Saturday, January 03, 2009 5:48 PM
Day 2 (Saturday, 20.12.2008)
Hotel > Hu Tou Shan Park (虎头山公园) > High Speed Rail to Taipei > Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂) > Ximending (西门町) > Danshui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人码头) > Danshui Old Street (淡水老街) > Taoyuan Night Market (桃園夜市)
I think we woke up at like 7am despite me falling asleep at only 2am the previous night. Then we walked out of the hotel to have breakfast at this shop nearby. No, correction, it wasn't near at all. I think we walked for like 20 minutes or so before settling for the shop.
 See, the TV's so nice to watch that they're watching in the bright early morning
.jpg) The streets of Taoyuan in the early morning. Most of the shops aren't open for business yet. If you're wondering why the sun is so bright when it's only 7am+, that's how it is in Taiwan. The sun rises early and sets early too. It's almost pitch dark when it's nearing 6pm. 1.jpg) Breakfast. I ate the Mee Sua, it's damn nice. And it's only S$1.80! The pao you see at the bottom right-hand corner costs less than S$0.30. Seriously, everything's cheap like hell.
We were looking for a place to go after breakfast, but we weren't familiar with the place, so we asked the shop-owner auntie, she told us that it's only a 25-minute walk to Hu Tou Shan Park. So my Dad was like, 'Okay, let's stop cabbing and walk this time round since you all just ate breakfast, must exercise abit!' But the 25-minute walk turned out to be more like a 45-minute walk?!?! Under the hot sun somemore! We should have just taken a cab.  This pet shop we passed by during our 45-minute walk. The puppies are so cute!!! 2.jpg) Places we passed by while walking to Hu Tou Shan Park 3.jpg) Hu Tou Shan Park
Then we went to this flower market just beside Hu Tou Shan Park. It's located under the expressway?!?! The development authority sure knows how to maximise land use. Lol. Anyway, the flowers were beautiful, and cheap. Okay, you'll be seeing the word 'cheap' alot in my day-by-day trip accounts. But the flowers were only 'see, no buy' since we can't bring any agricultural products to Hong Kong or back to Singapore. 4.jpg) Flower Market
Then we took a cab back to our hotel. No more walking the dreaded 45-minute walk! 5.jpg) Watching 我猜 at the hotel, waiting for lunch time to come
Around 1pm, we walked out of the hotel again. This time, to this dumplings and noodles shop about 500m away. Again, food was delicious. We ordered 3 different types of dumplings as side dishes. The Guo Ties (锅贴) are especially nice. 10 of them for like S$3 only. The noodles were like S$2. Cheap cheap cheap.
6.jpg) Nearing the end of lunch, Dad received a call from the tour guide saying that we were supposed to wait at the hotel at 2pm because the tour was starting that afternoon, instead of the next day as stated in our itinerary. So we rushed back to the hotel within 5 minutes. Mind you, it wasn't easy running with a stomach full of dumplings, noodles and starch. I nearly puked when I got on the tour bus.
The tour bus took us to Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station where we would be taking the High Speed Rail to Taipei. At the front of the High Speed Rail(HSR) train, there was quite a big red-brown stain. The tour guide told us it's the blood of the birds that had splattered onto the train while is was moving at great speed. Gross, but it proves how fast the HSR is. 7.jpg) HSR Taoyuan Station 8.jpg) On the HSR train
Upon reaching Taipei HSR station, we switched to taking the MRT to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall Station which was only 2 stops away. As the name of the station suggests, it leads to Chiang Kai Shek(CKS) Memorial Hall. There's another name for it, some people call it the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. 9.jpg) On the MRT to CKS Memorial Hall 10.jpg)
23.jpg) The first picture was taken in 2005 when I was holidaying there too. Compare that with the 2008 picture. There's a difference in the words, the 2005 one says '大中至正' while the 2008 one says '自由广场'. '大中至正' had been taken down by their ex-president Chen Shui Bien and his party in early 2008 and replaced with '自由广场'. The tour guide told us that we must take a photo of the '自由广场' words because it may no longer be there anymore (replaced with '大中至正') the next time we go back to Taiwan. Lol. Taiwan's politics.
