Sunday, December 2, 2007

Footprints in Taiwan - Meteor Garden Moment


Tenth Stop: Longshan Temple.


Supposed to go to Hualian today, but both of us were too tired and slept in till 10am. Thus, we had to switch our schedule. Started the day with brunch from JSP Burger. Yummy ~ this is another of our favourite eatery outlet.

We got onto the wrong Metro train, thus, we decided to visit Longshan Temple. There is a musical fountain in front of the temple, so its time for pictures again. Just when it's my turn, the performance stopped, sian

The place is always crowded with people...and plus, the sun is freaking hot.

Impressive miniature waterfall inside the temple, plus, its cooling to be close to it under the hot sun.

Didn't take any pictures inside the temple, cuz I noticed the security camera. Didn't know that even temple also venturing into technology stuff.

Eleventh Stop: Tian Mu - PS BuBu Cafe

Went to Tian Mu in search for this famous PS Bubu Cafe. Those who have watched Meteor Garden before will remember that DaoMingSi brought ShanCai to this cafe where they sat in this little pink car and have ice cream. Haha, must force the Leecher to bring me there...

Tian Mu is located at ShiPai station and must take the bus Red19 to reach the top of Sector 7.

While waiting for the bus to come, I got Chun to accompany me, heehee. (had to force the Leecher to take this pic for me ^_^)

Finally after half an hour of bus ride, plus walking upslope to locate the cafe, WE HAVE REACHED!!!! Yeah !!

Specially requested to sit at the little pink car. However, that came with a price -- we had to order the set meal each. Thus, once again, the Leecher ordered the most expensive set meal which cost NT$690 while I settled for the other NT$490 set meal. There are only 2 set meals on the menu to choose from

Pictures while waiting for food to be served.

Appetizers: Soup, garden salad and baked snail with cheese.

Baked snail with cheese is yummy, plus, it came with an interesting "holey" bowl. One hole = 1 snail.
Main course: Lamb chops (Leecher) + Pasta with spicy chicken (me)

Dessert: Cheesecake + Coffee (Leecher) and Black Forest Cake + Tea (me)

The blackforest cake came in the "picture" of PS Bubu car, it's time to photo-whore with it. (PS: the cheesecake got neglected)

The interior of the cafe. Most of the cars are 1/2 car, only the little pink car is a whole car. It's a small and cosy place, would want to go there again.

We asked the waitress to help us take pictures ... must take, since its such an expensive meal. Oh, I waited for 7 yrs for this moment to sit in this car ~~~ (it would be even better if it's zaizai or chun sitting opposite me in the car, haha)

Too bad we were too full after the meal, if not, I would have ordered the same ice cream that DaoMingSi and Shancai ate. It would be PERFECT...plus, not forgetting this Leecher for making it possible for me.

Oh, this meal has officially become our most expensive meal in Taiwan, haha =)

Twelfth Stop: WufenPu + Rao He Night Market

Took the Metro from one end to another (almost). Alighted at Houshanpi station to go to the Wufenpu wholesale market.

Didn't take any pictures at WufenPu, since there is nothing much to take. It's like Bugis village, and the clothes are NOT that dirt cheap. Only spent like NT$1000 there for 2 necklaces, 1 bag and 2 shawls. Leecher bought more - 1 woollen vest, 1 long-sleeved shirt and 4 ties, which cost around NT$1500. Had to try the BBQ roadside stall though.

Walked over the Rao He Night Market, which is behind Songshan Train Station. It's one of my fave night market. Think it's better than Shilin Night Market.

Queued up for this Black Pepper Bun. It's super long queue. Though there was another stall selling the same thing with Buy 1 get 1 Free, we decided to join in the queue for this, since it's supposed to be delicious.

After 1/2 hr of waiting, we managed to buy just 1 bun, haha.

Bought this octopus snack too and finally, had a chance to taste their beancurd + pearls. Heavenly! The beancurd is soooooo smooth.

Ventured off to do some shopping, which caused serious damage to our moolahs. Leecher bought 2 pairs of NIKE shoes @ one go plus 2 pairs of Levi's jeans *faint* while I only bought 1 pair of Levi's.

Headed back to our hotel. It's going to be a super early day for us tomorrow, as we're going to Hualian.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Footprints in Taiwan - Sightseeing


Second Stop: Ximending for Ah Zhong Mian Xian


Ventured into Ximending in search for the famous Ah Zhong Mian Xian. Somehow, I chanced upon Mister Donuts and couldn't resist the temptation of the cute donut icon and went into the shop. Lots of varieties to choose from, spoilt for choices. I went back almost every other 2 days to eat the donuts ~~ haha

After walking around, we managed to locate Ah Zhong Mian Xian. Shared the big bowl with trouble-maker, gosh, its SUPERB. I went back almost every day to eat it for either breakfast, lunch or dinner, haha

Just when we're leaving the stall, we saw this Ferrari stopping in front of Ah Zhong. Wow, even rich people love Ah Zhong Mian Xian, heehee.

Third Stop: C.K.S Memorial Hall

With a full stomach, we went to C.K.S Memorial Hall, even the Metro Station exit is nice. Purposely brought my newly purchased Hugo-Boss shades for this Taiwan trip, haha =)

Think we choose the wrong timing to go, as the place was under renovation, thus, we can't witness the changing of the guards at Martyr's Shine. Nevertheless, it's time to take pictures.

The Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness (大中至正), was placed at the west end on Chung Shan South Road. We took tons of pictures of the gate, since it is the only building not under-going construction.

We decided to be funny and tried to do the jumping-act.

The C.K.S Memorial Hall is a monument erected in the memory of their former president, Chiang Kai -shek. The place is huge, covering 240,000 sqm in Zhongzheng District. Walked around the area and its time for photo-whoring again ~~ The flowers are really pretty!

