The taiwan Trip

Day 1 – 7th May 2007 (Monday)

Places visiting: Airport à Kilin Hotelà >Ximen >à KTV Tall Partyworld Building at Ximen (Did not sing KTV as it was quite late when we reach and the pricing was abit ex as compared to Singapore)

Get all the maps and tourist pass booklet. Head to airport tourist counter to check for maps, any discounts for youth travelers - tourist.(Youth Pass)

Personal Experience: The youth pass was not as useful as we thought mayb cos we did not visit the museum places and the more ex places so not much discount.

After checking into Hotel, proceed to MRT station to get an Easy Card. a) Take a MRT to Jiantan Station. Turn right after exiting the station for a shuttle bus to Miramar Ferris Wheel.

Personal Experience: By the time we’ve checked in, it was very late. No point going Jiantan or Miramar. b) We walked to Ximen Station (ard 20min, quite a long walk) and walk around Ximending. Ximending stuff was not as cheap as we thought but the ah zong mian xian there was quite ok... tho it is quite a unique taste, gd experience tho.. KTV Tall Partyworld Building located at Ximen MRT (Zhonghua road Sec 1) Din managed to go in and sing. The chou doufu was really stinky but tasted nice....

Recommended eateries @ Ximending:

- 阿宗面線 located @台北市峨嵋街8巷号之1, 8-1 Er-mei St, Shimenting.
Tel: (886) 2388 8808

• Famous goose meat at Ya Rou Bian

• 永和豆浆

• Kong Kee 港记酥皇店, located @ 台北市汉中街6巷号之2 (opposite 东龙饭店).
Tel: (886) 2 2389 5587

- Sun Bro Dessert

Day 2 – 8th May (Tuesday) Places visiting: ½ day city tour à Taipei 101 à Wufenpu à Raohe

6.30 am Wake up!!!

7.30 am Breakfast

8.00 am Off for the half day trip ( Boy, I spent alot on the 2nd day on the half day trip, spent on royal jelly, lingzhi, tian lu (a jade that brings peace to the holder and her family 's well being).

2pm Head to Taipei City Hall MRT Station. Take a free shuttle bus outside exit 2 to Taipei 101. (Quite a wait for the shuttlebus, bus abit smaller than singapore's, the outer front seat at both side has a seatbelt, for safety; most seats are single seats actually) NT350 to go up. Additional NT100 to go to the observatory deck. Take pictures etc… ( We din go up as we found it quite ex esp. when we just go up to take pics).

Personal Experience: There is a queue in a busstop outside the station for the shuttle bus. Reached 101 at about 4-5 pm and ate dinner there. Kinda expensive but the serving is super huge! Don’t bother trying the Singapore food there. Standard sucks compare to the authentic food in S’pore. Joon and I shared the korean food there and it was quite delicious) No point going all the way up if it is raining. Night view was so so only on top. Do note that Taipei turns dark at about 5pm during the winter period! Try going to the supermarket. Lots of interesting stuffs.

Possible places near 101:

- Walk to Warner Village (Tix NT290/pax)

- Shopping at Taipei 101 à Eslite Bookstore, New York New York, Neo 19, Singkong Mitsukoshi

6.00 pm If still at Taipei 101 area, either walk to Wufenpu or take bus 611 or 284 at XinYi (Taipei 101).

Personal Experience: Wufenpu is for gals. Good stuff for guys oso but the gals shop outnumber the guys shops by alot… We din manage to shop the whole wufenpu, only managed to shop 1/4 of the place.. Really big...Good to bargain there and there is quite alot of korean clothes..nice and cheap..

9.00 pm Proceed to Raohe Night Market. · Hu Jian Bing (Must try but queue is damn long!)· Really very nice... · Jeans shop available·

11.30 pm Travel to Ximen Station to go back to Hotel. Drop of all the stuff you have purchased, freshen up.

Day 3 – 9th May (Wednesday)

Places visiting: Beitou à Danshui à Shilin

9.00 am Wake Up!!!

9.30 am Proceed for breakfast.

