I'm back for another posting of my trip to Taipei. Yup... We are staying in Ginza Hotel located at Zhongshan district and is surrounding by small malls and lots of shops.
So for my day 2 which is also the first day of Chinese New Year, lots of line up for that day.
Early in the morning, we had our first breakfast in hotel. Not fantastic spread but is good enough. Because my intention is to bring the guys around for Taiwanese food.
So first stop we head to Longshan Temple. For Chinese, going to temples on first day of CNY is quite usual. So since we are in Taipei, we went and see the crowd at the temple to feel the spirit and atmosphere of Chinese New Year in a foreign land. And we took a train there. Quite near. 3 stops away.
An expected crowd. Love seeing such sight. Imagine it is just about 9+ in the morning. Everyone was early.
Everyone is walking underneath this. For blessings. See that fortune cat. Cute!
See how packed the temple is. With all the believers coming forward to pray for a smooth Snake year and offerings all around like flowers.
And so after that, we walk down the streets to explore this area. I suppose I'm walking in Monga area.
All the street hawkers doing business near the temple. The food can be awesome and if you never try, u miss the good taste of Taiwanese food.
I had a stick and is really awesome. I don't know why but I must have at least a stick. And is just less than SGD 0.50. Why not?
Taipei maybe quiet during this CNY period but is also not as quiet as you think. I prepared myself for the worst. If there is not much choices of food available, we will grab them from convenience stores. But no need at all. I'm so glad about that. Cos I also don't want to have cup noodles or any other pre-packed food everyday. All blame those forums that I have look at. I keep seeing no stores open, not much choices of food, no trains no nothing blah blah blah... Crap. Now I go myself and see for myself and I believe myself only.
I'm happen to spot Bopiliao museum (I think is a museum but is all about the old buildings in that area (Monga?)). Is not open but never mind. See see look look will do. There is always a next time.
Now I believe that other than food, I love taking archi shots. Yes!!! Another exploration. Good!!!!
And then we walk another way down to another street which is also nearby the temple. Crowded too.
We tried this almond tea dip with doughsticks. Hmm... honestly I like the almond pudding or jelly but almond tea, I find it weird. I thought we dip doughsticks with coffee or porridge. Nah... Doesn't matter.
Oh man... I wanna have that 水煎包 but my guy keep walking straight through the crowd and unable to halt him. Arrghh... 水煎包 is nice okay. Tried elsewhere, I think in China. Very nice. Give me a plate, I finish all.
Spotted this temple in between the buildings. There is one in Ximending too. Previous trip we spotted that.
And so we decided to head down one stop to Ximending. Very near right? Yes indeed. For our lunch. Almost time up to head back hotel and wait for our half day tour to start.
Okay the food are all shared. Tastiest ever. For our fren who came here for the first time, he is praising all the way.
They have the freshest oysters in the egg. Yes it is oyster egg which you can't miss in Taiwan. My guy fall in love with their oyster the previous trip and now we are having it again. This time, both guys were throwing praise for the oyster. Well... I don't take oyster actually but I trust those who have them will be like my guy and his fren.
And then I came here for their carrot cake. Superb yummy. I just can't stop eating. Totally different style of eating as compared to Singapore. With or without sauce still taste so good. Bravo.
Our fren had this whole bowl of mee sua himself. Okay this is not the Ah Zhong Mian Xian which is just nearby. But I'm not sure of the taste. I will still prefer Ah Zhong Mian Xian if you ask me.
I like this wall paper. It is outside a dim sum restaurant if I'm not wrong. This is streets of Hong Kong. Yes... (if I am not wrong) but not opening for business. So gonna give it a miss. But anyway we are full already.
Heard fire crackers while snapping this shot. So good! They can put fire crackers outside their shop or house or whatever. So long it doesn't endanger anyone. So superb envy. In Singapore, already ban for superb long years. Boring and that is why I fly here during CNY.
This is Ximen. Anyway since CNY eve, I have seen people playing the scratch card. Everywhere ok? Too bad. I wonder if we play and then win something, they will give or not since we are just tourists. But I enjoy seeing them scratching away. Be it squatting there, standing up, or lean against the wall. Wahahahah... Lovable Taiwanese.
Hey this is the temple which I mentioned earlier. Tian Hou Gong which is in Ximen area and is also in between the building. So unique right?
And so after walking around the street, we head back to our hotel for our next half of the day which is going up to Yangmingshan and hotspring after that.
As we walk towards our hotel, we pass by Linsen Park. And this big statue stood still in the park.
Can anyone tell me if this is Yue Fei statue? I see the word Yue and assume it is. But anyway I could be wrong so don't mind ar.
While waiting in our room for the tour guide to come, I snap a shot of my purchase earlier on at Ximen. My bro asked me to look out for this Nanoblock because quite exclusive and selling in Taiwan only. Yup I bought straight two boxes. Should grab three. Then can sell. Anyway you don't know how influential my bro is in influencing me on Nanoblock. I know nuts about all these until he knows I'm coming to Taiwan and asked me to search high and low then buy it back to SG. And when I go back SG, I superb craze on Nanoblock. Now including this Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, we have built two more. Total 3 in display at home. The other two was Japan series. Shall do a post on Nanoblock soon enough.
Okay now back to my trip. And the next half of the day, we are heading to Yangmingshan and hotspring. Book this tour through CityDiscovery.com but I find that their available tours are mostly Taipei. I do look forward more on Tainan or Taichung. Anyway the experience with CityDiscovery.com was good. Everything well smooth. They are good in the sense when the tour I wanted initially is not available, they will recommend alternatives for us. And when there is refund, it didn't take long to process. Look forward to my next booking with CityDiscovery.com.
Our tour consists of other nationality except there is no one from Mainland because they tend to be bigger group on their own (if I never see wrongly on the street) and so ours is a small group. Good!!! Don't need wait for long before heading to the next destination.
Is massive jam on our way up to Yangmingshan. Arrgh... Lucky I'm not feeling the urge to head for toilet. But then I saw cherry blossoms along the way.
They have seats outside 7-11. So good. I like the idea. More of these in Singapore please.
Alright shall stop here. Continue in the next post on my CNY trip. Stay tune.