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A few last notes to conclude my Taiwan trip

Motorcycle

Well, motorcycle is a problem in Taiwan especially at the night market. So always keep a lookout for any motorcycle which will appear in any direction.

TRA

A relative straightforward system in Taiwan, where you can go to most places outside of Taipei. However, a few things to note. First, there is the mountain line and the coast line. Relatively the same between the two as it will deviate slightly after a station and still meet each other subsequently. However, it will not matter much unless you want to go to Taichung which is on mountain line. Second, it can be confusing to look at the train board and to figure which train to take or if it pass by the station you want to stop. Thus, I would recommend going http://twtraffic.tra.gov.tw/twrail/TW_Quicksearch.aspx to do the search of the place you want to go and take note of the train number. This would help slightly or you would be lost. Thirdly, there are different kind of train, local train, Payuma, Chu Guang, Zi Qiang etc etc. apart from local train all other trains will not stop at all the station and will skip some of the station. Also, local train does not have people selling bento on board. Thus, based on the duration it takes to the destination, the faster it takes, the more expensive it is. So local train is cheaper but is very slow. Whether easy card can be used can check with the train information office. But rule of thumb is that all local train can use easy card. However, another consideration is also whether you want to reserve a seat as well as duration can be long and seats are not guaranteed if you use easy card.

Tourist Stamp

If you are very keen about stamping your way in Taiwan, definitely this is the place to go. Generally, all train station, MRT is able to allow you to stamp. Tourist attraction as well has a chance to stamp as well. The benefit of this would allow you to have a cheap method to record your trip in Taiwan. Also, some of the stamp has its own significance too. However, some of the stamp, due to frequent use, produced image that is not clear. Also, some of the stamp are not that easy to find as well. So have to hunt up and down at times to find the stamp.

Taiwan Tourist Bureau

If you have planned your Taiwan trip, i.e. bought your ticket and book your hotel. You can go to the Taiwan Tourist Bureau where you can collect the information about Taiwan and as well collect freebies. For my trip, we had free Easy Card. So always good to go down and check and see whats up for grab this time around. However, plane that transit halfway and do not fly straight from Singapore to Taiwan will not be eligible. It is at The Chevron House at Raffles Place, Level 10 turn left outside of the lift. However, you need to change for pass at the security counter. So after you collect your freebies can always go to Arcade to change your currency.

Thats all for Taiwan! Next trip I do not know but every trip has its memory and has its experience and every trip is an unique experience.

Day 8 TPE-SGP

So today is the day for the return journey to Singapore. Good things must always come to an end.

Morning was breakfast at Si Hai Dou Jiang. What is breakfast in Taiwan if you do not eat Dou Jiang You Tiao. That is the nearest and the one that is less popular. There is one that is more famous at Shandao Temple MRT station call Fuhang Dou Jiang. But we gave that a miss because waiting time can be crazy according to our host.

Overall verdict is positive in the sense that it is abit different from what I ate before in Singapore. The Youtiao is crispy even though it is cold and the soya milk is not very sweet so is good! However, the hygiene could be of concern as well as there was a few baby cockroach which I saw crawling. Also, at times, it can be problematic in terms of seat as there is limited space in the shop as well. Also it is also able to attract other foreigners as well. Other than Dou Jiang You Tiao you can also eat other things like porridge and other stuff as well.

After breakfast, we were slightly lazy to shop so went to rest before we buy some stuff at the underground street before taking the MRT to the airport.

Lunch was at the Airport which offers a wide array of food options. However, the price can be steep and that the quality can quite pathetic at times as well. My Hu Xu Zhang Lu Rou Fan which I had high expectation came out a dismay as it only has pathetic meat that I do not think is meat but fats.

I would recommend you clear immigration to visit the gates which is nicely decorated. There is Hello Kitty phone booth or even one that is collaborating with Taiwan postal office.

That’s all for Day 8. There is 2 more post after this! Do stay tune

Day 7 TCH-TPE

Today was a slightly lazy day, main aim is to go to Taipei but what is the point of coming to Taichung if you just go to the night market and go back.

