Started getting hyped up to write about my recent travels to Italy for the first time, but when I look back and realised that I got so much travel logs backlogged all the way from 2018, I knew that I had to quickly get it all out of the way before I could start on Italy. It never feels good to start on something new when you have so much unfinished already. So here is a quick wrap-up of one of the short trips I took to Taipei in 2018 spontaneously.
I had just landed in Hong Kong for a six-month job deployment in January 2018 when I started chatting with strangers on Coffee Meets Bagel (a dating app) and hit it off with one of the guys. We found cheap discounted tickets to Taipei about a month after we met and decided to YOLO and go for it. It was fun and exciting because I NEVER travelled with strangers (yes, I am awkward like that) and I am glad that we went for it in the end because the two of us ended up getting together officially by the end of February and we’ve come a long way since then.
Okay that was a weird breakaway to tell you my relationship story, but the point I was getting to was that this trip was special to me because it was the start of many more adventures we would end up embarking on. Let’s get into it quickly!~
DAY ONE
We took a late two-hour flight from Hong Kong to Taipei immediately after work so we arrived at around 12.40AM. Nothing much to do from there but to head straight to the AirBnB that we’ve booked via Taxi. I was very pleased with AirBnB because my oh my, it is a beaut. Here are some photos which I did not take for your reference. Presenting to you, the Simple Room:
THE SIMPLE ROOM
- No. 105號, Kangding Road, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
- We paid about 97SGD per night for the room, inclusive of service / cleaning charges (which averages to about just 48.50SGD per person per night)
- Open studio with one bed – suitable for up to 2 guests
- Close walking distance to the Ximending District
- High quality furnishings – Dyson hairdryer, the MOST comfortable bed, smart TV with Netflix so you can Netflix and Chill in a whole other country, washing machine so that you can do your laundry and later hang-dry it on the balcony
- Impeccable service – we were received personally by the host even though we came in the middle of the night and there were even some snacks prepared for us and we were shown and introduced to the room quickly
After a good night’s rest on that fluffy bed that almost absorbs you into it, we started the day nice and early with breakfast at Yong He Soya Bean King (永和豆浆王). This is located just within the Ximending district so we could just walk there directly. I can’t even remember much about the food and I couldn’t find any photos of it so I assume that it was all rather meh – not life changing but not bad. The only thing that I remember was that it was some sort of breakfast roll. I think the real iconic item to get here is definitely the soya bean drink – it was smooth, sweet and oh so refreshing in that Taipei summer heat. It was really creamy and comforting and ever since our first cup, we pretty much kept going back almost every morning for another cup and another cup and another… well, you get the picture. If you get here, take note that it is going to be crowded – so don’t be shy, ask the waiters if you don’t understand the queuing system and dive into the breakfast crowd. It’s going to be hard for the servers to reach out to you and offer assistance first since they are so busy. Otherwise, chomp up your noms quickly so that you can vacate your seats for the next crowd. we quickly moved on to our next stop from here which was to head to Taipei 101.
Before we could do that, we needed to equip ourselves with what they call Easy Cards so that we could take trains / buses around Taipei freely. A little tip regarding Easy Cards – if you’re vain like me and would like your Easy Card to be all fancy / cute, buy yours at any 7-eleven convenience store near you – they have a selection of beautifully designed Easy Cards, often with popular cartoon characters on them. If you get yours at the subway station like me, then you’re going to get that standard Easy Card design which looks rather unappealing to me but it’s too late for my regrets now.
In any case, it is so so super easy to get around Taipei with this Easy Card. Just tap and go!
We quickly arrived at Taipei 101. I never felt like the Taipei 101 was anything special when I came the last time but there was something new that I wanted to try this time. I read from some blogs that there was a “not-so-secret-hidden-gem” within Taipei 101 – an exclusive Starbucks tucked on the 35th floor. This is the tallest Starbucks in the world and you can enjoy your coffee here with the most amazing view of Taipei. That magnificent view costs absolutely free, but of course, you’ll have to pay for your coffee. This is perfect for those who want to experience the views of the famous Taipei 101 – without forking out money for those observatory tickets.