We were searching for the dust-bin to throw our litter but we couldn't find any. It turned out that the dust-bin is designed to blend in with the surrounding...

Once again, we photo-whored at the pond in the area ...

Visited the museum of C.K.S since we can't catch the changing of the guards.

It's supposed to be a solemn place, thus, we didn't do any funny poses except for this:

Just when we were going back to the Metro station, we saw this big group of people gathered outside the gates. Think they are protesting for their rights or whatsoever.We wanted to join in just for fun, but, we don't have the caps that the protesters are wearing, so we gave up.


Fourth Stop: National Taiwan University

NTU is located at Gongguan Station. Guess most of the students cycle to school, from the rows of bicycles that greeted us when we exited from the station. Wonder how they put up/take down the bicycles on the upper deck ...

Went to the canteen in search of food. The famous chicken burger is sold out, thus, we had to settle for the dumplings and soya-bean drink. Its cheap, costs only NT$35 bucks.

The box is for people to put the money in for their purchases. The auntie didn't even bother to look at the amount of money being put into the box. Guess Taiwanese people must be quite honest.

This peach drink is super nice, plus, the straw is interesting too as it is extend-able.

Walked around the campus. Nice but not-so-quiet surrounding, as there were tons of people and kids in the campus.

The people are really poetic, since there is a poem for people to read while admiring this tree.

There is a sharp contrast between the 2 different faculties that we came across. Farm-chemical (?) faculty is designed to resemble that of a farm while the building of the Life-Science faculty is so modern and new.

Again, we came to the pond. There seem to be lots of ponds in Taiwan, haha.

Chanced upon the Business Admin graduation. Their graduation photo-taking is so pro. Wonder how come we don't have this in NTU? Took this picture, since we are also fellow biz graduates from NTU, just that this NTU is not that NTU.


Fifth Stop: Sun Yat Son Memorial Hall

Had to hurry down to SYS Memorial Hall for the changing of guards ceremony at 3pm. We arrived at 3.05pm, thus, we missed out about 5 mins of the ceremony. A LOT of people were gathered around the area, and the Ch**na people were blocking my view, idiot. Wonder how come there are tons of them in the area?
There are 2 guards guarding this huge statue of SYS and they're not supposed to move for an hr.

Since it's like 3.15 pm after the end of the ceremony, we decided to hang around the area, so that we can catch it again at 4pm. It's photo-whoring time again to kill the 45 mins that we have to wait...

Think we're getting better at taking self-portraits pictures, with the training that we had in London.

More pictures in the park, with the statues of SYS.

Caught the 4pm guard-changing ceremony and it's worth the wait. They are really fabulous, but once again, the Ch**na people got to spoil it for me. I was video-ing it and they just walked across in front of me, even though I was already standing right in front. Talking about manners, idiot.

Sixth Stop: Taipei 101

While walking to Taipei 101 from SYS memorial hall, we took pictures of the building first. Decided to be funny and did the 1-2-5 poses.

Leecher's version


Caihong's version

Bought our tickets to the Observatory deck. We forgot to use our Youth Travel Card, thus, we had to pay NT$350 each instead of NT$300, sian.

Nice view at the 89th floor. But once again, its so crowded, this time with Nippon people. Some view from top-above .. There is a guide in each direction, explaining what are the significant buildings that you can locate, but somehow, most of the buildings look the same to me....

There are posters of the Taipei 101 for people to take pictures. Since we had already paid to come up, we should not waste the kind efforts of the people, haha.

This particular poster is quite interesting. It showed the picture of building from one angle and the number 1 from another angle.

Once we came down from the observary deck, it's time to take pictures again, this time, with the cartoon Taipei 101.


Seventh Stop: New York New York

With no food for more than 3.5 hours, we had to search for food to fill our growling stomach. Crossed the walkway over to New York New York.

Had this hot-plate squid, which costs a freaking NT$168. TheLeecher always like to order the most expensive item on the menu, he thinks that he got tons of money to burn. Our most expensive meal so far, plus this NT$10 apple drink.

After the meal, its time for dessert! Cold Stone Ice Cream, which costs another NT$190.

Must take a picture of this Liberty statue outside NYNY.


Eighth Stop: Shin Kong Mitsukoshi


Walked over to another departmental store - Shin Kong Mitsukoshi's. It's a super huge departmental store which houses the prestigious brands, think there are 3 separate buildings along the same stretch. Too bad, I can only walk and see but cannot buy, since the Leecher keep spending money like water. You can see the Christmas Tree that is decorated in Swarovski crystals. This Xmas tree even hit the headlines of their papers, w0w ~


Ninth Stop: Eslite Bookstore

This is a must-go in Taiwan. Huge bookstore that spans over 4 storeys, selling different types of books. Didn't realise that there is another Eslite in Ximending area. The Leecher was hoping to see Jolin there, since it was reported that Jolin likes to frequent this bookstore. Think he is more interested in looking out for something else that Jolin has to offer... haha

Came across this cute looking bench while walking to Taipei City Hall station. However, its too cold, thus, only have 1 picture. If not, I would definitely photo-whore, heehee.

It's back to Ximending area in search of food. Ah Zhong was already closed, so can't satisfy my cravings. Had bubble tea (without milk) instead and the pearls are so chewy. The pearls in Taiwan are all super chewy and sweet, unlike those in Singapore - hard like rock and tasteless.

Love this particular roadside stall that sells Cong You Bing. When we got our food and posted for pictures, the vendor suddenly disappeared. It turned out that there was a police car patrolling the area. OMG, they really disappeared super fast.

That's the end of our 2nd day of stay in Taiwan. Super tired from all the walking, but was utterly satisfied with the Cong You Bing. It's good~

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