Taipei Trip 8-11th Sept 2007

Ahhh… Finally! I was getting impatient with myself as well. Too many backlog of photos and I’ve not even working, haha…

You can’t believe how much effort I’ve put in to sort the photos and form a collage.
AND you can’t believe the amount of books I read(scanned through) on Taiwan, Taipei, I nearly died. Signing up for Free & Easy was kinda like a fresh idea for me as my mom is relying on me to research. Actually this wasn’t the first F&E trip, considering the fact that my family had been to HK and China(Guangzhou/Shanghai) F&E as well with mom carrying out as our ‘tour guide’.
Oh ya, btw, only my mom and I went for this trip…

Majority of the places I planned on going beforehand were eventually fulfilled during the trip except for some which I REALLY REGRETTED not going, or purely did not know of the place till I came back and watched it on TV!

Some were interesting, some were just… But I would love to go back to Taiwan again some day and explore it thoroughly, same goes for HK, China and hopefully, Japan. LOL!

Photos are a little large coz they are in a collage layout, do enjoy!

I’m really amused with the LCD screens in the arrival hall at the airport, they are gigantic and I’m not sure what purpose they serve except that you face will appear on it. They could have done better for the seats.

We saw a large group of monks arriving and they received the warmest welcome from the volunteers(I presume) by singing LOUDLY and SLOWLY. Real slow and no offence, it was the only entertainment to watch while waiting for the others to arrive coz the customs was fuly slow. The officer who checked my passport gave me a “I’m-working-OT-because-of-you” face and stamped so god damn slow I wondered if he was on drugs. And the officer who (poorly) controlled the crowd said some offensive words about us tourists through his walkie talkie. Don’t ask, it resembled something like ‘pig’ or some other animal. Majority of the tourists are from Japan and HK so I’m not surprise if anyone heard that. Oh well, so much for being welcoming…

That icon on the road is meant for motorists and I find it cute. I was surfing the TV channels when I came across a channel entirely on chinese puppets, like those on the FEI GE show. They even filmed it into a drama serial complete with fighting scenes and special effects. Their movements are so swift and quick, really enjoyed it very much except that the puppets ’speak’ in their local dialect and I don’t really quite comprehend what was going on though. When I meant 100++ channels, I really mean it. All local and my hands went soft from pressing the ‘+’ button too long. Haha!

First night. Everything is so cool and fantastic.

I found out that every street has a 7-11 store and it freaks me out, every corner there’s one! It’s like that many! Mom and I signed up for a one day tour group and since it was Sunday, there would be many tourists(US!) and locals everywhere… Worse still, I found out that majority of the local singers were holding their meet and greet sessions at Ximending when I’m definitely do not have the time to go there! URGH!

Second photo on the second row is actually the red army cart and they played a song about President Chen Shui-bian, I forgot the contents but you get what I mean… Gosh, many tourists went up to take photos, erm, should I laugh?

Anyway… Look what I’ve spotted! A movie advert on a bus, the movie I want to watch and might never get the chance to do so in Singapore!

Zoom in
It’s ‘Mushishi‘, I’ve seen the anime before and loved it to bits. That’s the live-action movie and I really hope for the DVD to be released here. Coz if not, I’ll have to resort to video streaming sites…

Change of guards at Martyr’s Shrine, not at CKS memorial hall which everyone is more familiar with. Apparently, there’s only one elaborate rifle performance conducted only at 9am so imagine the tour guides repeating this ‘golden timing’ to all tour groups and you end up with a large group of tourists standing outside patiently waiting for the change of guards ceremony to begin. And it’s only this time when I realised that there are really LOTS of Japanese tourists. Everyone smelled so good, dressed so good and hold good cameras. AND there were many jap boys, dressed well and looking so cute!

The ceremony lasted less than 30 minutes and we calculated that the guards only need to stand for about 45 minutes before they change guards. And I stood 1 full hour during NDP, tsk.

And there was a cute tip the tour guide mentioned: You’re allowed to take photos with the guards and since they can’t move any muscle in their body, you can actually do anything to amuse yourself, you get the idea ya? But if you stand too close to the guard, the only thing he could stop you from invading his personal space would be to knock his rifle HARD on the stand, sort of to alert you about being too close. I thought it was a joke but I did saw the guard knocking his rifle when a Jap tourist stood too close to him. LOL. And she was scared to bits, it was amusing to watch that. Wish I caught it with my camera.

Road leading to the Presidential office and the morning before the red army stationed themselves to celebrate their one-year anniversary of the anti-corruption campaign and later which I saw in the news, forming the Chinese word ‘屁’. This is around 10am, and what we saw were only reporters and their transmitter vans. No sight of any red army supporters.

