ahlik

Day 6

Tuesday, Oct 29th 2008

As we noticed that there were free online access at a few tourist centers from the travel brochure, we headed down to the main tourist centers situated at 台北车站 to order some duty free staff from the airline company. It is quite a huge place, and took us some effort to locate the center.

 

Back to business, first stop of the day, 国父纪念馆, where the MRT took us directly there. It was suppose to be autumn, however it was hot like summer.The short distance walk from the MRT station to the place was like taken forever.

 

 

In the museum, there was 2 guards standing in front of Dr. Sun Yet-Sen statue. And exactly at the turn of every hour, there is a guard changing ceremony which last for at least 10 mins. We were there just in time for the ceremony to start.

 

Next stop, the 信仪 shopping district. It is around 10-20 minutes walk from here. This area consists of multiple large shopping centers like Taipei 101 and Sogo. No need to mention, we spent most of our day here hopping from one shopping complex to the other.

 

The sky wasn't very clear that day, hard to get a nice shot of tower 101 from a distance.

 

It was already past noon when we reached there. For lunch we went to a Japanese buffet restaurant – Jogoya, recommended by colleague when she was here. It is situated at the last floor in the Neo19 complex which is a short distance from 101.The variety to choose from was so many that the restaurant occupies the entire floor, and you need to walk from one end to the other to see all different serving of foods. It was already after 2.00pm, so we just paid for less than normal. On top of that, man got additional 50% discount, and woman got a free "crab"… yes, it is a cooked crab … to eat of course.

 

It was back to shopping after we stayed there till the closing hour at 4+pm. By the time we came out from Sogo, it was already dark. Time to go up to 88th and 89th floor of 101. It cost 400NTD per person for the visit.

The main entrance of Taipei 101.

The fast elevator took only 37 seconds to go from 4th floor to 89th floor. You can hear the popping sound from your ears due to fast pressure changes. The lady personnel inside who's controlling the elevator also speaks very fast while she presented the tower to us in 2 different languages since she also need to complete it within 37 seconds… 

 

Taipei city at night from 89 floor indoor observatory.

91th floor is the outdoor observatory. It only opens up under good weather conditions, and we were lucky that day. We got clearer shoots at this level compare to 89th floor since the reflection on glass window makes it harder.

And backing down to 88th floor is the level that holds the super big damper, which is used as a counter balanced for the tower due to the swing by wind. The one in front is the mascot, "Damper Baby".

 

After spending nearly 2 hours in the tower, is time to head back. We took the free shuttle bus service from 101 to the nearest 市政府 MRT station.

 

To be continued…  

Day 5

Monday, Oct 28th 2008

Today, we changed hotel, from 长虹 to 一乐园. It is only a block away. Comparing to the previous hotel:

Pros:
1. The room is larger.
2. The hotel is by the main roadside which you can access transport like bus easier especially when you have lots of things to carry.
3. The stays come with breakfast.

Cons:
1. It was full with tourists coming in tour buses and hence it was quite noisy especially when they were checking out early in the morning.
2. The hotel was also quite old. When your neighbors turn on the water tap, you can hear the water running quite clearly…

Conclusion, if you were a back packer, the first hotel is the better choice.

 

 

Back to the trip. The first stop of the day – National Palace Museum 台北故宫博物馆. Took the MRT to 士林 station and then follow by bus. And like usual, I forgot the bus number, but once exiting the station, there was clear indicator which bus to take. The travel time by bus is around 10 mins. It stopped directly opposite the museum. We used the EasyCard from MRT to pay for the trip by scanning it only when leaving the bus.

It was a distance walk from the main gate to the museum's main building. This is a place for photo shooting. It was a hot day, we did not stay longer than necessary under the sun just to shot some pictures.

 

The museum show cases items from multiple Chinese generations. Some as old as a few thousands B.C. The show items rotates like every quarters and hence different main titles for each of the season. We spent more than 4 hours just to completely look through all items through out 3 levels in the building till the closing hour at 4.30pm and we proceed to the souvenir store at the lobby.

Inside the museum, it was a no-photo zone. Hence I can only steal pictures from other sites. To me, the 2 most attractive items to see were the 翠玉白菜 and 肉形石. 

