TAIWAN (formerly known as Formosa/ "Beautiful Island")
12-17 July 2010
Along with 4 senior citizens, 2 infants, expected hot weather, 4 able people made the decision to book this trip
- we were adventurous indeed.
We set off on Jetstar right after the whistle was blown for the finals of World Cup 2010 - Spain beats Argentine on extra time! (Yoohoo....Spain won!)
The sky was still dimmed but we were all excited.
A 4 hour journey wasn't too difficult for us, since we were catching up on sleep and nothing was served on Jetstar anyway, unless you would like Chicken Rice at S$10, nasi lemak at S$8 or drinks (mineral water, milo, etc) at S$3... Zzzzz...
Back to SG on Jetstar 7pm flight, it was chilling in the cabin since it was late. I would suggest to all taking night flights on Jetstar to bring along a cardigan/jacket - you need to purchase blanket if you did not. The air-con was on full-blast. I thought that could be intentional.
Taoyuan Airport has 2 separate Terminals - 1 (the old) and 2 (the new). You can get a good meal at T1 basement - Burger King/ Chinese eat house/ pathetic Staff canteen (literary pathetic, don't bother to try). T2 offers more variety, at higher prices, but reasonably good. (approx. 150-250NT meals). You can find BK at T2 on Level 4 as well, and Barista Coffee and other chinese eat house on both L4 and L2 (arrival hall).
Shopping at the airport was nothing compared to Changi Airport.
We were hungry and settled for some simple food at T2 Arrival Hall.
Beef Noodles ------------------------Chicken Noodles ------------ Beef Stew with rice
Along with 4 senior citizens, 2 infants, expected hot weather, 4 able people made the decision to book this trip
- we were adventurous indeed.
We set off on Jetstar right after the whistle was blown for the finals of World Cup 2010 - Spain beats Argentine on extra time! (Yoohoo....Spain won!)
The sky was still dimmed but we were all excited.
A 4 hour journey wasn't too difficult for us, since we were catching up on sleep and nothing was served on Jetstar anyway, unless you would like Chicken Rice at S$10, nasi lemak at S$8 or drinks (mineral water, milo, etc) at S$3... Zzzzz...
Back to SG on Jetstar 7pm flight, it was chilling in the cabin since it was late. I would suggest to all taking night flights on Jetstar to bring along a cardigan/jacket - you need to purchase blanket if you did not. The air-con was on full-blast. I thought that could be intentional.
Taoyuan Airport has 2 separate Terminals - 1 (the old) and 2 (the new). You can get a good meal at T1 basement - Burger King/ Chinese eat house/ pathetic Staff canteen (literary pathetic, don't bother to try). T2 offers more variety, at higher prices, but reasonably good. (approx. 150-250NT meals). You can find BK at T2 on Level 4 as well, and Barista Coffee and other chinese eat house on both L4 and L2 (arrival hall).
Shopping at the airport was nothing compared to Changi Airport.
We were hungry and settled for some simple food at T2 Arrival Hall.
Beef Noodles ------------------------Chicken Noodles ------------ Beef Stew with rice
They have strange side dishes. This green stuff stinks... :( but bro said it's nice. yucks.
An hour journey on our Chartered coach brought us to TS Hotel (Ta Shun Hotel/大順大飯店) - I found this from the internet. Similar in prices (approx. S$80-100/night), Rainbow Hotel which was smacked right in the middle of Xi Men Ding was noisier, and after walking past RH, it looked rather rundown, we were glad we chose TS.
2 mins walk to Xi Men Station, the rooms @TS were pretty good! The kids loved their room which has a Tatami mattress, they were running all over the place the moment they entered the room. Mine was a standard superior room, but it was just as spacious and clean. I would recommend this hotel.
Breakfast was good too, you can get noodles, toast (butter, jam), coffee/ tea/ orange, congee, ham, eggs, vegetables, sausages - more than enough to start your day.
Another great thing about TS is that it is close to Carrefour, where sis got to stock up lots of diapers, milk powder, and cakes from Yamazaki bakery, the kids loved the Dorayaki/铜锣烧 - Doraemon's Favourite food! (soft sponge cake with red bean fillings). You'll also find many local taiwanese snacks that you can pack home...
XXXL watermelons!
Strange to find stewed pork lying on tables at Carrefour but these are common finds in TP, you can even find these in bakery shops!
Taiwanese love for instant noodles, just look at the rows and rows of them.
And rows of drinks and snacks
Cereal with milk at your convenience! ---------------------------------- Asparagus drink!