11.jpg) The red buildings(there are only 2, but I took multiple shots) are the national theatre hall and concert hall. The white building is the actual memorial hall but I think it's now out of bounds to visitors. It was still open to public 3 years ago, but I'm not sure why they closed it.
Next, we went to Ximending, something like our Bugis but much more bigger(yes, it's really BIG), crowded and more happening. Haha. Alot of youngsters there. Shopping there would be slightly more expensive than other similar areas, but still cheaper than shopping in Singapore.
12.jpg) Huge billboard advertisments with celebrities and models. Funny-looking buildings like the red one you're seeing in the top picture. It's actually a restaurant selling curry dishes. 13.jpg) 14.jpg) Top left-hand pic: Smelly toufu (臭豆腐) (S$1.80). No, it does not taste like urine at all. It's just the smell. Lol. Bottom right-hand pic: White bitter-gourd juice (about S$4). Made from those white bitter-gourds you see on the left. And no again, it's not bitter at all, in fact, it's very sweet and nice because I think they added quite a large amount of honey. Good for summer or hot weather, I would say. Never mind it was winter, we still bought 3 cups of it because my mom thinks it is good for us.
15.jpg) This is damn nice. Just look at the queue and you'll know that I'm not kidding. Everyone who goes to Ximending definitely have to try this. It's Taiwan's 卤味 which you can easily get everywhere, at night markets, at small restaurants, but I think this shop at Ximending sells the best 卤味, and hence the queue. It's about S$2 for the duck wing(top pic) and S$1 for the duck tongue,鸭舌头(bottom pic). It was so nice that my Dad went back to queue and bought 5 wings and 10 tongues back to hotel for supper. Okay, don't eew me, the tongues are nice, even Andy Lau likes to eat them. But if you want something more filling, go for the wings instead because I think you have to eat like 20 tongues to feel alittle full. Yeah, the tongue is rather skinny and not filling at all.
Then the tour bus drove off to Danshui Fisherman's Wharf where part of the filming of Meteor Garden took place? I don't know, call me noob but I didn't watch Meteor Garden at all. Haha. Yep, it's beautiful, but not exactly as breath-taking as I thought it would be. Perfect for couples to visit, I think. There were alot of couples there probably because they said that if a couple walk the full length of the bridge together, they would last forever, or something along those lines. Lol. It's up to you to believe it, but honestly, I don't. 16.jpg) After that, we went to Danshui Old Street(it's sort-of a night market) which was just a 10-minute drive away. Danshui Old Street is pretty accessible from Taipei despite being all the way at the northern tip of Taiwan. Just take Taipei's MRT to Danshui MRT Station which is quite near Danshui Old Street.
Anyway, we ate at this small shop. Ordered the only 3 things they were selling, just to try them. First one is 阿给, it's vermicelli wrapped with toufu skin, but I've no idea why they give it such a funny English name, Arcade. Then there was fishball soup(鱼丸汤) and rice cake (筒仔米糕). They cost only S$1.60 each. I like the arcade and fishball soup. The soup was really boiling hot, totally perfect for the cold weather. 17.jpg) Top right-hand pic: Rice cake Bottom left-hand pic: Fishball soup Bottom right-hand pic: Arcade
 Yep, that's a real dog hanging like a bag. At first I was walking quite close to this guy, and I thought he was carrying a bag and didn't think much of it. Then, the 'bag' moved, I got so frightened. After looking closely, I realised it was a dog. The dog was so obedient, he didn't even move much, just hung there and looking at whoever's walking behind his owner. Cute, but poor thing... 19.jpg) We got the Crispy Fried Squid again, because it's so yummy. And my bro and I got this LONG ice-cream which cost only S$0.45 each?!?! And there were quite a number of flavours to choose from. They even have split-flavours, the ice-cream is split all the way from the tip, and one side's chocolate, the other side's vanilla (there's also green tea-honeydew).
We went back to the hotel after that. The bus-ride took about 45 minutes which is a rather fast journey considering Danshui and Taoyuan are like two different states in Taiwan. Went back to the hotel to put the stuffs we bought, and came out again, this time as a family, not as the whole tour group. We were going to the Taoyuan Night Market which was pretty nearby, about a 10-minute walk from our hotel.  Managed to snap a picture of the Jacky Wu advertisement for the condo beside our hotel. It's so luxurious that they even dare call it 天王的家. Hahaha.
