Taipei: Rest of the short escapade

Found some remaining photos of the city that I've yet to post here:

#1 Taipei 101 (台北101)- 15 minutes away from my hostel by foot. That was the time I took to finish a chicken cutlet for lunch.

#2 Taipei 101 (台北101) - View of the city from the indoor observatory on the 89th storey; would've loved to take another look from the outdoor observatory too but the weather didn't permit.

#3 Taipei 101 (台北101) - Toy cars from way up here

#4 Taipei 101 (台北101) - Another view from the top

#5 101 (台北101) - A part of Taipei that looks really densely populated.

And enough of these unspectacular aerial shots... let's move on to something more uh, random?

Wandered around Wu Fen Pu (五分埔), the wholesale clothing market (that somewhat reminded me of Bugis Street) after a shopping spree, and since Raohe Night Market (饒河夜市) was just round the corner, I decided to drop by to take a look. 

I managed to snag two pairs of shoes for NT180 at the night market and that made me really happy again!

#6 Raohe Night Market (饒河街夜市) - Angry birds and pigs waiting to be clawed.

#7 Raohe Night Market (饒河街夜市) - 包心粉圓; there was a red bean or two found in the centre of each of these gelatinous balls so I suppose the 心 refers to the red beans. It was piping hot and served with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream by the side.

I really liked how the different stall vendors at these markets will try to get the attention of passer bys; like shouting out funny taglines of their products/brands happily (or at least appear to be).

#8 Sunflower Farm at Taoyuan.

Thought I'd like to head to somewhere less crowded on the second last day of the trip, so I arrived at this super far-off sunflower farm after a 2-hour long train ride, a 30-minutes cab ride with a friendly driver. It was so out of the way that the driver had to ask for directions several times along the way, and he even offered to pick me up again after I was done with the whole farm visit thing because there were so little cabs in that area.

#9 Rows after rows of sunflowers

To be honest, it felt a little depressing to be visiting a sunflower farm after a heavy storm; to be looking at sunflowers that have been badly pelted by raindrops and looking tired instead of radiating positivity, water-logged muddy furrows.

Just my luck!

Anyhow, the farm itself is a pretty cool place. You can arrange for walking tours where they'll introduce the different species of sunflowers (I didn't know there were so many variations until this visit) to you, share some interesting facts about the type of plants they grow at the farm, and at the end of it, allow you to cut stalks of sunflowers to bring back home. Barbecues can also be held here, and they'd even prepare the food for you. Apart from that, there's also a cafe and shop selling sunflower-themed merchandise.

A local group was there when I arrived, there were many happy figures in ponchos and rain boots who were armed with pairs of scissors in their hands. All of them looked really excited about the cutting despite the gloominess, and that was quite a lifting sight.

#10 Still at the farm...

#11 Post-rain lily

#12 'Almost there' - took this while waiting for the same cab driver to pick me from the farm; he took a 2-hour long nap while waiting for me to be done. And shared a lot about his family, and Taiwanese in general, with me on the way back to the train station; we had a really great chat!

I'm somewhat convinced that I have some sort of knack for getting into interesting taxi-driver encounters overseas.

#13 涼拌面; last meal in Taipei before heading back to Hong Kong.

#14 牛肉貢丸, 白蘿蔔湯. Looking at the picture makes me crave for a bowl of this NOW.

And that's all the pictures I have for Taiwan! For now.

Dear Taiwan, 

I'll be back in December.  

Mumsy and YF will be coming to visit too.

I hope you're excited to see them :)

Love,

AJ

Shilin Night Market

Since it was still early by the time I completed my little exploration of Danshui, I made my way down to Shihlin Night Market (士林夜市) for dinner. Thinking about how I was finally going to meet the original Shilin chicken cutlet and all sorts of wonderful typical Taiwanese snacks for dinner, I couldn't help but grinned stupidly to myself while on the way there. 

#1 Scene at Shilin Night Market

The first thought that came into my head when I finally stepped foot into the night market was:

THIS PLACE IS A FREAKING MAZE.

There were many rows of stalls selling all sorts of delicious-looking food (though truth be told, the assortment gets repetitive); I enjoyed sniffing at the different smells wafting through the thick and warm air as I made my way down the aisles, reading menus/signboards, dodging the hoards of visitors and trying to decide on what to have for dinner.

My first stop was at this stall that sold a snack with a really interesting name.

#2 棺材板.

#3 棺材板 - Yum yum yum

Literally translated, the name of this snack is 'coffin-board' (I think I'm just a sucker for dishes with such unique names lah). It's a piece of toast that's been deep-fried, hollowed-out and then filled with a creamy filling of your choice. I can't remember what filling I'd picked back there but I do remember it being really yummy - in fact, I think it's hard to go wrong with fried food. Agree? 

