Taipei Trip Day 5
We woke up late (at around 8) as we decided that since we are just going to places around our hotel, we can afford to do so, and on top of that, we were all tired from the traveling over the past few days.
As we found our hotel food to be too pathetic, we decided to venture around to try to find a nice place that sells good breakfast. But then, we were disappointed. Most of their eating-places were still closed, and even their fast food restaurants open at 11! Oh well, it could be because we are in Ximending and not some neighborhood, because my impression last time was that the neighborhood eateries actually open at like 6 odd? In the end, after walking around for 15 mins, we decided to have Hong Kong dim sum for breakfast. Haha, it is so ironic that we had dim sum in Taipei!
Well, the food wasn’t that bad. I must say the Chee Cheong Fun was ok (except that the flour was a little bit too thick for my liking), the egg tart seems to be good (I didn’t eat it, but from what others said, it seems to be good and it does look good), the carrot cake was nice (and fresh), the shark fin’s dumpling was also above average. We also had 皮蛋瘦肉粥. Hmm, I must admit that the helping was really generous, and that the 瘦肉 was nice. But I was just a little bit disappointed with the 皮蛋 part since you could tell it was white porridge mixed with 皮蛋, and not 皮蛋 cooked together with the porridge. Ha, I guess the taste of the egg never really mixed well and combined with the porridge, so that was the only letdown.
Then, we went over to 龙山寺 to pray. It’s a well-venerated temple in Temple, for apparently the temple survived the allied bombing during World War 2. I must say we were all impressed
with the grandeur of the place, as well as the large number of devotees that were there even though it was raining. We had a quick look about the place, as well as paid our respects to the deities there.
When we got back to Ximending, it was around 11 plus. I bought the 鸭翅 from the famous上海老天禄 (ok, I regretted not trying the 鸭舌, but that’s because I had no idea how to eat that!). It was really nice and fragrant, so I could understand why they are usually sold out before their closing hours. Then, we started shopping and Kenny ended up buying 3 Gundam models for less than SGD$50.
We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant, as we wanted to try Otoro. Haiz, but the shop ran out of it (even the lower belly too), so in the end we just had normal 黑鲔鱼. It wasn’t particularly fantastic, but it was passable for sure. Then, we carried on shopping and exploring Ximending. Hehe, I can now proudly say that I know Ximending as well as I know Shilin.
Ok, eventually we went back to the hotel at 1430 to wait for our transport to the airport. On the way to the airport, we all dozed off (yes, we were all deadbeat), but we did wake up walk about this 特产 shop near the hotel. Ha, we just did some last minute shopping there before we reached the airport and checked in. Oh, we did some simple shopping inside the DFS area there just to make sure we didn’t missed out on anything.
I must say the plane ride back to Singapore was better than our ride to Taipei. The entertainment system was way more advanced, and we could actually play multiplayer games too! There were also more shows for us to view, so we never saw the need to rest on the plane. Ha, we were also adventurous and tried the alcohol that they served, and I was quite irked that the air stewardess asked me for my age after I requested for Singapore Sling. Hmm, should I be happy that I look young?
On the whole, I must say the trip was really fulfilling. Taiwan has really cheap food (ok, that’s why we ate so many things!!!), the people were really nice and friendly (they are not like Singapore counter staff who tends to be foul looking), we had a great time doing the things we liked and we really ensured that we saw the bulk of Taipei. Hmm, I guess I will rate it 4.2 stars out of 5 on the whole. 4.8 for the Free & Easy part while just maybe a measly 1.5 for the guided tour part. I think from now on, I shall go on more Free & Easy tours and only go on guided tours when absolutely necessary (like going to Alaska or Mongolia).
As we found our hotel food to be too pathetic, we decided to venture around to try to find a nice place that sells good breakfast. But then, we were disappointed. Most of their eating-places were still closed, and even their fast food restaurants open at 11! Oh well, it could be because we are in Ximending and not some neighborhood, because my impression last time was that the neighborhood eateries actually open at like 6 odd? In the end, after walking around for 15 mins, we decided to have Hong Kong dim sum for breakfast. Haha, it is so ironic that we had dim sum in Taipei!
Well, the food wasn’t that bad. I must say the Chee Cheong Fun was ok (except that the flour was a little bit too thick for my liking), the egg tart seems to be good (I didn’t eat it, but from what others said, it seems to be good and it does look good), the carrot cake was nice (and fresh), the shark fin’s dumpling was also above average. We also had 皮蛋瘦肉粥. Hmm, I must admit that the helping was really generous, and that the 瘦肉 was nice. But I was just a little bit disappointed with the 皮蛋 part since you could tell it was white porridge mixed with 皮蛋, and not 皮蛋 cooked together with the porridge. Ha, I guess the taste of the egg never really mixed well and combined with the porridge, so that was the only letdown.
Then, we went over to 龙山寺 to pray. It’s a well-venerated temple in Temple, for apparently the temple survived the allied bombing during World War 2. I must say we were all impressed
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with the grandeur of the place, as well as the large number of devotees that were there even though it was raining. We had a quick look about the place, as well as paid our respects to the deities there.When we got back to Ximending, it was around 11 plus. I bought the 鸭翅 from the famous上海老天禄 (ok, I regretted not trying the 鸭舌, but that’s because I had no idea how to eat that!). It was really nice and fragrant, so I could understand why they are usually sold out before their closing hours. Then, we started shopping and Kenny ended up buying 3 Gundam models for less than SGD$50.
We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant, as we wanted to try Otoro. Haiz, but the shop ran out of it (even the lower belly too), so in the end we just had normal 黑鲔鱼. It wasn’t particularly fantastic, but it was passable for sure. Then, we carried on shopping and exploring Ximending. Hehe, I can now proudly say that I know Ximending as well as I know Shilin.
Ok, eventually we went back to the hotel at 1430 to wait for our transport to the airport. On the way to the airport, we all dozed off (yes, we were all deadbeat), but we did wake up walk about this 特产 shop near the hotel. Ha, we just did some last minute shopping there before we reached the airport and checked in. Oh, we did some simple shopping inside the DFS area there just to make sure we didn’t missed out on anything.I must say the plane ride back to Singapore was better than our ride to Taipei. The entertainment system was way more advanced, and we could actually play multiplayer games too! There were also more shows for us to view, so we never saw the need to rest on the plane. Ha, we were also adventurous and tried the alcohol that they served, and I was quite irked that the air stewardess asked me for my age after I requested for Singapore Sling. Hmm, should I be happy that I look young?
On the whole, I must say the trip was really fulfilling. Taiwan has really cheap food (ok, that’s why we ate so many things!!!), the people were really nice and friendly (they are not like Singapore counter staff who tends to be foul looking), we had a great time doing the things we liked and we really ensured that we saw the bulk of Taipei. Hmm, I guess I will rate it 4.2 stars out of 5 on the whole. 4.8 for the Free & Easy part while just maybe a measly 1.5 for the guided tour part. I think from now on, I shall go on more Free & Easy tours and only go on guided tours when absolutely necessary (like going to Alaska or Mongolia).
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