Waking up and boarding the bus, we reached Taichung train station. We decided to try out the luggage locker which is available in most train station. Depending on train station, the size is different and the duration is also different. Most are for 3 hours but some are for one time usage. So for Taichung the only available is the 3 hours one. So we left our luggage and went to shop.

There is a shopping area opposite of the old train station. So if you come out by the old station, cross the traffic light and you will reach the shopping street. After you cross the road, first thing you will know is Taiyang Bing shop. You can choose to buy the biscuit there or you can choose to delay.

Map of the shopping area, the top is where the taiyang bing street is, you can see other street as well

From the yellow building onwards, areall taiyang bing shop

There is quite a lot of Taiyang Bing shop, Taichung is famous for the selling of the biscuit. There are some shops that are scattered around the shopping area. However, there is a street nicknamed taiyang bing street. This is really no joke as that the whole street is filled with shops after shops of taiyang bing. It is along Ziyou Er Lu. So once you see that you will know that you will see the shops of Taiyang Bing. As the biscuit are baked on the spot, the expiry is relatively near to the date of purchase.

Other than Taiyang Bing, there is also street that sells electronics, shopping street and few others. However, other than the Taiyang Bing shop area, most of other places are literally a dead town. Could be because of the rain or could be because of the fact that it was a Sunday.

Lunch was at shop near to the Taiyang Bing shops along Ziyou Er Lu. Depending on how you see it, I think that it is worth the price to some extent.  With a plate of rice you can add 3 vegetables, a bit like their bento culture.  So you would see as well people coming in to do take away as well.

My lunch!

 

After lunch, it is dessert. Of course Taichung, dessert you will think of Miyahara Ophthalmology Department ice cream. Yes, that’s where we went as well.  Other than the ice cream shop, there is also a bubble tea shop and a souvenir shop. So if you see the Chinese name, you will realise that there is something along the line of optician. This is due to the fact that the shop was on an old site of a hospital which they had kept the exterior. So you can see the brick walls and columns that are left behind. Due to the popularity of the ice cream snake will form easily as well. However, the queue would clear relatively fast as well.

Name on the floor to know you are at the right place

 

The souvenier area

Though it is new shop, it still keep some of the old building’s structure like this

This is 180 Taiwan Dollar, 2 scoop and 3 toppings

 

Apparently, there is another outlet as well which is by them too.

 

Taking the 1345 train, we leave Taichung to go back to Taipei.

Dinner was at Hangzhou Xiao Long Bao. The name is not because the Xiao Long Bao is from Hangzhou but simply because is on Hangzhou Road. The shop is on the left of Zhong Zhen Ji Nian Tang. That being said is still a walk as well from Zhong Zhen Ji Nian Tang to the shop. The shop is also near the bus park as well. Thus, if you see from the side of Zhong Zhen Ji Nian Tang, you may miss the store as it is blocked by the buses. So cross the road when you see the bus park and turn left.

Taken from the store, you can see Zhongzhen Ji Nian Tang in between the bus

The menu, no main course only dimsum

The choice to eat Hang Zhou Xiao Long Bao was to avoid eating at Ding Tai Feng which is also nearby as well. Ding Tai Feng at Dong Men MRT station is the original site of all the Ding Tai Feng stores in the world. So people go there to try the original taste. But I rather try something more unique.

I think is worth the visit but the seats are limited though. I have to sit on a chair that is quite low and is slightly uncomfortable at times. But the food is delicious and overcome all the discomfort.

After dinner was an attempt to find Shida Night Market. The night market is relatively smaller compared to the other night market I went. Also, it is in the middle as well so is quite easy to miss the night market if you do not walk inwards. This night market is more for the students who are studying Shida than for tourist. The nearest MRT is Taipower Station. The night market is near to Shida road and Longquan road. So if you just want to enjoy night market in peace. This is the place to go.