While walking to the night market, I went to this shop on the way and bought 6 pairs of ear-studs for only S$4.60. Super cheap! Where in Singapore would you get ear-studs for that kind of price?
20.jpg) Taoyuan Night Market 21.jpg) Mom was feeling hungry and decided to have Oyster Mee Sua (蚵仔面线) as supper. Only S$1.80! 22.jpg) We walked around the night market and we saw Takopachi and bought it!!! Guess how much it was? S$1.80 for 6 balls! Oh my goodness la, the one I get from Bugis is S$2.30 for 3?!?! Somemore the ones in Taiwan have more fillings and less of the flour thingy. And they have fillings like sotongs, wasabi(my favourite), etc. I think Taiwan has the culture of selling Takopachis in a boat-like container. Because that was what I saw when I went to a few more night markets and bought Takopachis for the subsequent nights (and, grew rounder and rounder like a takopachi).
We headed back to the hotel at like 1am+. Lol. Yep, the shops at the night markets are opened to even later than 1am. From what I've heard, they are opened till about 5am. That's why Taiwan may also be called as the 不夜城. If you live there, you probably won't want to sleep at like 11 or 12midnight.
Day 3, to be continued~ |
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Saturday, January 03, 2009 5:48 PM
Day 2 (Saturday, 20.12.2008)
Hotel > Hu Tou Shan Park (虎头山公园) > High Speed Rail to Taipei > Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂) > Ximending (西门町) > Danshui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人码头) > Danshui Old Street (淡水老街) > Taoyuan Night Market (桃園夜市)
I think we woke up at like 7am despite me falling asleep at only 2am the previous night. Then we walked out of the hotel to have breakfast at this shop nearby. No, correction, it wasn't near at all. I think we walked for like 20 minutes or so before settling for the shop.
See, the TV's so nice to watch that they're watching in the bright early morning
The streets of Taoyuan in the early morning. Most of the shops aren't open for business yet. If you're wondering why the sun is so bright when it's only 7am+, that's how it is in Taiwan. The sun rises early and sets early too. It's almost pitch dark when it's nearing 6pm. Breakfast. I ate the Mee Sua, it's damn nice. And it's only S$1.80! The pao you see at the bottom right-hand corner costs less than S$0.30. Seriously, everything's cheap like hell.
We were looking for a place to go after breakfast, but we weren't familiar with the place, so we asked the shop-owner auntie, she told us that it's only a 25-minute walk to Hu Tou Shan Park. So my Dad was like, 'Okay, let's stop cabbing and walk this time round since you all just ate breakfast, must exercise abit!' But the 25-minute walk turned out to be more like a 45-minute walk?!?! Under the hot sun somemore! We should have just taken a cab. This pet shop we passed by during our 45-minute walk. The puppies are so cute!!! Places we passed by while walking to Hu Tou Shan Park Hu Tou Shan Park
Then we went to this flower market just beside Hu Tou Shan Park. It's located under the expressway?!?! The development authority sure knows how to maximise land use. Lol. Anyway, the flowers were beautiful, and cheap. Okay, you'll be seeing the word 'cheap' alot in my day-by-day trip accounts. But the flowers were only 'see, no buy' since we can't bring any agricultural products to Hong Kong or back to Singapore. Flower Market
Then we took a cab back to our hotel. No more walking the dreaded 45-minute walk! Watching 我猜 at the hotel, waiting for lunch time to come
Around 1pm, we walked out of the hotel again. This time, to this dumplings and noodles shop about 500m away. Again, food was delicious. We ordered 3 different types of dumplings as side dishes. The Guo Ties (锅贴) are especially nice. 10 of them for like S$3 only. The noodles were like S$2. Cheap cheap cheap.
Nearing the end of lunch, Dad received a call from the tour guide saying that we were supposed to wait at the hotel at 2pm because the tour was starting that afternoon, instead of the next day as stated in our itinerary. So we rushed back to the hotel within 5 minutes. Mind you, it wasn't easy running with a stomach full of dumplings, noodles and starch. I nearly puked when I got on the tour bus.
