Saturday, July 30, 2011

AWESOME TAIWAN TRIP 2011 (DAY 2)



 台


 D A Y   T W O

if you haven't read on Day One, click here.
It's gonna be a long day traveling up and down. We need energy!!!
7-Eleven for breakfast! Hahaha! I was so excited to try their beef noodles because everyone is saying it's super nice!


Salad in their 7-Eleven, that's why the girls there are skinny! *Look at myself*




This is the famous beef cup noodles! I saw it selling in SG but not beef flavour is eel!
But anw, even if it's selling in SG, it must be definitely more exp than TW.



Pity Fennie & Chris, can't eat the yummy beef noodles! 




# ONE thing I really dislike about Taiwan is.....
SUPER HARD TO FIND TOILETS!
No toilets can be seen anywhere at a night market!
Luckily they have toilets at every MRT station, so we will always go first before heading to our desired location.



Plan according to itinerary: Yangmingshan 阳明山,Danshui 淡水,Shihlin Night Market 士林夜市


So as planned, we alighted at Shihlin Station and took a bus to Yangmingshan.
Before finding the bus stop... Something attracted us!!!



TADAH!  

  S O P H I S C A!
FYI, this is the shop Jerry Yan bought a lot of chocolates & sweets for Ella (S.H.E) in 就想赖着你.
This is a perfect shop for gifts! Very cute & creative packaging chocolates and sweets!




This is so cuteeee! You can actually choose a box of 4, 6 or 9 pieces of chocolates.
The packaging of each piece of chocolate is different. Chinese characters, English alphabets, Cute graphics, number etc.. Awesome gift right?



We spent like near to an hour in the shop? Anyway there are many different outlets, you can find it in Ximending, Jiufen and many other districts...





This is their bus stop! No shelter at all except for trees!



Their buses comes with a 'Stop 停' signage popping out when the buses stopped!



So while waiting... let's cam-whore a bit with our loots from Sophisca! :)




Ok, I admit, a DSLR is soooo hard to take self shots! 



Please find your way or directions around the pillar!



Finally we are here, at Yangmingshan! Meet the green world!




< E N T E R 



When we saw this map, we know our leg will be gone.... ! Hahaha!



 N O   Y O U N G S T E R S   A T   A L L 
i think we were the only one & felt weird




H a l f - d e a d


I'm feeling good ...


See! We are really at a very mountainous place!



Ok, at least we saw a waterfall like after a 45mins walk!




& followed by some flowers after another 15 mins?!



And, finally a fountain! Then, pronounced dead!



After the above picture, we went to ask an elderly how to travel to Xin Beitou where all the hot springs are located. The elderly replied: "你们好勇敢哦!那个要走好久哦!" - All of you are very BRAVE, you have to walk a very long distance before reaching!
We all laughed upon hearing that, cos we thought Xin Beitou and Yangmingshan is walking distance.
Luckily we didn't walk bcos we took a mini bus down to Beitou MRT for about 20-30 mins!!!


Danshui 淡水 is just a few stops away from Beitou, so super convenient.
Anw, my stupid direction that I got was not very clear, so follow the crowd again...



5 levels high Starbucks!!! But we never had a chance to chill there...



Entrance to 淡水老街.



You will see this famous ice cream stall upon entering! It's a MUST TRY!



I bought a small one at NT 15 (SGD$0.65)! Freaking cheap can?! And that is S M A L L! Not small at all please! Hahaha :)
Now I kinda regret not getting the big one since it's so cheap!



I got the Yam & Strawberry flavours! :)



Fennie & Yvonne got the Vanilla & Chocolate flavours.




Chris got Green Tea and Mango flavours!



# SECOND thing I really dislike about Taiwan is.....
Very hard to find a dustbin!
If I never rmb wrongly, we walked from the white building on the extreme left to where I'm taking the below picture just to throw our rubbish!