 

It was already dark when we left the building, but luckily the bus stop is just in front of the lobby. We took the bus back to the MRT station. It was crowded and lots of traffic jam. We bumpped into the rush hour of the day.

 

Next stop, woman's fashion shopping haven – 五分铺. It was a long trip on the MRT to the 后山埤 station. A short walk from the MRT station and we reached there. 

 

This place consists of hunders of small shops that packed together in long narrow streets. They used motorbikes to transport their goods and hence we need to watched out for them. Most of the shops were selling female fashions at lower price than other place. It might not be branded, but still up to date. For clothes selling at 100NT per piece, sorry, no trying. There are also shops selling children and baby clothes, and the varierty is a lot. Good place to visit especially for parents.

With few days spent in Taiwan, watching what people here like to wear, including those fashion at this place, some thing very common Taiwainess girl like to wear,
1. Mini skirt, with
2. PCK's style boots… of course at least it is not yellow…. 

 … huh!

 

There was a night market (饶河街观光夜市) near by, however it was still quite a distance away, hence we decided not going. 

 

Last stop of the day. the flagship store of 诚品信义店 at 市政府 MRT station. Too bad it is not opened for 24 hours else we will be staying longer there.

 

 

One the way back, we saw the 101 tower. It will not be meaningful of going Taipei without visiting the 101 tower… and that were our plan before leaving Taiwan.

 

 

To be continued …

 

Day 4

Monday, Oct 27th 2008

Most of the tourist spots are closed on Monday, hence we decided to travel somewhere further from the city, a place a bit rural, north east of the city – 九份.

 

Traveling method: Bus

From: Exit of 忠孝复兴 MRT station (Refer to day 2 for the location of this station). It is just opposite SOGO.

Bus number: … aiya, forget liao, but just take the bus with the sign of going to 九份, 金瓜石, 基隆. The bus stop sign if very very clear there with map some more. Still not confident? Ask the driver lah…

Cost: Around 90 NT. (Remember to get exact change)

Traveling Time: Around 1 hour depends on traffic condition.

Destination: (Means that how you know you arrived there) Simple, when you see 7-eleven … Really!

It was raining when we reached there (we heard that this place rains for 3 quarters of a year). This place was recommended by the book as a small old town by the hillside, and of course another place where you can spend some money… The bus stop at a very narrow curving road side. And since it was a tourist spot, lots of tour buses, taxis, public transports, made the place quite jam up. Be watch out for the traffic when crossing the road.

 

 

 

It was quite crowded there with many tourists and students on tours even on Monday. The hot spot is a long narrow street in between old shop houses that stretch the entire length. Mostly selling souvenirs and local delicacies. You'll ended up asking "what's this… what's that…" since I never saw most of the things they were selling. There were so many of them that you can't try everything in just a trip.

 

While the streets runs in U shape along the hill side, there's a long narrow stair way joining some sections of the street. Along sides are shops in traditionally styles building. A nice place to take photo.

At the end of the street, there are many shops that were selling various Chinese tea. You can take a rest there, have a cup of tea and enjoy the hillside scenery towards the Pacific ocean.

 

We spent about two hours there. Originally planned to go to another near by area by bus again to see a famous water fall - 黃金瀑布, but the rain was getting heavier, decided to turn back to other place in Taipei. The bus stop was just opposite where we arrived. Took the similar transportation with the Taipei sign. This time, it took longer to get back to the MRT station since it was not using the highway to get back.

 

Once arrived back at 忠孝复兴 MRT station, we went for a light lunch at the same food court inside Sogo (Day 2). We tried a local food – 卤肉饭.

 

 

After lunch, we went up to the last floor of Sogo (Since we forgot to went up there on the second day). It has a big artificial Japanese garden created inside the mall, and with a big window area that lets you overview the junction of 忠孝东路 and 复兴南路.

 

 

Next stop, 迪化街, a place full of small shops selling dried seafood, Chinese medicine etc. It is also known as 年貨大街, the place that sells all sorts of things used during Chinese New Year. (Sorry no photo here, since we were carrying a lot of things while shopping there). The place is opened until 9.00pm. The nearest MRT station is at 双连 which is around 1KM away. What a walk it is since we are carrying many things… but good for exercise since many people said I'm "fat"… but I'm not, I'm just … "fit"… OK?

