TRAVELWITHLEEN: Taipei day 3 - 5,

Hello,

Down to the third day of my Taipei getaway with Mum!

Here goes...

Day Three

On this day, we visited Taipei Main Station, Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market.

We decided for a long time on what to have for lunch. Taipei Main Station can be really confusing eh! Walked to the 2nd level and settled at one Chinese restaurant - 小弄堂。

The food wasn't nice but still edible which I'm thankful for! Hahah.

Tbh, I didn't like this meal that much. The pork chop had a chaotar smell or maybe it was meant to be that way lah. The 煎饼 was a lil too hard to our liking. Nope, this meal was only... average.

Next up: Wu Fen Pu

I roughly remember the route to the market and thanks to the crowd over there. We just followed them together with my not-so-good instinct. Before I headed to WFP, I kept telling Mum that there'd be nothing there to purchase because the last time I was there with Mr. Z, I bought NOTHING AT ALL! Even though the first time I went there with my family, I swept quite a lot of stuff lah.

This time, I went crazy over their culottes and midi skirts! A bit too exaggerating because I really bought a lot to the extent that it was a bit hard to hold all the bags and packing was needed before we headed to the next venue!

Raohe Night Market was next and last in the itinerary for the day. The night market can be reached by foot. Checked the map (I'm not a good navigator) and relied a bit on my memory. I knew I was at the right direction when I saw a station. Hahahah! Always trust yourself!

What is Raohe Night Market without eating their signature 胡椒饼？

I'll definitely try this again on my next visit! :)

Dragon's breath

So apparently, there was a set of rules to abide to if you'd like to enjoy this cup of instag-worthy snacks.

1. Using the satay stick, shake the biscuit for 3 secs. This is so that the biscuit would be dry from the liquid in the cup.
2. Blow it before you pop it into your mouth
3. Bite it as fast as you can and do not leave it on your tongue for long because it would sting / freeze / numb your tongue. 

Quite interesting eh? Though I felt a sudden pain on my teeth prolly due to sensitive teeth :( Anyway, yep! I'm no longer a suagu because I finally tried the Dragon's Breath!!

Day Four

Today's the most tiring day out of the past few days and so, our itinerary as follows: 永和豆浆 > Tamsui Market > Fisherman's Wharf > Shilin Night Market > Back to hotel for packing

I only found out on the 2nd day that 永和豆浆 at Ximending was no longer in operation. I was quite bumped by it. Searched the net and found another outlet in 大安 and we decided to head there for brunch despite the hot weather and long journey there.

Tbh, the place isn't far from the station however the 34°C made us thought it was! The walk from the station to 永和 was unbearable! We felt so relief upon reaching because... FANS!

温豆浆，蛋饼夹油条 & 酥饼

 To which I only approved of the warm soy bean milk and 油条 because their fried dough were really cirspy though oily...

I would really love to compare this stall to 复航豆浆 but sadly time didn't permit us. Or rather, we were really drained during this trip and Fu Hang closes at 1230pm. Perhaps in 2 years' time... :)

Made our way to Tamsui station which was about 50mins away from Da'an station. Damn tiring and I both Mum and I fell aslp on the train. I wouldn't have visited Tamsui (and Fisherman's Wharf) if Mum didn't say that she wanted to because the previous time I visited this place, I told myself it'd be the last time. The journey.......... Nonetheless, I'm glad Mum enjoyed it!

Continued our journey to 淡水码头 to catch the ferry to Fisherman's Wharf.

Here's the start of the spamming of photos at Fisherman's Wharf!!!

Sadly, time didn't allow us to stay for sunset. Something that Mum missed it because we had to rush for Shilin Night Market next. Purchased the tix back to the pier before proceeding to the next venue where we spent more than 4hours walking the whole place. We even had to rush for the train service for fear that we'd miss the last train there. HAHAH! Yep, we didn't take any cab services throughout our trip here in Taipei! ;)

The first stall "we" patronised at the night market was Smelly Tofu stall. LOL! My mum said she loves the one at Shilin NM and she still approved of it that evening. Just watch the video at the end of this post and you'll see!

I just couldn't stand the stench that comes from smelly tofu. I could already smell it from a distance while Mum kept saying that she didn't smell anything at all. I had my first and last try of smelly tofy in HK a few years ago and that's it! I wouldn't want to try any smelly tofu anymore though it's really "smell-less" when you eat it.

Oh, I bought my fried ice cream here too! No photos but tested and proven! Vanilla isn't as nice as chocolate fried ice cream!!