National Palace Museum! Woot, one of the 4 best museum and I saw the JADE CABBAGE! It’s really green and so real! Apparently it’ll take the museum almost 60 years in order to display all the artifacts as they change each collection every 3 months or so. Scary. The tour guide kept emphasizing the Pi-hsieh is the most prized possession and powerful creature. Also he kept saying that youngsters nowadays don’t appreciate history and it’s disheartening while giving me eye contact. Erm, it really depends since china history is too vast and I only read up on Tang dynasty. So the museum trip ended after lots of squeezing and trying to keep track on what the tour guide was saying with everyone trying to say something. Those jap tour guides sure like to raise their voices when they explain about stuff, huh?

After a heavy lunch(steamboat & teppanyaki), we proceeded to 九 份. Because the tour bus can’t drive up the slope during weekends, everyone has to take the public bus, cost around NT10. It was a long wait coz it was Sunday but we eventually arrived at the top of a hill.

The shops and food stalls inside the lane were crowded with locals and I practically saw dogs everywhere. Mom and I bought some sweet goodies and the smelly bean curd was delicious, hot and spicy, I like! Queuing up for the bus was a tedious task again, it stretched like a line of ants and it was quite dangerous with all the buses, cars and motorcycles driving up and down just a few millimetres close… Eeek, I’ll appreciate our local buses any time.

Went to Peitou Hot Spring and the whole Peitou lane is adored with hot springs signboards. It wasn’t like those hot spring shows you watch on TV but close. We were treated to a room and there were 2 taps for you to adjust your own water temperature. Commercialised a little but it works effectively, they even provide hairdryers for you to use. Shilin night market was our last destination and I was hungry after all the waiting. No need to say but it was crowded as well, the food stalls were situated inside the market while the games area were outside. That’s the night market ONLY, if you were to cross other roads, you would see shops selling all kinds of food, apparel, shoes, games, the sleazy ‘cosplay‘ shop and an entire shop with gachapons… I finally got to eat Pig’s Blood Soup! I missed this dish so much ever since Singapore banned pig’s blood… Taste so good, I love pig’s blood! I didn’t eat the famous Ah Zhong mee suan but all the mee suan taste just as good. But we did went to get the famous Hao Da Da Ji Pai, it was cheap and huge! I think it was the length of my 2 palms, while the skin was crunchy the meat was SOFT and JUICY, to the extent that you wouldn’t believe you’re eating chicken meat. The skin doesn’t stick to your teeth, if I would to describe the texture, it’s like good quality candy floss, not those you find in pasar malam with the floss sticking your teeth. Ya, bad description but it’s really good. And I shared this with mom, coz it’s too big to finish this alone. The shilin ji pai selling here in Singapore is so fake as compared to the real shilin ji pai. They should be ashamed.

At the same time, you can catch a free shuttle bus from shilin MRT station to Mei Li Hua(Miramar) shopping centre and purchase a ticket to ride in the Ferris Wheel. So far it’s ranked 20th among the largest Ferris wheel in the world. Once Singapore finished constructing the Singapore Flyer, we would be ranked no. 2 before the Great Beijing Wheel which is still constructing for the Beijing Olympics. The ride is actually quite similar to those sentosa cable rides, but it was really beautiful to admire the night scenery. Now, I anticipate to sit in the Singapore Flyer soon, hopefully.

Third day and I’m really exhausted, coz the hotel’s bed was really hard to sleep on, stayed up the entire night… Mom and I can finally begin our day free and easy. Basically we decided to explore only the blue line of the metro route, also known as the Ban Nan line. Bought a one day ticket and it costs less then SGD4, pretty worthwhile coz we may be traveling to and fro. We decided to go to Taipei City Hall to have a look at Taipei 101, Houshanpi for the famous wholesale fashion market- Wu Fen Pu, Taipei Main Station for the Books Street, Ximen for of course Ximending and lastly Long Shan Si for the Hwahsi Night Market. Sounds easy and simple? NOOOOO, it’s not. Their road names are killers, we were nearly lost in almost every destination. But we managed to get through by asking the locals who were very nice and helpful and of course following the locals quietly. I just mastered this trick and I got to tell you, it works! Will elaborate later…

We arrived at Taipei 101 first, and apparently, we could only explore the first 6 levels(I think) for free; too many expensive restaurants and boutiques, the remaining levels would require you to pay an entrance fee. From the 91st level onwards, another extra charge. So mom and I came to a conclusion that it’s not worth the trip and money to spend on standing in an elevator and shoot up 101 floors. A little disappointed but oh well, it’s just a tourist attraction. Anyway, I’ve the NLB elevator waiting for me any time of the day. Muhahaha! There’s a free shuttle bus from Taipei 101 back to the MRT station as well. Love the service.

