Sunday, May 09, 2010
世界那么大~~~~~Taiwan It was 6pm when we reach taiwan and we immediately head to ximending night market.
This was my first night market in Taiwan. Totally different from our pasar malam.
i LOVE the atmosphere here!
I did'nt expect the weather to be that cold as spring is almost ending and so i wasnt well perpared.
19degree Celsius~~~ FAINT~
We stayed at Farrary Hotel (Ximending), NT$2800, 4pax.
Price is GOOD, service is good, room is clean and BIG. The only dislike is that its abit far from MRT.
let’s go let’s go... the little green man is running
There are shops everywhere, on your left, on your right, in front of you, at the back of you. We really have no idea which direction to start first. Finally we decided to go straight.
Very happening!
So Much to See and Do!
My friend bought this beanie to prevent 'brain freeze' under this cold weather.
Smelly Tofu - These are illegal stalls. When the police came, they will all ran off. I find it quite hilarious to see them away running in all directions. Look so comical to me ^^ hahahahahaha
My mouth smell like shit after eating the BBQ tofu. The deep fried one taste better.
Yummy 1: Three Inch Burger
Yummy 2: The very famous 阿宗面线.
Have to stand and eat.
Yummy 3: 咸水鸡 （salt water chicken)
I like this alot. Everyday buy 1 packet.
抓抓族 - There are alot of this in taiwan
taiwanese sure know how to dress themselve nicely.
男的帅，女的美
See! even the fishball seller is so young and "leng zai" +.+
Big spec
Xi Men Red Building (西门红楼)
There are many pubs in this area. And sometime singers (MAYDAY, S.H.E, Jay etc) will come here and sing.
The Red House was designed by a Japanese architecture.
This house was a fashion and goods market during the Japanese Colonial Era.
Almost every shop owner has a dog. And its common to see dogs wearing outfit.
We had a good stroll back to the hotel after a heavy dinner
Modern Toilet RestaurantTake Taipei metro and drop at Shiling Station. Around 10mins walk from the station.
The waiter gestured us to sit on the toilet bowls
What?!
Chicken wings in the bath tub
Drinks served in the standing urinary bowl
Feel disgusted to see food served this way?
Smaller version of toilet bowl
Hugz~~
Danshui old street (淡水老街)Take Taipei metro and drop at danshui (淡水) station. Danshui old street is just 5mins walk from the station.
"地瓜球~~ 好吃的地瓜球~~~" The vendor will keep shouting the same line
Yummy 1: 阿婆铁蛋 (Apo Tie Dan)
铁蛋 = egg + herds + heat until all the water dried up.
Its my first time eating 铁蛋. Texture is hard but taste good.
Yummy 2: Ah Gei (阿給)
There are many shops selling Ah Gei (阿給).
So what is Ah Gei? It's taufu with sauce, and you will find glass noodle (冬粉) inside the taufu.
This is very famous in dunshui. But it taste very normal to me. Different ppl different taste ba. I think it's worth to try. At least now when ppl mentioned Ah Gei, I know what it is and I know how it taste like.
Yummy 3: Ah Ma’s Sour Plum Drink (阿妈的酸酶烫)
Yummy 4: Deep Fried Mushroom
All the rivers (YangMingShan, BeiTou, WuLai etc ) from taipei exist from Danshui (淡水) into the sea.
Fisherman’s Wharf (渔人码头) and Lover’s Bridge (情人桥)
It's located opposite Danshui(淡水). Take ferry, NT$100/pax (2ways) 15mins.
Nothing much to see there except for the lover bridge which is famous for its sunset.
We bought alot of 铁蛋s, and decided to carry our heavy goodies back by cab. Cab fare:NT$300, charge by meter run.
Crossing over the railing to take taxi.
好象在跳杆管舞~ "woot~ woot~~"
可恶! 包包被卡住了~ 形象都没了 T_T
Jiufen (九份)Take the countryside train from Taipei main station to Ruifang Station NT$60. From there take Jiufen shuttle bus up to jiufen, NT$40.
Going down from jiufen the bus fare cost NT$35. Don't know why is it cheaper going downhill. Need less fuel?
要出发到九份去咯~~
Mr Brown coffee is popular in taiwan.
A cup of Mr Brown Coffee can keep me awake for the day ^^
跑吧! 火车!