Lucky us found this awesome shop that sells cheap mask along our way when finding dustbin!
2 boxes of Face Q at NT299 (SGD13), meaning one box for SGD$6.50 ONLY!!!
If I buy one box online from SG, it costs me SGD$13!!! Half price leh!
B U Y Y Y Y Y ! :)



More!!!
2 boxes of My Beauty Diary masks at NT499 (SGD$21.60), meaning each for SGD$10.80!
I still save $2.20 for one box! And they sell the limited edition mask much more cheaper than SG!
SG, one piece for $1.50, over there it's about $0.80 only.
B U Y Y Y Y Y Y ! :)



We spent more than NT6000 on masks in that shop! The shop name is MOMO, please buy from there!
There is another outlet in Ximending too!


Ok, very suay weather!  
   R a i n i n g . . . 



We went back to the street that sells ice cream to shop at Naraya and Birkenstock.
Something really nice that I must share is....
烤鸟蛋, Grilled Quail Eggs
NT50 for 3 rows of eggs! It's damn pity that I didn't took a photo of it.
You can find it in Ximending as well but just not as nice as the one at Danshui.
AND, I ate PLENTY of it! Hahaha :) I'm missing it now!!! 

Another thing is...
You have to remove your shoes to enter Birkenstock! I didn't even know that and stepped in with my wet shoes! Damn paiseh!!!


Famous Danshui fishball stall! Must go to the 40 years one!
Before we found the 40 years fishball stall, we actually saw a 50 years old fishball stall and I was saying, "Is it they open for more than 50yrs already, so they changed from 40 yrs to 50 yrs signage?"
But luckily we didn't went that one, because the 40 years is the one that was highly recommended.





NT 30 (SGD$1.30) for a bowl of fishball soup or wanton soup! Cheap & Nice!



Although the fishball is a little hard but the filling inside it is tasty! Better than SG Fuzhou fishball! :)
4 Fishballs for SGD$1.30, worth it right?



Their wanton is damn yummy!!! Really very yummy leh! Yvonne & I even thought of buying it back SG but need to be kept in fridge so can't buy back! ...
The skin is not too thick and they are very generous with the fillings too!
6 Wantons for SGD$1.30, super worth it!!! 



A few shops down the street along the fishball stall, we saw this & we bought it to try!



Tasted a bit like fried wanton with sauce. Not too bad, but the outer is a bit hard!




Famous wanton place because Jay Chou used to visit this place very often when he was young!







The signature wanton soup but..... I prefer the fishball stall wanton!
Their wanton soup is nice as well! No matter what also better than SG.
SG's wanton very small and the meat like so little only!



炸酱面 very tasty! Got egg & the noodles very Q! Hahaha :)



*Slurp slurp!* Yummy!




# THIRD thing I really dislike about Taiwan is.....
Their stairs!
Why must it be so steep?! When I'm walking down the stairs, I feel like an auntie! 
No ergonomics at all!
Can you see roughly imagine how steep it is from the picture below?!










Where is my FA mate, Yvonne?!!
When we were taking photos, she was walking alone in front! She really super FA!
And we were laughing at her la, then when I asked her join us to take photos, this was what happened!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Forever Alone!


Yeah, saw the booth selling tickets to Fisherman's Wharf!



We got scam by the seller!
Seller: "来来!老板不在, 随便算!原价NT400,现在算你们 NT300 就好!"
From my research, I stated NT40 and I'm not sure that price is for a single or round trip!
In the end we thought it should be for single trip, so the price that the seller offered was considered cheaper! So about NT75 for each of us for a round trip.
In the end, my brother took the ferry at NT55 for a round trip! Damn it!





Our ferry is here! :)





Below picture credit to Chris's G11! My DSLR just can't cam-whore like that. Hahaha :)



Beautiful scenery with the wind blowing... 





Ok, we are reaching... That is the Lovers' Bridge!





Nice timing when we reached! 




"Hey dude, how did you get there?! Can't you see the 'No Climbing' sign?"



Really hard to find someone take a nice photo for us! 
I thought we were supposed to be in the center of the picture.



Again! We are almost in the center but see the crowd around us! 
Fine, forget it... 



I got no idea why we did this pose! Damn funny & a bit erxin! Hahaha :)



See Chris bend until....



Another end of the bridge.



Time is getting darker and the bridge is lighting up.




We should stay longer till a later time so that we can see the bridge lighted up when the sky is fully dark. However due to the time constraint, we had to head back. :(




All taking last round of photos & I'm too tired by then.