10.30 am Walk to Longshansi station and take train to Xin Beitou. You may like to visit the scenic area of Hsin Beitou too. · Aboriginal Museum· Hot Spring Museum· Thermal Valley or Hell Valley (next to Beitou Park)

2.00 pm Visit Hotspring: Beitou wen zuan resort NT299 for 2, can use the coupon in the NT180 one day unlimited bus and metro travel but got promotion for mother's day so we got the offer even with the coupon too. Was really relaxing the spring..got a massage spring which helps to relax ur shoulder"s muscles and a bubble pool which was too hot for me.. Joon and Beth could tahan the spring tho.. Got a waterfall spring oso..When u stand high, the water force is not tt strong but once u bend now,. the water hit u as if it is rocks and ur shoulders hurt alot..but i guess it is gd for muscle relief...

5.00 pm Head back to Beitou MRT and proceed to Danshui MRT. Ate the KFC drumlets and it tasted abit hot but it has quite a unique taste as compared to singapore.

5.30 pm Take Bus Red 26 outside the Station to Fisherman's wharf. Recommended eateries @ Fisherman’s wharf: - Che Lun Bing (Wheel’s Biscuit) – outside Mos Burger near the bus stop – Nai You Bing - Factory made fish cracker (谈水镇中路184号；（02）26211414) - Freshly ground almond/ sesame powder - 黑糖糕 - Japanese Food

6.00 pm Take a short ferry ride to Pali and see the Sunset at about 5.45 pm. Lighting of the Lover's Bridge at about 7 pm. This is the place where a scene in “Meteor Garden” is shot. Personal Experience: Din manage to take the ferry as we were quite low on budget...

7.30 pm Take Red 26 and head back to the MRT and walkabout Old Danshui. Shop at Danshui Lao Jie. Look out for a bag shop that sells bags at 50NT! (Quite ok but the designs were not so nice, better to buy belts from there at the same price instead) Ask around the ppl there. You can shop for lots of famous snacks such as “Ah Ma Tie Dan” (abt NT65, cheapest we could find there, the other places sell at NT100), Fish Crackers and “Ah Geh” (beancurb with noodles inside, opp the ah ma tie dan or another call Wen Hua, not too bad, but was abit weird taste). Ask for directions to the food stalls along the Water front. (There is a good map on the wall outside the MRT Stop)

Personal Experience: The bags were only so so. It’s also call Thai Guo Bao Bao according to the locals. Not that splendid. Saw nicer ones in Bangkok and at cheaper prices too. Ate the Ah Geh. Not that wonderful but it’s an experience. We did not try the Gong Wan.

Recommended eateries @ Dan Shui Lao Jie: - Seafood /Meat Kerbabs - 淡水鱼丸 with seafood and pork - A-Ge (Tofu wrap with homemade hot and sour sauce) - Granny’s iron eggs - MeatBall stall manned by 3 ladies( was supposed to be delicious but too ex at NT100 that we buy the cheaper ones..cos find the iron eggs taste alike) - Sour prunes - Taupok with Tang Hoon @ 淡水镇真理街64 号（02）26213004 9.30 pm Back to Ximen MRT on the same line from Danshui.

Proceed to Hotel to freshen up before proceeding to Ximending for shopping.

Personal Experience: Went on to try the street food in XMD. The lurou fan is quite nice, cheap as well . Don’t bother trying the ji rou fan, heard not nice at all.

Day 4 – 10th May (Thursday) Chartered Bus day, less torture for our legs

Places visiting: Jinguashi à Yehliu à Jiufen à Shilin

7.15 am Wake Up!!! Bring more water.

7.30 am Breakfast

8.00 am Wait for the chartered bus at our hotel

Jinguashi.

Get to see their historical sites left behind by the Japanese miners as Jinguashi used to be a gold mining town. Walk around their typical houses that are all painted in black, including their ceilings. http://www.gep.tpc.gov.tw/ Quite a good learning experience to see how gold was found in Jinguashi... and the Yinyang sea was a result of pollution so you can see 2vivid colors of the sea.