At Ruifang Station
There are a lot of 便当(bian dang )sellers at the train station.
Why is this so? Because its not easy to get food if you decide to go hiking at 金瓜石, 十份 or 九份.
Super S (This was the road the bus took to go up to Jiufen)
Here is jiufen!
hmmm.... Where shall we go first?
Street Vendors of jiufen
看看, 吃吃, 买买, 走走, 聊聊天~
小红鞋
红豆
wooden shoes
Wooden fence
Someone else scooter
Stairway to valley
woof~ One teahouse spoted
Winnie the pooh teahouse
There are many tea houses in Jiufen.
Chat and Tea
The view from the Tea House.
ah.... so relaxing. Enjoying my tea against the nice scenery of jiufen ^^
Red Tea
悲情城市 (A city of sadness)- the view of jiufen from the tea house
The old cinema
Houses upon houses upon houses
Lanterns of Jiufen
Sprited Away
Crowded Street
photo by Don
Wet Alley
More Alley... lol
JiuFen Tourists (九份观光客)
photo by Don
赖阿婆
Hello Kitty Sweet CafeTake Taipei metro and drop at Zhong Xiao Fu Xing Station (忠孝復興站) blue line. 5mins walk from the MRT.
"欢迎光临, 欢迎光临" the waitress greated us when we entered.
Look at these cakes! 是可爱的lor~
i can't bear to stab her with my fork -_-
Hello Kitty is everywhere! If you got kitty phobia, better avoid this place.
Even the the benches are in kitty shape!
When i opened the menu, i was shock to see that the food is soooo expensive.
Just a cake set cost me NT$350! Gosh! So expensive~~
可爱到不行啊. Can't bring myself to destroy such a cute thing with my stirrer.
My friend's cake set
The cake set comes with dessert.
Food taste soso only. But it's still worth visiting for the deco.
Over friendly waitress
清境农场 CingJing Farm at nantouThis is the highlight of my trip!! WOOT!!
There is a direct bus from taipei main station to cingjing farm. NT$750 (one direction), NT$1400 (to and fro). About 4.5hrs
Alternatively, you can take High Speed Rail (HSR) from taipei main station to Taichung (台中) 30mins. From there, take nantou bus to puli (埔里) and frm puli (埔里) take nantou bus again to cingjing farm. This route is slightly expensive but take a shorter time to reach cingjing. About 3.5hrs.
The scenery along the way to cingjing
Look at the amazing high way.
Super Curve
Cingjing (清境), a place not many people heard of, is a highland place.
Upon going to the highest point on Cingjing, which is the He Huan Shan (合欢山) and wuling (武陵), it gets FREAKING cold! Even at the period of time we went, which is near summer.
8Degree Celsius!! No kidding!
Because i wanted to see 云海 and 日出, so i reserved a 民宿 that is located right up at the summit of the mountain.
But sadly to say, it rained during 3am, so we didnt manage to see both of it T_T
The weather is so cold that upon arriving at the summit my teeth was chattering uncontrollably.
天啊~~ 我一生中，从来没这么冷过！！！
The owner of the 民宿 (minsu), 李大哥 welcome us warmly and provided us with winter wear
and HOT coffee ^^ This really warm up my heart
When 李大哥 realised that we havent eat out lunch, he immediately cooked this pot of maggie for us.
In this cold weather eating this steaming hot maggie almost made me tears. (sob..)
The name of the minsu is call Starry House (观星园). NT$2000 for 4 person
When night time falls, (provide with good weather and non-full-moon period), the sky will be filled with stars~~ Really plenty plenty plenty of STARS~~ And 李大哥 will use laser pointer to show us the shape of the constellation for the night.
The living room
This is DuPi the husky (李大哥's dog).
Look at her eyes. 2 different colours.
She is not having any eye infection. This is the natural beauty of husky ^^
Good doggy
This was the best 民宿 (minsu) i had stayed in this trip!
It was like staying in a friend's house.
There are like countless of Minsu in Taiwan and seriously, staying in Minsu is not all about how big the room is, how comfortable the bed is, or how grand the place can be...if you are comparing based on the above, you might wish to consider a Hotel that provides room services.
