Taipei is definitely a great place to be. With more than a few centuries of history and culture hidden beneath the city, there is too much to see. As the saying goes, 读万卷书不如行万里路, I guess what I saw and experienced there is much more valuable than what I've learnt in history back in O Levels. I won't bother describing them here; those are meant to be felt, not read.
In short, I love the land, the scenery, the people, and the food. Well, of course the shopping. (I bought tons of things.) And travelling with a friend isn't that bad a thing...I must say i enjoyed myself alot.
Now for the details...
Day 1.
We took the 1235 SIA flight to Taipei and reached Taipei at around 5. The flight is supposed to be a 4hrs20min one, but there was a slight delay and stuff. Checked into the hotel at 6 plus, and went for dinner at Ximending. Because hz's stomach problem recurred, we didn't eat much for the first day, just the Lu Rou Fan and Ah Zhong Mian Xian. Following that we walked around Ximending, then went back to rest.
Here's the hotel. Pretty old, room is pretty small, but still acceptable.
Day 2.
Today was the complimentary one day tour, which started at around 8am. We went to the Zi You Guang Chang, then the Martyr's Shrine to see the changing of guards. After lunch, we headed to the National Palace Museum, Jiu Fen and finally, hot spring! Shall let pictures do the talking:
Liberty Square. Ex-President Chen Shui-bian changed its name actually. It's now a centre for protests and stuff. Great place though.
Forgot the name. Bleh
CKS
Overview of the Liberty Square. Pretty cool.
Martyr's Shrine. Just a simple guard changing ceremony. I found the UK's one more impressive.
Jiufen. Became famous because of a movie. Now people go there to shop, not for the scenery. Such a pity...
Beautiful place.
Well, we didn't take any photos at the hot spring, because their etiquette is that everybody goes into the hot spring naked. And we were too busy shopping and eating at Shilin...so no photos there either. haha.
Day 3.
We were supposed to embark on the half day tour to Yehliu, but because the tour only allowed advance bookings, we had to push it to the next day. In the meantime, we decided to chill out at Starbucks and decide on the rest of our schedule.
It was here where something interesting happened. LoL. Apparently, there was a news report on the previous day saying that the coffee in the Starbucks was tainted with detergent (I heard it was featured in Singapore too). So, being in Taiwan, the reporters flocked towards that outlet and began to interview the patrons, which included me and hz. Well to be exact, they only interviewed hz, and when too many of them came, he stammered. haha it was so funny la...how often do you get interviewed by the media, especially in a foreign country??
Well, we headed to Danshui after the break, then the famous Confucius Temple. Then it's time for shopping!!! Wufenpu is a great place to shop, especially for the girls. But I preferred shopping at Shilin; Wufenpu has so great a range that you would literally go BLUR. Dinner was at Raohe Night Market, which was a great place to shop too.
More photos...
Fisherman's Wharf @ Danshui. Meteor Gardens was shot there.
Wonder why there's a massive cloud above the mountain. LoL.
Danshui. Pretty landscape.
Fishermen I suppose. =)
Day 4.
The half a day tour to Keelung and Yehliu was great.
Keelung, 2nd biggest port in Taiwan. It actually is of a U shape, just that it is difficult to capture on camera.
Giant ship. haha. It keeps raining there though...and the motorcycles there have this screen. Too bad didn't take any photos of it.
Along the way to Yehliu.
Below's Taiwan on rock. LoL.
the Pacific Ocean!!!
Me and the famous Queen's Head.
What about a King Kong there?
After the tour, we headed to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station for shopping. Stuff there is more high end, but you could get a great deal if you were looking for second hand branded goods or older models. I went there primarily for the Porter International Boutique, where I bought a bag. A swee swee one. haha.
Well, after that, hz and I decided to head back to Shilin for shopping. Shopped abit, before heading back to hotel to drop our stuff and then meeting one of my uncle's friends. This is the part that didn't go as expected, but still we have to thank the friend for treating us for dinner. We actually intended to go clubbing after dinner, but went out of cash. =( So it was just Ximending, where we tried the donuts (they were delicious) and alcohol at hotel.
Day 5.
Decided to sleep late, since there wasn't much to see in the morning. Went to Taipei Main Station to shop at their underground mall. Stole quite a few great deals here, till we went completely broke. Then ate at Ximending before departing for the airport.
Then bad news!!! Flight delay!!! How lucky lor, traveled so many times never once have I experienced a flight delay, and it's SIA some more. So we had to stone at the airport. Some photos that I took while I was bored...
So the 6pm flight only departed at 8.30pm...and then it was home sweet home.
As I said, it was an enjoyable trip. One of the better places I've been. I will definitely go there again, there's still Hualien and Ah Li Shan to visit. Hope to go there after NS (unless there's another place which catches my eye) to shop and to sightsee, but not sure if hz would want to travel with me again. If possible, I would like to travel with jordan and hz; this trip would have been even greater if jor went. haha. Well, there's still 2years before NS ends, so it's really too early to say anything.
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Now that the holidays are over, it's back to reality. I have a room to pack, application essays to write and fitness to build up. Hope everything goes well...Till then.