It's already almost the end of day 3 and I thought I should start blogging before I forget anything important! This blog post will be all about my trip in Taipei, and hopefully it'll be helpful to anyone out there who is planning to go Taiwan during this period of the year!
Our flight was in the early morning 0855hrs but I decided to take the last train for the day and stay overnight at Changi Airport. However, after a change of plan, parents and sister sent us off at night and we reached the airport really early - 11PM?!?!
We checked in at 12am and started exploring all 3 terminals' transit areas (after immigration). Starting off with T2!
I really love our airport! From the cute stores like M&M shop to massage areas to movie theaters, we managed to kill our time very quickly with minimal amount of sleep. At last, we boarded our plane! It actually rained but very lucky of us, it stopped just before the gate opens.
After 5 hours of flight we finally arrived at Taoyuan Intl Airport. I just had to grab a bite @ HiLife -- a convenience store you can find it almost anywhere in Taipei! It's similar to 7-Eleven though.
You can opt for train, taxi, MRT or shuttle bus either at the airport itself or provided by your hotel to travel from Airport to your destination. As for me, my hotel has kindly sent me an email 1 week before I reach here to inform me of ways to get here. One of it was to hop on to their FreeGo Shuttle Bus or KuoKuang Shuttle Bus, where you only need to pay NT$140 (~SGD6) to get from the airport to Ximending!
Red House (红楼) is one historical site located just right beside Exit 1 of Ximen Station, which is also very near to our hotel! We've yet to visit this place though, haha.
Very first night of our trip spent at Ximending to quickly satisfy our tummy with so delish food and also to get to know our area better before we proceed to other places.
Tip: Start exploring the areas near your hotel so that you know where to go from your hotel, what's nice to eat near your hotel etc.
First stop was at Little Prince and Princess Cafe located on the second floor of a particular building at Ximending. A very huge and cute golden retriever greeted us lying on the floor sleeping upon our entrance, really cute!
Our meal comes together as a set, consisting of: soup of the day, choice of main dish and a drink worth NT90 (~SGD5). Any amount of the drink more than NT90 will have to be topped up! Desserts such as tiramisu or marble cheesecake cost less than SGD6 if I didn't remember wrongly.
Total bill: NT457 inclusive of 10% charge (SGD19.50)
And of course, who can miss out trying the very famous Ah Zong Mee Sua from Ximending?!?! I had a few mouth of it and think it's not bad. I mean, I'm not someone who loves Mee Sua and honestly speaking that was my very first time eating mee sua in my entire life! So I'm not too sure how it should taste like but still, delish!
Small bowl - NT55
Big bowl - NT65
This is what some people would call it as 'mochi on stick'. I've no idea what this is called, but we walked past the stall and saw some rice-cake looking food being grilled and got interested especially when there were a long queue for this!
Each stick costs NT30 (SGD1.30) They have both Sweet and Savory flavours to choose from, and we got both the sweet ones - Cheese and Condensed Milk! Pretty good~ But it gets messy as you eat it while walking along the streets!
Tip: It's never a good thing entering shopping malls, especially in areas where they are more famous for street shopping such as Ximending and Shilin Market to name a few. Reason is simple: Not worth your money! Unless you're aiming for certain brands, as they are somewhat cheaper than Singapore in my opinion.
Day 1's loots was the best! The variety of shoes drowned me totally and I almost wanted to get a few pairs of slip-on, but decided to just get one. Apart from that, the power bank was a total steal! Power bank costed me NT890 (SGD37+) and I got the cable and pouch FOR FREE. The guy who sold me these was really friendly! Even after giving me the freebies, he wished us to have a good stay during these few days in Taipei :)
Stay tuned to my next post as I guide you through the other more popular/recommended places of Taipei!
Till then,
x.