@ Leo Foo Village Theme Park (Jing An Station > Shuttle Bus)
We started off our sights visiting with the kids' favourite. There were 5 different themes in the park to visit and we spent about half a day there.
There are 4 theme parks you can choose from:
Wild West, African Safari, Arabian Kingdom and South Pacific.
African SafariLike a mini zoo, you can find orang utans, parrots, toucan, tigers, and camels!
I haven't seen a real camel before, I think.
And also animals from my Rainforest Kidzworld, Sg Zoo!
Not sure what that little goat was doing outside its pen.
Surprised to find falabellas (miniature horses) there...
South PacificCaptain Cook - for the brave souls
7 Storey above ground, try this Viking, it was fun!
I know it's bad of me to take this pic, but just to show how tiring the trip to this theme park can be!
We visited 2 memorials during our trip, the 2 you should visit if you have time to spare, stations were named after them, so it's easy to locate them.
@ Chiang Kai Shek MemorialA Nationalist Leader of 20th Century China, Chiang fought a long civil battle with the Communist Party, finally retreated to Taiwan and ruled the country until his death in 1975.
The place was serene and beautiful. The weather was hot but the view was very nice, from the ground and from the top. Only half of us made it to the top, the rest were not too keen to venture.
@ Sun Yat Sen MemorialA revolutionary leader, inspiring the 1911 Revolution against the Qing Dynasty.
Co-founded the Kuomintang, which was later led by Chiang KS.
Apparently, he was well respected by the Taiwanese for his revolutionary efforts.
@National Revolutionary Martyrs Shrine (國民革命忠烈祠)
This Shrine was built in 1969, dedicated to the commemoration of 390,000 persons killed, among other engagements, during the Xinhai Revolution, Northern Expedition, Second Sino-Japanese War, Chinese Civil War, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. The Shrine was also the site for the funeral of Chiang Ching-kuo (son of Chiang Kai Shek) in 1988.
We were brought here during a day tour, basically to watch the change of guards.
Geared in full uniform, 2 guards stood firmly at the gate of the Shrine for almost an hour before the next shift arrives. The parade was very formal with the singing of the National Anthem before the actual march in a public procession. Having been practised for the longest time, you could even find the foot markings on the ground.
You will find similar rituals of the change of guards at both CKS and SYS Memorial Halls too.
Enough of Memorials and Shrine, we headed down to shopping at Taipei 101!
@ Taipei 101Over here, you can choose to take a trip up the tower, standing at 101 floors above ground.
It has a Feng Shui meaning behind it too.
The main tower features a series of eight segments of eight floors each. Eight symbolises good fortune and prosperity in Chinese. Each segment has a "lock" which resembles a Ruyi, another feng shui symbol of healing, protection and fulfilment.
A resemblance of the popular 'Jadeite Cabbage' could be found here in one of the exhibits
It was an auspicious symbol for having many children and grandchildren.
Used to be a trousseau of Concubine Zhen Fei during the Qing Dynasty.
In the building itself, there's nothing much for you to shop, unless you're looking to pamper yourself with Gucci, Coach, Louis Vuitton, etc.
Other than that, take a walk to its neighbours instead.
@Xinyi District (信義區) - Department Stores/ Malls
Besides Taipei 101, all nearby malls are connected by bridges/links that you can easily reach.
New York New York/Shin Kong Mitsukoshi(新光三越) - a high end Japanese Department Store/
Eslite Bookstore (誠品信義店) - you can spend the whole day here just browsing the books
There's a so-called Toys R Us, but it's a warehouse lookalike 1 level store. We found it pathetic,
but the kids seemed to enjoy playing the few toys they could lay their eyes on.
In all these malls, you can find food courts like the one we have in Singapore.
Here are some interesting things you'll see or you can try.
Ink Fish Bread ~ not quite sure how you tell if it's moldy?
Ice Kachang - Taiwan style!
Without milk, beans, corns, taiwanese just love ice.
Bro got this chocolate syrup with ice cream and bananas.
He didn't expect it to be this big!! (i.e. wasn't intending to share...)
@ Jiu Fen 九份During the first years of the Qing Dynasty, the village here housed nine families, thus the village would request "nine portions" every time shipments arrived from town. That was how Jiufen, which means "Nine portions" in Chinese got its name.
An old village theme set on a mountain, the journey to Jiu Fen feels like Genting Highlands.
Steep, winding roads and spectacular view would be what you will see.
Jiu Fen houses many little stalls selling popular local food that have lots of sample for you to try. You can basically hold a toothpick and pick your way through the narrow lanes filled with stalls on both right and left. Mochi, puddings, puffs, cakes, sausages, etc. You can also find beautiful souvenirs to buy home too.
Fish balls seemed popular here. We got to try at one of the stalls.
A beautiful place for nostalgic old town photos.
@ Yeh Liu Geo Park （野柳）A cape on the north coast of Taiwan in the town of Wanli between Taipei and Keelung, it stretches approximately 1,700 meters into the ocean and was formed as geological forces pushed Datun Mountain (大屯山) out of the sea.
As compared to Jiu Fen, this place is the perfect place for beach photos.
The sky was blue and water was clear. The only letdown was the scorching sun that was really
burning as we walked to the famous Queen's Head (女王頭). Head straight to this structure if you would like to take a picture with as this is the only structure that you need to queue for photo- taking.
This resembles the shape of Taiwan on the map.
Sun-bathing Tortoise
Mushrooms!
It was overall a fun trip, especially with the 2 lovable toddlers around.
Picture of them, permission given from their parents!
My finds:Tai Yang Bing - this is really good, somewhat similar to Lao Po Bing, but some say it's nicer. You can actually find this in our local NTUC too! But at twice the price of course.
milk nougats - i like this alot, chewy nougat with crunchy nuts.
And many others...
