My Day 3 and 4 @ Taipei City

We're back at Taipei City and our "last full day" before flying back the next day. We decided to divide our day into two parts and stick with it.

Taipei is well known for hot springs and for those who would like to experience authentic thermal hot spring, the most convenient for tourist is "Beitou Hot Spring". There are multiple of public and private hot baths to choose from. For private, it's advisable to book in advance. Some baths may have different rules like no clothing or in swimsuit, men and women should be separated, tie your hair up, wash your face, etc.
HOW TO GET THERE: By MRT Red Line to Beitou Station then change train bound to Xinbeitou.

For my Day 2 blog, check this out:

http://mytimetoset.blogspot.sg/2017/04/day-2-diy-taiwan-trip-pingxi.html?m=1

 We, however, decided to take other option and see more of city. From Taipei Main Station "Red Line" just four stops away to reach Yuanshan Station.

Every weekend, activities will be held at Taipei Expo Park. We were there on a Saturday, we enjoyed  their "Taipei Expo Farmers Market". Interesting as they are boosting local farm products and I can't help but try their sweet potatoes.

Traveling with our luggages, we walk towards Taipei Fine Arts Museum. Every tour never will I missed to visit a museum. It's weird but it seems that they are talking to me. The museum features different art works and changes from time to time. The exhibition hall is at the 3rd floor and B2. Entrance fee is NTD 30 (S$1.40/US$1), very affordable and worth it.

 We were lucky as they feature a solo photo exhibition of Wang Hsin. She's a Taiwan born photographer which feature her works from 1970's, when she's still studying and Taiwan is in conflict. Some were recovered from damage negatives. Her works with Indigenous people until her recent works.

The exhibition portray the changes of Taiwan and it's people. She also feature her works during her travel in India, Kashmir and Nepal. At Basement 2 features art works like these beautiful paintings and some crafts.

Just beside the museum is "Taipei Story House". You can visit inside but we just decided to take a photo from outside.

Bus stop at roadside of the museum, bus numbers 87, 247 and 208 will take us to to Martyr's Shrine (2 bus stops away).

The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine honors Taiwanese soldiers died in various wars. The guards will not move and speak for an hour.

You can take selfies or photos with them but give respect as this shrine is for soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. The ceremony of changing their guards is every hour and the entrance is free. The buildings and shrines are immaculately beautiful.

Maji

We finished about 1pm, it's our lunch break. Take any of same bus numbers  to return back in Expo Park, go to Maji Square. A wide variety of foods, groceries and pub.

We actually had our lunch in Formosa Chang. We took a taxi from shrine to there which is about 10mins away and not so costly. Famous for its Taiwanese Pork braised rice, normally the que is always long but we reached 1pm+ so the place is almost empty. As both of us are Filipinos and we love pork, we ordered all types of pork. From their sausages, intestine soup and of course the braise pork. Honestly, all are great and pretty cheap! They also have chicken, fish, vegetables etc. We are happy that we did try it. After our festive lunch, we took taxi to our hotel in Ximending as we want to rest a bit to prepare for our 2nd part of still long Day 3 in Taipei!

After checking in again in our hotel in Ximending, we took MRT "Green Line" from Ximen Station (2 stops) to "Chiang Kiang Shek Memorial Hall Station".

Erected in memory of the former President of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek. The stairs of the national monument has 89 steps representing his age at the time of his death.

A national monument, tourist attraction, landmark and  a "MUST Visit" in Taipei.  Very accessible as it's just a stone away from same name "Chiang Kai-Shek MRT Station". Beautiful Garden, impressive buildings and must not be missed "changing of the guards" every hour.

Take the MRT "Red Line" to Taipei 101 station, exit 4. We plan to have our afternoon snack in Din Tai Fung at Taipei 101 Mall but the queing time is the killer. So we decided to try waffle and coffee at Cafe Lugo, their specialty Waffle with blueberry is fantastic and what we needed to last for our upcoming activities.

We just bought our tickets for Taipei 101 and choose the timings we preferred to climb up to world's tallest building from 2004-2009.

After which, we take MRT just a station away to "Xiangshan station" for our Elephant Mountain trail/trekking experience.

HOW TO GET THERE: You can walk from Taipei 101 or take MRT just one station away to "Xiangshan station". Exit 2, walk towards the end of the park then follow the uphill road. It will take about 10 mins walk to starting point.

Elephant mountain is one of the four beasts mountains and the most popular due to it's accessibility. The trail is safe but involves a lot of stairs and steps uphill. If your fit, you can do it in 15 minutes. If not, don't worry as there are benches which you can stop and rest. You better bring water and face towel:

View from Elephant Mountain

 Elephant mountain is undoubtedly the best view of sunset and the city especially with Taipei 101. I personally advise to do it at almost dusk so you can reach the top at Sunset or night. Alternatively, you can do it early morning.