The tour bus took us to Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station where we would be taking the High Speed Rail to Taipei. At the front of the High Speed Rail(HSR) train, there was quite a big red-brown stain. The tour guide told us it's the blood of the birds that had splattered onto the train while is was moving at great speed. Gross, but it proves how fast the HSR is. HSR Taoyuan Station On the HSR train
Upon reaching Taipei HSR station, we switched to taking the MRT to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall Station which was only 2 stops away. As the name of the station suggests, it leads to Chiang Kai Shek(CKS) Memorial Hall. There's another name for it, some people call it the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. On the MRT to CKS Memorial Hall
The first picture was taken in 2005 when I was holidaying there too. Compare that with the 2008 picture. There's a difference in the words, the 2005 one says '大中至正' while the 2008 one says '自由广场'. '大中至正' had been taken down by their ex-president Chen Shui Bien and his party in early 2008 and replaced with '自由广场'. The tour guide told us that we must take a photo of the '自由广场' words because it may no longer be there anymore (replaced with '大中至正') the next time we go back to Taiwan. Lol. Taiwan's politics.
The red buildings(there are only 2, but I took multiple shots) are the national theatre hall and concert hall. The white building is the actual memorial hall but I think it's now out of bounds to visitors. It was still open to public 3 years ago, but I'm not sure why they closed it.
Next, we went to Ximending, something like our Bugis but much more bigger(yes, it's really BIG), crowded and more happening. Haha. Alot of youngsters there. Shopping there would be slightly more expensive than other similar areas, but still cheaper than shopping in Singapore.
Huge billboard advertisments with celebrities and models. Funny-looking buildings like the red one you're seeing in the top picture. It's actually a restaurant selling curry dishes. Top left-hand pic: Smelly toufu (臭豆腐) (S$1.80). No, it does not taste like urine at all. It's just the smell. Lol. Bottom right-hand pic: White bitter-gourd juice (about S$4). Made from those white bitter-gourds you see on the left. And no again, it's not bitter at all, in fact, it's very sweet and nice because I think they added quite a large amount of honey. Good for summer or hot weather, I would say. Never mind it was winter, we still bought 3 cups of it because my mom thinks it is good for us.
This is damn nice. Just look at the queue and you'll know that I'm not kidding. Everyone who goes to Ximending definitely have to try this. It's Taiwan's 卤味 which you can easily get everywhere, at night markets, at small restaurants, but I think this shop at Ximending sells the best 卤味, and hence the queue. It's about S$2 for the duck wing(top pic) and S$1 for the duck tongue,鸭舌头(bottom pic). It was so nice that my Dad went back to queue and bought 5 wings and 10 tongues back to hotel for supper. Okay, don't eew me, the tongues are nice, even Andy Lau likes to eat them. But if you want something more filling, go for the wings instead because I think you have to eat like 20 tongues to feel alittle full. Yeah, the tongue is rather skinny and not filling at all.
Then the tour bus drove off to Danshui Fisherman's Wharf where part of the filming of Meteor Garden took place? I don't know, call me noob but I didn't watch Meteor Garden at all. Haha. Yep, it's beautiful, but not exactly as breath-taking as I thought it would be. Perfect for couples to visit, I think. There were alot of couples there probably because they said that if a couple walk the full length of the bridge together, they would last forever, or something along those lines. Lol. It's up to you to believe it, but honestly, I don't. After that, we went to Danshui Old Street(it's sort-of a night market) which was just a 10-minute drive away. Danshui Old Street is pretty accessible from Taipei despite being all the way at the northern tip of Taiwan. Just take Taipei's MRT to Danshui MRT Station which is quite near Danshui Old Street.
Anyway, we ate at this small shop. Ordered the only 3 things they were selling, just to try them. First one is 阿给, it's vermicelli wrapped with toufu skin, but I've no idea why they give it such a funny English name, Arcade. Then there was fishball soup(鱼丸汤) and rice cake (筒仔米糕). They cost only S$1.60 each. I like the arcade and fishball soup. The soup was really boiling hot, totally perfect for the cold weather. Top right-hand pic: Rice cake Bottom left-hand pic: Fishball soup Bottom right-hand pic: Arcade
Yep, that's a real dog hanging like a bag. At first I was walking quite close to this guy, and I thought he was carrying a bag and didn't think much of it. Then, the 'bag' moved, I got so frightened. After looking closely, I realised it was a dog. The dog was so obedient, he didn't even move much, just hung there and looking at whoever's walking behind his owner. Cute, but poor thing... We got the Crispy Fried Squid again, because it's so yummy. And my bro and I got this LONG ice-cream which cost only S$0.45 each?!?! And there were quite a number of flavours to choose from. They even have split-flavours, the ice-cream is split all the way from the tip, and one side's chocolate, the other side's vanilla (there's also green tea-honeydew).
