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Tag: Taiwan

  • Taipei Trip: National Martyrs Shrine

    Taipei Trip: National Martyrs Shrine

    Taipei Trip: National Martyrs Shrine (Day 3) – Not many people will visit this place except Chinese tourists in big tourist bus, or people who visited the Tripadvisor for attractions like me because you can only access this place by cab. It’s just a shrine, dedicated to the war dead soldiers of Taiwan, but what interesting is checking out the changing of National Guard which makes it the main attraction of the place. Other than that, it’s the Chinese architecture then that’s it. Inside is just ancestral tlablets of the dead soldier, a bit creepy, it’s more of a tourist attractions to me.
    We were just so lucky to be in time to check out the changing of guards and it’s really very cool I tell you. All the soldiers were very well synchronized. I wonder how much is their salary. HAHA.
  • Taipei Trip: Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 國立中正紀念堂

    Taipei Trip: Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 國立中正紀念堂

    Taipei Trip: Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall 國立中正紀念堂 (Day 3) – Talking about the must-visit in Taipei, the CKS Memorial Hall is one of it. Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (in Mandarin it’s not Jiang Kai Shek, but it’s named as Jiang Jie Shi) also known as the Natioanl Taiwan Democracy Hall is a famous monument, landmark in Taiwan which is built in memory of former President of Taiwan – Chiang-Kai Shek.
    National Concert Hall
    CKS Memorial Hall
    National Theater
    The Memorial Hall Square has 3 Chinese architecture buildings surrounding it with National Concert Hall on the left, CKS Memorial Hall at the centre and National Theater on the right. A simple, clean square, yet evokes the feeling of Taiwanese patriotism.
    It reads Freedom’s Square.
    Sky was not that beautiful for a photoshoot. Brother told me that if you go in the evening, you will get to see the National Guard changing the flag.
    I didn’t really spend a long time at there, just about 30 minutes or less, we moved on to another memorial – National Martyrs Shrine. 
  • Taipei Trip: Ximending (Night)

    Taipei Trip: Ximending (Night)

    Taipei Trip: Ximending (Night) (Day 2) – The one-day trip didn’t end up at Keelung Night Market, we spent about 2 hours at there and we couldn’t continue anymore because of the super huge crowds at there. We hopped on a cab and went back to Taipei city, to Ximending where my hotel was located. Funny was I guided the cab driver on how to go back to our hotel with Google Maps because he’s from Keelung.
    Huge sausage, Taiwan style!
    Anyway, after dropping our bags of shopping bags at the hotel, we went to the famous Ximending shopping district to explore, hunt and eat again. Ximending, you can call it the Harajuku of Taipei, Bukit Bintang of Taipei, Times Square of Taipei, Causeway Bay of Taipei, Orchard Road of Taipei, East Nanjing Road of Taipei, or just anything equivalent you can think of, filled with vibrant billboards, shopping malls, retail outlet, youths and tourists.
    Bird eggs, the sinful street food!
    Street performer. Very entertaining. =)
    Dancer from some local school, performing there to collect fund for their club.
    The red one reads – DU LAN Guo Xiao. Du Lan is more a vulgar word in Malaysia, but it’s a place in Taiwan. LOL.
    Oh cute leopard catty!!!!
    Dogs.
    If you are hunting for young and fashionable thing, or cute Taiwanese girls and boys, food, cats, dogs, then this is the place. HAHA. It’s really vibrant and happening, especially on the weekends night. Just glad that my hotel is so nearby and convenient to walk there.
    Didn’t buy anything but ended up the exploration with meal of Taiwanese Lu Wei street food, a combination of braised pork organs and vegetables. Yums
  • Taipei Trip: Keelung Miao Kou Night Market 基隆庙口夜市

