Taiwan - 2008.12.09 - Taipei 台北逛逛～

A day-out at the city! Wanted to do a lil' bit of exploration ourselves. And lucky for us, it was a bright and sunny day! (sunny days are rare cause it's nearing winter!) Took the usual buss and train route to the city.



太平洋 Sogo designed by Jac's dad! Which was located just beside the mrt.






The hidden backalley.








FuXing Road









aunty still very energized! haha. We did a lot of walking, and I can't really remember where did we go =S I'm only recognizing everything through the pictures. =P








Cosmed and 7-11 are EVERYWHERE here in Taipei! Almost on every corner you can spot either one of them. Believe it or not, 7-11 was on my top list on places to go in Taiwan. hahaha. Just heard so much about their convenience, the bento sets, and Open仔！


Anyway, Walking around the city made us hungry! Didn't really had a specific food in mind for lunch, we just popped in any restaurant that gave us the vibe. One thing good about Taiwan though, everything tastes really good! I mean, you don't have to worry about trying out a new stall or restaurant, cause they will definitely taste better than Malaysia food. lol. Well, not 100% though cause so far during our whole trip, we had one bad experience in a restaurant that serves western food. Bleak. So I guess the 100% taste good theory only applies to Taiwanese food?








Anyway, here is what we ordered. ru rou fan + beancurd for Jac







yum yum yum yummy beef noodle, again~! for me =D I'm just so addicted to their beef noodle! Cost bout NST100 (RM10). More expensive than what I've exptected (cause all the other Taiwan food here are just so cheap!) but worth it as it is quite a big bowl.









Was walking by Cosmed and saw My Beauty Diary Mask on sale! 5 boxes for only RM90, which cost around RM200 in Malaysia!







saw a lot of cute cafes around too









cool graffiti





i like the pervert doraemon. hahaha







so far this is the coolest! pixel-styled jack. Anyway, these graffiti shoud be considered as art and not vandalism, they totally pimped that grey ol' concrete wall! Btw, another thing that I adore about Taiwan is their street graffiti! I feel that it brings character into the street, as in, you won't only see shops, restaurants, things and so on, but something that inspire, a trademark left by human. Haiya all I'm saying is they are artists!






don't know why it looks so grayscaled here.






cramped street.







Jac wanted to find his previous apartment here. Took some time but we eventually found it! And there goes him being nostalgic again about his childhood, always skipping class so that he can play at the playground etc. It was nice that as he was sharing these stories with me, as I can actually see where it happens! Makes imagining what he was saying easier. =)







WE ARE SPAAAAAAAAAARTA!!!!! but we must have coffee first before going to war.




The best part of the whole night, Wu Fen Pu! (五分埔)!
This is truly a shopaholic's heaven! A wholesale retail area, and it's where you can get your cloths at a most affordable price! Saw short for around NST200 (RM20). >.< href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v666/cindyliew6/2008%2012%20Taiwan%20Trip%20with%20Jacky/2008%2012%2009%20South%20area/?action=view&current=IMG_9314.jpg" target="_blank">
INTENSIVE SHOPPING THERAPY!!! But too bad most of them are winter cloths -_-"










This is what Jac does when I go off shopping =P Don't know how many items has he won d -_- So far what I can recall was 5-6- assorted keychains, plushies, a monkey measuring tape, a zodiac bear, a spongebob bag, speakers, a teddy bear keychain etc etc








Barbecued corn. YUM.








But it's a bit big for me to finish it myself. NST80 (RM8) for this corn






'o-ah-jian' Oyster omelette. Not used to this








Beancurd. So-So.






Filled with red bean!








Seems like there's a lot of pics with me stuffing my face with food!








Sotong! But not as nice as Jiu Fen's


That's all the food for now, update next time!

Taiwan - 2008.12.08 - Errands

8th Dec 2008

Waiting for No. 23 Didn't do much today. Followed Jacky to get his Taiwan IC renewed, and we did lots and lots of walking. This was the first time for the past 4 days I left my jacket at home, cause it's just too heavy! Luckily for most of the time the weather was tolerable!