After our trail, we walk back and take MRT to Taipei 101. We took the world's fastest passenger elevator from 2004 - 2015 by Guinness World Record. We both visited N Seoul Tower and Tokyo Tower so on top of Taipei 101 observatory is normal. Same as the other towers, observatory deck consists of 2 floors (89th and 88th floor). Aside from the amazing view of the city, you can also enjoy souvenir shops, artworks, etc.

We travel back to Ximending by MRT and explore one of the famous Taipei night markets.

Stinky Tofu

XIMENDING
What's Taipei if you will not end your "last night" with night markets. We had a long day but we will not missed trying local foods and shop for souvenirs.




Day 4 @ Taipei

Longshan Temple

is a lazy day. Mostly tryin' to travel like local, eat local foods and visiting temples and historical places.

From where we stay (Ximen) is just one MRT station away to Longshan Station and wander around the area.

Our first stop is "Longshan Temple", could be the most famous temple in Taipei seen as example of Taiwanese classical architecture with Southern chinese influences. Built in 1738 during Qing dynasty to served as place of worship for chinese settlers. The temple were hit by several earthquakes, bomb and fire but residents consistently rebuilt it.

Bo Pi Liao

  Just beside the temple is the historical "Bo Pi Liao" which retained Qing dynasty and Japanese structures intact. Adding to it's popularity as it was used as the filming location of Taiwanese movie "Monga".

OPENS Tuesday to Saturday, entrance is Free so it's worth to check it out.

Street foods

Just cross the road from Bo Pi Liao is a popular porridge shop even for locals. Their popular dish is of course porridge and fried pork. Porridge with pork is about NTD 40 (S$1.90 / US$1.35).

Taiwan is popular for good street foods as well. So we try to eat a bit while roaming, that's why we are on holiday.

We just walk back to MRT and visited Wet Market. It's very interesting and quiet different from what I accustomed to.

Then we walk towards side street of Longshan temple, about 10 minutes walk

Huaxi St. Night Market

is the first Taipei night market "The Huaxi Street Night Market". Popular especially for Food Adventurer as food vendors offer turtle blood and meat including testacles, deer penis wine and snake blood and meat. Also known as "Snake Alley" for the stands selling various snakes delicacies.

Qingshan Temple

Walk a bit straight to Qingshan Temple, first built in 1856 is one of top houses of worship. Their resident god (Qingshan Wang) saved the people of Wanhua from a dangerous plague. Thus, the god's birthday is one of Taipei liveliest religious event called night patrol. The temple itself has a top quality woods, stone and artwork to see.

There's a lot of small food stalls walking back to MRT such as soya drinks, dimsum which we also try. We bought some snacks to eat or bring back home.

 Each pack is about NT$50 (SG$2.30/ US$1.70). At the basement of the MRT station also got colorful food stalls, massage and souvenir shops like stones, accessories etc.

After enjoying traditional and historical Longshan, we travel back to another world, a station away Ximending.

 XIMENDING RED HOUSE
Built in 1908, is A historical site and Taiwan's first public market has been around for the past 100 years.

Just outside the Red House sits a row of eateries and shops which you can stroll or just rest and relax while drinking a bottle of beer.

Ximending crossing

Across the road is the bustling Ximending. Since we are staying around the area so we just try to explore again at day time. As we need to be at airport by 5pm, we had our late lunch here and do last minute shopping before picking up our luggage.

 We headed back to Taipei Main Station for the train towards the airport. The que is quiet long and took us 30-40 minutes before we finally board the train. We had the express train to airport. For much detail Train experience, can check my Day 1 Taipei blog:

http://mytimetoset.blogspot.sg/2017/03/my-day-1-taipei.html

The train to airport is the most convenient way with space for your baggage. Alternatively, you can take bus at Taipei Main station as well.

 

Try to allot 4-5 hours including travel time as the ques are quiet long to all. To airport train, airline counter for your boarding pass and luggage check in, Customs and Immigration. Took me 2-3 hours to complete the process the service is quite fast but just that there are a lot of tourists.

END OF TRIP CONCLUSION:

Taiwan is a great place to visit but preferably during cold weather. The people are very nice, the foods are cheap and mouth watering, the place are well connected through their public transportation.

 

I will definitely come back to visit other province and will definitely explore the city again.

 

Watch out for my summarized blog for my 4 Days Taiwan Trip. Thank you for reading! 

