Friday, January 10, 2014

Day 4 - Yeliou, Jiufen, Ice Monster, Wufenpu, Shilin

From our hotel, we go by taxi to Taipei Bus Station (Station A)
Today we are going to Yeliou !!
Yeliou is located outside Taipei City, so there’s no direct MRT to go there.
Your choices is to go by Bus, or by a taxi.

If you choose to go by bus (same like me), you need to buy the Kuo Kuang Bus ticket No. 1815 to go to Yeliou
It will take about 1 hour 20 minutes to go to Yeliou, and the bus ticket is around NT 100
The driver will let you know if you already arrived at Yeliou

This is the ticket looks like :)
From the bus stop, you need to walk about 15 minutes until you can find the Yeliou Geo park.  
Yeliou is located near the sea, and you can look around and enjoy the street view while walking to the Geo Park. No need to be bored ! ;) 

The street view along the way to Yeliou Geopark
Before entering the Yeliou Geopark, you need to pay for the entrance fee, only for NT 50 per person.
Let me tell you a bit about Yeliou Geopark.
Yeliou is basically an amazing stone Park where you can find Princess Head, and so on in the area. You’ll find lots of interesting things here. 
Plus, it is located near the sea, so the place is really beautiful. 
You can hear the waves flow through your ears !
It is formed by the sea eruption, you can easily feel it by touching the stone.

The clear water, I just want to flow with it!
Look at this beautiful stone :) You can touch this one!
The view
The view
Yeliou is super amazing ! 
Feeling satisfy enough after looking around at the Park, we decided to go to our next destination today, which is Jiufen.
In Jiufen, you can enjoy their local markets and also beautiful old China Houses

Note : I can’t find the location of the old China Houses, but I ever browse for it and from what I’ve heard, it is so beautiful. If you have a chance, you should search the exact location of it.

So in this posts I’ll just show you how to go to Jiufen and visit their local markets, there are lots of delicious foods that you should try :)


Steps to get to Jiufen :

  • From the Yeliou Bus Stop, Cross the road and take the bus number 790 or 862 to Keelung City. 
  • Alight at Keelung Train Station (around 40 minutes to get here) Pay attention while you are on the bus, because the destination will appear on the screen
  • Cross the road by using the bridge, then transfer again to bus number 788 or 1013 to Jiufen. 
  • Alight at Jiufen (need another 40 minutes to get here) 
  • The entrance of Jiufen is beside the 7-eleven :) 
Don’t forget to cross the bridge because when I go there, I don’t know that I need to cross the bridge and go to the other bus stop… hahahaha.
Luckily there’s a really kind bus driver that drove us to the bus stop :)) 
We are really really lucky and get so much help by the local people all along our journey in Taiwan ! :))

And watch out for the 7-eleven, because you can missed the entrance (it’s just a really small road !) - Yeah, we did miss the entrance and there’s another taxi driver that told us we just missed the entrance - 

The entrance is just right there! (crowded with people)
We enjoy lots of Jiufen local foods - they are all delicious! - 
My favourite lists are their mochi (a cold ones) and shrimp snacks !

The Entrance
Some foods at Yeliou
When it’s about 4 p.m, we decided to get back to Taipei before it’s too late because we are planning to go to another night market this night. 

To get back to Taipei :

  • By taxi
  • Go up, and go to the bus stop near the convenience store, and take bus 1815 to get back to Taipei.
In my case, we actually want to board the bus. We already joined the long queue, waiting for the bus. 
We already wait for about 5 minutes, then a black car came right in front of us, and the driver is shouting something in Chinese language.
My dad hear ask me what he is shouting about, and I told him I’m not sure but I think he’s going to Taipei. - Yeah I can speak Chinese a little bit, but not that good. - 
My dad told me why don’t you ask clearly to him.

I rush to the driver and ask him in English. Luckily he can speak a little bit of English.
He said To taipei NT 200 per person, 40 minutes. by bus 2 hours. 
To make sure that he’s going to Taipei and the fee is NT 200 per person, I restate what he has already said. The driver nod several times and we went in his car.
Only in 2 minutes, his car is full of 10 people, and they are all speaking Chinese ! 
So my dad, mom, and I just sit there in the car and remain silence for the 40 minutes drive to Taipei, we don’t understand a thing, hahahaha.

Again, I can say that we’re so lucky! I can’t imagine if we wait for the bus, it can take us a day to board the bus!
I can’t deny that the price is way much more expensive compare if you take the bus, but you can save lots of time !

The driver stop at the MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station. Then some of the passengers told us in English, hey if you want to stop at the other places, just tell the driver. I’ll help you telling him.
I replied that it is okay because I just see Ice Monster and I want to try it! 
It is a very famous ice stall in Taipei - Yeah we’re lucky again!! I never know the exact location of Ice Monster and suddenly this black car lead our way to Ice Monster, hahahaha -

To get to Ice Monster : Get off at MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing and just walk along the road, you’ll find Ice Monster.