Bro texted me "please try the 鸡蛋糕 at Shilin Night Market!". I didn't regret making the decision of heeding his advice! These cute shaped egglets-alike are really crispy on the outside!

Cheese baked potato

It was also at Shilin NM that I finished spending all my NT$. I bought 2 pairs of shoes (palms and heels) for NT$390 each. Bought a few culottes; midi skirts and tops from the last shop that we patronised before leaving the NM.

Officially broke over here even before our last day. HAHAH!

Day Five

Also the day when my eyes felt really dry and swollen... T_T

Walked arnd Ximending to find s'where to settle our lunch after checking out from our hotel. We settled at a shop - 天天利美食坊 - that sells local 小吃. I approve! I tried their carrot cake previously with Mr. Z and it still tastes as nice this time! :)

NT$95!!!

 I'd go for the beehoon if I were to visit again! Mum ordered that and I was so tempted to exchange mine with her HAHAHAH! Ok, kidding!

Next agenda: to buy Taiwan snacks before leaving the country. Ximending has a few shops selling such snacks. We anyhow hamtum one shop and Mum spent a total of SGD$172++ in that shop just for the snacks can you imagine?!?!?!?!!!

Last agenda: shaved ice before we regret not having it!

Perfect for the weather!

Went to Taipei Main Station for some shopping before we headed back to our hotel to retrieve our baggages. Our driver was already at the roadside waiting for us since erm... 30mins ago? :/

Till then, Taiwan! You've been nothing short of amazing!

Ending this post with my novice vlog! Goodbye :)

TRAVELWITHLEEN: Taipei day 1 & 2,

Good afternoon!

I've been on hiatus for at least a month because of work. Energy drained but I really enjoy what I'm doing now. May this last for long I pray :)

For now, it's time to update on my trip to Taipei with my Mum. It was an impromptu trip because I needed a break from my internship (it wasn't a good experience there) before I started on my first permanent job. I reckoned that there'd be lots of stress because during the interview, the director mentioned the peak period and non-peak was only that one week out of the whole month.

At that time, Expedia had some on-going promotion and I told Mum that if she wants she could tag along because no matter what, I'd definitely make my trip to Taipei for sure! So yep, she decided to join in the fun and there we were!

Day One

We had only 2 hours of nap before we headed to the airport for our flight to Taoyuan International Airport. I didn't really do much of the planning for this trip because we both we before twice and I thought that things would more or less be the same.

Safely landed in Taiwan and the first thing I bought was the SIM card. Hahah, I can never live without data for a day! We booked a private car through Expedia and we only had to wait for, say, 5mins before the driver reached our point. TBH, I think it's really not needed lah but le Mum said it's more convenient so ok lor. But Mr. Z and I went through the budget way by taking the shuttle bus and train to Taipei Main Station previously.

The driver dropped us at the road side near to West Gate Hotel and directed us to the lift behind the small shops. The lifts are very lok kok kind... And Level 8 is where our hotel is at - Airline Inn. Anyway this hotel is located just behind West Gate Hotel. Oh, how much I miss staying in this hotel!! :(

Airline Inn

Left our baggages there and headed for our first meal in Taipei at 老王記牛肉麵大王. Never ever trust Google Map. It brought me to the other side of Ximending. The weather showed no mercy too! We were already feeling super tired with that weather, long walk and also the bad flu that we caught on our way to Taiwan!

Reached the place. But sadly, no photography is allowed at the cooking area and the place where we were seated at did not have any good lighting and that explains the photo below.......

老王記牛肉麵大王
Ximen Station, Exit 3
(NT$220)

Anyway, not sure if the noodle and brother were bland or that I wasn't feeling well. Mum agreed that the broth was bland too. But one thing for sure was that the beef was reallllly tender!! The photo does no justice lah!

Checked into our room thereafter and we had our 2hours nap because both Mum and I weren't feeling well. We have the tendency to catch flu bugs whenever we travel overseas. No idea why though! Up from our nap, out and about!

Had wanted to bring Mum to Yongkang street but since we too tired and only wanted to be near our hotel, we decided to comb Ximending on this evening. I was surprised to see Ximending changed a bit. It's not the same as how it was when I went there in 2015!

Anyway, the first street snacks that we had was the fanciful Instagram-worthy drink: Dream Colour!

I bought the one of the right

After mixing

This drink has been one of the popular stuff to buy in Singapore, places like Geylang Serai / Artbox @ Bayfront. The one of the left is of a sweeter flavour while the one on the right is of sour flavour. Bought the one that is sour because I thought that sourness could clear your flu. HAHAHAH! Not sure how true this was lah. Anyway, another reason I bought this was because of the bottle. So this pretty drink costs NT$85.