According to our itinerary, we supposed to go to Miramar Entertainment Park for the Ferris Wheel and followed by Shihlin Night Market. But by the time we left Fisherman's Wharf was already 7plus pm and a bit too late to go with our plan.

We decided to go back hotel and take a break before going out to Ximending for dinner.
When we reached Ximending, we went to shop first but by the time we were done with our shopping, almost all restaurants were closed!

We tried looking for Modern Toilet Restaurant & Yvonne even created a joke. She went to ask a passerby for the directions to "解餐厅"when the actual name is "便所主题餐厅"!!!
The person must be thinking what the hell is "解餐厅"! Hahaha :)


We ended up at Mala Steamboat 马辣鸳鸯火锅.



Awesome steamboat! NT499 (SGD$21.60) for Steamboat with free flow of Haagen-Dazs and Movenpick ice cream! Best deal ever!
However, there is a 2 hours time limit for the steamboat, so stuff yourself with whatever amount of food you can take! Hahaha :)



It's quite a big steamboat restaurant & much cleaner and better environment than SG steamboat places!




See that small containter/basket on the extreme right of the below picture?
It was used to put whatever utensils when we reached, but I assume that is for us to throw whatever food that we don't want in it after taking out the utensils. If it really is a 'trash bin', I think they are damn smart because in this way, nobody will throw the unwanted food on the table! Right??! At least I won't.



Menu for the top grade BEEF and bacon, chicken and pork!



Singapore steamboat got put so nicely for you?! I only paid $21 for this steamboat ok?!
Bacon!!!




Top grade Angus BEEF!!! 



On top of that, we still had a wide variety of ingredients for our steamboat!
Super clean & fresh! I swear it is the cleanest steamboat I ever went! 
Singapore one always in a mess!



See the variety of drinks you can have! Not only the usual coke, pepsi, ice lemon tea...
You want milo, coffee, or tea also have! Not normal tea but herb tea with fragrance!



Fruits & Desserts all placed nicely in the fridge! :)



See the variety of desserts! It isn't just a Steamboat, it's more like a buffet!



Haagen-Dazs & Movenpick with a total of 16 different flavours! Awesome right?



Even sauces also more than what we have in SG!



Of cos we must have the signature 麻辣 soup and 胶原蛋白soup. I'm not too sure what is 胶原蛋白 but I guess it's something related to collagen, something good for skin!




I was sooo excited when I saw the vintage Coca-Cola bottle! I took it back to the table without opening it, cos I don't really know how to use the opener that was installed on the wall! Hahaha :)




The food was piping hot! See Yvonne and my face! Hahaha :)



I didn't had enough of quail egg in the noon and I ate it again during steamboat!
But don't know what happened, 2 quail eggs were joined together like the below picture!
It was one by one when we threw it in the steamboat but when took out two became one piece!



Enjoying! Really shiok! The mushroom ball cooked in the 麻辣 soup tasted just like NYP's Lok Lok!
The mushroom ball really very nice! Even my bro and his gf also said damn nice! 




Lastly, D E S S E R T S !
4 of us shared the below desserts, but I guess I still had the most of it!
The cakes are not awesome, just normal.
On top of those, I had about 5 scoops of ice cream! Wahahaha! 
I remembered clearly, Movenpick's Caramel Milk was AWESOME! Super yummy!
Haagen-Dazs's Strawberry Cheesecake was AWESOME too! Trust me, those two flavours are the best!



Ximending at around 1am. Silent street.




On our way back to hotel...



Ultra nice hotel staff who offers us free drinks!
The staff said that the drink was bought from a very famous shop so I thought we must give it a shot!
It was Brown Sugar Soya Milk with Pearl.
The pearl is really Q with the brown sugar taste, very unique taste!



Planning on our next day itinerary as we didn't went according to our plan for that night and wanted to add in new places to go for the next day.
Hotel basement is the best place for discussions like this.



That's all of Taiwan Trip Day 2.
A very long day & even a longer day for Day 3?!
Wait for Day 3, people! It's definitely worth waiting!
See us in the 38 degrees celsius hot weather!

Goodnight, enjoy reading! :)
I'll post a little more pictures on FB.

g s i a n g , m i s s i n g t h e F O O D :(