#4 Squid in thick soup 生炒花枝 

The squid was fresh and the (really) thick broth was tasty in an underrated way; like most Taiwanese food, the flavours are usually slightly blander than what we're used to in Singapore (and Hong Kong too). Anyhow, a piping hot bowl of this will be perfect for me on a rainy day.

Other than the coffin-board and squid, I had a serving of the famed chicken cutlet too and... it was so good! Wasn't too used to having such a piece of jumbo-sized chicken served uncut (I think we're too spoilt here in Singapore hur) but I didn't have too much of a problem with that, my face could get dirty for all I cared. And sorry there's no picture of it since I was busy trying to gobble up that gigantic piece of chicken cutlet and the tiny crispy bits that dropped to the bottom of the paper-bag. Got myself a nice cooling cup of bitter-gourd juice to wash all the junk I had for dinner down after; acquired taste, I suppose.

One thing that I've realized from travelling solo is that there's a limit to how much food you want to try when you're all by yourself and that is really horrible, considering that I'm the sort of person who wants to try nearly everything off the local menu.

_

It was raining rather heavily after I was done with dinner so I decided to take a walk around the other side of the night market where the carnival-styled games stalls were. Was really impressed by this particular stall-holder whom I bought some tiny souvenirs from because of her multilingual abilities - Japanese, Mandarin and Hokkien. We had a good chat and she had the most adorable maltese puppy that looked like this:

#5 "Hello, my name is Niuniu. Why are you looking at me weird?"

#6

At one point in time, the stall-holder was talking to Niuniu and I heard her say to the puppy "你不要跟我sai nai!" when the puppy refused to do at her bidding; that was super cute hehe. I confirmed my observation that many Taiwanese are a bunch of dog-loving people after asking the stall-holder bout that.

#7 Bunnies waiting to be caught in the claw machine.

This reminds me of the term '夹娃娃' that I learnt from Audrey back in HK; it's an euphemism for abortion. Doesn't sound too cute anymore now that I know that meaning :x

5日台北游 - Danshui (淡水)

After relishing a good night's sleep at the hostel, I woke up much later on the second day (and subsequently too) than I'd expected - the rooms that I slept in during my trip to Taipei were without windows of any sort and that confused me a little when it was morning (aka time to wake up) because it was close to total darkness. 

And since goodness-knows-when, I've always perceived sunlight as a cue to wake up.

Hence, no sunlight = not waking up.

Anyhow...

I set out for Danshui (淡水) after washing up and it wasn't too difficult at all to get there by the MRT. 

#1 Ah gei (阿給) for lunch

#2 Ah gei eating place

For brunch, I had a serving of what Danshui is well-known for - Ah gei. The name sounded really interesting and to be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I placed my order. It turned out to be something like a tau pok that's stuffed with glass noodles served in some sweet and savory sauce; the combination of two things familiar in one 'package' made it feel like something new. 

Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) was on the to-go list in this area so I tried to walk there after the quick brunch. Met a policeman on patrol along the way and he talked me out of it; said that it might be a better idea to catch a boat ride since it was quite a distance away. 

#3 Refreshing glass of grape drink while waiting for the boat's next departure

I have little recollection of what Fisherman's Wharf is famous for, other than Lovers' Bridge (情人桥), it being a small fishing port, or the famed spectacular sunsets (no such luck; look at how gloomy it was in the pictures below). 

#4 Lovers' Bridge (情人桥); it was drizzling heavily and I remember it being kinda cold back there. 

#5 Lovers' Bridge (情人桥)

The name got me really interested in it (gives me the impression that there's some romantic story behind it), so I googled that and... felt really disappointed when I found out they named the place Lovers' Bridge only because it was started on Valentine's Day in 2003. meh.

#6 Gloom

Didn't stay too long here and headed back to the main streets soon.

#7 Yummy quail eggs (鳥蛋)

#8 It was such a gloomy day, but these cheery flowers on the sidewalk had an instant brightening effect.

#9 Street of Danshui

Along the main streets of Danshui, there are endless numbers of shops selling handmade souvenirs and local snacks (felt like one in every five shops were selling Iron eggs, 鐵蛋). It does get repetitive after awhile, but that didn't really deter me from popping into every other shop along the stretch :x

5日台北游 - CKS Memorial Hall and Ximending

Haven't been posting much because of teaching practice but now that it's over, I guess it's time to resume my updates more regularly. 

Have really been enjoying my time not doing anything of particular importance and just lazing around for the past few days; it'll be like that for another week before Boracay, following which will be the opening of a new semester at school. I feel like I've been on the longest holiday of my life, so, I'm really looking forward to the start of school!

Anyhow, I'll be sharing some pictures that I've taken on my short trip to Taipei while I was still away on exchange. Nothing that you've not seen in my Facebook album, but with more in-depth descriptions here. Here goes.