 

Some of the staff we bought for the friends at home…

 

 

Last destination of the day, the famous night market of 士林夜市 after we returned to the hotel to put down all the shopping goodies of the day. 士林夜市 is at the exit of 剑潭 MRT station, not 士林 station.

 

 

Again it was very crowded. Highlight of the place – shopping and foods.

  

 

Some branded shops there with discounts that we can't find at other place. 

 

 

Back to the main purpose of coming to this place after the shopping – FOOD! First, similar to the Penang LOK LOK's style, with many different types of seafood, meat, vege on a stick, the difference is they add some source and BBQ it instead. Every stick is at 10NT fixed.

BBQ fish on a stick… Best to finish it while still hot.

 

Next, some cold staff … like Sashimi … but Chinese Sashimi, but cooked, and not fish… urrrrrr… OK I skip this. Anyone wanted to know, call me…

 

Next, the all famous super large Taiwan chicken chop by the road side of 文林路. Need to queue up, and the chicken chop is truly large… I don't think one person can finish it, unless you're very hungry.

 

… and 河粉煎 …

 

… and after all the fried, cooked and boiled staff that we had, time to get some dessert at 辛發亭冰果名店. The desert was similar to our ice kacang, except that ice is already mixed with different ingredient. The blade they used to slice the ice is also different making the shape looks like stacks of tissues instead of like snow.

 

There is also an area that gathers hundreds and hundreds of hawker stalls just opposite the MRT station – 美食广场. The varieties are even more here.

麻 米署 (actually it is 2 words) The boss is a Japanese who stayed in Taiwan. Hence they made it in Japanese style that comes with variety of flavor. The boss is so good that when he knew we were from other country, he gave us additional flavor to try out F.O.C.The original stall is number 145 inside 美食广场, however they have shifted to stall 12 and it is called 麻 米署 饼屋.

 

There were many other foods that we tried but I can't cover all here. Experience it yourself when you're there…

 

To be continued…

 

 

Is it really true that new toilet is always better for shXting?

Or is it just in people's mind that new things always better?

Or is it people just get bored about old things?

Or is it people like the smell of uncompleted construction site, with smell of wet paints, cements etc…

And people just honking and cursing when got struck in the traffic jam inside the car park itself for more than half an hour…

 

…. oh ya, I was talking about the new wing in Gurney plaza… and strangely I was part of the people…

 

Day 3 

Sunday, Oct 26th 2008

Morning, it was still not crowded at 西门.

 

 

We had our brunch at a place recommended by the book "鸭肉扁" just at a corner of the 西门 shopping area. It is actually not selling duck as it claimed, but rather 鹅 (goose). Since we just want to try out, we did not ask about the price. We ordered a bowl of noddle each and a 1/4 of the roasted goose meat. The noddle is almost like our "粿条汤" with some goose meat inside and that was it. Ended up all together we paid NT400 (~RM40)!!! Damp expensive the meat was… and one time is enough for us.

 

Our first stop of the day, 中正纪念堂,that is 2 stops away using the green Metro line. 

It was Sunday, and the place was full of people… especially kids. Out of our surprise, actually they had a special event for kids and they had the stage setup and having some concerts. It wasn't a good time for us to take photo, we decided to come back at later time and we moved on to the second destination, the presidential palace (总统俯).

  

 

The presidential palace is located at the end of the main road of 凯达格兰 and an old gate at the center of the traffic circle.

 

 

We were trying to get closer to the presidential palace, however due to the protest yesterday, security was still tight with police blockage at the front of the palace. No choice but, we again moved on to the third destination, 二二八公园.

 

二二八公园 is just a distance walked away. It is a park in the center of the city. Even surrounded by skyscraper and business district, it is still quiet and peaceful.
  

 

There is also a museum in the park (国立台湾博物馆). It only cost NT40 per person to visit some natural history items and some history of Taiwan.

  

 

We stayed till the closing time at 16.30. Next we walked to 重庆南路 that is famous for the book stores along the street.

