Woke up relatively early, at about 8.30am. And wore my new dress that I bought at Wufengpu during Day 2 of my Taiwan trip. Haha. =P Anyway, we had a more filling breakfast near our hotel because it's going to be a long day today.

Here's my Tuna Crossiant, with Hot Tea and a small piece of Chocolate Cake.

Da's French Toast with Ham and Cheese.

After breakfast, we headed to Taipei Main Station and walked to the TRA(Taiwan Railway Administration, 台灣鐵路管理局) section. For those of you who are not sure where to go, below is a photo where we bought our tickets to head towards 十分 Shi Fen.

So, we bought our train tickets from Taipei Main Station to Rui Fang Station (TRA, NOT MRT). These train timings are very rigid and operates every 1 hour; here are some timings to note: 9.15am, 10.15am and 12.00pm. The ride to Rui Fang Station will take about 50 minutes.

Because we reached quite late, we bought the 12:00pm tickets to Rui Fang Station. But it was about 45 mins to 12pm, so we went out of the station, and decided to explore around. We settled in a small shophouse that sells noodles, and decided to buy a snack to munch on. Lol.

Haha. We seem to be eating everytime. =P

Headed back to the station, and decided to pass some time. LOL. =P

Map of the entire Taiwan, and the TRA stations.

Finally, at 11:55pm the train arrived and we boarded the train. There were already stipulated seats for us to settle in. There was more than enough leg room for us, so we snoozed a bit and waited for the train to roll towards Rui Fang Station. =)

Rui Fang Station!

At Rui Fang Station, we bought the 平溪 Ping Xi one-day pass (52 TWD) to take towards 十分 Shi Fen Station. Boarding of the train is at the same platform, and the train is much smaller too. Then we alighted at 十分 Shi Fen Station.

From the platform, cross over to the other side and start exploring! Lol. Anyway, we were hungry, so we bought one Taiwan Sausage. And golly, the sausage tasted heavenly. It is definitely not the same as those that are usually bought from Pasar Malams in Singapore. Haha. It's juicier and the meat is so sweet and tender. YUMMY!!

We walked along the train tracks, and saw a lot of people writing stuff on lanterns. The cost of a huge lantern starts from TWD 100 for 2 colors, up to TWD 200 for 6. Also, there are different colour combinations, like red symbolises good relationships, white symbolises good health, etc. Haha. Da and I didn't buy one lantern to write, because we are kind of realists, so we prefer watching people releasing their lanterns. Heh. Apparently, you can attach some fire crackers at the end of the lantern. =) We got a shock when we heard some fire cracker sounds coming from on top of us. LOL. =X /noobs HAHA!!

We were contemplating whether we should head over to Shifen Waterfalls. But, being lazy, we decided not to. LOL. So, we continued walking until we reached a bridge, which can be easily seen from the Shi Fen station itself. =)

Cam-hored a bit, but I shan't put too many pictures here. LOL. =P

By then, it was about 3pm, so we decided to head back to Ruifang station to go to Jiu Fen 九份! So we took the train back and alighted at Ruifang station. We walked out of the station and crossed the road to a bus stop. We did ask the information booth there for the buses that head towards Jiu Fen. The bus stop is kind of in front a convenience store, if you were wondering. =) Heh. The bus fare was about 50 TWD, if my memory didn't fail me. =X And we alighted at the Jiu Fen bus stop. If you are worried that you might miss the stop, don't. Haha. The bus driver will announce the stop name aloud, or you can ask the driver to tell you too. =)

After alighting, the first thing we though of was FOOD!! Haha. Seriously, we are like hungry kids on a mission to eat everything. =P So, we explored around Jiu Fen. There are quite a lot of good food to choose from. So we followed internet sources and recommendations. Haha. =D

This stall is quite hard to miss because it is plastered with so many photos of the stall owner with actors and actresses. Lol.

We ordered one lu rou fan and a mixture of fish balls soup. There were so many different types of fish balls, and they all have unique tastes!! Definitely a MUST try!!

Another thing we ate is the Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan. It is like a soup (hot/cold) with different flavours of chewy sticky balls, such as Yam, Sweet Potato, and I think I tasted Green Tea. There was something purplish too, think it was Beetroot? Haha. Too confused, but the blend of the different mild flavours were awesome!!