The must try ice in Ice Monster is their Mango ice. Unfortunately, it’s out of stock :(( 
So we try their second best ice which is the Strawberry one. 
It really is delicious :d

The super cute and yummy Ice Monster !
 After we finished eating, we continue our journey the Wufenpu Night Market (They mainly sale clothes here, and it is not that crowded)
There’s also a Raohoe Night Market 1km ahead of Wufenpu that you might want to visit :)

To get here : MRT Houshanpi

Then, we go back to Shilin again!! (Shilin is my favourite market among all!)

Other Night Market foods







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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Day 3 - Taipei101, Maokong, Shilin

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 !!


Ah, when I got back from the hotel, I got this super cute surprise from the Hotel !! :)
Thank you Happiness Hotel !
We woke up a little bit late because last night we stay up til morning, celebrating new year.

Today’s schedule is to visit Taipei 101 Observatory Deck since we can’t visit it yesterday.

Taipei101, gorgeous isn't it?

To get here : 

MRT Taipei101

We are so lucky because the queue is only about 40 minutes (not so long compare to yesterday) and it’s not that crowded :) 
At the queue, there will be a photographer who takes your photo and directly upload it. 
You can buy the pictures later on the 89 floor.
Our picture is on TV ! 
What attracts me the most is the lift to go upstairs. 
It only needs 40 seconds to get to the 89 floor !!
No wonder it can get a Guinness World Book of Record for the fastest lift ever !

It's super duper FAST !
Additional information for you, the height of Taipei101 is 500 meter high, and from what I’ve heard, it is the highest Observation Tower in the world, even The Bund at Shanghai - which is also beautiful as Taipei101, believe me - is lower than Taipei101

On the 89 floor,  you can look how gorgeous Taipei is through the window. 
When I look through the window for the first time, I felt a little bit dizzy because it is so incredibly high ! 

The view that you'll get if you look through the window at 89 Floor

If you feel that the view is not clear and high enough, you can go upstairs to the open deck, where you can look Taipei City directly with your bare eyes. 

You can see this with your bare eyes! ;)
At the Open Deck, Taipei101 provide us with a binoculars that can zoom in - until you see the cars passing by the street ! - (you need to insert 2 coins of NT 10)

I'm trying to use the binoculars ;)
The last thing that you can’t missed inside Taipei101 is the Damper, and their cute Damper statue !! :)
It is a big gold round thing inside the building, and the function is to hold the Taipei tower incase there’s a big typhoon (it happens a lot of time in Taipei).

The Damper inside Taipei101
From the observatory deck, we went into the food court to have lunch before continuing our journey.

The beef is so delicious and the noodle is so soft !
Our next destination for today is Maokong Gondola.

To get here : 

MRT Taipei Zoo, about 10 minutes walk.



If you have an Easy Card, you don’t need to buy a ticket.
You can simply use your Easy Card to enter the Maokong Gondola :)

The queue is very very long, it’s about 2km long!
But don’t worry, Maokong provide lots of Gondola so we only need to wait for about 1 hour to get inside the Gondola.
While waiting at the queue, if you’re lucky enough - like me, haha - , you can watch the Dancing Water show just beside the Maokong Gondola. It is very beautiful, especially at the Twilight <3

The dancing water 
There are two cabin types on Maokong. 
The first one is the ordinary cabin, and the other one is the crystal cabin.
The cost of the two cabin is just the same, and the difference is that on crystal cabin, your foot will step on a see-through window !
We choose the ordinary cabin since I am 100% sure that I can’t sit calmly for 20 minutes with a see through window underneath my foot ! 
I just can’t imagine how scary it is ! 

The view from Maokong Gondola is just beautiful. 
Even Taipei101 can be seen from the Gondola !
You can relax at the Gondola and taking some gorgeous picture :)


The view from Gondola

The view from Gondola
When you have arrived at Maokong, you can enjoy tea at some local restaurants there and enjoying the evening view.
Maokong is very famous for their Tea, and the price is a bit expensive. 

One of the Tea stall in Maokong

To get back to the MRT Taipei Zoo, basically you have two options.
  • Taking back the Gondola to the Maokong Gondola Station
  • Board a small bus (number 15 or 10, it is just the same) across the street 
The bus stop in front of Maokong Station
In my case, I board the small bus. Why is that? Because the queue of the Gondola is way to crazy! It’s maybe 4 km long and the wind is too strong and very cold! 
Whereas the queue for the bus is only 500m long. 
That’s why we choose to board the small bus. 

It’s our first time ever to board a small bus and stand inside the bus! 
It is very memorable since the bus is really small and crowded, you must hold the grip very tight or else you will fell down on the floor, and… you know what? We don’t pay for the bus!
Actually, I don’t know that we must pay for the bus because the driver don’t tell us anything and there are bunch of people that rush to the bus so we didn’t see that there is an Easy Card electronic scanner there. 
I feel so guilty until now :(
So for you guys, don’t forget to look for any sign of Easy Card scanner because it can be used everywhere ! 

The nice thing about taking the bus, it is directly stop at the MRT Taipei Zoo station, whereas if you take the Gondola again, you must walk for 10 minutes back to the MRT Station. 

It’s already 7 p.m when we get back from the Gondola, so we decided to visit Shilin.