    Taipei Trip: Keelung Miao Kou Night Market 基隆庙口夜市

    Taipei Trip: Keelung Miao Kou Night Market 基隆庙口夜市 (Day 2) – Continued on my day trip out of Taipei and now I am bring you to my last stop where the hired cab driver dropped us and say bye bye. It’s Keelung! A sea port little town north east of Taipei! This is where all the cruise, ships and ports are!
    Our one and only main destination in Keelung was the Keelung Miao Kou Night Market (基隆庙口夜市) where I’ve seen many good reviews about this night market for having the most food stalls, most authentic, and larger than any night market in Taipei too! Coming on a Sunday night is not a good idea, in fact going any tourist attractions on a weekend is bad because you can hardly imagine the crowds at there!
    The variety of food at there will amaze you, seafood, noodle, sandwich, ice cream, all the Taiwanese street food, you name it, you got it. How I wish I have a bigger stomach to indulge in all the beautiful and delicious street food. The deep fried sandwich and theone-bite sausage as well as Pao Pao Bing are must try at there. Read about the butter crab too, but it a mixed review and expensive so we skipped that.
    We spent about 2 hours at there, mostly eat and we hopped on a cab back to Taipei city and we couldn’t spend any longer at there because of the crowds. Funny was that the cab driver didn’t really know Taipei well as he’s from Keelung and I have to turn on Google Maps and lead him back to my hotel.
    Well, call it a day? Not really, took a small shower at the hotel then we went walked around Ximending, the night is still young what.

    Beautiful sunset over Port of Keelung.
    Welcome to the beautiful Keelung Night Market.
    Night market tends to build around temple in Taipei. When you are at a night market, you definitely will not miss a Chinese temple. The temple also serves as public toilet to all!
    Pao Pao Bing – shaved ice. Didn’t get a chance to try it.
    Chinese eats frogs.
    Fishing game with thin piece of paper.
    Prawning.
    Adult video shop. Wooooo.
    One-bite sausage. Cheap, small and delicious!
    This is the crazy one at the night market – deep fried nutritious sandwich! Price at NT$55 only but the queue is just crazy! You have to get a number at there and the waiting time is always around 100 people! There was a kind aunty who saw me standing there and wait for the 100 people and offer a help to buy for me!
    The sandwich is good, I tell you!
    Had a lot of Lu Rou Fan, it’s NT$20 only.
    Pork Rib Herbal Soup.
    Spinach with soy sauce.
    Taiwanese are very keen in eating pigs, they eat all parts of pig! This one is the pig’s heart.
    This is the coagulated pig’s blood. I don’t really like it.
  • Taipei Trip: 九份 Jiufen

    Taipei Trip: 九份 Jiufen

    Taipei Trip: 九份 Jiufen (Day 2) – Narrow uphill streets, hilly, the inspiration for Spirited Away, the view of East China Sea, street food, super crowded, people, people, people & taro balls are what describing this beautiful Jiufen. Do not visit on a Sunday I warn you, as the street is packed and crowded which makes walking difficult.
    If you are young and want to relax, spend a night here at the Minsu, catch the sunrise, sip a few cup of coffee, enjoy the breeze here! Too bad, I couldn’t experience any of these. When the night falls, red lanterns outside the shops light up, it is then turned into a beautiful old town of Taiwan.
    Jiufen is a place that has ‘feel’ and relaxing, somewhat not during the weekend due to the crowds. Eat the fish ball there, as well as the taro ball with red bean soup. If you have time, just chill at there, and give your mind a break.
    On the way to Jiufen…
    Entrance of Jiu Fen Old Street.
    Oh beautiful houses on the hill slopes. Feels like Brazil to me.
    East China Sea!
    First taro ball! Well, no need to search for the best taro ball or the most famous one because they all look and taste the same to me!
    I prefer Blackball, Snowflakes, Meatfresh because I don’t like to eat with red bean soup.
    Oh very good fish ball I tell you!
    Famous takoyaki chain in Taiwan.
    Sweet potato puff.
    Wild boar meat sausage. Sounds good right? Not really to me.
    My first encounter with white bittergourd! The bittergourd juice with honey lemon taste good in Taiwan by the way!
    Do not eat this grilled mushroom, I don’t like!
    Taro balls again and seriously, they taste the same!
    At somewhere in Jiufen.
    Yo aunty, or uncle?
  • Taipei Trip: 十分 Shifen & Sky Lanterns

