Taiwan Day 4

Day 4 Taipei (7/7/06)

In the morning, we parted ways with Derrick who had to do his last minute shopping as he had to leave Taiwan earlier due to his internship.

The rest of us had breakfast at the nearby Ximending eatery and went to Taipei Underground Mall for shopping. The underground mall is around 1 km long and we spent hours browsing through some of the shops. The clothes there are very cheap and most were at a price of NT100 ($5). We all bought quite a lot of clothes and i bought 4 t-shirts. Lunch at a mini restaurant was next.


We had delicious lunch there at a cheap price as well.

On a tight schedule, we rushed over to Nanjing as there were a number of shopping centres there which is listed on the MRT brochure. We walked along the streets but there wasn't much shopping to do there.


Along the streets filled with parked motorcycles


Near Nanjing MRT


On the overhead bridge at Nanjing MRT Station


Taken on a moving MRT train en route to Zhongxiao Fuxing

We left our stash of clothes back in Rainbow Hotel next and headed back out to go to Dan Shui. The place was rather far away from the city centre and the ride there took around 45 mins.


Outskirts of Taipei taken on the train

When we reached Dan Shui, we were immediately captivated by the scenery and the old streets full of shops.


Overlooking a mountain across the river


Mountain Pose 2


Old Streets of Dan Shui

I bought an ice cream along the street and it is around 0.4 metres tall! Got it at a price of NT20 ($1) only. We all tried to finish the ice cream but got sick of it and i threw the base away. The taste is not as good as Mac's ice cream cone as ice is added to the ice cream to make it harder.


Meibin and I with the tower ice cream!

We then decided to go for a ferry ride to Fisherman's Wharf, a famed tourist destination as well, at the North part of Dan Shui area.


Beautiful bridge at Fisherman's Wharf near the jetty

We took quite a lot of photos at Fisherman's Wharf and walked along the shops and above the lines of shops to enjoy the view and the sea breeze.


On top of the shops with the sun almost setting

We took photos at the bridge using a tripod as well.


On Fisherman's Wharf bridge

The bridge is indeed immensely pleasing to the eye and really beautiful in the day as well as at night. We linked up with Terence and Peiying after that and we headed back to Dan Shui on ferry soon after. After having our late dinner there, we then bought quite a lot of Taiwan goodies like Tie3 Dan4 (black herbal eggs), Muah Chee (packet flavoured muah chee with fillings inside, not like those in Singapore), Guo3 Dong4 (fruit pudding), etc. Headed back to the hotel at around midnight.

Dan Shui is a must go place for anyone visting Taipei. :)

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Taiwan Day 3

Day 3 Taipei (6/7/06)

We woke up at 8.45 am and had breakfast at the hotel. We then headed to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall via MRT to take photos there.


--------------At the entrance---------------------------------------Decades old antique car------------


Derrick and I in front of a huge painting or portrait


-------------------------------------Salute!----------------------------------------


Me, Meibin and Edwin protecting a statue


Near the top of CKS Memorial Hall


--------------------------Beautiful CKS Memorial Hall--------------------------------

After our photo-taking session, we had lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant. The food was alright only and the meal was slightly expensive in terms of Taiwanese food.


Food for everyone!

After our lunch, we were walking towards the MRT when we heard a loud crash. When i looked in front of me, i saw scraps of metal flying as a taxi and a motorcycle collided. The scene shocked all of us as we were about 100 metres away from the accident. We were lost for words and we were discussing what had actually happened. Some of my friends noticed the pillion rider on the motorcycle fly into the air. Everything happened in an instant and we remained at the same spot, stunned and feeling terrible of the people involved in the accident.

The motorcyclist was lying on the road motionless and a kind soul had brought an umbrella and sheltered her from the blistering sun. The cab driver and the pillion rider was not within our sight as the accident took place before the vehicles went to an underpass. A hospital arrived after around 4 minutes and we left after that.

It is definitely much more dangerous driving on the roads of Taipei compared to Singapore as the cab drivers are rather reckless, the roads are more complicated and there is abundance of motorcyclists in Taiwan. Along almost all the busy streets, we can see rows and rows of uncountable parked motorcycles. Pedestrians also must watch out for traffic even though the green pedestrian man is blicking.

We then took MRT to Taipei City Hall and took a free shuttle bus to Taipei 101. We went to the shopping mall there and quickly browsed through most of the shops as almost all of them are branded shops, just like KLCC and Paragon.