The secret to this special Starbucks is this – reservations are necessary. I specifically recruited the help of our AirBnb Host and they were so helpful to help us to call ahead and make reservations (Taipei 101 Starbucks Reservation Hotline: +886 2 8101 0701). After your reservations have been made, you will need to meet at the office lobby of Taipei 101 at your specified reservation timing and a Starbucks staff will promptly come to pick you up and escort you to the Starbucks.
Another event I had planned for Taipei 101 was pretty basic but I simply had to – an authentic xiao long bao feast at the iconic Din Tai Fung Restaurant. Although the one in Taipei 101 is not the original Din Tai Fung that started it all, I have somehow also wanted to try this one because Simon and Martina from Eatyourkimchi filmed a video here which made me oh-so hungry. It’s not like I have never eaten Din Tai Fung either, I’ve been a fan for some time now and there are so many outlets in Singapore alone. But honestly, it IS delicious. I’ve had authentic xiao long baos from Shanghai and yet, Din Tai Fung xiao long baos still have a special place in my heart. What makes it so good? The dumpling skins here are paper thin so you can even kinda see through it and see all that hot, flavour-punch, comforting broth kinda just swishing around within the dumpling as you pick it up. Even as the skin is paper-thin, it holds up surprisingly well when you pick it up with chopsticks – I have never had my Din Tai Fung xiao long bao break from me picking it up ever and that’s saying a lot. I’ve also been told that if your dumpling breaks, they will exchange an entire new basket of dumplings for you. That’s the kind of quality assurance that you don’t find anywhere else.
I find it fascinating to watch their open kitchens where you can see all the action happening and watch those dumplings get made. What do you call a Chinese girl who doesn’t enjoy Din Tai Fung’s xiao long baos? A dumb Ling – and I ain’t one 😉
After all that food, we wanted to get some exercise in – how convenient is it that just one metro station away lies another iconic Taipei attraction – Elephant Mountain, Xiangshan 象山. It’s a short hike up (about 20 minutes one-way) for some of the best views of the sprawling city of Taipei. It’s a straight vertical climb up tons and tons of stairs so be prepared to feel your legs buuuuurrrrn, even if just for 20 minutes. I definitely felt slimmer after that intense climb. The views were definitely worth it though – highly recommend that you come during sunset or sunrise to enjoy Taipei in the golden hour. Since we came too early and didn’t have much planned for the rest of the day, we actually took time to head back to our accommodation, take a shower and a short nap, and then head back to Taipei 101 to visit the observation deck since my partner had never been there before. We had to compromise and do both the basic must-dos and the hidden gems since I’ve been to Taipei before and he hasn’t. Purchased those tickets off Klook for a discounted price – they were about 540NT per person for the 360 tickets. It was interesting to compare the views of Taipei from 3 different high points – Taipei 101 Starbucks, Peak of Elephant Mountain 象山, and finally the Taipei 101 Observatory Deck. I think I enjoyed the Elephant Mountain one the most since you could really feel a sense of achievement – like I worked hard for this view, byatch. But I got to see the sunset from Taipei 101 Observatory Deck so that was pretty special too.
We ended the night by heading over to Raohe Night Market 饒河觀光夜市. I had been too the Shilin 士林夜市 one before so I wanted to try a different one first this time so I could compare and figure out if it was worth visiting Shilin again and drown in those crowds.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t very impressed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I mean… it wasn’t bad, but I wanted it to be better. I don’t find myself craving any of what we had in Raohe Market for some reason. In its defence, we weren’t all that hungry so we couldn’t try much so maybe we just chose the wrong stuff? In any case, we tried the famous black pepper buns 胡椒餅, grilled Taiwan sausages, and some grilled squid which was very flavourful but a little bit on the expensive side I think.