 

Most of the books here are free for reading, even for some magazines. they also prepared chairs and tables for those who spent long hour there. It was already dark when we left the book store and decided to walked back a distance near to the presidential palace. Luckily there were no police block at this path and we managed to get a nice night scene.

 

 

Dinner was next. We walked for a distance back to 西门. There's a street here with lots of Japanese restaurant. Base on the book recommendation, we had our dinner at one of it – 美观园. It has 3 level, but people were queuing up from the door steps, all the way up the stair case till second floor. They already passed us the menu when queuing so that we can ordered once sited. It was easier to find table for 2 people. If you came in a gang, you'll need wait longer.   

It was only about 10 to 15 mins for us to get a table. Here's what we ordered. Chawanmushi, fish Miso soup (they used at least 4 different types of fish to cook it), Tempura set (big big shrimp), and a fish called 香鱼 (with lots of fish bone). Again, no need to pay for service tax/government tax.

  

 

After dinner, walked back a distance to a shop selling Almond 杏仁 as dessert. Ordered a bowl of 杏仁 'ais kacang' … no kacang but with red bean only. And that's the end of day 3…

 

To be continued…

Circuit City is gone… who's next?

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1858079,00.html?iid=tsmodule

 

Day 2 (Remember the Background music …)

Saturday, Oct 25th 2008

My wife suggested to visit the local flower market since it only opens during the weekend. We took the Metro from 西门 to 大安 station.

 

From the station, we walked along 信义路 till 建国路. The flower market is just under the flyover.

The whole stretch under the flyover was utilized as the flower market with many stores selling various types of plants.

 

 

Then we walked from the flower market to 光华商场 (quite a distance) that sells all sorts of IT staff. There are actually 2 area, one is a new 5 story building will all shops selling IT goodies like BJ complex), the other is a stretch of shops houses. We saw lots of nicely designed thumb drive with variety of packaging, but did not get any of them since we are not so IT maniac… ha! No offense…

 

 

We walked back to nearby 忠孝新生 Metro station and take a ride to the next 忠孝复兴 station.

 

This is where a few large shopping center like SOGO (太平洋) and Breeze center (微风广场) situated. (女人shopping天堂!)

 

 

Aside that, we saw something that don't happen often in our country…

Yes! People protest! Even they have election, they still can protest on street!

There are lots of police as well….. they are responsible of keeping the safety of the protester, make sure no accident happen. No, they don't spray chemical water at the protester nor throwing tears gas at them… No, they don't…

 

Enough said, continue with my travel blog… As I was saying we reached SOGO and went to basement food court for lunch. Many variety there, but mostly are Japanese and Korean style. My wife got this "German Ham" lunch box for just NT100.

 

And I got this lemon chicken set, with drink, soup, salad … for NT195 only, and some more no tax added … (Well may be they don't list the tax only). But good thing is what you see is what you pay! (Recommend to try this, the chicken is very tender.)

Upon paying for the food, they gave us this electronic thingy which will blink when the food is ready… no hassle of waiting in front of the counter.

 

 

SOGO was selling mostly branded product which is out of my spec, so mostly was window shopping for us. Next stop, the 24 hours book store (诚品) near 忠孝敦化 Metro station.

 

 

I temporary interrupt the regular blogging for a special statement here. If you are 18 and below, or easily get offended, please stop here, and wait for my Day 3 blog, else you may continue. Lionel, please continue because I know you like this… 

 

 

 

 

Warning…

 

 

 

 

 

Warning…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last warning…

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this on the way…

By the way if you get offended and still reading this, it only proves one thing… You're easily offended + stubborn!!!

 

OK, back to regular broadcast… This 诚品 bookstore is opened for 24 hours, at some levels. (They said sometimes got superstar appear there as well!, but crapped, did not see any…)

 

 

We stayed there till near to 11pm where some levels already closed. Since we are in the basement level (yes, they have 2 basement level with books), we had to take the lift to ground floor to find the exit.

One the way back, we grabbed some hawker food again at 西门.