We went back to the hotel after that. The bus-ride took about 45 minutes which is a rather fast journey considering Danshui and Taoyuan are like two different states in Taiwan. Went back to the hotel to put the stuffs we bought, and came out again, this time as a family, not as the whole tour group. We were going to the Taoyuan Night Market which was pretty nearby, about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. Managed to snap a picture of the Jacky Wu advertisement for the condo beside our hotel. It's so luxurious that they even dare call it 天王的家. Hahaha.
While walking to the night market, I went to this shop on the way and bought 6 pairs of ear-studs for only S$4.60. Super cheap! Where in Singapore would you get ear-studs for that kind of price?
Taoyuan Night Market Mom was feeling hungry and decided to have Oyster Mee Sua (蚵仔面线) as supper. Only S$1.80! We walked around the night market and we saw Takopachi and bought it!!! Guess how much it was? S$1.80 for 6 balls! Oh my goodness la, the one I get from Bugis is S$2.30 for 3?!?! Somemore the ones in Taiwan have more fillings and less of the flour thingy. And they have fillings like sotongs, wasabi(my favourite), etc. I think Taiwan has the culture of selling Takopachis in a boat-like container. Because that was what I saw when I went to a few more night markets and bought Takopachis for the subsequent nights (and, grew rounder and rounder like a takopachi).
We headed back to the hotel at like 1am+. Lol. Yep, the shops at the night markets are opened to even later than 1am. From what I've heard, they are opened till about 5am. That's why Taiwan may also be called as the 不夜城. If you live there, you probably won't want to sleep at like 11 or 12midnight.
Day 3, to be continued~ |
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First of all, I'm a Kpop fan, especially of 2PM, MBLAQ, 2NE1 and FT Island. Actually, I like Kpop, Korean entertainment, Korean dramas, Korean language, Korean culture, Korean food, basically anything Korean. So I guess you can call me a fan of Korea.
Second, eating is one of my favourite pastimes. I think my size says it all. =P I'm not picky about food but there's only one thing that I don't like eating, that is, sweet potato.
Third, I love sports. Been playing table tennis for about 6 years now, and floorball, 2 years. But I would have to say that I like floorball more. I don't know, but putting the ball into the goal, making an accurate pass, chasing after the ball, even sweating like a pig, gives me the sense of satisfaction that nothing else can.
Fourth, I can't live without the Internet. You can take away my phone, TV, mp3, bed, but please don't take away my Internet because...I just can't live without the internet.
Lastly, if there's anything I dislike, it would have to be making decisions. Where to go, what to eat, what to do next, which is nicer/better...I just don't like deciding. I always leave it to others because honestly, it doesn't matter where we're going, what we're eating or what we're doing to do. What matters most is the company and whether we're having a great time together.
Email: connii@hotmail.com
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Connie Tan
Nineteen
Singaporean
23 March 1991
National University of Singapore
FASS
Year 1
Floorball
Table Tennis
♥ Eusoff Hall
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Established since: 16 November 2006
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visitors since 23 March 2008
Just The Way You Are (Acoustic Cover) - Boyce Avenue
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Nearing the end of lunch, Dad received a call from the tour guide saying that we were supposed to wait at the hotel at 2pm because the tour was starting that afternoon, instead of the next day as stated in our itinerary. So we rushed back to the hotel within 5 minutes. Mind you, it wasn't easy running with a stomach full of dumplings, noodles and starch. I nearly puked when I got on the tour bus. 7.jpg)
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After that, we went to Danshui Old Street(it's sort-of a night market) which was just a 10-minute drive away. Danshui Old Street is pretty accessible from Taipei despite being all the way at the northern tip of Taiwan. Just take Taipei's MRT to Danshui MRT Station which is quite near Danshui Old Street. 17.jpg)
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