That’s all for day 7

Day 4 TPE

Today is a pure shopping day!

Breakfast went to Xinfu Shi Chang or Xinfu market to try the Ah Ma You Fan which is a famous one. Enter by the entrance of Kangding Road which you will reach when you take the MRT to Longshan station along the Bannan Line from Taipei station. Opposite to the store of Ah Ma You Fan is the store which sells sushi which is famous too, is call Jin He Sushi. Apparently, that day is not open for the Ah Ma You Fan. So we settled for some other food so I cannot give my opinion on the You Fan.

This is Xinfu Shichang, you will not be able to see the signboard unless you cross opposite. But the entrance is along Kangding Road

From Xinfu Shi Chang just walk straight along Kangding road to go to Ximen Ding. Along the way you can see the site of film location of Monga, rustic-looking buildings, with no outer paint on the shop house except the brick look.

 

Film site of Monga

However, if you are slightly religious, there is a temple nearby the station as well and there is a famous fortune teller nearby the station too. So can try to look for the location online. 

Walking straight the Kangding Road for about 15 minutes, you will see a park. That is the Movie Park. Is relatively dead at the time of visit but some websites say that there will be some events that will occur there like fan meet. Then you can start your visit at Ximen Ding by turning right when you see the park, which is along the street of Emei streeet or you can cross the park, go straight and turn right to reach Wuchang street which is a movie street, Movie street is filled with cinema theatres that you can watch movie there too. Other than this movie area, the rest are the shopping area in Ximen Ding.

Movie street! where you can find many cinemas

One Piece shop in Ximen Ding

Notice the street here, the pillar is green in colour, different from the red above? Every zone has different colour and each pillar allow you to pinpoint your location as well. Easy to meet people!

There is also the famous Red House at Ximen Ding which is quite busy with events as well. However at the time of visit, the place is under renovation. So quite sad cannot visit but the good thing is the cover for the renovation area is designed which you still can take a tourist photo still.

Ximen Red Building is close for renovation but the barrier has the image of the building

The famous toilet theme restaurant is nearby as well. Is opposite the shopping area at Ximen Ding along Xining South Road. Look for the bank, First Commercial Bank, it is in the lane on the right of the bank.

Whats toilet theme restaurant without the photo with toilet bowl and s***

Lunch was at A Cong Mian Xian. Is along Emei Street nearer to the end of the shopping street if you come by the movie park. Is quite delicious and cheap as well. However, the bad thing about the store is that you have to stand to eat as chairs are limited and there are no tables for customers. Depend on the time of the day, there could be queue formed up as well. However, the queue will clear relatively fast.

Notice the crowd and the people eating while standing? The guy in grey is holding a small size

This is a large size

After the visit to Ximen Ding, then is taking the MRT along the Bannan Line to Houshanpi to visit Wufen Pu. There will be signs that point you to the Wufen Pu shopping district as well. If you follow the sign, then you will walk straight till you see Huxu Zhang on the opposite side of the road, then on the left is Cosmed which is the bottom right corner of Wufen Pu, a recommended place to start your visit.

This is taken at the other end of the recommended start of Wufen Pu, Huxu Zhang is on the right

Map of Wufen Pu and how it linked to Raohe Nightmarket. (c) Alec Travel Guide. Read his post to find out the different lanes to find different items http://tinyurl.com/alectg. However, the direction to Houshanpi station is only applicable if you exit the main entrance of the MRT

Wufen Pu is famous warehouse clothing outlet like Pratunam of Thailand. Clothing there is cheap as well and you can buy a lot there. However the bad thing is that most store do not allow you to try their clothes or even no refund. So do look carefully at the sign to see if you can try or refund before you visit.

Some shop display their ware this way, in a plastic bag

One of the signboard which I saw only when I am inside

When walking inside Wufen Pu, there is small banner indicating small alley and what street it is

Dinner is at Raohe Night Market is at the top left hand corner of the Wufen Pu along Songshan Road then head upwards all the way till you see the entrance.