After that, we explored around somemore, taking more photos of the splendid view at the top of the mountain. =) Then, we headed out and bought Tai Yang Bing (Tai Yang Biscuits) from Li Yi! Taste great, and let me tell you, I am not a fan of snacks, but this is really good!! =D We bought 8 boxes, and each box cost 250 TWD. Haha. If you were wondering where we bought the Li Yi Tai Yang Bing(s), it is located outside the Jiu Fen streets, opposite the 7-eleven store, which can be seen when we alighted from the bus previously. Also, if you buy more than 1500 TWD, they can send it to your hotel room directly. Talk about service!!! =D And other than Tai Yang Bing(s), they do sell other stuff like, Pineapple Tarts, which also tasted great. But we had to take into account of the limited baggage weight we have, which is only 20kg for both of us. So we only bought Tai Yang Bings. Heh. =P

Us <3

A little kid feeding many cats. =D

So, after buying from Li Yi, we waited around the shop area, which also doubles as a bus stop. We didn't know that, but the bus just stopped there and a lot of people boarded, so we asked whether the bus will head towards 基龙 Keelung, and thankfully it did. Kudos to friendly Taiwanese and Taiwanese bus drivers!! So ya, it was a long bus ride, close to 1h. Haha. And the bus driver announced the stop to alight to go to 基龙庙口 Keelung-Miaokou Night Market. After alighting, we walked all the way straight till we saw a bridge, that resembles a Crane. Haha. Ya, it was apparently at the left side as we walked along the pavements, then we headed towards the bridge, crossing the road and we welcomed the sight of Keelung-Miaokou Night Market!! Whoots! We didn't get lost!!

Strangely, the first thing we ate was dessert. LOL! We bought Tou Hua (Soya Bean) that came with other chew-ables in it. Pardon me, I forgot the exact thing we bought because I forgot to take a photo of it. You have to forgive us, we were too hungry. Oops!! =X

The main street of the Night Market!

Crab Meat Soup and Glutinous rice(油饭)!! Super cheap and good food.

After that, we bought a drink, Papaya Milk! Mmmm. Sorry, no picture too. Haha. But there are many photos up there already. LOL! =X Anyway, we didn't eat too much for dinner because we had been constantly munching on something from breakfast. LOL!! =P So we decided to head back home at about 7.30pm, it was a really long and tiring day! So ya, the nearest train station there was 基龙 Keelung. For a moment, we almost got lost, but there were maps located on the "edges" of the Night Market, so we followed them. We walked along Zhongyi Road (Away from Rener Road), crossing a few roads, and finally a long overhead bridge, and finally reached that station. It was a 15 minutes walk, at least. =) Do take note, the train timings are hourly, so if you miss one train, you have to wait for the next one which is half an hour later!! Some timings from Keelung Station are 20.16 (can buy reserved seats), 20.43, 21.04, 21.17, 21.41, 22.12. So we took the train from Keelung Station to Taipei Train Station (48mins, 10 stops).

Our ticket back to Taipei Main Station. Really shagged, and we slept the 40 minutes away. LOL. =D We then took MRT to Ximen Station and walked back to hotel. By then, it was about 9.30pm. So, in my opinion, you should really plan the time of the train you want to board to get back to Taipei Main Station. Really important!! Anyway, we had an early night for Day 4 to commence! =D

Day 2 of Taiwan Trip (23rd May 2012, Wednesday)

After day 1 of Taiwan, we were quite tired because we had a late night. Sleeping at about 2-3am. Haha. So we woke up late and decided to have brunch instead. We headed to NY Bagels, located at Q Mall.

To get there, we took MRT from Ximen Station to Taipei Main Station (1 stop only), and walked towards the Zhongxiao West Road exit. P.S. Taipei Main Station is one large place!! Haha. We arrived at about 12.30pm, and it didn't take too long for us to find a seat. =) So hurrayhurray! They also served us (free!!) apples and a drink that tasted like Honey Tea. It took them about 10-15 minutes for our meals to be sent to us. So here's a few pictures of our wonderful brunch! YUMYUM! =D

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon (Kailing and I ordered this!)

Another shot of the Eggs Benedict! This is heavenly!!~ =P

Onion Bagel with Bacon and Sunny-side up Egg (Da ordered this!)

Wholemeal Bagel with Ham and Scrambled Egg (Baowen ordered this!)

Kailing and I =)

Da and BaoWen

I <3 NY Bagels!! Definitely coming back for more!!

