2nd day in Taipei marked the official start of our trip, since we landed in the noon on the first day and that already took away half a day of ours. We kicked start our day with JSP for breakfast, a shop just few steps down from our hotel.
I ordered the 香鸡起司堡, something many Singaporeans would prolly call it as the KFC burger? Hahah it's nothing very special; just grilled bread with lettuce, tomato, eggs and 'McChicken' patty. But it tasted good and it only costed us about SGD$3+? Definitely a must-try!!
Day 2's itinerary: ZhongXiao Fuxing > ZhongXiao DunHua > Yong Kang St
Coffee before anything! We found a store nearby selling coffee drinks and oh gosh how cheap are these babies. Prices stated here are for full sugar level (You get to choose either half or full!)
I chose 招牌咖啡冰沙 (Signature Iced Coffee) at half-level sugar, so it only costed me NT30 (SGD$1.30)
I can haz mini thigh gap HAHAHA just kidding.
Tip: Ask people who worked around there for the areas worth touring/visiting.
Not too sure of what's nice around this area but I know there are lotsa food places, we checked with a security guard at a shopping mall. Turned out to be that we almost went towards an area with almost nothing good to walk about!
Actually, ZhongXiao Fuxing don't really have anything to shop for. Just streets to walk along. But if you're interested to come take a look, I suggest you drop by this area in the afternoon after 12PM because most of the shops weren't open when we arrived at about 11am!
I'm not sure how, but we discovered Hello Kitty Cafe and decided to just go in and take a look.
Note: Entry fee per pax is NT300 (~SGD$15) so DO NOT ENTER unless you are willing to pay for the ambiance.
For us, we definitely wouldn't want to stay because we're just curious about how the cakes would taste! We've heard from our friends that the cakes here are not so nice, but Ladyironchef actually listed this cafe under his Guide to cafes in Taipei. Hmm..
Strawberry Shortcake: NT120 (SGD$5.10)
CheesecakeNT150 (SD$6.40)
Taste: Not too bad
Worth trying: Maybe?
If you're into themed cafes, just give this a go then. :)
Down and about, we reached ZhongXiao Dunhua and I swear there were many eateries you ought to try! While I did not try any of them, just walking past the shops made me happy already. Each shops were designed with its own unique taste, so nothing were very similar. It just feels different, if I were to put them into words simply.
I swear~ The weather was pretty nasty. Rain was on and off, which makes walking along the streets difficult. The sticky feeling on us weren't helping too!
Walking to another exit of the station brings us to another walking point of ZhongXiao DunHua. While walking to YongKang St, I spotted this shop which seems interesting to me.
Basically, this shop has got similar concept to Black Balls, but its ingredients were pretty much like Mr Bean's. Their main ingredients consisted of Green/Red Beans, Soy Beancurd/Soya Milk related food, Almond beancurd etc.. We shared the Red Bean + Soy Milk ice cream topped with jellies and a biscuit stick (NT70/SGD$3+)
Ladyironchef said that Yong Kang St is a street for cafes, but I found myself not finding a lot of hidden gems, except for Cafe Xiaomijo. Also, the nasty weather (once again) caused us to not explore much of the places. Totally mood-ruining!
Tip: If you're looking for good mochi, you can try locating a store near Henry Cats and Friends. It's a store selling Taipei snacks and the mochi that I bought was really good in terms of texture and also price! (Suitable for vegeterians too!)
If you need to quickly satisfy your dumplings craving, you'll be able to find a street store selling them at really cheap prices. However, don't have high expectations on it! The skin of the dumpling was pretty thick as compared to those from Ding Tai Fung, and the juice instead was too little. Taste wise, not too bad for my Xiao Long Bao but 蟹黄小笼包 was just so-so.
Back at hotel at last for a quick rest before we head out for dinner at Ah Mao Risotto. I was quite into risotto and since it's not very expensive, I thought it's a good idea to have our dinner there!
Meals over here are cheap as well, about SGD20 for two person. Meals include soup and drink! :)
End of Day 2 and I'll continue with Day 3 asap!!
x.