I think staying in Minsu, is all about the experience with the locals and all you need is a nice owner that welcomes you and you will definitely enjoy the stay.
Along with the people that were staying in the Minsu, we made a few friends during the stay. In comparison with staying in Hotel, you don't really speak to people who stays the same floor as you. It's all about interaction in Minsu!!!
fog by hey
Our bed room
The view from the balcony
glued to TV...
After that, we head towards cingjing farm
The main animals in cingjing farm are SHEEP. Flurry fury sheep.
One way
You will see sheep roaming about, buy the feed and they will come running after you.
Other than that, walk through the farm leisurely and enjoy the scenery and fresh air.
meh.h.h~~~
天地平线 - 实在是太漂亮了~
The good shepherd
This is the most enchanting moment of my trip ^^
It's so beautiful that it makes you want to cry.
Really very nice, can't tell you how nice it is until you go there and experience it yourself.
bah~bah~bahh~~
We had steamboat for dinner. No MSG added.
During this cold weather eating steamboat was really so SHOIK man! Best steamboat i had ever eaten in my life ^^
李大哥 was not even stingy about the ingredients, he gave us quite alot of food...
The meals were PERFECT! Breakfast, Dinner, lunch.
李大哥 looks like a farmer hor?
i will sure miss this this place. 再见吧!
Puli Winery (埔里酒廠)From cingjing, take the nantou bus and alight at puli winery.
Nothing much at the winery, i don't know why is it one of the tourist attraction.
Maybe this is not suitable for youngster like us =P
We got bore after 10 mins.
放天灯@十份十份 is just beside 九份 (different mountain)
There is no direct bus from 九份 to 十份. So you have to go back to Ruifang Station and take the train to drop at Jing Tong station
十份 is famous for its waterfall, the broadest waterfall in Taiwan!
The falls' total height is 20 meters and 40 meters in width,
And its also a place for tourist to put the Sky Lantern(NT$100).
我们正忙着把愿望写在天灯上.
写的满满的!!
从来就没有这么疯狂的许愿。
有的 没的 都写上去了~~
原来天灯超大的. 我们写的手都酸了
虽然在白天放天灯感觉是有点怪怪，可是白天也是有白天的美.
飞起来咯~~~~
飞吧! 飞吧! (希望美梦成真)
越来越小了~~ 快要不见了~~~~~！！！
这是许愿竹.
把愿望写在竹子上, 然后就挂在竹子亭就可以了 ^^
十份原来是许愿的地方啊。 到处都能许愿 =.=
Taipei 1O1Take taipei metro and drop at taipei city hall station. There is a shuttle bus outside the station.
At first i was thinking, won't it be a waste of money to go up the Taipei 101? Pay NT$400 just to take lift up a building?? I had been taking lift everyday in Singapore!!
Viewing from bottom will be good enough ba. tada~~
But i was so wrong. Taipei 101 is really a MUST go up.
My jaw dropped the moment i saw the view from the tower.
太壮观到我连一句话都说不出来!
世界那么大~~~~~~~~~~~~!!!!
The above picture is only a small portion of what i saw, as my 27mm wide len digi cam can only take this much.
Its really very spectacular!
Don't go during the day. It will not be as beautiful as the night scene.
WAOKAO!! The wind is freaking STRONG at the rooftop.
感觉就好象快被风卷走了!!!
WuLai HotSpring (乌来温泉)Outside MRT Xindian station (新店站) take Xindian bus (新店客运), NTD$40/person. On the bus ride, the view better on the right side seats.
Wulai hot spring is the most famous sodium carbonate hot springs in Taipei and consist of colorless and odorless water - known to have rejuvenating effects on the skin.
There plenty of hot spring inns dotted along the roads.
End up, we choose to have 裸体泉 (Naked Hotspring).
Because it's CHEAP and FUN haha.
We were each given a small towel. But what’s the small towel for??
I guess is for us to cover face so that no one could recognise us in nude =_="
Wulai is also a home to the Atayai tribe - a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines.
Photo with one of the Atayai tribe.
Eventually, this flowing hotSpring of WuLai (乌来) will flow its way out to DanShui (淡水)
Yeliu Geopark (野柳地质公园)From MRT Taipei Main Station (walk along station front metro mall exit6) to Taipei Intercity Bus Terminal, booth19, Guoguang Bus (国光客运）, NT$102 one way, 80mins trip.