After brunch, it was about 1.30pm and we were SUPER full!! So we decided to walk our bulging tummies off at Wufengpu Shopping District. Wufenpu Shopping District opens at 12pm officially, but stalls take their own time to open, so I suggest going slightly later, like about 2pm. =) We took MRT from Taipei Main Station to Houshanpi Station, along blue line, towards Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center Station (南港展覽館站). It took us about 20-25mins, and we exited at exit 1(if I am not mistaken). Once we exited, we walked straight, cross a very big road. And we were able to see a stall at our diagonally right hand side (a yellow signboard with a large bearded guy. Hahaha). We continued walking straight, crossing one more road and straight again, till we reached a small lane, and shopping began!! =D Haha. I only bought 1 dress ONLY!!

Only one photo, thats not very well taken. Oops.

My bf and I are actually not good with shopping for long hours, we usually walk about 1 hour, and we MUST take a rest! Haha. So shopping with Kailing and Bao Wen took us out literally. Haha. We shopped from 2pm to about 6pm. By the time we were done, my bf and I were fully exhausted!! D= Haha. Dang, we are so out of shape!!! HAHAHA!! =P Finally, Kailing decided she had enough of shopping and we took the MRT again, to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, to find Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe. We exited from Exit 3, walked all the way straight and turned right into Da'an Road, walked slightly more, and we reached the Hello Kitty Cafe. The address is No. 90, Da An Road, Sec. 1, Taipei. 台北市大安路一段90號.

We didn't stay here for too long, because, our final stop and dinner is Mala Hotpot Buffet!!!

We took MRT back to Ximen Station. And walked towards one end of the Ximending shopping street until the Holiday KTV(Bright Orange sign) building. The Mala Hotpot Buffet can be accessed through the stairs of this building.

The most important thing is that there is FREEFLOW Haagen-Dazs and Movenpick ice-cream!!!! Isn't that the most epic thing! =D LOL! It cost 499 TWD (about 21.70 SGD) for each adult! The only downside is that there is a time-limit for you to eat, 2 hours. We started at about 8pm, and ended at 10pm. But that's definitely enough time for a usual table of 4. =P We ordered a lot of meat and took some seafood, and MANY MANY MUCH ICE-CREAM! Haha.

Yin-Yang Pot (Ginseng Chicken and Mala Soup Base)

Some of the meat come with labels! Lol~

Simply meat galore!! HAHA!

Packaged Tou Hua!

Taste like Lao-Bao Tou Hua!

Dessert and fruits =)

Freeflow Movenpick!!

Freeflow Haagen-Dazs!! There's even Green Tea!!

Da and I <3

After that hearty dinner, we walked around Ximending to digest and Kailing and BaoWen went to buy some souvenirs (some shops at Ximending close at 11pm), then back to our hotel to snooze~ Great day! =D YAY! =]

Day 1 of Taiwan Trip (22nd May 2012, Tuesday)

Our flight was scheduled at 8:55am at the Budget Terminal, Tiger Airlines. So we headed there, courtesy of my Mom, at 6:45am. Checked in our one and only luggage, requested for Emergency exits seats (which have leg space as big as Business Class in normal airlines) and headed to McDonalds for breakfast. Haha. For those who want to know, we only bought one luggage of 20kg that is to be shared between us. Also, for those who wish to have comfortable leg space, do request for Emergency exit seats, its VERY comfy, the only problem is that you cannot have any hand-carry bags under your seat, all bags have to be stored in the upper compartment. Well, that's in case if there really is an emergency and you have to pull the emergency exit gate. But choy!! Lol.

Anyway, we headed in and was on the flight to Taiwan. Took about 4h 50mins, give or take a few minutes. Got our luggage and headed out to the Arrival Hall. Okay, so the first few things you have to do is :Get a MAP and buy an unlimited 3G phone card!! We bought 无线上网卡 from 遠傳電信, 7 days for 600TWD with free 400TWD for international and local calls.

Anyway, don’t have to worry too much, the people there at the booth are very friendly and will help to find the best plan for you ! =) The lady at the booth helped me out by setting up the new SIM card.

After that, we were ready to leave the airport to check into our hotel, Han She Business Hotel. So we went down the escalators and found our way to a few booths that sells bus tickets. We settled for Kuokuang (国光) bus and bought tickets to go to Taipei Main Station(台北車站) which cost us 125 TWD per person.

Here are the tickets (that were torn already. LOL)

It was an approximately 50 minutes ride to Taipei Main Station in which we promptly alighted (with the entire bus, so no point being worried that you will get lost =])
border="0" alt="Photobucket"/>
Taipei Main Station

By then, we were super duper hungry because it was about 2pm. So we found a relatively cheap restaurant for our lunch, Japanese food! Yes yes, after reading my past few posts, you would know that I am a sucker for Japanese food. =X Heh.

