We only left the hotel at 11am. No matter how tired.. I wanted to have authentic Taiwanese food! We walked to 西門町 and to that food street that we missed the night before! And when I travel with J, I'd never have to worry about a thing. He would have everything researched, planned and laid out.
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He told me we'd be going to the famous 五分埔, 台北101 and 饒河街觀光夜市. J told me in the morning that we should forgo visiting those memorial halls or sightseeing locations and concentrate on shopping, eating and night markets! I have absolutely no problem with it for to me, a trip is a holiday where I'd spend time with my hubby and chill out; no matter where. *happy*
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Here's our breakie!
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I simply loved their eating places! They are small, old and always insignificantly decorated and those were the exact reasons why i found them interesting. I was immersing myself into their eating culture!
My order was the 肉燥面汤. It was a plain bowl of noddle with very little bits of minced meat but I was just extremely pleased with how the soup tasted! Yummy! I could drink that without noodles or meat in it!.
J had 阳春面. 阳春面 were originally plain soup noodle and is a special snack of Shanghai. Apparently, it is cheap but not simple or easy to make. The ingredients for the plain soup noodle version must be carefully selected. However, J's dry version was added with slender green onion slices and some minced meat. I asked how it tasted, he just commented, 'It was okay.' Perhaps, nothing special. And I knew such soup stuff are not his liking!
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WE also ordered 甜不辣. Nothing special.. a bowl of mixed stuff like friend beancurd, fish cake stuff in a sauce similar to our Yung Tao Fu sweet sauce. Our breakfast at 小辣椒 cost NT$215 as we ordered a Watermelon juice and strawberry milk to go along. That's SGD9.70.
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After the meal, we took the train to the station 後山埤. J inquired with the hotel this morning and found out this is the closest station to 五分埔. It was an extremely hot day. We were walking along the road when we spotted an air-conditioned place.. plus I needed my daily dose and so... we stopped over at Sparta Coffee along 中坡北路 to chill with NT$160 (SGD7.30).
We walked another 3 mins and finally arrived 五分埔. When we went, many shops were not opened yet. 五分埔 is a landmarked wholesale place for trendy and cheap fashion. To me, it felt like I am at an enlarged version of Bangkok's Siam Square. I love it here.
The place was so big and yes, charming. It was made up of many alleys, packed with little shops. I could not find anything to buy though. I did not quite get Taiwan's ladies fashion. They looked all japanese and korean girly and sweet inspired but of course they were cheap though. J got a few items like belts and all. Many shop owners were having their little dogs with them in the stores.. hehe..
Though I liked 五分埔 and how it was like, I didn't go crazy over the things that were on sale there. Perhaps I am not the 'shopping' person. I could already imagined how my few girlfriends would spend hundreds there.. *lol* Motorcycles are still allowed in there... D*mn.
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We spent about 2 hours here and and then took a taxi to 台北101. The cabfare was NT$115 (SGD5.20).
What was so special about 台北101? To me, it is like Suria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur. A huge, luxurious and high end shopping mall with towers that are tall, in this case, one tower, where you could go up and have a good view of the city. That was it. BUT, we just wanted the 'been there, done that!' experience. Nothing much for us in the mall and we were about done in 1 hour..
We walked around the area a bit. The area is called 信義商圈.. much like Suntec City, Millenium Walk and Marina Square. There were a couple of huge buildings housing 1 departmental store named 新光三越 Shin Kong Mitsukoshi. Here are a couple of pictures of the area.
and finally.. it's time for Ice Cream! With such weather.. what better excuses could there be for a nice and cold yummy ice cream. This COld Stone Creamery seemed popular in Taipei. AT every turn, there were long queue of people waiting to get their hands on those!
And here's the man 'navigating' again.
We were contemplating whether to return to the hotel for a short rest or to go directly to another Night Market and we voted the latter since we were not holding anything heavy and could continue.We hailed a cab to 饒河街觀光夜市 for NT$100 (SGD 4.50).
饒河夜市 is the very first night market in Taiwan. THough it's significantly smaller in area in comparison to士林, the things that were on sale and display were somewhat similar. for me, I finally found ICE after 2 days!
we ordered this 双色冰 (double colored ice) for 2 at NT$100 (SGD4.50). It was humongous and generous in serving. Seems easy to make, juicy and huge bits of both strawberries and mangoes were tipped on the shaved ice and super-generous condensed milk was dribbled all over! The mangoes were so huge and juicy that you'd probably have to pay SGD15 for a serving like this back home! Thank goodness Taiwan produces mangoes! *smooches* As usual, I had the fruits and J had the ice! We make a great team.
After my contentment.. it was J's turn! He went full force with his Food Hunting!.
Here's a 3inch mini burger.. nothing spectacular but we bought because we saw a queue. This was NT$19 (SGD 0.80).
Up next! Generous serving of Takoyaki! NT$40 (SGD 1.80) for 6 balls.
He caught another queue and did it again!
This is called 胡椒饼 and it was a generous filling of fragrant meat and vegetables and deep fried. It cost NT$40 (SGD 1.80) each.
My turn! I found SOUPY stuff!!! Herbal Rib Soup! I gotta have those!
it was good! Though having a tummy-warming hebal soup at NT$60 (SGD 2.70) after a chilly fruity ice didn't sound too good for the tummy... WTH!!! *giggles*.
Our differences, I need a table and proper cooked food, he eats anywhere and anytime and anyhow!
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After the satisfying exploration, we walked round and I bought so many pens from this market! The lady was so happy that she gave me free pens too! Well, I was her first customer!
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We took a cab back to the hotel after awhile at NT$240 (SGD 10.9) the most expensive so far. We were back by 7.30pm. There was round 2 planned. *lol*
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We were going to 西門町.
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We left the hotel again at 8.30pm.. Gosh I must surrender to my dear hubby. He seems energetic all day long. *horror* I was tired but WELL, we were on a holiday!!!
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Another meal!
He ordered his dry noodles and me? same stuff... 牛肉湯麵!!! This time round he also ordered 餃子, his favourite.. all for NT$145 (SGD 6.60)
Look at my piping hot soup! Good stuff!.
J was on an all-time-high shopping and eating in Taipei! He really enjoyed himself I guessed. I am happy too.. I have always loved Bangkok and this.. a chinese version - even better!
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Here he was queuing for another fried chicken called 香香鸡.. it was really 香香. Much like the Popcorn chicken from KFC except it tasted more oriental. This was NT$55 (SGD 2.50).
So much heaty food, time for something refreshing!
And they came in humongous cup! As usual I did not finish my drink. .
It was end of Day 2 and we were back in the hotel at 10.30pm. What a long day!!!! *phew*
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