Thursday, June 27, 2013

Taiwan trip- Day 6

Today we travelled up north Taiwan. We’ve heard that there are a few places worth visiting in north Taiwan and so, we ventured up to Jiufen- a hill town famous for delicious food, similar to our local Cameron Highlands and Jinguashi – an old gold mining town and hiking trails up to Mount Keelung to view east coast.



Look at the crowd and plenty of food stalls!~





With our pre- planned itinerary, we know how to get there but don't know which place is worth a visit and which place to visit first. In the end, we asked the Tourist centre in Taipei Railway station for the nice place to visit. They are very helpful and told us that we couldn't possibly visit all the places in a day (kiasu us #^.^#) They suggested we visit Yeliou, Jiufen & Jinguashi… Also recommended the bus to take us there and where to wait for the bus…



Try our tastebud on a slice of the 85C Bakery Café cake *yummy*



They are famous for their Sea Salt Coffee but we didn’t manage to try as we were too busy catching up with our delayed bus~


Japanese colonial houses.


We were listening attentively to the speech by the tour guide who brought us to tour around the Japanese-style homes…



The old village, rich in traditional decorative old teahouses... The result is a small culture park that reflects almost completely the old ...






Looking at the condition of their old colonial homes, I feel blissful that we are living in a much better state...






Some of the paintings and artwork we saw in the museum ^^




Had a bowl of ‘taufufa’ before heading our way to Jinguashi mining town~


Gold mining museum park entrance.


We were required to pay 100NT entry fees and wear a safety helmet before letting us into the Museum of Gold (featuring the world's largest gold nugget).



We were also given the opportunity to explore a former mine, which is similar to wax museum where they featured models of miners hard at work or eating lunch, complete with hilarious voice tracks.




We also saw haunting photos of Japanese mine inspections during the occupation *spookyyyy*


After the historical visit, we walked to nearby Japanese Shinto Shrine *holy look*


On our way up to the temple~




Finally, reach the peak after almost half an hour climb *sweats*


Of course the best part was lunch time!! Jiufen old street~



There is a lot of snacking, looking, shopping, and exploring to be done here. The old street is fairly long and narrow, with unique shops and art to be seen everywhere. A casual stroll along the street~


Jiufen springy glass noodle & dough balls*^^*



My favourite vanilla ice- cream doriyaki *yummmy*


The spectacular Jiufen hillside atmosphere O.o



As usual, some cam whore poses up on the hillside~


After strolling along the street, we were led to an open- air coffee shop on a hill, with a ramshackle wooden kitchen. The place seems to be the most popular in town due to its location.



Camwhore again  (´`)**


View at the top, overlooking Mount Keelung.



                                         

There are also plenty of cafes strategically positioned to take advantage of the stunning scenery.


Some retro-Chinese style cafés, tea houses, restaurants etc.



Anyway, Taiwan is absolutely beautiful with picturesque scenery and Taiwanese are generally very friendly people. If the next time I ever go back to Taiwan, I’m definitely going to the outskirts!!

XOXO
sassycat

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Taiwan trip-Day 5

During our fifth day in Taiwan, we went to visit Fu Hang Soy Milk 阜杭豆漿 which is located on the 2nd floor of Hua Shan Market. We took the MRT early in the morning to Shandao Station from Taipei Main Station. Hua Shan Market is located just right to the exit of the station. The shop is famous for its soy milk and ”you tiao”.  


We were surprised by the long queue of loyal breakfast eaters & we waited too despite the long queue.



After a long wait, here’s what we got on the plate ^^



Two bowls of Soy Milk, You Tiao & Dan Bing, which is basically egg wrapped with fried flour. The sweet soy milk is just like our version of sweet soy milk, just that I think it is smoother. The salty version is something different. It feels like taufufa but it comes with salty soy milk...

After the heartening breakfast, we moved forward to Taipei city to visit the famous Taipei 101 ∩__∩y


**Taipei 101 tower, inspired by bamboo plant


Interior of Taipei 101 mall. Mostly branded shops here.. Suria KLCC is way better~


At one of the Taipei 101 entrance


The ticketing booth of Taipei 101 observatory. The tickets cost TWD450 per person~

We took a super fast elevator up to the observatory deck. It took less than 40 seconds. Seen here is the view of Taipei. Note how densely populated and also note that Taipei 101 is at the borders of Taipei city.

The views from Taipei 101

Buildings, buildings and more buildings…


Self- portrait with the nice view ∩__∩y


With nothing much to do, we then head to Wu Fen Pu, a shopping haven for the ladies. Wu Fen Pu is similar to our version of “Hor Ching Yuan”, a wholesalers’ district jam-packed with heaps of clothes. But I did not get many stuffs here… 


Took a picture of our lunch before heading to our next destination.


After strolling around Wufenpu, we proceed to the lively Ximending, the largest pedestrian area in Taiwan. Ximending is a popular shopping district for the young and trendy, similar to our version of "Bukit Bintang"....


Look at the crowd.

Local shops at Ximending. I was drooling over the trendy clothes ranging from cutsie tops to hippy fashion, the hundreds of shops cater for all!*^^*


That’s all for a tiring but fun Day 5 (´`)**

XOXO 
sassycat

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Taiwan trip-Day 4

After our adventure at Alishan, the next day, we took off to Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). It is the largest natural lake in Taiwan; famous for its clear, sparkling blue water set against a picturesque mountain backdrop.



View from our hotel



Posing in front of the beautiful lake #^_^#



One of the best way to enjoy the beauty of Sun Moon Lake is by taking a lake cruise. The whole lake cruise tour around the lake was took about half an hour.


We were entertained by the friendly & funny tour guide provided along the whole journey of cruise.



This was the aboriginal scarce place, called the Lalu Islet. The tour guide told us that it was damaged by the 921 earthquake. After the earthquake, only the Thao tribe can walk on it.



Natural mountain scenery around Sun Moon Lake




Upon reaching Syuanguang Temple, we were shocked with the crowd and long queue at A-Po-tea-leaf-egg. Apparently, there’s only 1 exclusive stall selling the tea leaf egg and most tourists arrived on the wharf would not miss a chance to taste its flavor. 




After a long queue, I finally got the chance to take picture with the stone~ Some of the China tourists were complaining about how long they took to take a snap with the stone -_-"


View from the top



Welcome to the little village of  Ita Thao/ De Hwa Village....




Fried Taiwan popiah, sticky rice cakes & yummy cheap Taiwanese minced pork noodle ^^







Our next destination is the majestic Wen Wu Temple 文武庙



The beautiful stonework and materials used, set this temple apart form many others in Taiwan.





Really impressed with the architecture of Wen Wu Temple, strongly recommend to those who visit to Sun Moon Lake, don't miss it!



Lastly, posing with the big stone before calling it a day ^^



XOXO
sassycat