We started our night walk at Xi Men Ding since it was within walking distance, and stored our energy for the following days...
@ Xi Men Ding (Xi Men Station)
They're funny to call these white school shoes Kung Fu Shoes!
Not sure what this pygmy creature is doing at XMD, but it's exotic and cute.
I don't think this is legal...
There's a Mister Donut store at XMD, check out the cute teddy!
Mobile food stalls are common sights at XMD, and an interesting fact was that... they were officially not allowed to run stalls there! A sound that police is coming sent all mobile stalls packing/ running. The streets looked empty without the stalls. But just a mere few mins later, they were back @work again! One who reacted a little slower got stopped by the Police for note-taking, which I wasn't too sure if the police was really writing down anything, and that was it. It was really funny to watch.
XMD is a must go in Taipei, vibrant and a must not missed food stall - 阿宗面线 (Rice Flour noodles)!! We loved this stall so much that we had it for a few days, the dads even packed some back to savour at the comfort of our hotel.
This stall was around since 1975, and it was always crowded. There were no proper sitting place, just a few stacks of chairs around the stall. Many people stood to eat, and that was all worthwhile. It was very tasty, noodles were smooth and soft and instead of oysters which we find in SG, it has pork fillings which went well with the noodles too.
Writing about it now makes me drool...
Another thing to try in Taipei is the original birthplace of Bubble Tea/ . Taiwanese drink lots of Tea, coffee was less popular over here. Bro found this stall @XMD selling 1000cc cha at only 25 NT (about S$1!) Dirt- cheap! I had the usual Milk Tea, it wasn't too sweet like the ones in SG, very nice.
XMD has an interesting stall that sells Mua Chi too. I know they may not look that good, but trust me, to all mochi lovers, it was delicious! I had the Chocolate Mochi, and it was very chewy!
Chocolate -------------------------------Green Tea------------------ Peanuts
@ Shilin Night Market (Jian Tan Station)
This is another interesting place to visit for popular Taiwanese snacks and cheap bargains.
Just across the Station is the Night Market. Similar to our hawker stalls, this place serves the popular Pork Chop (超大鸡排) and Fried Oyster Omelette.
Dad also found this interesting dish which was really tasty and cheap!! Escargots are pricey in SG and you can hardly find in hawker centres...
I like this jelly drink （爱玉）, first tasted at SG Chinatown. It is popular and common in Taipei.
Very refreshing...
Just a distance away is the Shilin Night Street, similar to our Bugis Street in SG.
Another recommended food place at this Shilin Night Street is this ice kachang stall (Shaved Ice)
Their popular flavours: Peanut and Mango
@ Wu Fen Pu (Houshanpi Station)
A wholesale fashion district, this place is crowded and garments here were massive.
Sis was delighted to find many children's wear but unfortunately, some stalls only entertain retailers for bulk sale.
@ Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) - Xinyi Branch
I was told that this is a must-visit place in Taipei even though you can find their chains in Singapore as well. It was very packed when we arrived during lunch time.
Apart from the excellent service, the food tasted the same to me. Nothing special, but just as good.
@ Fei Tien Hotel （飞天火锅）
Approx. S$20/pax
We treated ourselves to this steamboat buffet restaurant on the last day of our trip.
Recommended by the receptionist at our hotel, this Buffet restaurant is situated just opposite our hotel.
Unlimited plates of beef, lamb, chicken, free flow of drinks of all kinds: sodas, juices, coffee/tea, and delicious desserts, you name it - cakes, fruits of all kinds, puddings.
For the price and variety, too good to be true!
We chose kimchi soup and chicken stock and the other pot has 麻辣/ 'Ma La' (taiwanese
favourite spicy hot and sour broth) and herbal soup.
We started at 6.30pm and left the place almost 9.
We left the place in a mess, both on the table and on the floor. We were eating like we hadn't
eaten for the longest time. The babies were busy eating raisins and throwing bits on the floor.
But all in all, it was a satisfying meal for all of us.
More on tourist attractions to follow...
2 mins walk to Xi Men Station, the rooms @TS were pretty good! The kids loved their room which has a Tatami mattress, they were running all over the place the moment they entered the room. Mine was a standard superior room, but it was just as spacious and clean. I would recommend this hotel.
Breakfast was good too, you can get noodles, toast (butter, jam), coffee/ tea/ orange, congee, ham, eggs, vegetables, sausages - more than enough to start your day.