Recommended eateries @ Yeliu:

- 炸紫菜 quite nice, crispy, worth buying.

9.45 am See the natural rock formations – an amazing array of artistic shapes created by erosion and other natural forces. Take photos of the site. Only managed to see the queen's head, quite a pity, got so many other rocks as well.

10.30 am The driver drove us to several spots at Jinguashi – Ying Yang Hai (Must See! A place where there are 2 distinct colours at the sea. Photos turn out nice!), a structure which looks like palace-cum-defensive purpose (right opposite the Ying Yang Hai. After Jinguashi, he drove us to Jiufen and arranged for a time to meet us after our shopping at Jinguashi. Also, we covered more spots without having to walk around and exploring by ourselves. We weren’t familiar with the place. Without the driver, we would not have had covered the temple, Ying Yang Hai etc. 2.30 pm Head towards Jiufen to see the old fashioned way of live that still exists. · Famous local dish of Taro and Sweet Potato· Can buy local products here such as Taiyang Bing, fried hai dai was nice. Muan chee was super nice, i mean the freshly made one..Thx to Mr. Ng, we was able to try all these stuffs...he treated us to the small snacks cos he cant finish...

Recommended eateries @ Jiufen:

• Famous local dish of Taro and Sweet Potato Ball
• Try the fishballs here
• Can buy local products here such as cheese Taiyang Bing.
• Try drinking tea at their teahouse too.
• Muah Chee
• Ginger Sweet
• Sour Plum
• 阿兴
• Li Yi feng li li à NT 15/pc
• Jiufen lao mian dian
• 阿兴
• 赖阿婆Yam Ball (NT 30) not too bad..
Personal Experience: We did not manage to find Cheese Taiyang Bing. Walked several shops but weren’t able to find.

7.30 pm Head to Shilin Night Market.

1. XXL Chicken (Last item to try, super nice, but got bone)
2. Da Bin Bao Xiao Bin (No more space in stomach to try)
3. Fruit Ice / Mian mian bing
4. Hu Jiao Bing - Raohe one better same brand one
5. Guan Cai Ban ('coffin board') - (big piece of fried bread with fillings, very nice)
6. Hong You Chao Shou - looks like wanton. Din try tt

7. Lu Rou Fan

9. Leng mian (cold noodle)

10. Tempura (really nice and special, lucky to eat tt...quite famous shop...)

Personal Experience: We went to Shilin for 3nites as the things there was more worth it..and cheap..

Day 5 – 11th May （Friday)

Places visiting: LongShansi > Zhongxiao Dun hua à Zhong Xiao Fu Xing à Shilin

10.30 am Wake Up!!!

11.00 am Breakfast at
11.45 am Head to Long Shan Si, pray there...

Take MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (Blue Line).
- Sogo & Taka ; Ming Yao Dept Store
4.00 pm Head to Zhongxiao FuXing Station via the same route.

5.30 pm Head to Underground Malls at Taipei Station - Taipei City Mall and Taipei Station Front Mall and Taipei Metro Mall (at rear of station).

8.00 pm Head to Shi Lin Night Market for dinner.

Personal Experience: We went to Taipei underground mall – not worth going. Shi Lin nite mkt definitely worthwhile to go.

Day 6 – 12th May （Saturday)
10.30 am Wake Up!!!

11.30 am check out of hotel.

12.15 pm Lunch at Ximending Goose meat store with Mr Ng. Quite nice tasting mee hoon and the goose meat was quite delicious, the duck chang was quite special, tasted like preserved meat, dun really like the duck kidney, quite hard...

1.30 pm Tried the lengendary Milk tea once again, super nice... the pearl was quite sweet and soft.. The bags at Ximending was super cheap NT100 only, heard fr owner that ppl would buy his bags and sell at NT 190.. This was the price we pay at Shi Lin...Luckily for us, we din buy the designs the NT 100 store have....

3.00 pm Head back to Hotel for transport to the airport ( We finally took a cab back hotel, super comfy) and prepare to go back to Singapore!!! (1/2 hr trip to airport)

10.50 pm Home sweet home