You can see why Raohe Night Market is on Rouhe Road by visiting river at the right of the night market after you enter.  There will be a sign pointing you to the Rainbow bridge. At the bridge area you can see Keelung river and riverside park where people cycle and jog etc.

The entrance of the night market

When you see this, go through the entrance on the left to see the riverside park

This is the rainbow bridge

Compared to other night market I have visited, Rouhe Night Market is relatively broad and easier for people to walk.

Thats all for day 4!

Day 3 TPE

Today is a slightly relaxing day.

Breakfast was at the famous or infamous tuition street bordering along Guanqian road, Xuchang street, Xinyang street and Nanyang street. This is as such because of the number of shops that are offering lessons for students be it English, Japanese or others. Of course another reason people go there is for the breakfast. There is a number of breakfast store around that area especially Nanyang street. But what you cannot find there is the famous Dou Jiang You Tiao but slightly western breakfast. So we had sandwich and as well Dan Bing, or Egg Omelette. Ought to try it for breakfast. There is a famous store at Nanyang Street call Da Si Fang for Dan Bing but the bad thing is that you have to stand just for the breakfast. So I chose to eat at the shop on the right.

This is why this place is call tuition street by the look at he classes offered

Look at the price! No wonder it is able to gain the support of the office worker nearby

On your right is the dan bing.

After breakfast was a visit to the Presidential Office. Unlike the Istana, which is only open on public holiday, this is open almost everyday. The reason was that it is classified as a historic monument and ought to be opened up for visit. So I walked from the breakfast location to the Presidential Office. The entrance is at Bo’ai road where you can see barricade being set up for people. Do bring your passport along so that they can verify you and grant you entry. Then there is a bag check as well, so do not bring any illegal item. However, they would require you to drink a sip of your water to prove that it is not chemical. Most weekdays are open except for public holiday and is open from 9am to 12pm but last entry is 1130. However, the visit to presidential office is only partial meaning that you will visit the first floor of the presidential office. There is also the full visit meaning that you can see other part of the presidential office like the hall where they have inauguration ceremony for president. But the full visit is not fixed. More information can be found at the website: http://english.president.gov.tw/Page/124. The good thing of the visit is that there will be a guide that will be describing the building and the artefacts. They are volunteers. Mine was the ex-building manager who had retired and returned to volunteer as a guide. So it was quite interesting when he shared some internal story that he gained in his work. At the end of the visit, there is a postal office where you can buy postage stamps as souvenir of the visit. Also there is a gift shop as well.

The Presidential Office. The entrance is at the top right corner from this photo.

A replica of the Presidential Office

By the light you can tell who is in the office and who is not.

A replica of the office of the President.

Some letter signed by the president

This picture is to hope that the president can work horse work cow in Chinese means hardworking

Painting of President Tsai and her favourite cat

Heavily emphasis by the Taiwanese, the constant belief that people have the power through voting

Postal office inside the Presidential Office

After the visit to the presidential office was the visit to the National Taiwan Museum and Land Bank of Taiwan Exhibition Hall. The good thing of the visit is that it cost only 30TWD to visit the two buildings. National Taiwan Museum is located in 228 Peace Park along Xiangyang Road while Land Bank Museum is just opposite.

National Taiwan Museum

Land Bank of Taiwan Exhibition Hall

At the National Taiwan Museum, there was the exhibition of the rock of Formosa. Formosa is the old name of Taiwan. In the exhibition there is different display of rocks found in Taiwan area and even some pattern in the rock which seems to look like a painting. On the second floor is an exhibition of the animals in Taiwan. I would say that National Taiwan Museum is not that fantastic.