Queueing up to have a photo taken with the famous queen's head.
Due to erosion cause by weathering, the Queen's Head will snip off in the near future.
This security guard will blow whistle if anybody attempt to touch the queen's head.
The queen's head is actually not that big, and it's also not as interesting as the other rocks formations. But, I wanted to do the touristy thing, so i join in the crowds.
It's actually very hard to get a good shoot with the head as there are many people hogging over the head!!! All of them wanted to take his/her picture with the Queen's Head Rock INDIVIDUALLY, taking several shots per person!
haha.. lucky me.. when it was my turn, everybody "siam" away.
Tada~~ Nice post ar?
The view from the bridge
Rocky Shore
Gigantic Mushroom Rocks
More Mushroom rocks...
Pot Holes! - (Pebbles and rocks brought in by the waves cut into the soft limestone rock and nestle deeper and deeper to form these lovely little puddles. Seaweed, fish, crabs and other small insects make their homes in these Pot Holes.)
The Sky. The Land. The Sea~~
Bean-Curd Rock - (These rocks were squeezed together as a result of weathering and have developed a lattice-like appearance.)
Honeycomb rocks
candle rock
bi-colored rocks - (You can see 2 different colours, green and grey.)
Look at the sharp cut across the rocks cause by rushing water against the soft rock.
Walk and walk and walk
Endless. Where is this path going to lead to?
Beitou Hot Spring (北投温泉) HotSpring is really fun that i decided to go for another round... this time in Beitou (北投). Unlike Wulai, Beitou water is rich in sulphur and the air is filled with sulphuric smell.
River side hot spring.
This one is free for the puplic. The water very shallow and rocky.
Becareful not to slip and fall.
WOO~HOO~ leg massage 好舒服wo~~~
Hell Valley (地热谷)It's located further up hill of Beitou.
Hell Valley Hot Spring is extreamly hot, 90 Degree Celsius! Steams can be seen raising from it. It looks like a gigantic boiling pot
hmm.. forgot to bring eggs
Yang Ming Shan (阳明山)Take MRT to Beitou Station. Right outside the station, there is a shutttle bus to 阳明山.
At 阳明山, get a unlimited leisure bus108 ride for (NT$60) to go around Yang Ming Shan area.
Calla lilies are a familiar and beautiful sight in the 阳明山. They are especially featured during the months of March to May.
Besides beautiful scenery, Yangmingshan is also famous for its poisonous snakes. Don’t go wandering off into scrub land.
Take Your Pick!
la.la.la~~
Miramar Entertainment Park (美麗華百樂園)From MRT Jiantan Station, take Miramar shuttle bus.
Miramar Entertainment Park is a shopping mall with ferry wheel built on its roof top.
The view from Far Far Away
One round of ride cost me NT$200.
Viewing down from the ferry wheel. The protruding building is taipei 1O1.
Ding Tai Feng is a must try. They have more varity of dishes.
~~THE BAO~~ (skin is very chewy)
Most of the people here are tourists
Ding Tai Feng's gift shop
爱上逢甲 is our minsu in 台中, NT$900, 2pax. Cheap and clean. Location is good too. Just across the road is 逢甲夜市.
台中 is famous for its Tai Yang Bing.
Feng Jia Night Market (逢甲夜市)From what i heard, Feng Jia Night Market is the best night market in taiwan.
It's bigger than Shiling Night market and the things there are very cheap too.
Shìlín Night Market (士林夜市) The street was crazy busy, even through it was already 11pm
Tong Hua Night market (通化夜市) is the night market at taipei 1O1
Wufenpu & Raohe Street Night Market (五分埔 & 饒河街觀光夜市)This place is just like Bugis village. CHEAP!!
Don't go on monday. As monday is when they replenish their stocks
Other night markets that we went are ShiDa night market, gong guan and Huaxi Night Market.
After going to so many night markets, we got sick of it. All the night markets look similar to each other =.= They sell almost the same things.
HSR (bullet train) ticket from taichung to taipei
Keep to your right please~~
Queue lines in Taipei Metro. Everyone has to line up for boarding the train. SMRT should follow too.
Similiar to SMRT except for the seat arrangement.
Waiting........... to go home
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11:08 AM
