What is the most memorable sovenir your gf had given u?

sylphHaze · 12:18 AM

Day 1 Singapore -> Taoyuan International Airport -> Ximending -> Shilin Night Market

Upon arrival at terminal 1, we headed for the bus terminal intending to catch a bus ride to Taipei main station. We chanced upon Free Go Airport Bus Service which charged reasonably for return trip (NT260 per person)!

The journey from the airport to our hotel was approximately an hour. Our chosen hotel was Royal Castle Hotel (NT1880 per night) Although we were told that the hotel was near Ximending Station, it was much further than expected.

After unloading our barang, it was already 8.30pm. As planned, we set off for Shilin Night Market. We bought EasyCard for NT500 (NT100 as deposit, with value of NT400),which is equivalent to ezlink card. The card can be used on MRT, bus and ferry.

We notice that there was waiting zone for female passengers at night. Maybe we should have that in Singapore next time.

The nearest station to Shilin Night Market is Jiantan, journey was about 20 minutes. What awaited us was... food.. food.. and food..

Among the lot, we loved the chicken cutlet and grilled prawn. And guess what we voted for no. 1...

The temperature at night was 30 degrees celsius...

sylphHaze · 11:15 PM

Day 2 World Trade Center Exhibition Hall -> Wufenpu -> Raohe St. Night Market

Our day started with a trip to the computer fair! The WTC Exhibition Hall is located approximately 15 to 20 mins (walking) from Taipei Cityhall station.

The weather was so hot in late july that an umbrella would come in really handy even if you don't carry one in Singapore.

At almost every booth, we got to see either some babes promoting or posing for pictures or even dancing. Certainly more happening than our IT shows in SG.

Coincidentally, we chanced upon Taiwanese Actress Cheryl Yang. She was pretty and friendly in person.

After spending about 2 to 3 hours at the computer fair, our stomachs were really hungry, so we went to grab a quick bite at Taipei 101 foodcourt.

The first combo had oyster omelette, pig blood soup and fried noodle. All 3 items tasted terrible.

The second combo had vegetable, fishball soup, chicken cutlet and ru lou fan. It tasted much better than the first. We gave it 3 out of 5.

After a not so satisfying meal, we headed for wufenpu which was 2 stations away from Cityhall. Wufenpu was a shopping paradise for ladies with variety from clothes to accessories. Unfortunately we were too engrossed in shopping that we forgot to snap any photo for this location.

From Wufenpu we headed to Raohe St. Night Market.

One of our favorite activities was to catch soft toys/toys at the machine:

The machines can be found all over Taipei and they only cost NT10 (equivalent to less than 50 cents) per attempt. The friendly shop assistant may even help you to adjust the position of the toy if they find that you have failed despite many attempts. It is generally easier to get something as compared to SG.

The night markets never fail to surprise us with variety of items sold. Taiwanese generally possess the traits of a good business person. Before our feet gave way, it was time for food again! We hopped into a mini steamboat restaurant which was filled with many people.

Seafood mini steamboat NT100 (equivalent to less than SGD5)
We gave it 3 out of 5 for taste, it was definitely value for money as it was almost 1.5 times to 2 times the standard portion.

Spicy Mutton mini steamboat NT150 (equivalent to less than SGD7.50)
We gave it 3.5 out of 5 for taste, ideal for folks who like spicy food.

After the overwhelming meal, we continued roaming on the streets of Raohe St. Night Market and guess what we found:

Helmets with various types of characters on them.

Our day ended with supper at Ah Zhong Mian Xian in Ximending, still tasted good after our last visit 3 years ago.

sylphHaze · 11:03 PM

Day 3 Living Mall -> Miramar Shopping Center -> Luxy

On the third day, we decided to check out the Lottery in Taipei. Apparently the prize money for Da Le Tou 6/49 was approximately SGD 8million. It was quite similar to Toto except that there were a total of 49 numbers and there were more winning combination. However, the cost of investing in one e.g. 6 numbers was NT100.

Let's have a good look at the historical record...

Then we headed to Living Mall aka Core Pacific aka Jing Hua Cheng. We took bus BL26 from Cityhall station and walked about 10 mins before arriving at the building. It was actually easier to reach there by shuttle bus from Zhongxiaofuxing station. Always ask around if you are unsure of how to get to a destination but record the name and address in mandarin.

Living mall has won award for its architecture comprising of two parts, one of which is the sphere. The view is quite magnificent from the inner high floors. It is quite a family-oriented mall with "Baby Boss" where young children can explore to try to be in different occupations and a giant playground in the basement.

Apparently it was easy to bump into Taiwanese artiste in events and shopping malls. Guess who we saw?

Dylan Kuo! He acted in Prince + Princess 2, tall, slim and dark in person.

Enough of looking around, it was time for makan again. We were spoilt for choices again but decided to focus on local cuisine.

We never figure out how to read the last word so we ordered by pointing. It was much later then someone told me it was read as "ci". Anyway, it tasted like steam carrot cake with sweet and chili sauce.

We have seen couple of Xiao Nan Men traditional dessert store in major shopping malls. The queue never seem to shortened and we loved the dessert there!

A combination of red bean and tou hua... Yummy... We loved it!

Next to the food court is the playground area where children can have fun and their parents are seated nearby.

Lastly, not to forget the top view...

Here is where you can board the shuttle bus to Zhongxiaofuxing station.

From Zhongxiaofuxing station, we took muzha line to go to Miramar Shopping Centre. This shopping mall has a ferris wheel and the familiar scenes made me pondered where we have seen them. Oh! I think "huan huan ai" was filmed there...

Well, we were waiting for the sun to set before taking a ride on the ferris wheel. Meanwhile, let's check out the mall...

There is ktv room where you may sing your favorite song for the price of a token.

A family game in the arcade where you throw balls instead of using a pistol.

View of MRT station from Miramar Shopping Center

View of Miramar Shopping Center as the sun started to set...

And the lights on the ferris wheel was lighted up...

There were a total of 52 capsules... and only 2 which are fully transparent...

It took about 20 minutes to wait for the normal capsule and an hour to wait for the fully transparent one.

Imagine you can look through the capsule and see what's beneath your feet. For a while we started to have sweaty palms...

What you can see from the capsule...

And then the surprise came!

He asked the golden question and she said yes! The fear of heights, being on a fully transparent capsule was overcame by heartwarming proposal...

This is a day and a place we will always remember!

Well, the day did not just end there.. It's time for clubbing!

Luxy website

Apparently we bumped into some Taiwanese who were trying to "open bao xiang". For 3 bottles of hard liquor, we plus 8 others shared NT8800.

Free alcohol from the stage...

Performance by the bartender

There were definitely lots of hot babes around...