Rock Exhibition at the museum. The rock patterns show a picture 

Second floor, the animal museum, this showing the food chain

At the Land Bank of Taiwan Exhibition Hall is relatively nicer covering two aspects, natural history and the history of the bank. So you can see dinosaurs fossil and even animals specimens at the natural history part while you can see archives and materials dating the bank. The most interesting part was the treasury part of the bank, where efforts are made to conserve the safe deposit box to keep it in the original look to give visitors a sense of how the treasury look like from the inside. So if you ever want to visit an old bank and wonder how does it look like from the inside, Land Bank is the place to go. Oh yes do remember to “update” your bank book. Outside of the treasury, there is a machine which allows you to update your bank book. Of course not the real one. They have a special card for you to update using the machine. So the feeling is close to the locals as well as the machine is the same as the local would use when they update their bank book.

 

The entrance to the treasury, where you will visit the history of the bank

The safe deposit box that is kept by the museum

Money handled by the bank then

Fossils of a dinosaur

Fossil of dinosaur eggs

How did the reception look like in the old bank

Lunch was nearby at Yanping Road call Dongyi Pork Chop. Slightly costly but the portion is huge close to how their Bento would look like. If you call their pork chop rice or chicken thigh rice. You will receive a Lu Rou Fan (braised pork rice) with vegetable and another plate with your meat. There will also be Soup as well. However you need to keep your peeled as the sign on the left is hidden behind a fence while on the right is near to the road. Thus, you can easily walk pass it.

 

This is the sign board to look out for the restaurant

Of course to come here must try the pork chop rice

After lunch just walked down somemore to Snow King where I had my dessert. The dessert is famous for uniquely flavoured ice-cream. If you are on the adventurous mode, why not try their ice cream that taste like Ma You Ji (Sesame Oil Chicken) for example. The boss are relatively kind and approachable to talk to as well. However the price are relatively steep

 

Do not be fooled by the shuttered 1st floor, the dessert store is on second floor

The different flavours of the ice cream

This is how the ice cream look like

After lunch was a walk around this part of Taipei along Sec 1 Wuchang Street where is filled with places to shop. I chose to visit the postal office there as well. There you can visit a short history of the museum on the second floor and take 3 stamps from overseas and buy postage stamps as souvenirs from the first floor. I will let the photo do the rest of the talking.

This is the sign board toward the museum at the postal office

 

The in thing now, the letter to the future

Just outside of the post office is the camera street. The signboard is a giveaway that it is camera street

Walk to the library at Zhongsan. They have a steriliser for you to sterilise the book before you borrow

Dinner was at Shilin Night Market. Take the red line to Jiantan MRT station. When you come out of the station turn right and walk to the traffic light. At the traffic light, diagonal of you will be the night market area. I had difficulty finding this night market as it was different from my memory. I was trying to find the building which houses the night market on the basement 1 and clothing shop at 1 floor. However, that was 10 years ago so of course, time change and that building is no longer there. Or should I say that the night market have shifted and they are at the new location, present location and that’s why is different from my memory. Of course they have a building which has a food area at the basement keeping with the tradition of the old building. But, I would recommend you not to go there as the food choice is limited, around the building there is a lot of food to choose from.

 

This is the entrance if you walk down somemore from the MRT

Telling you where the building is for the food area

Of course this is the 1st floor of the food street, the clothing and stuff are here

The night market view from the MRT 

 

 

That’s day 3!

Day 2 TPE

Today is a hectic day as it was the day as it was the day to go to Shifen, Jiufen and Keelong Miaokou Night Market.

I wanted to try Sihai Doujiang Wang for breakfast, but apparently, it is closed due to public holiday.

 

The train station main square where you can buy your ticket or you just chill here, apparently there was a concert here too. At every o’clock, the train under the clock will move

 

 

The signboard which will tell you which platform to go for your train.

 

I took the 0825 train from Taipei Station to Ruifang Station, reaching about 0913 at Ruifang. As the timing for the train to Shifen only comes at 1003, it is recommended to walk around Ruifang Station which I did. You can walk from the back of station, which is their old street then loop to the front of the station. The back of the station looked dead at the time probably due to the public holiday. However, at the front, there is a few breakfast store which you can have your breakfast too.