Found this highly raved grilled mochi stall along the street and yay!!! I could finally have my grilled mochi in Taiwan! I ordered two mochi at one go because... Who can resist mochi?! Sadly, the person confused my order and gave me one wrong flavour.

Ordered Peanut mochi but he gave me cheese instead. The cheese tasted weird to us.

Left: Japanese Soy Sauce
Right: Cheese grilled mochi
NT$35 each

Felt really bumped by the fact that they gave us the wrong order. But we were lighted when we saw a small stall at one of the back alleys! Ordered peanut and made sure that it's peanut this time. Woots!! 很好吃! So yep, Japanese soy sauce and peanut are really nice! I think there's also matcha flavour?

When I was queuing to order, I heard many customers ordering matcha so I guess it's also one of the popular flavours for grilled mochi. No harm trying all flavours if you don't mind trying cheese and matcha! :) The more the merrier! 

Peanut - NT$30

Brought le Mum to have 阿宗面线 and she approved of it! I still find it so-so after these few tries.

NT$50 (small)

What is Taiwan without my favourite sweet potato balls?! Throughout my trip in Taiwan, I made it a point to try all sweet potato balls in Taipei. Tested and proven... The one in Ximending is the nicest that I've tried!

I really like the crisp on the outside and having nothing on the inside! No filling at all. I missed this street snacks after I came back from my trip both in 2015 and 2017! Someone should sell this in Singapore!

As time didn't permit us to Jiufen during this trip, we decided to try peanut ice cream at Ximending. Hmmm, the one in Jiufen is still the best! It doesn't taste as nice as the one we had there. It's as if the whole thing was lacked of something.

This was how we spent our first day in Taipei, Ximending. We ended our night really early, like at about 1030pm as we were really tired from our flu. Onward to day two in Taiwan!

Day Two

Purchased our 72-hrs metro train passes. Just very happy that there are one-day, and 72hrs passes because we were left with only another 5 hours after the 72nd hour after these tickets expired.

NT$380 each for 72hrs pass

On this day, we were supposed to go for 永和豆浆 for our breakfast but unfortunately the one in Ximending is permanently closed and we only found out one night ago. What a disappointment!!

Headed to Taipei 101 shopping mall. Our agenda wasn't to go up to the observatory tower as both of us had been there before. Settled our lunch at the food junction - Japanese cuisine. Isit whichever country I go to, I also have to eat Jap? Noms!! 

We saw this cute stall while walking past after our meal. It sells beverages in cute bottles which have to be purchased additionally.

People like me would definitely go for the bottles instead of the drinks. We could even choose the expressions of our choices!

As most of the drinks over there weren't what I'd go for, I decided to order orange juice. HAHAHAH! What a boring person right!

Also, at this mall, I purchased 2x sunblocks that had its appearance on 女人我最大 for NT$1500. Currently using it and so far so good as long as it doesn't give me any breakouts!

Ended our shopping at Taipei 101 Shopping Mall. Bidded goodbye to this mall by taking some photos before we started our journey to Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Mall and ATT 4 Fun for more shopping.

On our way there, the sky was starting to turn dark with ominous clouds and it made it looked so much like the Taiwanese dramas I watched back in Secondary school days!

Oh! There's this Line friends store at Shin Kong and that's where the camwhore sesh started!

Then just beside this Line store, we came across the snacks that Mr. Z and I had back in Tokyo! I was sooooo excited upon seeing it and told Mum that she had to try no matter how long the queue was! Guess what! We regretted not buying two each! LOL!

金峰魯肉飯 was next in line for dinner. There was a crowd outside the shop but thankfully they were waiting for their takeaways! We had our seats in no time.

The staff was very friendly and because he saw that I had some difficulty reading the words in Chinese, he offered us a menu with photos for our references!

I saw somewhere that wintermelon was one of the recommended soups at this place but sadly I see no such dish on the menu. Ended up ordering bittergourd soup instead. Anyway, personally, I find that the braised meat rice here is nicer than 胡须张卤肉饭 but each to their own I guess!

师大夜市 was next and erm... It was raining and I recalled the previous time when I visited this place with Mr. Z, it was raining heavily as well. Thank God that the rain lasted for only 10 minutes or so this time!

Gonna leave Day 3 to 5 in another post because this is getting really long!

Goodbye :)