Day 2 DIY Taiwan Trip - Pingxi

My second day of my Taiwan trip is like revisit the past, a laid back lifestyle. My friend finally arrived and joined me. Our trip will be more fun as we talked a lot of nonsense and laugh at useless things. We or rather "I" decided to travel out of Taipei. "I" because she had no idea that we will travel out of the city as soon as she arrives and left her no choice :)

For my first day you can check my blog: http://mytimetoset.blogspot.sg/2017/03/my-day-1-taipei.html

Sky Lantern at Railway

We started our trip to Pingxi. Pingxi is famous for it's cultural heritage and old streets. A Taiwanese 2011 film "You are the Apple of my Eye" added on it's popularity. It's more than an hour away from Taipei. To reach Pingxi, you have 3 choices. 1st- taxi but its very costly. 2nd- you can take a return bus from Ximending in the morning and will return back before dinner. The bus will stop at Shifen and Jiufen. Fare NTD460 (SGD21/ USD15). 

Check my youtube: https://youtu.be/_3RT8fmeok0

3rd- which I strongly advise is by train. So again, we are back here at Taipei Main Station (it's the center, so if you want to book your hotel should be within it's vicinity) for our trip to Ruifang, You should be here at least before 9am.  To reach Pingxi, you should travel to Ruifang (45mins) then to Pingxi. There are 2 ways to go there by train (TRA). 1st- Allocated seats which will give you guaranteed seats, and; 2nd- Free seats for local trains and tickets can purchase on the day itself.

Taipei Main Station

As I tried to purchase our tickets for allocated seats yesterday and it's sold out, we already went direct to the ticketing machine and we can't find Ruifang! Don't panic as locals are very helpful. This is the fun part for a DIY trip as you need to used your charm and talk to locals. We are not chinese speaking so it's a bit challenging. One thing I realized which I will definitely bring for my next trips is a "coin purse" to put all local currencies coins. She helps us to press three buttons using our coins and we manage to purchase our tickets and lead us which platform. Alternatively, you can go to this main counter on my picture and ask the Information counter.

 For free seating, there are different stations which you can connect to Ruifang but this is the easiest way I believe as per advise by locals. So take the TRA train, and alight at Songshan station (One stop only). Once you alighted from the train, you can see from the screen what time your train to Ruifang will arrive. It is 99.90% on time, so if you want to walk around which we never tried and decided to wait for almost 30 mins. Our train is 10:05 am and we're there from 930am. There will be a lot of trains that will stop, the trick is just board the train at the exact time mention on the screen. Of course, I still ask the driver if it's to Ruifang and he said yes. It will take 45mins to an hour. Fare is NT$59 (US$2/ SG$3).

 1st option- Allocated seats is I strongly recommend. Buy the seats online ahead of time. It's fast, convenient and clean. Just 3 stops only and about 30 mins. We took it on our way back and reminds me of Japan Shinkansen train which we took from Osaka to Tokyo. Don't throw your tickets as some will inspect your ticket inside the train and need to show once you exit the station.

Raohe Night Market @ Songshan Station

If you will not stay overnight at Jiufen, it's a lot better if you take the route the other way around we took. As taking local train on the way back will lead you to Songshan station.

Raohe Night Market by train and by MRT (Green Line), both take (Exit 5).  It's one of the oldest night market in Taipei and one the most popular must visit. Aside from the foods which you can enjoy your dinner here, try to do some shopping in Wufenpu. Also, try to visit Ciyou Temple which was built during Qing dynasty era by locals.

Going back to Pingxi, we stayed overnight in Jiufen, in which if you have time is more advisable as you will have more time to explore Pingxi and understand more about their culture.

The local trains are normal free seating trains which we normally took. It's raining in Ruifang but weather can't stop us and it's an added "spice" to start our new adventure.


At Ruifang station, we bought the "Pingxi Line- One Day pass" which is only valid on the date of Purchase. NT$100 (US$3.50/ SG$5). Don't forget to ask what time the next train to Pingxi will arrive. The interval is every hour. If you missed it, you need to wait for an hour again for the next one.

As we have our luggage with us, we proceed to our hotel in Jiufen by taxi as it's easier. Taxi NTD250 (US$8.50/ S$12) and leave our luggage there. Going back to Ruifang, we took bus NT$15 or easy card is also accepted.

 While waiting for our train to Pingxi, after 2 hours of journey at this cold weather, it's perfect time for a hot drink.

Coffee Lovers like us can try a very cozy coffee shop just outside Ruifang station. Outside can see the colorful Bears statues. 15 minutes before our train arrives, we already walking back to station and proceed to Exit 3. The train arrives earlier, the time shows actually the time the train will depart from the station.

This is the Pingxi map, which i got from internet. We started from the farthest. We have a time limit of an hour every stop and we decided for 3 stops only (Jingtong, Pingxi and Shifen).

