Day 7

Slept in till late again. Haha. This time we had a logical reason to do so. Cause today is the day when our Tai Yang Bing (太阳饼) from Li Yi will be arriving. *ahem* In fact, they delivered it right to out (hotel) door step. Haha. =)

Ooh-ho-ho~ Make me so gian to steal one for myself immediately. Haha. The 8 boxes were quite bulky and weigh about close to 5kg I think. I was a bit worried that our luggage will be too heavy, so I was torn between buying more clothes and the prospect of having to pay an additional I-dunno-how-much if our luggage to exceed our 20kg weight limit. Boo! D= Haha. Anyway, we dragged our lazy asses out of bed for lunch. =D

McDonalds! Whoots! =)

Slightly fascinated by the Chinese words on the fries box thingy

McSpicy! Less spicy as compared to Singapore, thus less prone to get a tummyache later. Hurhur.

After that, we shopped around Ximending area and both of us each got a pair of shoes. Haha. I bought a pair of flats for TWD200! Less than SGD10!! Of course MUST buy!!! HAHA! And Da bought a pair of sneakers for TWD700. Well, it is relatively cheaper than the shoes he was wearing. Haha. He didn't want to buy that pair of shoes, but I kind of reasoned with him till he bought it. Hurhur. =) Anyway, what's up with guys and their "logical" explanation that one pair of shoes is enough? What if it gives way on you? At least you have another for back-up right? Haha. Then again, I think I have about5 pairs of shoes for back-up. Hahaha!! Though I think I am quite mild as compared to many of my friends. =)

After shopping around XMD, it started raining again. Gahhs! So we headed back to our hotel and dump our loots. Then we contemplated on where else we could go, so we decided we want to go back to Raohe Night Market again for dinner!!! =D So, I settled for Wufengpu!!!~ YAY! Well, it was a bit too early for dinner le~ /whines Headed back to Houshanpi station, and off we go~ Didn't buy anything though. Haha. Observe my restrain! Haha. =P Then when it was time for dinner, we walked to Raohe Night Market. Anyway, it was still drizzling, so there were lesser people, thus lesser queueus, and also, lesser stalls opened. =X

Observe the emptiness of the street. /gyaa

We bought the Hot Pepper Bun again~ =)

Queued for Yu Zi Shao (玉子烧) again. In case you guys forgot, it's omelette with corn, cheese and mayo. There are different flavours too! But instead of buying just 1, we bought 2 flavours this time =)

Ming Tai Zi (明太子) again!

Lobster Salad flavour! Equally yummy!! =D

Decided to try something different, Herbal Lamb Soup!

This Herbal Lamb Soup didn't have that weird funky lamb taste that I didn't like. Apparently it's much better than I expected!! Heh. And I'm usually stubborn, and don't like to try new food. =X The ginger helped to remove the weird funky taste, I think. Heh. =) Also, we ordered a bowl of Stewed Pork Rice (滷肉飯, Lu Rou Fan). Both only cost TWD100, less than SGD5! =D WOW!

We also ordered a take-away Oyster Pancake, 蚵仔煎!

This is my first time eating a delicious 蚵仔煎! Singapore's version is saltier and the Oysters are usually not fully cooked, because Singaporeans prefer them slightly uncooked. For me, I prefer them fully cooked. Haha. =P Also, the Singapore version is WAY saltier, but the Taiwanese version is sweet~ So the Taiwanese Oyster Pancake got me hungry for more!! =) So ya, I'm a sweet person. /puppy dog face. LOL. *shudders*

After that, we headed back to our hotel to pack up our bursting luggage, due to said Tai Yang Bing 太阳饼 as mentioned before. LOL! Slept earlier than we ever did for the entire trip. Lol. At midnight. =X

Day 8, Last Day in Taiwan

Woke up bright and early to check out. =) Decided to end our Taiwanese trip with a fantabulous breakfast, so we were off to NY Bagels again! I know, we like that place very very much! Seriously, grab a bite at NY Bagels if you ever do get a chance! =)

Tried something new this time. Scrambled eggs with bacon, pancakes and potato wedges. =) Super filling!