Taiwan's MRT

Priority seats 博愛座. Very thoughtful o! There's two beside each doors.

Jacky taking his IC picture

Just did alot of waiting and walking and waiting. Everything was done around 5:30pm, and the sky was already dark. So we decided to just have our dinner somewhere near and go home. We ate at MOS for dinner which was our first time too! Both of our meals added up to NST 210. And the burger was delicious! And it looks exactly like the illustration on the advertisement.

Teriyaki Beef Rice burger

Self-disposal. Unlike Malaysia, you don't just leave your trash lying around. You have to dispose them yourself into the appropriate categories - leftovers, recyclable materials, regular waste and liquid waste.

Safety gates at Taipei City Hall Station. From what I heard, there was one time after New Year celebration, all the people were squeezing and pushing, and suddenly someone fell onto the tracks. So I guess that's the birth of the safety gates. lol

Well, that's all for today!

Taiwan - 2008.12.07 Jiu Fen 九份

If I knew Jiu Fen was such a nice place, I would have definitely brought my dslr instead of my digicam. =( I was told it's gonna be real crowded and it would be inconvenient to drag a heavy dslr around. Oh if I have done my research earlier, it would have been all worth it. -_-

Jiu Fen is very, hrm, what word should I use here.. Quaint and very picturesque! I just love the old-style townhouses, and the winding pavements which leads you EVERYWHERE (in Jiu Fen only, of course). If you're adventurous enough, try a different off-beaten path, you'll be surprise how quiet it is compared to the busy commercialized pathways, and sights which you just can't appreciate when you're surrounded by crowds.





Passed by a beautiful teal gulf before reaching Jiu Fen. Was so excited cause I've never seen a gulf before! =D







Remains of the 13 levels 十三遗层 - an abandoned copper smelting refinery during the prime time of Jiufen and Jinguashi.






would make very nice scene for a photoshoot!







Map of JiuFen






香肠！- sausage 真的很香！ 哈哈～ smells nice~












深坑臭豆腐 smelly tofu~ wasn't as smelly as I expected =P






he likes smelly tofu!





the only thing I hated was the crowd. Seriously, packed! Pushed and shoved while you're eating your food.





Process of making ice-cream tortilla






薄餅包冰淇淋 Ice-cream tortilla - 用薄餅皮包着花生碎再加上雪糕
Combination of ground peanut candy, ice-cream encased in a spring roll skin





小强精神！





unique mini flutes






omg delicious! The sotong there is the best so far during my trip.






sotong with a hint of lime







publicity stunt to sell sausages? lol.






賴阿婆芋圓 famous taro ball. A must eat in Jiu Fen!
- 北縣九份基山街 143 號

















sorry for the expressionless face, tired from climbing all those stairs, but the view of Jiu Fen was beautiful!






quaint cottage






This secondhand bookshop was located at the top of the hill, climb all the way and it's cloooosed. Boooo...






aunty tired liao






imagine falling down the hill that way. so funny. hehe






i'm guessing it looks beautiful at night with the lanterns






stairs to a restaurant






pig oil rice. haha






abandoned cinema






drink from the boobs ha






view from the hill. a bit like brazil! hahaha.



Anyway, it started to drizzle, so we had to cut our trip short. But still, already full from all the food! So it's time to go home anyway.






on our way back, we saw a rainbow! =D



We dropped by the Sulphur Valley at Yao Ming Shan. The sulphur smell was so strong!










At night, on to the famous Shilin Night Market!





love it! XXL Crispy Chicken, a famous item in Shilin Night Market!






look at the queue -_-















just take it as one big piece, don't ask them to cut it up for you because that's not the way to eat it.








大香肠！When they say big, they really mean big!





Veggie dumpling






There's still more stalls inside!! Because of all the competition, when you walk in there will be a lot of aunty asking you eat at their stall. So stop and look at their menu only if you are really interested!












乳肉饭 Braised pork rice - a norm for Taiwanese





最爱的牛肉面！Beef noodle! my favourite~






shaved iced. okok cause they used frozen fruit instead of fresh


That's all for today, will continue with more food next time!