BBQ pork wrapped with vege…

Aloe vera in honey drink… (Recommend to try this)

 

BBQ lamb stick … (I'll recommend better one in later days blog, also it is more expensive at 西门)

 

And the Taiwan most famous … smelly tofu (臭豆腐) in BBQ style … Well luckily it wasn't that smelly. Had it once, and that's enough for me…

 

 

End of Day 2. Stay tune for day 3 … tang, tong, tang, tong

 

 

Few months of planning for me and my honey's holiday base on this guide book got from Popular book store. (thanks to college's recommendation)

 

 

By the time I posted this, I'm already back in my 6×6 feet cubicle… when will my next holiday come again? Anywhere here goes…

Our Package

Got a 4 days 3 nights free and easy package during Matta fair for RM17XX per person that includes the flight ticket, the hotel, and the pickup from and to the airport. Since 4 days were a bit rush for us, we extended the stay ourselves 4 more days by getting a hotel situated in 西门 area from www.hotelclub.com. However the downside is there won't be any pickup from airport since we didn't book it through the agent.

 

Day 1 (Background music from 24 series … tong, tang, tong, tang)

Friday, 24th Oct 2008

Penang to Taiwan direct flight with China airline at 14.45. I was expecting a larger plane, but ended up with this 737… What! I need to squeeze into this for > 4 hours? …. arrgggghhhh… But luckily there wasn't a big size guy sitting besides me…

 

 

Was thinking of getting a good movie on the flight but ended they showed something that I've watched before, hence I just slept through it till dinner time. By the time we landed, it was completely dark in 桃园 airport, but not before we managed to snap a sunset pic on the flight.

 

Since there was no pick up, we decided to try the new Taiwan high speed rail (台湾高铁) to get to 台北. We landed at terminal 1, picked up some brochures from the info counter, turned left and walked till the end to the bus stop to get a ride on bus to 桃园 High speed rail station. It cost only a few Ringgit. The bus is available every 15-20mins. Since the queue is quite long, we waited for the second round. (People do queue up here!)

 

It took around 20mins to get to 桃园 station. The design of the station just like an airport. Weren't crowded there. From here we just need to get a ticket to 台北 HSR station which is only 2 stops away.

 

We purchased 2 free sitting tickets (which was cheaper) for NT140 (~RM14).

 

The train is very clean, comport, and well organized. Like in the plane, they have all kinds of brochures for safety purpose. It was very stable even traveling in high speed. We reached 台北 HSR station in a snap of time.

 

台北 HSR station is also situated under the main station (台北车站) which is in the heart of the city. Now it is very crowded with people walking towards every direction. With heavy luggage in our hand, we were walking in between people to find ways of getting to the Metro counter (台北捷运). We bought the EasyCard (悠遊卡) for NT500 (NT100 for deposit).

 

Next stop, 西门 station that is only one stop away. (Get the complete map here).

 

It was Friday night, and when we reached there, again it was crowded.

 

Luckily the distance from the station to the Rainbow hotel (长虹) was just a short distance away.

 

Very effective with the hotel system and we checked into the room very fast. Even the room is small, but was clean and tidy, and sufficient for back-packers like us.

 

 

It was already pass 21.00 when we put down our staff. Next, look for dinner. The was lots of illegal hawker along 西门's street. (The reason I said illegal because they would switch off their lights, ran while pushing the stalls away when the police came, and they did it almost like being orchestrated.)

 

We tried the crispy chicken from one of the shop. Some desert of 烧仙草.

Then we noticed a stall with the sign 葱抓饼. Out of curious, we decide to see what it is about and ended up, it was our local delicacy…. ROTI CANAI! We went ahead to order one and see if the taste differs much. How the guy cook it is almost the same, except no action of turning and spinning the roti.

Then the guy asked "Do you want to add egg?"

"Yes" I said.

Now, all the similarity stops, and the difference started. He started doing the superman staff …. No no, I'm not saying he flew away, but about the underware thingy… get it? Instead of putting the egg inside, he fried the egg separately, smack the roti on top, wrap it around, done. And here's what we get …

 

That's the end of day 1. Stay tune for day 2 … tong, tang, tong, tang.

Why? Because both 24 and Heroes are in final episode and showed on same time!!! Kanasai… but still I can watch it live… at least one… gege, the other … torrent loh….

 

Whooho…. SC2 is coming and in 3D, according to Lowyat.

Now I have reason to upgrade my PC liao….. gagaga