 

 

You know you are at the right place for Shifen,  when you see the sky lantern decoration 

 

 

How the train looks like

 

Time to deviate abit. For the whole trip from Taipei to Ruifang, from Ruifang to Shifen, Easy Card can be used. However, if you intend to stop at every stop along the Pingxi line, where Ruifang and Shifen are connected, especially to visit Pingxi old street at Pingxi Station, you can buy the one day ticket. I am unsure of the cost of the one day ticket. However, for those using Easy Card, the trip from Taipei to Shifen is 61TWD, 44TWD for Taipei to Ruifang, 17TWD for Ruifang to Shifen. 

At the Ruifang station, platform 3, where you board the train to Shifen, you can also buy souvenir related to Shifen and Jiufen as well. Time comes for the 1003 train, there are quite a lot of people who board the train so if you are slow, then there will be no seat for you. But the number of people could be atttributed to the public holiday. At about 1037, you would reached Shifen. No need worry, they may not announce other station it passed by, but it will definitely announce Shifen. Alighting time comes, it was quite messy at that time, all the people who board the train at Ruifang alights at Shifen. Thus, there will be a group of people who will alight. To reach the station to exit, you need to cross the track to the station.

Once you are out of the station, you can start to explore, you will find lots of food store, and as well lots of people selling sky lantern for you to let go. Sky lantern is a means of wishing by Chinese. They believed that by writing your wish on the lantern and letting it go, your wish will be read by the God. So you will see that a group of people who are writing on the lantern and letting it go once they are done on the track. There will be another group who will be taking photo on the track. No need worry, is safe to be the track, just follow the rest, if they are on the track means it is safe. But if you see people leaving or announcement to leave the track then better leave the track.

 

Standing and walking on the train is normal. Instagram photo idea here.

 

 

Letting go of sky lantern

 

 

What kind of categories of wish is each colour for.

 

 

Look like this is useless

 

If you are adventurous and decide to visit the waterfall at Shifen, is also possible. Just walk straight till you see an uphill road, walk up and continue to walk straight and straight and straight and straight till you reach the visitor centre. You can decide to take the adventurous route or the less adventurous route. But I would recommend you take both so that you can see different stuff. For the adventurous route, it would be take a left turn at the visitor centre and your adventure start with a suspension bridge. Then you will first pass by a smaller waterfall, they call it Yanjing waterfall, or Spectacle waterfall. Then walk another suspension bridge which runs parallel to the train track. You will first pass by an area for couple and a food area. Straight some more you will find the Shifen waterfall. You can walk further to a vantage point to take photo of the waterfall. But most people stop here to take photo. The less adventurous route would be straight ahead on the road. You can walk on the road as the road is blocked off and no bus can go in or car. then is straight into the forest. This route requires a bit of climbing up and down but it is relatively straight forward.

 

Apparently, you can rent a motorcycle to the parking lot outside of the waterfall if you do not want to walk too much. You do not need a license, just need a gut to ride. The store is close to the end of the shops on the side of the train station.

 

A relative simplistic map for you to go to the waterfall

 

 

When you see this, just cross the road and walk straigh somemore

 

 

When you see this, just go straight and do not take the left fork

 

 

 

The suspension bridge with the visitor centre as the background

 

 

This is the first waterfall, Yanjing Waterfall

 

 

The second suspension bridge which will lead you to the Shifen Waterfall. The chinese name confirms it. Literal translation View Waterfall Suspension Bridge

 

 

Couple area, can take photo. It means to love each other forever, the chinese words. 

 

 

After the couple area and the food area, you will see this board, another simplistic map telling you that the waterfall is near

 

 

Note the opening time. This board shows the border between the park area and the waterfall

 

 

The waterfall!

 

 

If you come by the other way, this is the entrance to the waterfall

 

 

Signboard outside the less adventurous route, relatively straighter route compared to the adventurous route which is at the top of the brown route

 

 

No entry to vehicle, this is the route leading in to the less adventurous route

 

After the waterfall, it was lunch. We had lunch near to the place on the uphill place. It sells Xiaolong Bao, GuoTie and Lu Rou Fan. Relatively cheap and relatively good.