We started at Jingtong, it's the farthest and at the end of Pingxi Line. From Ruifang to Pingxi is 30 mins journey. So we just relax and enjoy the ride.

 Once you arrived at Jingtong, you will definitely notice the bamboo hanging by coloured strings. You can buy bamboo as well as people will normally go to Jingtong for good fortunes. The bamboo have the prayers and wishes of the people passing through.

 Jingtong is an old coal mining town. After the mining ceased operations decades ago, the town became empty. The monument which reminds the history of Jingtong.

Nowadays, Jingtong becomes one of the tourist attractions as it's part of the Pingxi Line.

 Jingtong station is one of last four remaining wooden stations.

The reviews for Jingtong is not so good and some thing you can missed. Personally, I like it. If you take bus from Ximending, you will missed this part of Pingxi Line.

As we loved laid back lifestyles, we enjoyed our short stay here. Seeing how a grandma enjoying her show on TV. The food vendors smiling at your photos, gave me a positive vibes all through out the trip. The foods are fantastic, especially the cherry tomato with ginger is superb!!!

If you want to buy local foods to bring back home, do it in Jingtong.
We only have an hour to stay as the train interval is every hour.

 

After Jingtong, we alight at Pingxi. It's quiet version of Shifen. If you're interested to lit sky lantern, I advice to do it here as it's peaceful here and a bit cheaper. 

 Try their local delicacy as well. We had our lunch here but I think i enjoyed the food in Jingtong.

So better have your lunch and buy local delicacy in Jingtong, do the lighting of Sky lanterns here in Pingxi and proceed to Shifen.

As the weather can't stop us for moving around, we would like to thank our shoes for staying with us :)

Shifen is our last stop and the busiest station, I believe. As you alight from the train you will be greeted by colorful sky lanterns at the side of the railway. Just walk further in as its a one whole stretch of sky lanterns waiting for you to write your wishes and release it to the sky hoping that will reach to heaven. Sky Lanterns has different colors, they say that color represents something.

 We finally arrived with our last stop in Pingxi Line. Shifen.

Shifen is the busiest so it's better visit it the last. From the time you set foot at the station, you will definitely not missed the sky Lanterns. Calligraphy writing. Though it's raining that day but the atmosphere is so nice as maybe people are happily writing their wishes in their sky lanterns.

 

Another food trail. You will definitely not be hungry in Taiwan nor full as you want to try more as your stomach can take. Simple foods but mouth watering.

Another "must" visit is the little Niagara at Shifen Waterfalls Park. It's a 2 km walk so prepare guys. You will never get lost as directions are everywhere but yeah, it's a long walk. The scenery is not bad as well on the way to the park.


Once you reach the park and saw the waterfalls then you can tap your shoulder as luckily you decided not to give up with that almost 30 mins of walking. Entrance is free.

On the way out from the waterfalls still have interesting sights to see.

As its almost dark, we decided to take a taxi on the way back to our hotel in Jiufen. Taxi driver ask NTD1,00 but we ask to be discounted at NTD750 (SG$35/US$25) and he give in.

We finally check in our hostel in Jiufen. We decided to stay in a sort of a homestay Jingzhan. It turns out that they have a very cool place. The decorations are so nice and our bed is "regal" after whole day of walking, it is so relaxing that you just want to sleep.

Our day is not over yet as we proceed to Jiufen for our dinner. Jiufen is a mountain town known for it's shop houses,  local delicacies and souvenir shops old street. Unfortunately, it rains heavily that night so its very cloudy but it's beautiful. The temple at the mountain and the houses lightens the sky.

Where we stay is just less than 5 mins walk to old street so we decided to walk around. It's just almost 7pm but some of the stalls are about to close already.

As the weather is cold and its rainy this fishball and tofu soup is perfect. Big bowl of NTD70 (SG$3.50/ US$2.50) is just nice for evening appetite.

Afte dinner, we walk around and manage to shop some souvenir items to bring back home. I also tried the almond drink NTD25 (SG$1.30/US$0.90) which is not that bad. We both like walking around as the narrow pathways and red lanterns adds character to the old street.

 

 As the town seems early to sleep, we rest at 9pm and walk up at 7am with a hearty breakfast.

I love my cup of coffee as it imprints "breathing with green".

After breakfast, we headed to the bus stop, took the bus to Ruifang NTD15 fare (SG$0.70 or US$0.50) or easy card is accepted.

We are just lucky as the express train to Taipei main station is reaching. The ticket is just NTD76 (SG$4/US$2.70). It's very much the same as Japan Shinkansen train. Just 3 stops in about 30 mins, we are back in Taipei Main station.

My blog day 3 and 4 Taipei trip to follow, Xie Xie :)