Taipei happened right after my last night of deadline-rushing in Hong Kong. I thought that booking my flight on the day of my last assignment deadline would serve as motivation for me to get my work completed more promptly - lesson learnt: it doesn't really work for procrastinators like me, never going to do that again. I was so knackered at the end of the first day it felt terrible.

#1 HKIA.

After checking in at the hostel (TaiwanMex) on the first day, I took the metro (also known as MRT or 捷運) and headed down to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Mall (國立中正紀念堂). The map looked a little confusing to me initially because it was all in Chinese (not that I couldn't understand, just felt a little disoriented) so I asked for directions from two locals and they were so helpful that I couldn't believe it at first. 

#2 National Concert Hall (國家音樂廳) at CKS Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂).

This memorial hall was erected in memory of the former president of Taiwan (or Republic of China), Chiang Kai-Shek (蔣介石), after he passed away in the 1970s.

#3 國立中正紀念堂. CKS Memorial Hall.

The memorial hall has four sides and an octagonal roof. 

#4 The Climb. 國立中正紀念堂. CKS Memorial Hall.

#5 國立中正紀念堂. CKS Memorial Hall.

The 89 steps on the 2 sets of white stairs that lead to the monument's main entrance represent CKS' age when he died, according to Wikipedia anyway. And yes, I did feel a little short of breath when I finally reached the top.

#6 Inside the main hall; large bronze statue of CKS.

#7 One of the two guards standing at the entrance of the memorial hall. Changing of guards take place every hour but I didn't manage to see that take place.

A few more pictures of the plaza where the monument is located:

#8 Liberty Square (自由廣場)

#9 Grandfather and grand-daughter duo who were feeding the pigeons just moments ago.

Decided to head down to Ximending (西門町) after to take a look at one of Taipei's most famous consumer district.

#10 Just missed my train.

#11 While waiting to leave CKS Memorial Hall Station

#12 阿宗麵線. Dig in!

Had my first taste of the greatly-famed Ah Zong Mee Sua (阿宗麵線) in Ximending and it was delicious! The vermicelli is broken into shorter strands so that it can be more easily eaten with a spoon, gravy/soup that the mee sua is soaked in is viscous and savoury, and the bits of intestine found in the bowl are really chewy. There were not too many people when I arrived late afternoon so service was really prompt; after all it's pre-cooked and all the stallholders had to do were to scoop them into a bowl to be served. I've heard how friends have raved about it but I had no idea what to expect; I wasn't even expecting the shop to not have any dining tables, not that it really mattered. Plastic stools were provided at the shop front, and there were a couple of rotating electric fans standing around to make the heat more bearable. 

Heard from a friend much later that this Ah Zong apparently made so much money with his mee sua that he was kidnapped a couple of times. Disclaimer - I don't know how true this hearsay is huh.

Literally translates to Frog Lays Eggs (photo grabbed from Google Images)

Other than the vermicelli, I also tried this drink with a very interesting name, 青蛙下蛋. Basically, the 'eggs' are very similar to the pearls that we find in bubble tea (tasting slightly less sweet). I had half my cup filled with 'frog eggs' (I thought that was a tad too much), and the other half filled with a syrupy liquid that wasn't too sweet. There was nothing mind-blowing about the drink honestly, it's one of those foods that you try only because the name makes it too interesting to give it a pass.

And that, kinda marked my first day in Taipei. 

I headed back to my hostel and concussed in bed after; woke up halfway through the night's sleep when I heard my uncle room-mate shuffling out of the room for a toilet break, but I managed to get back to sleep in a bit so all's good.

Taiwan, baby!

It's close to 5 a.m. now; I'm typing away safely on my (friend's) lappy on my bed and listening to the snores of my uncle room-mate - I've only just met his silhouette when he decided to take a pee half an hour ago.

This, my friends, has got to be one of the worst-planned trips that I've ever embarked on. 

My luggage was packed only 3 hours before I arrived at the airport, I did no trip planning prior to boarding the plane because I was too busy rushing to meet the deadline for my final assignment for exchange (no excuses for my lousy prioritization, I really suck) and I didn't even remember to take down the address of the hostel where I'm supposed to stay at for the next two nights. And I was so tired from the lack of sleep last night that I came back to the hostel at 6 p.m. to take a short nap (that lasted for more than 5 hours -_-) when I should have been out exploring some exciting night markets.

And yet, despite my ill-preparedness for the trip, I've got to say that all's well so far, all thanks to the people I've met so far in Taipei. The people here are sooooooo nice that I think you can actually get away with murder - heh, bad analogy but you get my drift. I actually felt guilty when I thought about how I should have taken a more active approach in the trip planning. But holidays are not for moping, and I'm sure the friendly folks will understand and not hold that against me. Besides, I did plenty of reading up earlier so it must have made up for my lack of preparedness.

Time to sleep so that I can get on with my exploring later! :)

On a side note, I really like to hear the people speaking here; they all sound so down to earth and it makes me really happy to be here in Taiwan!