    Taipei Trip: 十分 Shifen & Sky Lanterns

    Taipei Trip: 十分 Shifen & Sky Lanterns (Day 2) – About 30 minutes was spent at Jingtong and we  proceeded to the next station – Shifen, the famous place for sky lanterns in the whole Taiwan. You will be super amazed if you visit the place on the 15th day of Chinese New Year where the sky will turn into a massive and beautiful flying lanterns air space! Too bad, it’s not Chinese New Year, nor it’s night time. Don’t be surprise that people releasing sky lantern to the air during the day, because it’s Shifen and people do that.
    When mentioning about Shifen, first thing comes to the mind is the old street that lies along the single railway track, then the not-so-famous Shifen Waterfall. At the Shifen old street, there’s a row of shops selling sky lantern as well as food, and at the end, there’s the Shifen railway station on the Pingxi line. It is also the last station too, that’s why you will see a lot of people alight at this station when the train approached.
    Releasing sky lantern is a must-do no matter what time of the day, price is only NT$100 for one colour and NT$150 for multiple colour, you write your wishes, draw your artwork and the person will even help you to snap photos when you are releasing the lantern in the air happily. =D So yeah.
    Shifen Waterfall? Not worth to visit because it’s just a waterfall, with entrance fee. So yeah.
    Lovely railway track!
    A bridge, near Shifen.
    Sky lantern, up up here we go!
    Drawing and writing wishes on the sky lantern.
    Mom showing off her calligraphy skill.
    Grilled chicken ass.
    Tunnel to the failyland! Remind me of Spirited Away anime.
    Once I saw the entrance ticket stuff, I straight away turn back and leave the Shifen Waterfall. It’s not that awesome after all.
    At least, I took a photo in front of the signage of Shifen Waterfall. =D
  • Taipei Trip: Jingtong 菁桐

    Taipei Trip: Jingtong 菁桐

    Taipei Trip: Jingtong 菁桐 (Day 2) – It’s a day trip out of Taipei where I visited a few interesting tourist attractions. We actually hired a cab for our whole day trip and it costed 3500NT$ for about 8 hours and the trip took us from our hotel to Jingtong – Shifen – Jiufen and ended at Keelung Miao Kou Night Market. I would say the price was quite reasonable for a day trip. If we were to take the public transport, I don’t think we can visit all of the places in one day, they are all quite far apart.
    There’s actually a plan to include Yehliu Geological Park, but couldn’t make it as it’s quite far away. We started our trip by our cab driver – Mr Zhang. He took us to Jingtong which used to be a small mining town along the Pingxi train line. At there you can take photos on the railway track, check out the old street of Jingtong for a little snacks and breakfast, send a post card and chill. It’s not a major attraction but somehow interesting to see and experience.
    Initially, I didn’t plan to visit Jingtong, but since it’s on the way to other places, it’s nice to stop by.
    Lamborghini on the way to Jingtong.
    Randomly spotted a temple and went to make a little prayer.
    Welcome to Jingtong.
    It’s me, on the railway track. Very nostalgic.
    Wishing bamboo.
    Refreshing Taiwanese jelly.
    Cheap Sui Gao @ 35NT$ for 8 pieces. Not bad, finally I see chili!
    Soft shell crab where I don’t find it interesting.
    Homemade ice cream, OKOK-only.
    Post box for post card delivery, very common things to do in Taiwan.
  • Taipei Trip: Shida Night Market 师大夜市