Another great thing about TS is that it is close to Carrefour, where sis got to stock up lots of diapers, milk powder, and cakes from Yamazaki bakery, the kids loved the Dorayaki/铜锣烧 - Doraemon's Favourite food! (soft sponge cake with red bean fillings). You'll also find many local taiwanese snacks that you can pack home...
XXXL watermelons!
Strange to find stewed pork lying on tables at Carrefour but these are common finds in TP, you can even find these in bakery shops!
Taiwanese love for instant noodles, just look at the rows and rows of them.
And rows of drinks and snacks
Cereal with milk at your convenience! ---------------------------------- Asparagus drink!
We started our night walk at Xi Men Ding since it was within walking distance, and stored our energy for the following days...
@ Xi Men Ding (Xi Men Station)
They're funny to call these white school shoes Kung Fu Shoes!
Not sure what this pygmy creature is doing at XMD, but it's exotic and cute.
I don't think this is legal...
There's a Mister Donut store at XMD, check out the cute teddy!
Mobile food stalls are common sights at XMD, and an interesting fact was that... they were officially not allowed to run stalls there! A sound that police is coming sent all mobile stalls packing/ running. The streets looked empty without the stalls. But just a mere few mins later, they were back @work again! One who reacted a little slower got stopped by the Police for note-taking, which I wasn't too sure if the police was really writing down anything, and that was it. It was really funny to watch.
XMD is a must go in Taipei, vibrant and a must not missed food stall - 阿宗面线 (Rice Flour noodles)!! We loved this stall so much that we had it for a few days, the dads even packed some back to savour at the comfort of our hotel.
This stall was around since 1975, and it was always crowded. There were no proper sitting place, just a few stacks of chairs around the stall. Many people stood to eat, and that was all worthwhile. It was very tasty, noodles were smooth and soft and instead of oysters which we find in SG, it has pork fillings which went well with the noodles too.
Writing about it now makes me drool...
Another thing to try in Taipei is the original birthplace of Bubble Tea/ . Taiwanese drink lots of Tea, coffee was less popular over here. Bro found this stall @XMD selling 1000cc cha at only 25 NT (about S$1!) Dirt- cheap! I had the usual Milk Tea, it wasn't too sweet like the ones in SG, very nice.
XMD has an interesting stall that sells Mua Chi too. I know they may not look that good, but trust me, to all mochi lovers, it was delicious! I had the Chocolate Mochi, and it was very chewy!
Chocolate -------------------------------Green Tea------------------ Peanuts
@ Shilin Night Market (Jian Tan Station)
This is another interesting place to visit for popular Taiwanese snacks and cheap bargains.
Just across the Station is the Night Market. Similar to our hawker stalls, this place serves the popular Pork Chop (超大鸡排) and Fried Oyster Omelette.
Dad also found this interesting dish which was really tasty and cheap!! Escargots are pricey in SG and you can hardly find in hawker centres...
I like this jelly drink （爱玉）, first tasted at SG Chinatown. It is popular and common in Taipei.
Very refreshing...
Just a distance away is the Shilin Night Street, similar to our Bugis Street in SG.
Another recommended food place at this Shilin Night Street is this ice kachang stall (Shaved Ice)
Their popular flavours: Peanut and Mango
@ Wu Fen Pu (Houshanpi Station)
A wholesale fashion district, this place is crowded and garments here were massive.
Sis was delighted to find many children's wear but unfortunately, some stalls only entertain retailers for bulk sale.
@ Ding Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) - Xinyi Branch
I was told that this is a must-visit place in Taipei even though you can find their chains in Singapore as well. It was very packed when we arrived during lunch time.
Apart from the excellent service, the food tasted the same to me. Nothing special, but just as good.
@ Fei Tien Hotel （飞天火锅）
Approx. S$20/pax
We treated ourselves to this steamboat buffet restaurant on the last day of our trip.
Recommended by the receptionist at our hotel, this Buffet restaurant is situated just opposite our hotel.
Unlimited plates of beef, lamb, chicken, free flow of drinks of all kinds: sodas, juices, coffee/tea, and delicious desserts, you name it - cakes, fruits of all kinds, puddings.
For the price and variety, too good to be true!
We chose kimchi soup and chicken stock and the other pot has 麻辣/ 'Ma La' (taiwanese
favourite spicy hot and sour broth) and herbal soup.
We started at 6.30pm and left the place almost 9.
We left the place in a mess, both on the table and on the floor. We were eating like we hadn't
eaten for the longest time. The babies were busy eating raisins and throwing bits on the floor.
But all in all, it was a satisfying meal for all of us.
More on tourist attractions to follow...
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