Taiwan 2011 feelings

My Taiwan 2011 trip started on 14th December 2011 and ended on 24th December 2011.  It was a last minute trip and we booked out tickets like end November so the planning and preparation for a first free and easy Taiwan trip was very very tight.  I would like to thank www.tripadvisor.com and all the friends who helped me through my planning in the forums.  I would also like to thank my mum who helped me a lot during the planning phase.  I would also like to thank my dad who brought a lot of his travel experiences and free n easy skills to me.  I have learnt a lot during this Taiwan trip and I am addicted for more free n easy tours to other countries and Taiwan itself too!

Taiwan2011 Day 10 - 231211

Day 10 - Taipei > HuaYin St > Shilin NM

0900Hrs - Today was supposed to be a free-and-easy day so we woke up later to get to Taoyuan St again for their beef noodles.

Then we took MRT to Taipei Main Station and walked along Hua Yin St.

Nothing much.

1100Hrs - We went back to the hotel again to rest cos we were quite tired. I went to Xi Men Ding to do some last minute shopping while my family was resting at the hotel.  We finally found Ah Chung Mian Xian while walking around.

1400Hrs - Walk around in Xi Men Ding and had Ah Chung Mian Xian at around 1600Hrs.

We set for ShiLin NM for the night street for last minute shopping at around 1700Hrs.

No surprises, we had the fried chicken again!  It has moved house to next to the new Shilin NM.  There were some problems with the queuing as it is at the road side and the queue caused some road and safety problems till the traffic police came to help out.

After that we walked along the Shilin St and it was very crowded as it was a Friday night.

This is pork ribs soup with a lot of people in the shop but I feel that it doesn't taste as good as the one in RaoHe NM.  Still miss the mutton soup in RaoHe NM!!

Taiwan2011 Day 9 - 221211

Day 9 - Taipei > Taipei 101 > Wufenpu > RaoHe NM

0930Hrs - We set off for Taipei 101 early so that we could get into Ding Tai Fung without any queue for lunch!

1000Hrs - Reached City Hall MRT Station and walked for around 15min to Taipei 101.  You can reach there earlier but on that day it was raining quite heavily so we took some time to reach there.

It was raining so the view on top was not as good.

After that we went to look at the stabilizer of the tall tower.  I dunno what it is called but it is damn cool.

1130Hrs - We wasted no time and went to the basement Ding Tai Fung with the help of the security guard giving us the direction to the restaurant.
In the end, we were ushered in the restaurant without queuing!  Their service is top-notch!  Everyone there smiles at you and makes you feel happy eating there!

 The dish on the left is the Red Braised Beef Noodles.  Only the noodles were btr than that of the Taoyuan St but the beef and soup were not as good as them.
The one on the right is the famous Din Tai Fung XiaoLongBao!  We ordered the meat XiaoLongBao twice because it was too nice!  The skin is top-notch!

 This is the chicken broth which I think is not bad.

 This is the best dish in Din Tai Fung.  It is the red bean paste XiaoLongBao.  You must try this!

When we left Din Tai Fung, there were many people waiting outside queuing to enter!  Lucky we entered it earlier!

After a hearty lunch at Din Tai Fung, we left for the MRT to HouShanPi MRT Station and walked to WuFenPu.  I bet this is a shopping heaven for girls but not for me!  Did not find much shirts or shoes there but we still walked almost street in WuFenPu using this map.

1500Hrs - We were damn tired and we gave up walking around that area and left for SongShan Train Station as it was raining so we went there for shelter and it was nearer to the RaoHe night market which we will be going later.

We settled down at Mr.Brown Cafe for some hot coffee to spend some time before leaving for RaoHe night market.

1800Hrs - We left SongShan Train Station for RaoHe night market.

 This is one of the specialties of RaoHe NM.  Chen Dong sells lamb soup and pork ribs soup.  Both are equally best-selling.

 This is my favourite food in Taiwan.  Their lamb soup is very well-prepared and it costs NT$80 only.  You cannot find any lamb soup like this in Singapore!

 Rmb I mentioned about the pepper buns in RaoHe NM in my earlier post?  This is the stall.  They have around 4 charcoal pots to prepare their pepper buns and more than 10 people helping out in the stall!

 This is the pepper bun.  I think is best among the NM in Taiwan!

 This stall sells fried butter crabs.  I have heard that Taiwan NM sells nice fried butter crabs but I dunno which one sells the nicest so I tried this.  I would say that it is good.  Anyone knows where does it sell nice butter crabs?









2000Hrs - We took the train from SongShan Train Station to Taipei Station and walked around the Taipei Underground malls.

Taiwan2011 Day 8 - 211211

Day 8 - Taipei > Jiufen > Keelung

1000Hrs - We set off late as we took a 1200Hrs train to Ruifang before taking a bus to JiuFen.

It is always as cloudy as everyday at JiuFen and it rains almost everyday so I guess the condition that day that I went was quite lucky.

 This stall sells the tofu and fishballs below.  It has a lot of customers but I find it so-so.

 This is the best in JiuFen.  You must definitely try this.  This is a green-bean soup with yam balls inside.  They sell their yam ball soup at one place and you need to walk down the street for about 2shops' length before reaching their eating area where you find shelter and seats.

 This is one of the specialties in JiuFen.  It is called Red Braised Pork Bun.  They used the transparent skin to wrap the red braised pork inside before submerging it in their wine.  It has a very strong alcohol smell and not everyone likes it.  Recommend to just order 1 and give it a try first.

This is Fried Octopus also from the stall above.  It taste not bad as the squid that they use is very fresh.

 We then took a bus opposite the 7-11 at the entrance of JiuFen.  Waited for around 5min for a bus to Keelung.

The bus ride was around 1 hour and we had a good nap on the bus before the bus driver woke us up at Keelung.











It was still raining at Keelung and we approached the Tourism centre near there and they shared with us on how to get to Miaokou Night Market from Keelung Train station.

 Arrived at Miaokou Night Market and it was rainly quite heavily.

 We tried the BBQ squid and it tasted okay okay only. NT$100 though, quite ex.

 The one at the top is Glutinous Rice and it tasted quite bland.
The bottom one is crab broth and it tasted quite okay but I do not like to eat seafood so it does have some effect on my appetite later.

We also tried this dessert and it tasted quite great.  Haha I think it was the best dish for me in Miaokou because I don't enjoy seafood.  But if you enjoy seafood then Miaokou is a MUST!