After that, we started looking for the bus to get us to Taoyuan Airport. It took us quite a while, and we were kind of in a rush too. So I didn't take photos along the way. Oops. =X When we exited NY Bagels, we headed to the right (same level), and saw a booth that is selling tickets for Kuokuang (国光) bus. But we realised they were not selling tickets to Taoyuan Airport. We had to exit the Taiwan Main Station building. So we asked around for directions, thank goodness for friendly Taiwaneses!! =D So polite too! =) Hee. But ya, we finally managed to find our way to the bus depot. Heh. =)

Our tickets

There are 2 terminals of Taoyuan Airport, so you have to clarify with the bus driver which terminals you will be alighting. For Tiger Airline, its Terminal 1, the first stop. =) Anyway, if you are unsure, the bus driver has a board that shows you what planes take off at which terminal. Talk about tourist-friendliness!!~ =D Whoots!

Since Tiger Airline does not have entertainment on board, we bought books to entertain ourselves. Hurhur. =D

We got window seats~ Heehee!

Us, as we head back to Singapore!

So ya, finally after 2 months, I completed blogging about my 8 day Taiwan trip. How inefficient I am/was. Tskk. Anyhow, I can finally blog about other stuff. Haha. =P Anyway, I'm quite tired this week. Woke up at 5.45am to reach school (Pulau NTU) at 7am to do my Research stuff and didn't eat breakfast and lunch for that day. Crap! And I missed lunch today too! =X So many people keep telling me that I have become thinner! Sigh. Need to eat more... Haha. Anyway, toodles~ Need to go school again tomorrow for cells harvesting! =)

As usual, we woke up late, almost just in time for lunch and rushed out to get to 新北投. We took MRT from Ximen Station to 北投 Beitou station and changed platform to take another train to 新北投 Hsin Beitou station. It was slightly irritating cause we had to walk down the stairs and up again. Lol. We are lazy bums. =P Heh. And during the train ride to 新北投, I realised I forgot to bring my camera! BOO! So you guys have to make do with shots from my handphone. Haha. Hopefully the resolution isn't that bad. Hee.

Hsin Beitou station!

Interesting looking trains that will bring you to Hsin Beitou station.

Anyway, when we arrived at Hsin Beitou station, we exited and started looking for a place to eat. =) It was slightly drizzling, so we quickly crossed the roads (diagonally to the station) and settled on a Ramen store.

Da's Stewed Beef Ramen, which was exceptionally chewy. Even better and cheaper than Lai Lai in Singapore!

My Kimchi Pork dried Ramen. Slightly spicy and the pork was very tender!!

Lunch amounted to TWD250 for both Ramen! Cheap and good! =D Whoots! Was very satisfied with our lunch, and by then, the drizzling had stopped too. Haha. Lucky us! =) We started to make our way to find the Hot Springs.

Was walking along the path to Millenium Hot Springs, and chanced upon this cool-looking architecture-like building. This is actually the Hsin Beitou Library! We entered and walked about later.

Millenium Hot Spring. It costs TWD40 per person and an additional TWD20 for a locker.

Upon looking (very discreetly), we realised that there were a lot of old folk down at the Hot Spring. Haha. And I kind of brought my bikini, thinking there would definitely be lesser people. So, we decided not to enter that Hot Spring. In case you were wondering, unless you are VERY TALL you cannot see the Hot Springs. Well ya, one of the benefits of having a tall boyfriend. =P HAHAHA. We headed into the Hsin Beitou Aboriginal Museum too. Nothing much actually, more of history and sulphur rocks. And I am allergic to sulphur. *shudders* Haha. We walked along the path somemore and found a kind of shallow lake. A lot of people were immersing their feet into the waters so we decided to take a look too. Besides, its free too! Bwahaha!

