Saturday, May 23, 2009 @ 8:10 pm
Taipei Day 6 - 4/5/09.

Went for some last minute shopping at Ximenting. Seems like not many shops open on Monday morning. Although I didn't get anything, manage to get free pineapple tarts from SunMerry.

Go back to hotel to do last minute packing then check out at 12pm. Intend to have lunch at Jay Chou's restaurant but somehow could not find the place. So end up having lunch at some random restaurant which serves ramen.

After that went back to the hotel to get a taxi to take us to the airport. Quite tired during the ride. And the ride cost 1200NT, quite expensive! Spend some of my remaining NT dollars at the airport shops.

We choose window seats but we are not in the same row, just one in front of the other. Nice view of the scenery. Feeling sleepy on plane, even when watching a movie. End up I sleep through meal time haha! Cannot make it lol. Reach sg about 8pm.

After thoughts about this trip:
1. First time free & easy, think we prepare ourselves quite well? Haha. Not much problem getting around places. But definitely the timing for going to certain places need to be more aware of.
2. We cramp too many activities for a day. So our plans keep changing. Have to take in to consideration of the travelling time and the time we spend at each place. Each day should not have more than 4 places unless the locations are very close.
3. Better to prepare more cash just in case. Had a hard time trying to change money at banks without knowing I can just draw from the ATM lol. Definitely a lesson learnt.
4. Will definitely go back Taiwan again, most probably explore places other than Taipei.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Taipei Day 5 - 3/5/09.

Our first destination is the Miniatures Museum of Taiwan, which is close by to our hotel. As the name suggests, it's about everything small. It's amazing how tiny and detailed the objects are. I went crazy with my camera, resulting my fully-charged battery to reduce to low-batt when I left the museum. Only complain will be that lighting is not that good and the museum is quite small. Hard to take photos too because of that. But it's really worth a visit, fascinating minuscule exhibits. In order not to make this a never-ending entry lol, only a few photos are put up here. The rest will be up on facebook probably by this weekend.

Next went to have lunch at Miramar Entertainment Park food court. A bit more high-class than our food court as they have queue number, so you don't have to stand there to wait for your food. Had a ride at their Ferris Wheel, approximately 17 mins. Nice view of Taipei 101.

Went to Yangmingshan next. A bad move to visit it when it's already late afternoon since the shuttle bus ends at 5.30pm. So end up we try to walk around which is also a bad idea since it's quite a long walk and the last bus that leaves Yangmingshan is at 6pm. In the end, we didn't really tour Yangmingshan due to time constraints.

Take the bus from Yangmingshan to go Ximenting. Had dinner then go take a look at Stay Real and Stage Hyaline of World (Ah Xin and Xiao Zhu's shop). Did saw something I like but unfortunately it's not for sale. Go for some last minute shopping and somehow was a bit lost haha. Cos we forgot where we came from then end up walking in circles. Lucky can find our way to the mrt haha.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Taipei Day 4 - 2/5/09.

Went to National Palace Museum in the morning. Place was overrun by tourists again. The museum has 3 levels, consisting displays of ceramics, jade, statues and paintings. Sadly it does not allow photo-taking but definitely worth a visit.

Next stop was Yangmingshan but there is no direct bus from the museum. Which is a shame cos it's quite close to each other. So end up taking the bus back to mrt station. Navigation for buses is so much harder. You could find the right bus number but it is at the wrong bus stop. End up we decided to go Yangmingshan another day cos we may not have enough time for other places.

After lunch, we head to Beitou to take a look at Hot Spring Valley. What hit us first is the smell of sulphur. Unfortunately there's some construction going on, so can only take pictures from afar. There is also an outdoor hot spring that is open to public to soak their feet.

Danshui is our last stop. We took a ferry to Fisherman's Wharf to wait for the sunset. We are not the only one with that intention, many had already camped there with their cameras and tripods. Which seems quite ridiculous to me, why bring all those professional equipment instead of just enjoying the sunset? Anyway after that, went to Danshui Old Street for dinner.

Friday, May 08, 2009 @ 1:56 pm
Taipei Day 3 - 1/5/09.

Woke up feeling the soreness on my legs caused by all the walking on the previous day. Had the tasteless breakfast before heading to Longshan Temple. Prayed at the temple then went to underground street near the temple. Seems like not fully open though there are a few fortune-telling shops open.

Went back to do some shopping at Zhongxiao Fuxing and East Metro Mall. Also took some time to visit Eslite Bookstore at Dunnan outlet (24hr for 2nd level). Reminds me a little of Kinokuniya. Can really see that Taiwanese loves reading, they can find a spot and just start reading. Didn't manage to find any new volumes for my Saiunkoku Monogatari though.

Had to change plans as we were feeling tired after all the walking. The place to hangout? Our hotel haha. Rest our tired legs while watching the tv. Man they have so many channels, I can always find something to watch.

Went to have dinner at Shilin Night Market in the evening. Glad we didn't go yesterday cos there is really a lot of people. There were some really long queues for the chicken cutlet, ridiculously long. Tried some of the food there, and you really have to know which stall to go cos not everything tastes good. After that went shopping again haha. I don't know bought how many clothes there lol. Would have continued if I didn't restrained myself haha.

Wednesday, May 06, 2009 @ 12:01 pm
Taipei Day 2 - 30/4/09.

Today is the 1 day tour but before that, we went to have complimentary breakfast at the hotel. Nothing really fantastic, some food like scrambled eggs and ham are bland and tasteless.

The driver pick us up at 9am and the first destination is Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall. Very big place and big gusts of wind too. Almost felt like I'm fighting against the wind just to walk around the area. Didn't manage to enter the hall cos slippers/sandals not allowed but manage to take some photos.

After that we were in time to watch the changing of the guards at Martyrs' Shrine. A lot of tourists were there and sadly that's not the last encounter of them. Pity the guards a little cos have to stand in the sun and endure all those picture taking.

Next destination is Jiufen. Really nice scenery on the way to Jiufen, nice blend of the sea, sky and mountains. Again the place is overrun with tourists, making the whole place too commercialise. The stairs at Jiufen nearly kill my legs and we were so tired after walking around. Lucky we were travelling by car, otherwise I don't know how to survive the rest of the day.

Went to Yeliu after that and again we were surrounded by tourists. I can say for sure I dislike tourists from C****. Pushy, rude and selfish, I can't think of anything nice to say about them. Anyway Yeliu is really beautiful. The rock formations are fascinating but hard to take pictures with it cos the wind is damn strong, always messes up my hair.

After that we were supposed to go to Yangmingshan for hot spring but the driver took a little detour to a jade-selling shop and a lingzhi products shop. Motive is of course to earn a little commission. Due to this little detour, it was already sunset when we reached Yangmingshan for hot spring. We were given each person one hut with a wooden tub inside. The water is very hot, I think I take 15 mins to get inside? Lol. Didn't feel really shiok after that, maybe I didn't soak long enough haha.

Our last destination is Shilin Night Market. Well supposedly but we couldn't find any lockers around the MRT station even when the driver told us there is. After asking the MRT staff, there is no lockers around so we went back to our hotel, as we were not willing to carry our barang barang to visit Shilin Night Market.

Settled our dinner at Dongqu (MacDonalds). The meal is cheaper than sg and my drink is medium size! But couldn't finished the meal because of the drink haha. Walked around Zhongxiao Fuxing and Zhongxiao Dunhua stations. Wanted to visit Taipei 101 but it started to drizzle so only manage to take a picture from afar.