Some of us tried the local pastries there and the taste is not bad. However, we only bought a few pieces as we wanted to buy on the last 2 days before going back Singapore.


Cartoon Taipei 101

We then headed out to the park outside and positioned ourselves to take a few group photos. Taking photos was very hard as we had to bend our heads so much to fit the world's tallest building inside. Derrick had to lay himself on a grass patch to adjust everyone into the frame.


--World's tallest building- Taipei 101!----------------Group photo------------------------------

Next, we headed back to the hotel for a short while to freshen up a bit before going to Beitou Hot Springs. We took a 35 min journey there via MRT and a minibus was waiting for us at Beitou station. The vehicle brought us up to higher ground at a high class looking spa centre and the price was NT500 ($25) for 2 hours (1 hour in the private pool, 1 hour in the public pool). However, the private pool can only accomodate a maximum of only 3 people and we got ourselves 4 private pools for the 9 of us.

I shared a pool with Derrick and we tried to lower the temperature of the pool by adding cold water. The bad thing about the spa is that the temperature of the water is not regulated by the staff there. The water in the beginning is definitely too hot to hop into and we were 'yelping' in pain when we tried dipping our feet into the pool.

The lighting was a bit too dim and i felt a bit off my feet together with the simmering heat. We also chose the period when most people do not want to go spa as it is summer in Taipei now. That explains for the lack of customers there. Anyway, we waited for the temperature of the water to decrease to around 40 degrees before hopping in slowly.

In New Zealand Rotorua spa, the recommended time to stay inside is only 10 minutes and i think the spa in Taiwan is not so concerned about the health of the people going for spa. Gs and i got dizzy immediately after stepping out of the spa pool. It is due to the sudden rush of blood everywhere in the body due to prolonged body heat. Got better after resting for a while and the water in the pool got cooler and cooler.


------------------------5 guys in a small pool-----------------------

We got out after 50 minutes and proceeded to the rest area outside the changing room to wait for the gals.


In the changing room

We did not go to the public pool as most of us were enough of being inside a spa. The public pool is separated into female and male pools as no wearing of clothes is allowed inside. We changed into our clothes soon after and left the place via minibus.


Picturesque garden outside the spa centre cum restaurant

Shihlin Night Market was our next stop and we had our late dinner there.

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Dinner cum Discussion

Had dinner with my jc gang yesterday as we were going to discuss about another short trip overseas. For people keen to go on holidays before school starts, Tiger Airways is having a 2 for 1 fares promotion. Click here for more details.

We considered Guangzhou (~$240 air ticket per pax), Phuket ($137 air ticket per pax), Tioman ($109 air ticket + accomodation per pax) and finally we decided on Batam. Quite a number of us have never been there before and it's about time we go visit the island nearby. Most of us are rather keen to try the cable skiing there. We should be going there on the last week of the holidays from 3 to 5 Aug.



We had dinner at a HK cuisine dim sum eatery at Suntec.

We then headed to the nearby Benjamin Sheares Bridge to see the fireworks launched at the National Stadium NE Show. Below are some shots of the fireworks.






Group photo using night scenery mode


Starry Sky Mode

The picture above is exposed for a longer time to create the futuristic effect.

Clarence and Derrick joined us slightly later and we had soya beancurd at Rochor Beancurd at Selegie next. We wanted to watch Pirates of the Carribean but the tickets at The Cathay and GV Plaza were either sold out or left with the 1st row seats. We decided to have supper at Lavender hawker centre instead before heading back.

Today was at IMM with some of my sec sch friends just to hang out and have lunch together.

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Taiwan Day 2

Day 2 Taipei (5/7/06)

We woke up at 8 am to pack our stuff and transfer to Rainbow Hotel. The hotel was only around 300 metres away and we unloaded our luggages at our new hotel rooms before setting off for our Taipei tour. The new rooms at Rainbow are much much better than Future Star Hotel. It costs us around $9 more per pax but we were all willing to pay extra for comfortable beds, closer rooms for the 9 of us, better service, newer and bigger rooms, breakfast provided, no odours and no mirrors overlooking the beds.

First, we headed to Longshan Temple via MRT. We got ourselves an MRT card with unlimited rides for NT150 with deposit of NT50. The MRT system is similar to Singapore's and the card we used is like EZ link card.


Ximending in the morning


Man-made waterfall outside Longshan Temple---------------------Longshan Temple---------------

We spent around half an hour there burning incense sticks and praying for our safe journey. We then walked back to the MRT station.