The water looks so serene~

Me looking like a little girl. LOL.

Da <3

Here's the library I was talking about just now. We headed in for a while to rest. And I realised I scratched my leg on some sharp rocks while in the lake just now. Booo! =X Haha.

After that, we walked to 7-eleven to get a drink. Mocha ftw!

Then we headed back to our hotel to refill our bottles and throw our swimming stuff back into the luggage. And also, to claim my camera!! =D Haha. I know, I know. We don't exactly have a very packed schedule. Lol. Because we completed most of the important stuff the past few days already and we were quite shagged. LOL! =) So we decided to explore a new Night Market again today. Hee. 師大路夜市 Shida Night Market!! Shida Night Market can be accessed from the Taipower Building MRT. Since the day we went there was a weekend, there were lesser students, cause Shida Night Market is near to National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University. Shida Night Market is more havily populated by students during the weekdays. Haha. So, lucky for us, queues were slightly much shorter and there was much lesser people there too! =) Hee.

After exiting from Taipower Building MRT, we headed out by exit 3 and turned right. We walked along Shida Road for about 3-5 minutes and we started seeing small crowds, and we knew we were about there. Haha. We reached at about 6pm, relatively early for a Night Market outing. =P Hee. So the first stall we saw was the Crepe Shop! =)

Crepes!

The MENU

Bought a Banana Crepe, cause we were thinking about how little fruits we have been eating this week. Healthy us =) *beams*

Anyway, we waited about 15 minutes when we ordered at about 6.15pm, so I guess, the later you come, the longer you have to wait. =X

Another stall that we saw a long queue.

Hot plate spaghetti with Barbeque Pork Chop. For only TWD150, about SGD6.50. Quite cheap and its definitely filling for one person, so both of us just shared one plate. =) There were free flow drinks too!

Dachang Bao Xiaochang (大腸包小腸 Small Sausage in Big Sausage)!

In case you have no idea what that is, 大腸包小腸 is actually a Taiwanese night market creation of a pork sausage wrapped in a glutinous rice sausage. Quite tasty! =)

Jipai(雞排 Fried Chicken Fillet) Yumyum!

The stall name, I recommend this for the lazy bums out there who want boneless fried chicken fillet! =P

They cut them up into bite-size pieces for you too! Whoots~

Finally, a drink to douse our appetite. Haha. I remember my cousin telling me that we eat ALOT! HAHA! Guilty as charged~

Our last buy of the day! =P

Po Lo Bao. You can also find them in Singapore bakeries, but of course, the Taiwanese version is better! =) Bought 2 for breakfast the next day!

The packaging is so cute~ Hee.

After our Shida Night Market eating rampage, we also walked around, you know, shopping. Hehheh! I bought 2 basic tops here, for only TWD200(less than SGD10 for both tops)!! Cheap Cheap! Wanted to buy more, but I was restrained by the 20kg luggage we bought! BOO!! So, after that, we decided to head back to our hotel, and along the walk back to the MRT, it started to rain heavily. Haha. Lucky us, it only started raining heavily when we were done with our Night Market food hunt. Heh. =P Quite a fruitful and eventful day. And of course, we slept late, justifying a late wake-up time for tomorrow too! =D Heehee!

Anyway, a slight update on my life now! Haha. Just recently took part in the Singapore International Band Festival 2012 with Temasek Junior College and I am proud to say that we got a GOLD! and we were the THIRD in the first division, lagging behind SMU Symphonia and this superb Thailand band! Woooo! Large improvement as compared to the past 2 silvers TJC obtained in the past 2 SYFs. And I am happy to say that our conductor, Mr Alex Lin looked happy and proud of the achievement! I know he definitely wanted us to get first and be able to play in the Esplanade, but being able to come this far with only about 2 months of official practice, it is already magical! TJCSB MAGIC! And I am proud to say that I am a part of and will always be a part of TJCSB/TJCAB! =D