The following entry will be a blow-by-blow account of my trip in Taipei. We were indeed very fortunate to have dodged both typhoons, though the heat still managed to suck some fun away. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the trip very much!
But, I'm even more glad to be back.
I arrived in Taoyuan International Airport at 1800hrs. The airport has absolutely limited shops or eateries. Thankfully, the driver was already waiting for us at the arrival hall when we arrived. He was super talkative and tried to engage us into conversation incessantly throughout the journey.
Being polite (only because I was in a foriegn land), I obliged on several occassions.
Like many countries, Taiwan also has a high number of motorcyclists and tourists are not advised to rent them there, as the driving styles are more aggressive there. Also, it would not be abnormal to see a whole family of 4 or more, perched on a tiny bike, zig zagging through traffic.
Think of it as cirque de soliel ala Taiwan version.
After throwing our bags down, we headed to Ximending for dinner. Being a sunday night, the place was packed with youngsters with trendy (and sometimes outlandish) apparrel, living up to it's name of being the Shibuya of Taiwan.
We met some weirdos along the way.
We then proceeded to locate the infamous Toilet Restaurant. With the help of some passerbys, finding the restuarant wasn't very hard at all.
Directions :
Walk through Tattoo street
You'll see a multistorey carpark
If on the main road, you'll see a blood donation truck parked permanently beside the carpark. The restaurant is opposite the carpark in the building of the 2nd floor.
And this was what we ended up ordering.
The seafood pasta with complimentary soft serve ice cream.
I had to be a kaypoh and order another ice cream.
And we ended up with this shit load of an ice mountain. The ang moh teenagers at the table beside us had a field day laughing their hairy asses off when the waitress brought this mutated thing over to our table. Stuffed with biscuits, some gummies, and jelly, the heap was really just a heck load of ice.
Ice Cream - NT100
Embarrassment - Priceless
Don't bother ordering this unless you like to induce eyeball pops.
We took their mass rapid system (called Jie Yun) to Shilin for more sightseeing. Look at how orderly these people are! They queue automatically along the white lines and give up seats immediately for the needy.
I'm so ashamed of the behaviour here. Haiz. Our pregnant women need to literally be naked to have people give up their seat.
Directions to Shilin :
From Ximen stop, take the train to Taipei Main Station
Transfer onto the Danshui Line, alighting at Jian Tan
Shilin night market is just opposite the train station
Please note that Shilin is split into 2 sections
The food section is directly opposite the station,
whereas the shopping belt is a walk further down the road.
Facing the blue signboard XXXL chicken store and with your back to Jian Tan station, walk towards your right down the road.
Many game stalls enveloping Shilin food centre
Ear candling
Shilin's finest!
Potato spirals!
Most of the food there is priced around NTD50, which translates to approximately SGD$2+. I highly recommend the sausages (Da Chang Bao Xiao Chang)!! It is soooooooo lip smacking delicious..!
The famed blue signboard XXXL chicken was okay only for me. Do note that I'm not a chicken lover to begin with. However, the queue for that particular stall is crazy.
The shaved ice dessert was quite good too. The tangy mango bits complimented the condensed milk they poured over the heap of ice. Since Shilin is non air conditioned, this provided temporary respite from the heat.
And the potato spirals was quite a feat to eat. I applaud the person responsible for coming up with the idea of selling potatoes like this!
And we didn't manage to try the beef steak over there either since we were so stuffed! NEXT TIME..!!
We left Shilin after buying some souvenirs and bloated to the core.
A good start for the upcoming days.
The view from our room
My already messy bed - a probable omen
And the forever blaring TV, screaming hour after hour of Taiwanese variety shows, drama serials and news.
Du Nai Fen!! (Posion Milk Powder)
Tai Feng!! (Typhoon)
Our stock of tidbits.
Check out my green tea!
The mascot (named Open) is super cute!
It has a rainbow of hair!! Heehee
