14 Feb 13
My mom, dad and Ben at the airport waiting for our pickup
Ximending – good for Ah Chung Mee Sua and not much else
This is actually Koi! Just branded under a different name in Taipei. Best combination for me was milk tea with small pearls while Ben liked his with small pearls and pudding.
We walked a lot in the day and these are some of sights I saw
This is The Wall in Gongguan district. Live bands/DJs/gigs/good crowd! Not that you can see any of that happening in the photo – we always arrive early to everything
Tons of shops in the Zhongxiao Fuxing area, really liked Artifacts.
Yongkang St is a foodie’s heaven! However, I was very taken by the number of adults and kids playing in this small (concrete) park in the dim light.
I only went to two night markets, the famous Shihlin and this Raohe one. Roahe’s has like a bajillion of their local food! Definitely preferred the atmosphere here too.
That about wraps up my photos of Taipei. Tomorrow I am off to KL with my family and relatives to visit some of our relatives, all of whom I’ve never met my whole life. Oh boy!
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, nikon FM10, Taipei guide
31 Jan 13
Ok I need you to do something for me before we get to the photos. Picture me on a bicycle, camera over my neck and my backpack in the basket in front of me. Ben waiting in front and sometimes behind me to finish snapping. That’s the narrative behind these photos 🙂
R.Y. left a comment suggesting Danshui (among other things) for some cycling and view of the sea. We rented bicycles while my parents ate their way through the shops along the waterfront. Apparently fish balls are their specialty here!
45 minutes of cycling later, we reached Fisherman’s Wharf. Ate the sushi we packed and headed back to meet my parents again. I didn’t snap photos of the Old Streets of Danshui as we were weaving through traffic. It was crazy crowded and looked like a lot of fun too.
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, nikon FM10, Taipei guide
25 Jan 13
Just some pictures for this post. Pictures of mammoth monuments. Let’s start with these – One’s the National Concert Hall and the other is the National Theatre, I forgot which is which because they look identical.
Below is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. It’s in the same compound as the monuments above.
On a different day, we popped by the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. There’s two of him.
After witnessing the change of military guards (quite lucky huh!), we walked towards Taipei 101.
I did go up to the Observatory Deck which is at the 89th floor. I wouldn’t urge anyone to, if you’re considering. It’s prettier looking up at it than looking down from up there.
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, nikon FM10, Taipei guide
21 Jan 13
Jiufen is pretty synonymous with tourists visiting Taipei, it’s an hour away from the city so that makes it a nice half-day trip. I thought I’d share how to get there on your own as opposed to joining a tour. First, get yourself to Taipei Railway Station! It is linked to Taipei Main Station on the MRT.
Next, train tickets. Skip the queue and head straight for the ticket machines. We are getting tickets to get to Ruifang. Because the train schedules only show the start and end point of each line, you won’t find Ruifang anywhere on the board/machines. What we did was to get help from the staff (wearing red vests in the photo) to help us. Ticket prices vary depending on which type of train (allocated seats or free seating) and also the timing. We went with the earliest slot that could accomodate all four of us which turned out to be the free seating type.
Sorry to get wordy here but as one who does a lot of research before travelling, I appreciate little notes here and there that would make a small difference. You can eat & drink on the train so if breakfast is something you had to miss to catch a train, there’s a lot of food you can buy in the station for your journey. One other thing is there are many trains moving off from the same platform your train departs from. So double check the time stamp on the screen and triple check with the train conductor cos we almost boarded the wrong train.
Getting to Ruifang takes about 55 minutes. The train emerges from underground pretty quickly so there’s a view for the most part. Exit Ruifang Station and here, we’re gonna get on a bus. Once outside, look across the street, spot the WELLCOME sign. The buses pick up passengers headed to Jiufen/Jinguashi/Keelung there. The buses clearly state their destinations so hop on the ones that say JIUFEN. A one-way ride is NT$15.
The bus ride takes about 15 minutes, slowly climbing up winding roads.
So at Jiufen, there’s a lot of eating and drinking to do. The market was pretty packed but in a good-energy kind of way.
We did some tea tasting.
Ate this unusual combination of grated peanuts & ice cream wrapped in popiah skin.
Now the journey back to Taipei is about the same, take a bus back to Ruifang, get train tickets from Ruifang Station back to Taipei Railway Station. The only thing to note is the bus stop to wait for a bus heading back to Ruifang is different. See the 7-11 in the photo below? That’s at the mouth of the market. Walk up the hill and you’ll see a bus stop, that’s the one you want to be at.
That about wraps up Jiufen. From Jiufen, you can also continue to Pingxi and Shifen by train. Pingxi for sky lanterns and Shifen to see the Shifen Waterfall.
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, Jiufen, nikon FM10, Taipei guide
16 Jan 13
Been quiet here but I’m jumping right into my first instalment of What I Loved about Taipei!
Simple Market happens every Sunday afternoon. The venue is, can I say, perfect? The market area is in between two rows of shophouses. Occupying one of the shophouses is Good Cho’s, a cafe/shop/mini art gallery/ice cream parlour all in one. I get the idea that they are the same people behind Simple Market.
I didn’t get to eat there. I eyed a few things that were perfect for gifts then ultimately got carried away by my own excitement. Cute packs of tea, funky pairs of socks, locally made honey. After getting a latte, we headed outside to comb the market.
There aren’t many stalls but you do get the sense that it’s a tightly curated selection of vendors. Each one had something unique to offer, no two were the same. I got these lovely origami crane fabric brooches. That’s my folks, Jean – my brother’s girlfriend – and Ben in their own nook (up) there.
I particularly loved these grassy slopes where people sat around with their friends.
So much so that I had to climb up one of them myself! Thanks Simple Market for existing, it was such a pleasure. To Michelle too, for sharing her find.
Simple Market is located at Xinyi Public Assembly Hall
54 Songqin Street, Xinyi District
Sundays, 1 – 7pm
p.s. totally walkable from Taipei 101
| Tags: 50mm/F1.8, nikon FM10, Taipei guide