 

 

 

Lunch, you will spot it when you walk to the waterfall.

 

 

 

Sky lantern burning up. You will spot auntie picking up the bamboo rim for use on other new sky lantern

 

 

Alighting the train and crossing the track to the station. Look the number of people

 

From there, we waited for the 1345 train back to Ruifang reaching at 1412. From Ruifang, you exit by the front of the station turn left, cross the road and walk straight till you see a bus stop, call district square in front of the postal office. You can wait for bus there to Jiufen. The buses are 788, 856 and 1062. As with Shifen, there are quite a lot of people who visit Jiufen. So when the bus come, you need to “rush” or you will have to wait for the next bust. To note, the cost is 15TWD. So if there is someone who comes and ask you take their taxi, you will know how much it cost and not blindly take the taxi as it normally overcharge. Is relatively fast to travel from Jiufen to Ruifang. When you reach Jiufen, you just follow everyone or turn left and you will reach the entrance for Jiufen old street. The opening is beside 7-11. Then you will get to eat food and people will buy their souvenirs there as well especially at A-Shin shop. I did not explore much within Jiufen. After you are done, come out by the same entrance you went in, turn right towards 7-11, climb upwards to the bus stop. Note, the bus stop has different sectios for different people going to different destination. To Taipei, to Keelung/Ruifang and to some carpark. So note to queue up at the right place.

 

 

Signboard telling you how to go to the bus stop to take bus to Jiufen

 

 

Here you can take the bus to Jiufen

 

 

Entrance to Jiufen old street

 

 

Inside of the old street

 

 

Different waiting area to different places

 

 

 

Beautiful scenery at Jiu fen rain(on top) and after rain(below)

 

 

To go to Keelung Miaokou Night Market, is just take bus 788. It will lead you to Keelung area. Do not stop at the train station but rather stop at a stop before the train station, which is Xinyi Road (Xinyi Lu). So if you reach early for the night market, you can walk around Xinyi road. There are shops when you turn left after alighting the bus stop which you can shop around there. To go to the night market, just cross the traffic light and walk straight and you will reach the night market. Try to spot the Keelung sign on a hill when you cross the road and it looks like the Hollywood sign. Like Ningxia Night Market, it is rather cram. But the difference is that, when you enter from the bus stop, you will reach an area that sells clothes, electronics and even to play game before you reach the food area.

 

 

This is the “entrance” of the night market

 

 

Try spotting this

 

 

The entrance if you come by Xin Yi Lu

 

 

 

 

The entrance if you come by the train station or from Ai San Lu

 

 

I like the lantern decoration on top of the store here as it is also shows its difference from other night market.

 

 

Probably how this night market got its name. Miaokou in miao means temple

 

 

A simplistic map but a bit unhelpful to guide you to the train station

 

 

A slight better map telling you how to go to places from the train station, taken at the train station. The yellow thing with in the white area is the train station. The blue is the sea. On the right of the blue, out of the picture is the night market.

 

From the night market to the train station is rather complicated, I feel. It has moved from its original location to the new place at Keelung Train Station (South). Thus, for me I chose to go towards the sea from the night market turn left and there will be sign pointing towards the train station. Cross the bridge then exit by the travel information centre side of the overhead bridge. Go straight from there and you will reach the old train station. Then you will be linked to the new station, there are signs. Hopefully when the train station is fully built, the place would be properly linked and demarcated. I took the 1938 train and reach at 2023 at Taipei.

 

Thats all for day 2!

Day 1 SIN-TPE

Flight to Taiwan for SQ878 took off at 1155 and arrived at 1640 in Taiwan, Taoyuan Airport. At the airport custom area, everyone queued up in a single row and there may or may not be an officer who will direct you to the counter. Thus, it is up to your judgement to move to the desired counter for immigration clearance. Their clearance method require you to take a photo with their webcam and as well capturing of your two index fingers. However, do note that they are quite specific about your location in Taiwan. Thus, when I wrote Zhongsan (where my stay is located), they wanted me to write the full address and even provide my host’s contact number. The other form, custom declaration form only need to be filled up if you have things to declare. Other than which, no one will collect that form from you.

