with anna
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A.nna
anna // singaporean. my dream is to some day live in a countryside and have a lot of dogs. reach me on
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
Taiwan, May 2013 Greetings from Xi Men Ding (西門町), Taipei!
Today is my 6th day in Taiwan, and before I forget every details of this trip, I shall blog it. We arrived on Monday, and our first accommodation was in 北投 (Bei Tou), with Sophia. Bei Tou is known for their hot spring. I did not get to try out their outdoor hot spring, but Sophia had a hot tub in the apartment itself which was at our convenience after a long day.
Day One: We arrived in the afternoon, so we couldn't do much. We went to Shihlin Night Market for their snacks and street store since it is the biggest night market. To be honest, both Inez and I were disappointed with the place as it was too cluttered and things there are quite pricey (given that it's a tourist attraction, no doubt).
(Beef Noodle from Beitou Street, delicious!)
Day Two: Since we were in Bei Tou, we've decided to go 淡水 (Tam Shui), which we were quite disappointed with it too. Everyone were telling me how nice it is and I shouldn't miss it, haissss. I think you can give it a miss if you don't have any spare time. It's literally just a few rows of flea market. Yes, it's flea market, not night market.
Day Three: Well, this was the day which I'll never forget. We went to 五分埔 (Wu Fen Pu) and 饒河 (Rao He). They're just next to each other. Wu Fen Pu is really huge, you don't see an end to the shops. Why I love Wu Fen Pu & Rao He than Shihlin Night Market:
1. They've nicer clothing.
2. They've much cheaper clothing (for the same quality, or better)
3. They're not cluttered, widely spaced out (that explains the tiredness)
4. They've much more variety of clothing and shoes.
I think that kind of summarize my recommendation for the 2 biggest night market. And in the middle of the night market, you'll see this temple which you can eat at. Try the beef noodle. It's really delicious.
Day Four: We checked out from our apartment in Bei Tou and moved on to Xi Men Ding! So for the whole day, we walked around Xi Men Ding and it's night market (still better than Shihlin's). It's slightly smaller than Wu Fen Pu, but they've got more or less the same fashion sense.
(Mozarella Cheese Sticks in Xi Men Ding)
(Hot Star Fried Chicken, the best!)
Day Five: One of my favourite places thus far, 九份 (Jiu Fen), it was really far but I totally think it's a place worth visiting. You have to take their underground train to Taipei Main Station, and take a 2 hours railway train right to Rui Fang (瑞芳) and get a cab driver to bring you up to Jiu Fen which cost TWD180.
(View of Jiu Fen)
Once you're up, there is a white building owned by a cafe. They serve tea only. It's a roof-top cafe, so you can have your tea while enjoying the scenery.
(Love the concept)
(On the rooftop cafe)
Jiu Fen sell mostly souvenirs and street snacks. We tried the best 芋圓 (Taro Balls) in Jiu Fen. I don't remember the store name but it's the first Taro Ball store after you enter Jiu Fen.
Day Six / Tai Tai Day: We totally eat and eat and do nothing the whole day. We went to find boutique cafe which food bloggers like Lady Iron Chef recommended.
We tried the Macarons from La Douceur. They serve patisseries but they are known for their macarons. 4 macarons for TWD300. The 67% Chocolate Macaron was the best out of the 4 I've tried (Lemon, Rose etc).
We tried yakitori too! It's located in Yong Kang Street (永康街). The chicken was so tender!
We had high tea at Xiao Mi Jo (小米酒咖啡館). I really love the place's setting. I can stay there forever. The food is good, I tried the sandwich with ham, cheese egg and vegs & Mascarpone cheese, cream and strawberry. Their dessert was so-so but I love the sandwich! (Or rather I love cheese, egg and ham) :/
Then we had French pastries at Zenique Le Salon (小茶栽堂), which apparently is Iron Lady Chef's favourite place in Taipei for desserts so we went. I don't dislike it, neither was it fabulous.
Going back the day after tomorrow. Till today, I still don't have the feeling that I'll miss Taiwan yet but I really enjoyed the eating and shopping all day long feeling. Other than that, there isn't anything you can't find in Singapore.
Labels: beitou, itinerary, jiu fen, jiufen, ladyironchef, recommendation, shihlin, shihlin market, taipei, taiwan, tamshui, wufenpu, ximending |
xx
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