TAIWAN Day 1
Finally our trip to taiwan came true after rounds of conflicts and detailed planning!
We took scoots (book during public hols its cheaper!) and arrived at taoyuan airport early in the morning. After which, we took a shuttle bus to taoyuan hsr station and headed towards taipei!
Our ticket from taoyuan to taipei that cost 175NT took only about 20 mins.
*No need to book beforehand. Train comes after 30 mins. Watch for the timing of the train don't board the train too early! (We landed up the wrong direction and missed our train but we just crossed over and took the next train)
When we reached Taipei main station, we bought the easy-go card for the taipei metro and took to zhongshan station (one stop away from taipei main station) where we headed straight to our hotel, Cityinn hotel Taipei Main station 2 about 5 mins walk away. (walk through the zhongshan underground shopping mall and head for the direction of the museum of contemporary art)
City Inn Hotel Taipei Main station 2 lobby
City Inn Hotel Taipei Main station 2 lobby
The hotel looks really pretty and modern similar to the reviews on booking.com. Worth it for the price! The room was very clean and just right for 2 people.
After settling down, Our stomachs were growling for breakfast. On the route back to zhongshan station from our hotel, we spotted a local dim sum stall, it was really crowded and we decided to try their local dishes there. WOW, the xiao long bao was super good, even comparable to ding tai feng!It was super cheap too.
After filling our stomachs, we took the taipei metro to Longshan Temple station.
Man made waterfall at longshan Temple
Small Garden of flowers
We visited a local wet market nearby. We were intrigued by the unique and strange display of raw food there.
Inside the market
It was a really long walk back and we decided to have a quick meal right outside longshan station. We chanced upon a roadside stall selling pig intestine and meatballs and decided to get one bowl after seeing so many people sitting and eating along the mrt station. Simple and delicious YUM...!
On the way to BO PI LIAO, we had our lunch at the famous Chow's Porridge.
Next, we visited the famous BO PI LIAO old street. 剝皮寮老街 It is a walking distance from longshan temple. It is a historic street in taipei Wanhua district. These old buildings are made up of red bricks and it appears rather out of place among other buildings. It was also a movie site of the highly-acclaimed movie called 'monga'
The red brick facade and the nicely paved walkways.
The map of the street found inside the visitor centre
Spotted a group of university students filming a promotional video. They were dancing to the music amidst the background of old wooden doors and red bricks. Seems like they are having lots of fun haha all of us just watched from aside.
Nice pics taken of my good friend ZX
We also visited the museum and played some traditional games.
It was getting darker and we wanted to visit taipei 101. When we reached there we were told that the top level was not opened due to the weather so we decided to give it a miss until the last day. We only took a pic of the exterior of taipei 101. Though it is not my first time there, it still seems majestic though..
There was still time so in order to maximise our time, we headed to... RaoHe Night Market!It is located at Hou Shan Pi station. Have to walk quite a distance there though.
It was bustling with people and we had a hard time walking through the whole stretch of food stalls. (similar to the food fair at expo) It was really tiring and our feet were aching already but the food was still GOOD!
Entrance of Rao He Night Market
DElicious lemon fried squid!
That was the highlight of the raohe night market! We decided to go back to our hotel via taxi as it started to rain. There ends our Day 1!