Proceeded to Ximen first to check out the Cotin Doll shop and Animate. We found both shops at an entire different street which is still under Ximending. As some shops are located only at the second level, you’re required to go to the back alley(as shown by the red arrow) and climb steep steps to reach second floor shop. Cotin Doll Shop require some help but Animate was easier to find though they take up the 3rd and 4th floor(on another building) as well. I only managed to explore the third floor and when I found out that there were too many boys on that level, I knew I had made a mistake coming up. Didn’t get the chance to explore the last floor, coz mom was chasing me out; spent too much time inside there. Damn, I didn’t even get to buy any CDs or DVDs, which btw, mom would never let me do so. Haiz…

Wu Fen Pu was a disappointment purely because the shop owners have no interest in promoting their items UNLESS you’re a buyer aka a person carrying a trolley/carrier and buying clothes in bulks. So this is the place where the buyers purchase clothes and then sell it on their websites, similar to those Taiwan spree sites everyone frequent AND This Fashion as well. They totally ignored us but attended to those buyers. Tsk. So we didn’t purchase anything but it was certainly an eye opener for me. The wholesale market was situated among a row of red houses, it was quite easy to spot, but you must know how to recognise which direction you’re at of course. There was one incident which my mom and I were amused; 2 local girls approached us as we were about to go back to the station and asked for directions to Wu Fen Pu, we were so proud coz even some of the locals have no idea where it is. Hehe!

Books Street was next to Tuition Street and miles away from Taipei Main Station and Taipei Railway Station. Both of us were lost and by now, the afternoon sun was too hot to consider an enjoyment. After asking around, we eventually reached Books Street but unfortunately I couldn’t find the books I want but managed to get a manga. Books Street was coincidentally close to Ximending, so after asking directions, we walked and to be extra sure & safe, I decided to follow 2 well dressed girls behind their backs. Not knowing where they would be going, I just believe that the girls would end up at Ximending as well. And viola! They did and thank god for them, coz the street became a little confusing and it wasn’t really near… I also performed the same trick by following a girl while mom and I were not sure how to go back to Ximen MRT station, and we made it back safely. So the trick to NOT asking directions would be: Choose your targets well and follow them, preferbly females.

Last Stop: Hwahsi Night Market, nothing fantastic. Mom mentioned that Singapore looks like that in 1960, with stalls selling food and at the side people would be playing games or video machines. Inside the night market I saw a restaurant selling erm, reptiles for food and a girl selling her cobra. I walked as fast as I could while hearing her shout ” 不要 怕!” How not to be scared of snakes when you’re holding a huge one with your bare hands in a public place?
And erm, they sell their porn VCDs out in the open, so convenient eh!

Some photos of the road and Liaoning Night Market near our hotel. So in short, we have visited 3 Night Markets in 2 days alone. The green man traffic light is cute, he’s animated and similar to those New York traffic lights. I felt that we locals are really fortunate in Singapore coz the time to wait for the green man to appear is short while in Taipei we waited for almost 5 minutes to cross a 50M road while the green man would blink for 90sec. And the cars could still continue withe their driving. It’s total bizarre.

Ya, everything is stated on the picture itself. Majority of the shops do not provide plastic bags actually, so I guess they are more environmental conscious than us…

Mister Donut latest doughnut creation with Hiroshi Tamaki! Remember him? He acted in Nodame Cantabile! Gosh, when I saw his print advert I immediately bought the azuki green tea doughnut… If you guys don’t know who Hiroshi Tamaki is, that’s ok, I’ll show you all his TVCM from youtube. There’s more at the Mister Donut official website…

He’s cute right?
♥ ♥ ♥

Here’s the doughnut, and as mentioned from my below post, it’s really good. Move along Donut Factory, I shall patiently wait for Mister Donut’s arrival, here in Singapore!

Random photos…

They were handling out movie promotions and advertisements at the cinema. ‘The Brave One’ sounds cool, that’s Jodie Foster. Yes, it’s her.

A LARGE reciept for a small purchase. It looks like your normal invoice you see at hospitals and clinics. RT-Mart is sort of like Giant, but so much bigger. They even sell motorcycles!

So that’s about it, my Taipei trip. It may sound like I did not thoroughly enjoy myself, but in fact I do. It helps that the customer service in Taiwan is so much better than in Singapore. But I do miss out a few places… Here’s the list.

1. Eslite Store aka Chen Pin. I’ve never been to any Eslite store in Taipei, not even one! I could not find The 24hr Eslite bookstore which Jolin was promoting in her “Welcome 2 Taiwan” CM. Damn, I think I miss out on a few good books and promotions…
2. The mango ice dessert. I couldn’t find it as well but that’s ok coz we drank pure mango blended ice and it was really really good.
3. I didn’t go to Computer Street which is near to books street and blah blah blah! Argh! Apparently there’s a Guang Hua market specializing in computers and nearby there are maido cafes! And from the reviews from these site, psst, it seems to be better than the local maid cafe we have here. ARGH!

So ya, I really should end this post coz it’s too word intensive. Ha, now Ah Neo can’t tease me about writing few words and short entries, coz I think I beat everyone with this super long one.