That’s not to say that it was not worth visiting. There are definitely smaller crowds at Raohe Night Market – you can even get some seats in the restaurant easily. Also, once you’ve been in multiple night markets, you will realise that they are more or less pretty similar, with the exception of certain iconic food items (for e.g., Raohe night market’s famous black pepper buns). For example, you can see the same famous brand of night market flame-grilled beef cubes in almost all of the night markets. It’s still fun to visit the different markets to try to find the most special must-try items. I just wish that black pepper bun was more up my alley goddamnit. I was really looking forward to it 😦
Yong He Soy Bean King 永和豆浆王
No. 102號, Section 2, Fuxing South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106
Din Tai Fung (Taipei 101) 鼎泰豐
110, Taiwan, Taipei City, Xinyi District, City Hall Rd, 45號台北101購物中心B1
Raohe Night Market 饒河觀光夜市
Raohe Street, Songshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 105
DAY TWO
We started off the day with a chill breakfast at Tian Tian Li (天天利), which is another famous traditional Taiwanese breakfast spot here in Taipei. It is also located in Ximending, just a short 5 minute walk from Yong He Soya Bean King from yesterday – which means what you can do is to purchase some of that delicious soya bean milk as a takeaway and have it at this store with a wider variety of breakfast dishes (which was exactly what we did). We had the iconic Oyster Omelette here, as well as Carrot Cake. The carrot cake here was more similar to the Cantonese carrot cake – a huge block of white turnip cake pan-fried to crispy goodness. It was a good comforting taste reminiscent of my childhood days but nothing out of the extraordinary still. The Oyster Omelette here was not bad but dang if it doesn’t make me miss Singapore’s oyster omelettes even more. The Taiwanese oyster omelette is more creamy and wet (which means it can be a bit soggy if not cooked well), thus paling in comparison versus the crispy, crunchy and dry Singapore oyster omelette. The flavour profile is also sweeter versus Singapore’s oyster omelette – the sauce is a sweet brown glaze which drowns the entire omelette. I much prefer Singapore’s flavour profile – drenched in a lime juice for an appetising kick which is accompanied with a citrusy garlic chilli for some heat.
There wasn’t much itinerary for today – we decided to spend the day shopping around Yong Kang Street and Ximending. It was also raining lightly throughout the day so we didn’t take much photos other than at lunch. However, I was pretty excited to head over to the Addiction Aquatic Development (上引水產), a gourmet seafood marketplace, for lunch because sashimi is life for me. You can get a variety of dishes here – they have a seafood bar, a standing sushi bar, a wine bar, and a supermarket all packed in one location so you can get anything from wine snacks (e.g. oysters, some short ribs, etc) to fully prepared seafood bentos to-go.
Of course, I had to go for the standing sushi bar. The place was crowded at lunch hour but since they were standing-only, it didn’t take long for us to get two spots at the bar where we could watch the chefs do their magic. The fish was fresh, the shrimp were sweet, and the atmosphere was magical (if only it wasn’t so hot). I wouldn’t recommend the Ootoro here because it wasn’t the best and it wasn’t cheap but I thought everything else was pretty good and worth a try. A cooling meal like this was perfect for a hot summer day in Taipei. We couldn’t finish all the sashimis because we over-ordered but they were nice enough to let us takeaway the leftovers. Since the fish couldn’t stand to be in the heat for long, we took a cab back to the apartment directly from here and rested a while as we took respite from the heat.
We later head out in the evening again to look around at the nightlife in Ximending and try out the famous Ah Zong Man Xian (阿宗麵線), a delicious combination of thick, viscous, dark broth, with oysters that bring an umami kick and thin and short vermicelli. The noodles are so short that you can eat the entire bowl with just a spoon. This is one of the must-eats in Taipei for me. We also got a variety of other Taiwanese snacks like sautéed beef cubes and of course, fried chicken cutlet. All good but still, nothing life-changing unfortunately.
One of the more memorable parts of the trip was actually an impromptu visit to the Taipei City Hall. How could that be exciting you ask? Well, we were actually targeted with a Facebook location ad for a Heineken event that day – an open-air live streaming of UEFA Finals 2018 right in front of Taipei City Hall. The entire City Hall Square was decked with carpet grass and you could bring your own snacks and drinks to set up a picnic while watching the UEFA Finals on a big projector screen right under the stars. It was an exciting night that lasted until wee hours of the morning (around 4AM) and we didn’t regret it one second even though we had to wake up early the next day to head out of Taipei City for our Jiufen and Shifen Day Trip.