Purchasing SIM card can be done before or after the custom clearance. However, I would recommend you to do it after custom clearance so that you can do a comparison of the package offered and the price offered as there are three companies set up there. The location of the place to purchase SIM card is on your left when you clear the custom.

To go to the city from the airport can be done in a few ways. I chose to take the Taoyuan Airport MRT. From where you buy the SIM card, turn right and go down the first escalator you see. At the end of the escalator is the entrance to the Airport MRT. You can buy the Easy Card or Single Journey Fare there. I would recommend to buy the Easy Card as you can use it in other journey in Taiwan. The deposit of the card is 100TWD, and is refundable at the end of the trip.

View from the Taoyuan Airport MRT 

The MRT allows a person to go from Taoyuan area to Taipei city. There are two kinds of train, the express train which only stop at 5 stops including the airport stop and Taipei City stop and the commuter train which stops at every stop. Unlike the Thailand Airport Rail, there is no price difference between the two type of train. The cost fort the train ride is 160TWD which is slightly expensive compared to the bus to Taipei city which is 125TWD. But the benefit is that the MRT is more luggage friendly in the sense that you do not need walk too far to take the train and that you do not need walk too far to transfer to other mode of transport as the Taipei MRT is linked to the airport rail via an underpass.

Speaking of Taipei Main Station, is a mini hub of many transportation(Taiwan Train, High Speed Rail, Bus and Taipei MRT) and also allow linkage to other places near to Taipei Station and even to Zhongsan and Suanglian Station. There are four shopping areas underground near to Taipei Main Station. So when you reach Taipei, you can immediately start your shopping spree. There is the Y area which is the Taipei Underground Street. K area which is the slightly prestigious area for shopping area where you can find the starbucks. Z area which is the Station Front Underground Street. R area which is Zhongsan underground street. Each of the areas have its own set of exit which links to various part of Taipei. The R area allow you to walk till Zhongsan area and Suanglian area. Taipei station, Zhongsan station and Suanglian station are along the red line or Dansui-Xinyi station. As of when I returned, the R area is still under renovation and not all shops are opened yet thus it is more like a ghost town.

Entrance of the Zhongsan Underground Street

This shows how the three station, Taipei station, Zhongsan Station and Suanglian station are linked

Beautifully decorated shutter at Zhongsan Underground Street

Place for people to practice their dance, when you see this you know you are near Suanglian Station

So I went to my place of stay by walking via the R area from Taipei Main station.

Dinner was at Ningxia Night Market. It is walkable from Zhongsan or Taipei Main Station via the R area to Suanglian Station. Then, take the first escalator you see when you reach Suanglian Station and you will reach the surface then you see a signpost which will point you to the left to where Ningxia Night Market is. Then walk straight till you can see Ningxia Night market. Apparently, I came one day before Dumpling Festival Public Holiday, thus there were quite a lot of people. The streets were relatively narrow as well and you would face problem walking at times especially if both side have people buying food.

Signpost telling you the direction to Ningxia Night Market and Di Hua Street

Sign showing that you are at the night market. Top is when you walked from the MRT. Bottom is at the end of the night market if you walk from the MRT

Number of people! That’s how squeezy it is

If you have quite a lot of tie, you can walk from Ningxia Night Market to Dihua Street, where is an old street famous for Chinese New Year goodies. It is just go further down the road in the direction you took to Ningxia Night market.

That’s day 1!

Taiwan 29/5/2017-5/6/2017

Back with writing my travel post after 3 years of inactiveness. The subsequent blog post would serve as a record of my trip to Taiwan which I had planned. I am back to Taiwan again after 11 years. Thus, when I planned for this trip, it was more to cover places that I had not been before.