    Taipei Trip: Shida Night Market 师大夜市

    Taipei Trip: Shida Night Market 师大夜市 (Day 1) – I went to Taipei for a week of leisure trip last month. After landed in Taipei and checked into the hotel, we did not want to waste any more time and headed straight to our first destination in Taipei – Shida Night Market.
    As you know, Taiwan is famous for night market, how can we not visit them? Moreover we were so hungry and night market is the best place to fill up the empty stomach.
    Shida Night Market is actually located right opposite of Shida University, and that’s where the name comes from. Unlike the famous Shihlin Night Market, this one is cater more to locals and also the university students.
    I was pretty excited with my first exploration in Taipei but the night was pretty warm, about 24 degree celcius only. Nevertheless, Shida Night Market did not disappoint me. The food are very interesting, so do the small little fashion stalls and of course the very friendly locals, you just be amazed with the friendly locals at there. They smile to everyone, even if I took pictures of the stallss and never buy a food, they will also smile or say thank you. Taiwanese are awesome!
    The night ended up with a couple shopping bags of cloths and a stomach filled with awesome Taiwan food.
    One interesting Taiwanese food is 卤味, or English – Braised Aromatic Goodness, or simple English – food braised in aromatic brine! You will find stuff like pig’s organs, sausage, vegetable, mushrooms and more that are braised in aromatic brine. Onefamous and must try at Shida Night Market is the Deng Lung Lu Wei 灯笼卤味! It’s the most famous one and has a long queue.
    Deep fried stinky toufu and it’s good and sinfu!
    Pork liver soup which I find it’s nice! Do you realised that Taiwanese love animal’s organs?
    Taiwanese version of fried oyster which I find Malaysia has a better one! Serious, trust me.
    Spinach in Taiwanese style, not bad not bad.
    The blogger Nick Chan.
    Another thing to try out – 盐水鸡 Salt Water Chicken, which is something like steamed chicken salted and added with spring onion. Quite and interesting street food.
    Taiwan is a very pet-friendly country! You will see pretty and cute puppies everywhere!
    Before ending the trip at Shida, I’d a bowl of Toufu Fa with bubble, they call it 粉圆 at there! Yummeh!
  • Taipei Trip: From Penang – Hong Kong – Taipei

    Taipei Trip: From Penang – Hong Kong – Taipei

    Taipei Trip: From Penang – Hong Kong – Taipei (Day 1) – Last week was an awesome week as I went on a trip to Taipei and Macau! It was a nice getaway after my 2.5 months of internship and also a little bit of rest and relax to prep myself for the new semester which will be starting next week. Few more days of relaxing time in Penang and I will be back to Kuala Lumpur again.
    Anyway, in this coming days, follow my blog for a virtual trip to Taipei and Macau with me. =D JOMMMMM! One more thing, this is a full Taipei trip which I focus on travelling the north Taiwan. KIAAAAA….
    Penang International Airport. Looks new and good right? Not really I feel, if you look close, the place is not well maintain and when I go to Taiwan and Hong Kong, I feel Penang is so not welcoming enough, the interior design seriously need to be improved more.
    Fish fillet with fried rice. Weird airplane food by Cathay Pacific, the fish tasted weird. XD
    Oh yes, Hong Kong! My favourite place in Asia. I stop here to transit for Taipei.
    Twilight from the air.
    Chicken sandwich from Hong Kong to Taipei however tasted good! Yummeh! I didn’t finish it because I wanna have an empty stomach for Taiwan’s street food.
    Welcome to Republic of China – Taiwan.
    New refurbished Taiwan Taoyuan Airport.
    Street food in front of hotel.
  • Taipei Trip: Golden Waterfall & Yingyang Sea 黄金瀑布&阴阳海

    Taipei Trip: Golden Waterfall & Yingyang Sea 黄金瀑布&阴阳海

    Taipei Trip: Golden Waterfall & Yingyang Sea 黄金瀑布&阴阳海 (Day 2) – The day trip is almost approaching an end, this was the second last stop before heading to the end destination – Keelung Miao Kou Night Market.
    After Jiufen, while on the way to Keelung, we passed by a famous waterfall – Golden Waterfall (Huang Jin Pu Bu) where the water from the waterfall turned the riverbed and rocks into golden yellow colour, very interesting!
    Further down will meet the Yingyang Sea (Ying Yang Hai) where the parts of the sea has 2 colors! Probably due to the water running from the Golden Waterfall, due to heavy metal reactions that causes the two color. Well, after this short stop, it’s time to continue our journey to one of the biggest street food night market in Taiwan – Keelung Miao Kou Night Market.

    Huang Jin Pu Bu.
    Nice abandoned building! Got feel got feel.
    Ying Yang Sea!
    Continued on the journey to Keelung! =)
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