals), weird living animals, poisonous animals, mummy preserved and pictures of unique human.
We chanced upon a white snake in the museum, it was rare to see a white snake. Seeing the white snake immediately linked us to the show, Legend of the White Snake.
Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街)
Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 251
Nearest MRT: Tamsui (red line)
We then took a train down from one end of the red line and travel to the other end of the red line to Taipei 101. We slept in the train because it was such a long journey.
The first thing I did when I reached Taipei 101 is to use their toilet. I'm actually quite particular in using toilet at overseas, it has to be clean and seated (first world problem). I'm not comfortable in using the squad one which is commonly found in the toilet here, I nearly slipped and fell when using one of the squad toilet in Taichung.
Apart from being a office tower, Taipei 101 is a multi-level shopping mall, food court, various restaurants and branded stores, just like our The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, where all the high end brands are located.
We have our dinner at Din Tai Fung where we had fried rice and Xiao Long Bao. The bill came up to NTS682 (S$31.57). The price was similar to Singapore.
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Taipei 101 spans over 101 stories and is on of the world's tallest building. It is the icon of Taipei. We didn't went up to Taipei 101 Observatory because it was foggy and drizzling. Today has been a drizzling day.
Taipei 101
No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110
Nearest MRT: Taipei 101/World Trade Center
*Photo courtesy from bro.
Since the time was still early, we went back to Ximending again which is one stop away from our hotel. We bought some street food from Ximending and went back to purchase some more local snacks to bring home. It was already 9pm when we reached Taipei Main Station, we went to purchase Krispy Kreme at NT$84 (S$3.89) before heading back to our hotel room. We went back early to pack our luggage and to rest.
Saturday 20/1/18
Good morning, day 8. We woke up feel Saturday blue because we have came to the end of our Taiwan trip. We are heading back home today, back to reality and the hectic work cum school life again. Happy times always passed so fast.
Today we woke up slightly later since we will be staying in hotel until checkout time at 12pm.
Before we checkout, we went up to the rooftop to see the day view of our hotel surrounding. The weather was very windy at the top.
We checked out our room at 12pm, we immediately headed down to Taoyuan International Airport via taxi. Our flight was at 3.55pm.
Before boarding the plane, we spent our remaining money in our EasyCard to get some bread as our dinner on the plane. We bought 3 breads at NTS118 (or S$5.46).
Scoot was having flight delay, we were supposed to board the plane at 3.10pm but the boarding was delayed until nearly 4pm. Nevertheless, we still managed to reach Singapore in the stipulated time 9pm.
My 8D7N travel to Taiwan has come to an end. It was by far my most enjoyable trip. The only regret was the lost of photos. Oh well, time to create new memory again.
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