Here's my bowl of Seaweed Udon which cost me 135 TWD.

This is Da's Beef Udon which cost 155 TWD.

Both bowls of Udon were superb, even better than the Tempura Udon I often eat in Sushi Tei in Singapore (I'm sorry Sushi Tei, you have quite a lot of room for improvement!). =X Haha. After that, we cleared our own bowl and cutlery and made our way to Taipei Main Station MRT. We asked at a Visitor's Centre that provided us with directions to get there. And really, you MUST ask for directions!! Taipei Main Station is like a maze, there are 3 types of trains here, one is the MRT(Mass Rapid Transit) which connects the whole of Taipei, and the other two trains TRA(Taiwan Railway Administration) and HSR(Taiwan High Speed Rail) that connects the entire Taiwan. Both Da and I got our EasyCard from the Passenger Service Counter. We requested for the Student card by showing our NTU Matriculation Cards.

Pardon the blur-ness, but that's how a student EasyCard looks like

So ya, we took the MRT, along the Blue Line, towards Yongning direction. One stop, ad we arrived at Ximen Station. Then from there, we exited the station via Exit 6, and we crossed one small road and walked all the way straight(crossing one more road). Han She Business Hotel is actually quite hard to locate because it is located within a small lane. Anyhow, I forgot to take a photo of the Hotel from the street, so here's one from Trip Advisor. :P

Anyway, my bf was quite tired after the flight, so we took some time to unpack and wash up. =) Our room was quite decent, given the price of about 94SGD per night for two. But the main point was that our hotel was only 5 minutes walk to Ximending Shopping District. =D Haha. So after resting for about an hour, we walked around Ximending, which allegedly caused me to buy a maxi skirt. Oops!!! =X Then we got a call from our friends who were already at Taiwan. They were attending the 百萬大歌星 recording from 12pm to 6pm. So we headed out to meet them at Taipei Main Station and we continued taking the MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing Station, also along the Blue line, but in the opposite direction. Then we headed to Shinkong Mitsuokoshi shopping mall where we had a simple dinner.

My Korean Kimchi with Pork Rice

Da's Korean Beef Rice

Kailing's Japanese Rice Set

Bao Wen's Japanese Rice Set

Apparently it was "Be a Geek Day" HAHA!

For your info, only my spectacles are real. LOL~

After the meal, we headed back to Ximen Station, and Kailing suggested going for a drink. Guess she wanted some alcohol. Lol. So the 4 of us went to the Ximen Red House Theatre (紅樓劇場).

And at the back of this building, there were many pubs to choose from.So we settled with one, and basically had a few drinks (other than Kailing, all our drinks were non-alcoholic) and talked. =)

Me with my Honey Green Tea =)

Da's Hazelnut Milk Tea =)

Bao Wen's dunno-what Green Tea. Which tasted real weird

Kailing's alcoholic drink, and she turned quite red after that. LOL
Anyway, Kailing ordered another alcoholic drink, while we struggled to finish our gigantic cups of drinks. P.S. Drinks here are so much cheaper than pubs in Singapore!! So if you ever get the chance, do come here for a few drinks at night. Haha. After that, we headed back to our hotel, by then it was way past midnight, and we were all tired out. Haha. Anyway, will update with the rest of the days when I'm done editting the other pictures. Till then~ =)

Oh ya, for those who want the map for the MRT in Taipei, here it is. =)

Sorry for the short haitus. Heh. Just returned from Taiwan just a few days ago, and I'm sorting out some loose ends like unpacking, cleaning my room and uploading photos. Going to be updating my Taiwan trip by this weekend. For those interested, my trip was from 22nd May to 29th May, 8 days 7 nights to be exact. Haha. =) And it was a blast!! =) Spent most of the money on food actually. Haha. =P Bought some Tai Yang Bing(s) and facial masks to give friends. Haha. Cause there was a limit on the luggage. Only bought one 20kg luggage to be shared between me and my bf. So it was quite a squeeze. Couldn't even buy more than one pair of shoes for each of us. And that was my only regret, because shoes in Taiwan are so cheap. I bought one pair for less than SGD10!! For your info, such cheap shoes can be found in Ximending area, and thats where our hotel (Han She Business Hotel) was located. Also, our hotel was cheap, less than SGD100 for a room for two. =) So you guys can check it out. Till this weekend, I'll be doing up my photos, which you guys can see on my fb (if you're friends with me, that is. Lol). Anyway, cheerios~