Nice scenery near Longshan Temple MRT

Some of us wanted to go Ding Tai Fung for breakfast and we took the MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing station. We then followed the directions to Ding Tai Fung and walked a long way there. We had to ask the passerbys for directions as the restaurant is along a long main road and hard to find.


On the way to Ding Tai Fung along 4th Blvd

We finally found the restaurant after walking at least 1 km along the streets. We ordered 4 baskets of Xiao Long Bao, some noodles, some dim sum as well as some dumplings. We were satisfied with the good food and service and it replenished us with more energy for more shopping and more walking.


Ding Tai Fung Restaurant

The guys and gals separated for shopping and we arranged to meet again at Zhongxiao Fuxing station at 4.30 pm. We ploughed the main streets, browsed the shops and had a breather at a shopping centre arcade.



We played a game and it involves dropping a ball into moving target holes just for the sake of playing. We headed to the MRT station to go to a computer fair at Guang Hua Shopping Centre as Terence wanted to buy some cheap DVD-Rs. The price of recordable media there is indeed quite cheap and i got myself a 4 port usb hub.

We then met up with the gals at Sogo Departmental Store and we grabbed a bit of food there. Our legs were all quite weary of all the walking and travelling but we were still enthusiastic and ready to explore more.


At Sogo Dept Store

We headed to Houshanpi MRT to go to Wufenpu Garment Wholesale Area. It was like a trendy Bugis Village with much more shops and clothes with much more different varieties. Derrick got himself a flowery belt there.




Wufenpu Wholesale Centre

Next, we headed to Shihlin Night Market for our dinner. All of us had the famous Fried Chicken Cutlet at the hawker centre. It was indeed very very big and the serving is 3 times more than the imitation ones (Shihlin Street Snacks) in Singapore. The huge piece costs only NT45 ($2.25).


Shihlin Night Market

Most of us also tried the smelly beancurd and it wasn't as awful as i imagined. Not as tasty as i imagined also. Probably the stall we went to was not as good as some other stalls.


Eating smelly tofu!


At the entrance of the hawker centre beside Shihlin Night Market

After our dinner, we headed to the night market for shopping.


Shihlin Night Market

There were quite a lot of people there and we spent a few hours there browsing through the stalls and shops before taking cabs back to our hotel. We watched the soccer match between France and Portugal from 3 to 5 am next.

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Taiwan Day 1

Day 1 Singapore to Taipei (4/7/06)

My mum fetched me to the airport at 11 am and all of us had lunch at Burger King before boarding the plane.


Photo at the gate before departure

The Jetstar Asia plane has only 1 big compartment and there are around 30 rows of 6 people each. There were quite a lot of people on board as well. The seat was not as cramped as i imagined and some of us ordered food midway through the journey. The food is catered by SATS and its not bad also. Each hot meal costs $8 though.


Coastline of Singapore


Flying over Taiwan

The flight took around 4 hours 30 mins and we checked out of the airport at around 5 pm.


Chiang Kai Shek International Airport

The airport looked rather old and it definitely needs a revamp.


CKS Airport before hopping onto a coach

We bought return coach tickets to Taipei main city for NT240 ($12) and the ride was around 1 hour. Didn't know before that CKS airport is so far away from the city.


On the coach

The driver dropped us along a main road and told us the directions to Future Star Hotel. We walked along Ximending streets for some time and discovered that we were lost. We then asked the passerbys for help but most of them did not know where is the hotel.

After searching for a while, we finally found the rather secluded Future Star Hotel. The 9 of us had missed the hotel as the hotel was along a small lane and only part of the building is a hotel. We went up to the hotel at 7th storey and spoke to the receptionist for the booking. We had booked the hotel rooms a few days before the trip as it was quite cheap. It costs only around $26 per pax per night. However, the rooms were not up to standard especially the room shared by Derrick and i. The mirror was large and overlooking the bed, there was a stale smell in the room, the bed was very hard and there was a rather large hole in the cabinet (maybe due to rats or cockroaches).

We wanted to change back to Rainbow Hotel (also at Ximending) which was the hotel which we booked initially, but we had paid the money for the night already. So we left our luggage in the hotel and proceeded to have our dinner.

We went to an eatery and had fried rice, noodles, soya tofu, century egg, oyster omelette, etc. The price is cheaper but the serving is smaller compared to Singapore.


Local eatery


Ximending at night


----------------------------------------------------Shopping spree-------------------------------------------

There is much more to shop and the night scene is definitely more vibrant compared to Singapore.

Watched the soccer match between Germany and Italy after the shopping. Slept at 5.45 am!!

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