Taiwan Trip 07 - Taipei (part 1)

7th September
Yeah! Taipei!
Check out this hotel that we stayed in while we were in Taipei:


It’s basically a boutique hotel called Hotel 73 (新尚旅店) located at No. 73 Sec. 2 Sinyi Rd. Jhong Jheng district (100台北市信義路二段73號) where you stepped in to find a “stylo-milo” lobby greeting you. For free internet access, you just need to head over to the Mac at the lobby any time. Out of the many rooms it offered, there were 9 designer suites for you to choose from as well. If you check-in during the of-peak season, it would cost you NT$2100 (less than S$105) per night for a 2-person suite. :P

We were unlucky on the first night as all the designer rooms were taken and we had to put up in the classic deluxe room (designer rooms were dependant on availability). But lucky for us, someone checked out the next day and the hotel staff helped us with the shift. For the record, we didn’t stay in the “fish-themed” room as it wasn’t available then. We stayed in the other where’s there’s cityscape design instead :)

There wasn’t any time to lose so we headed for Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) almost immediately after check-in! To put it simply, it’s a shopping paradise for girls as it’s basically an area made up of a few streets of wholesale clothing and accessories. If you arrived at this area at the right time (for us, it was during the summer sale), you could get tops as cheap as S$4 and Japan imports between S$15 to S$40 as well! :P

Imagine. I’m usually done shopping within an hour or two. But with Wu Fen Pu, it simply wasn’t enough! I’d spent approx. 6 hours before beating a retreat and went back for another 3 hours the next day just to make sure that I didn’t miss out anything!

But sorry guys! There were only a handful of shops dedicated for guys. But if you search closely enough between lanes, you could actually stumble upon some shops that imported clothing from Japan – cool and stylish. However, don’t expect the price for guys’ clothing to be as cheap as those for girls. The price was usually reasonable. And when we talk about a top for guy, it usually ranged about S$20 and above.

For guys who were forced to accompany girlfriends there, just keep a look out for the street food/ snack vendors and the following drink station (my favourite) where cheap but good food and drinks can be found!



And for the gluttons out there, you could just head over to the nearby RaoHe Night Market (饒河夜市), opposite the Songshan train station (松山車站), for some delicious yet cheap snacks and food! Plus, if you were lucky enough, you could bump into some small street stalls selling exotic animals as pets. For the record, you could find yourself marvel at piglets, tarantulas, huge beetles, lizards and etc…

For us, we bumped into this guy who was queuing up to get some delicacies with his pet – but I have absolutely no idea what’s this creature! Do you?


Other must try food at RaoHe included Hu Jiao Bing (it might look small but it was extremely filling) and the ice desserts!


8th September
Morning… got ourselves some Mister Donut (yummy :) ) and headed to the nearby bus terminal or the bus to Yeliu Cape (野柳地質公園) for a date with mother nature. The journey from Taipei to Yeliu Cape took approx 2 hours…



It was there that Tuk fell on the slippery rocks and almost hurt himself in a bid to save his EXPENSIVE camera. With his khakis dirtied with patches of mud and a strong desire for food after spending more than 3 hours at the location, we headed for Jiufen (九份).

The place’s situated at the top of the mountains and the easiest way to get there was to actually take a train to Re Fang Station (瑞芳) and a free feeder bus afterwards. Tuk was fascinated with the old streets and the mountain top view…



While you were there, do try out the stalls featured above, especially the fish ball stall. Trust me, it’s simply the best fishballs (and the biggest) I’ve ever tasted. It’s simply mouth-watering and sure to make you crave for more!

Another must try dish would be the following dessert:





To be continued…