There’s a very important thing that you should notice.

To get here :

If you want to visit their Night Market (clothes,bags,and so on) stop at the MRT Shilin, and walk for 10 minutes.
If you want to go directly to their food stall, stop at the MRT Jiantan station, and you only need to cross the road. 

Because it is my first time visiting Shilin, I make a mistake. I stop by at the MRT Shilin station and I need to walk far far away to get at the foodstall.
I almost think that in Shilin there’s no food stall at all, just clothes and stuff. 
Luckily after I take a very long walk I finally figure this out ! 

There are lots of food that you must try in Shilin which I’ll posts on my upcoming post ! 

Stay tuned guys!


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Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Day 2 - CKS Memorial Hall, Red House (XiMenDing), Taipei101


First thing that we need to buy is the MRT Pass.
There are many kinds of MRT Pass, but I suggest you to buy the Easy Card.
Why? Because Easy Card can be use for MRT, Bus, Bicycle, and so on.
The Easy Card can be bought at the nearest MRT Station. 
(Another info that I got it is also can be bought at 7-eleven or other convenience store)
The price is NT 200, which are 100 as your deposit and 100 useable balance.
The card is refundable, so it will give you NT 100 plus the rest of your balance minus NT 20 for the handling fee.

I also grab some tourist information and also the MRT map so I won’t get lost ;)

The first place that we’re going to visit today is the Chiang Kai Sek Memorial Hall 
The place is very huge and so beautiful.

To get here : 

MRT Chiang Kai Sek Memorial Hall

You can go downstairs inside the Hall and take a look at the museum and learn about the history.

Near the entrance of Chiang Kai Sek

CKS Memorial Hall, you should go upstairs :)

Can you guess what it is? Just go upstairs and don't forget to look up to look this gorgeous ceiling!

Picture of my mom, dad, and I
After look around and take some rest, we go to the Red House at Xi Men Ding.

To get here : 

MRT Xi Men

At the afternoon, Xi Men Ding is not that crowded, and it is better to visit the Red House at the afternoon so you can take a beautiful picture infornt of the Red House :)
Red House is basically like a little museum for the artists. 
It got a lot of unique stuff like an old radio, old telephone, CDs, and so on.
You should visit it when you have some time.

In love with this one!
It's lunch time!! Yeah we are all so hungry. We decided to go around Ximending to look for a restaurant. 
Oh yeah, Have I told you that Taiwan is famous for their bubble tea?
You should try their bubble tea, my favourite is Coco Bubble Tea, and they have one counter in Xi Men Ding.
The main colour of the counter is orange. Their bubble tea is so yummy and it's just NT 30 ! 
Sorry I forgot to take a picture for Coco bubble tea because when I bought it, I unconsciously drink it all, hahahaha. 

Okay then, let's get back to the main story.
So, my family and I decided to try one of the Korean restaurant near Xi Men Ding area.
Well, it taste just fine for us. 
The thing that attract me the most is their spoon. Oh my, it's the biggest spoon I ever use in my life! Hahahaha.


Korean Food in Xi Mn Ding area - The Biggest Spoon I ever see !!
After we enjoy our lunch, we went to Taipei 101, because my mother has an appointment with her high school friends.
Her friends has been living in Taipei for 33 years, even he got married to a Taipei woman !

To get here : 

MRT Taipei101 

My mom's friend is very kind, he show us around Taipei 101, and also told us the nice spot to watch the new year's eve.
Taipei people usually watch a concert near the Taipei 101, and then when it is almost midnight, they will watch the fireworks at Taipei 101.
The queue for the concert is already so long!
Besides, we don't know Taiwan singer and their song, so we just take a look and then get back to Taipei 101 mall.
New Year Eve Concert Preparation 
Look at the queue !
Along the way back, we found some cute bicycle. 
My mom's friend told us that we can hire those bicycle by using our Easy Card.
For the first 30 minutes it is free of charge, and then it will charge you for NT 20.
You can easily found bicycle along the street of Taipei.
It is really nice to cycle around with this super cute bicycle :)

The very cute bicycle
After we say good bye with my mom's friend, we still have a lot of time left before we go to our spot to watch the new year's eve fireworks. 
We decided to go to the Taipei 101 observatory deck which is located inside the mall.
Taipei 101 mall is a mall full of high class branded stuffs. Yeah, everything here is branded !

Inside Taipei 101 mall
Unfortunately, because it's 31 December and it's near the New Year Eve's, the observatory deck is just too full and the queue is too long.
Then, we decided to move our observatory deck plan to the next day and decided to look around the mall, get something to eat and buy some snacks before the fireworks begin.

Taipei Snacks!
It's 11 p.m, we go outside the mall and go to our hot place to watch the firework.
When I go outside, there are already bunch of people around, it's getting a little bit crazy!
The street is so crowded and full of people. They are all waiting for the New Year's Eve.
The crowd 
The weather is getting colder at the night, because the wind is so strong.
We walk fast to our place near the traffic light before it's getting more crowded.  
We wait there while standing for about 1 hour together with other people. 

It is all worth our time !!!! One of the best firework I ever see in my life!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2014 !!!!!





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