Tian Tian Li 天天利
108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, 漢中街32巷1號108
Addiction Aquatic Development 上引水產
No. 18號, Alley 2, Lane 410, Minzu East Road, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491
Ah Zong Mian Xian 阿宗麵線
No. 8-1號, Emei St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
DAY THREE
Early morning today despite only around 3 hours of sleep – we took a bus to Taipei Station and climbed aboard the Tze-Chiang Limited Express 422 towards Taichung. Alight at the 4th Stop, Ruifang Train Station and transfer to Pingxi Small Railway to get to Shifen Station for our out-of-Taipei-day-trip. The train was more crowded than I expected and we had no seats for most of the one-hour-train-ride.
Soon enough, we arrived at Shifen feeling all hyped up despite the heat. It was an idyllic little town nestled amongst the railroad tracks. You could see many old and traditional shops lining the old railroad with many interesting snacks and souvenirs. Since it was my first time in Shifen, we couldn’t miss the most basic and touristy activity in this area – known as 放天燈, or releasing traditional sky lanterns. Pick any vendor along the railroad tracks and they will equip you with a sky lantern, hanging on a drawing rack, and some calligraphy brushes. Then prepare to unleash your creativity – you are meant to write / draw your wishes onto these sky lanterns, before releasing it to the sky for good luck and in hope that the wishes come true. The vendor will even assist to help you to insta-story or video the entire process of you releasing the sky lantern so that you can always remember this fun moment. This small town is also a good photo spot since there is also a pretty suspension bridge called Jing An Suspension Bridge, the longest bridge in the town of Pingxi. It drapes over a clear river below and you can spend a good amount of time here just gazing and dreaming away while looking over the rolling river.
Another point of interest here is the Shifen Waterfall Park. It is just a short walk (about 20 minutes) from the Shifen Station. Although often described as the Niagra Falls of Taiwan, don’t expect too much since it is rather tiny for a waterfall. However, since it is close by, it’s still worth to visit and stroll to as it is rather scenic and you can still have a good time even if not just to admire the waterfall.
Once we were done with Shifen, we decided to roll on over Jiufen. Pretty excited to show this town area to my partner since he has never been before because this is the famous town that inspired Spirited Away by Studio Ghibli. I just want to say that this film had such an impression on me when I was young. I was really horrified by that scene where Chihiro’s parents turn into those sloppy and fat-ass pigs. I think I had nightmares about that for a while. In any case, you can actually take the train back one station to RuiFang Station and take a bus (bus 788 / 827 / 1062) to Jiufen from there or you can be lazy like us and just hire a cab. I love this little town on slopes – there are many stairs and slopes to conquer but the view is great and you can always find something interesting in those winding alleys. The red lanterns draped all across the alleyways are also 100% aesthetic and guaranteed to send you down Spirited Away memory lane.
Since we were all tired and sweaty, we decided to have a nice relaxing dinner with a view, so we chose this quaint little wooden restaurant that was nestled on the corner near the peak. They were selling these affordable hotpot sets and since there was air conditioning, we thought who could say no to hotpot (even though it is right smack in the middle of summer)? The food was good even if not life-changing but what was really special was the view and companionship. We stayed here eating while watching the sunset and even a while longer chatting in the breeze as the night dragged on. We later on planned to take a bus back to Taipei but the queue for the bus was just insane and taxi drivers were trying to arrange for a shared ride to Taipei so we decided to take that instead (well, we were surviving on 3 hours of sleep in our defence).
九份山海觀民宿
No. 217, Jishan Street, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 224
DAY FOUR
This was unfortunately a short day because we were flying back to Hong Kong in the evening and had to be at the airport by late afternoon. After quickly packing our bags and checking out of the AirBnb, we decided to visit the Taipei Liberty Square, since my partner is a libertarian and a bit of a history buff. Before that, we had to settle the most important meal of the day of course – and that is BRUNCH. Since we didn’t really have many satisfying meals in Taipei which was a shame, we wanted to make it up by finding an amazing braised pork rice restaurant. Boy, did we find one. Introducing to you Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice. That savoury grounded pork steeped in this dark soy broth and drenched over soft fluffy white rice – it is a masterpiece. Match this with a bowl of warm soup and this is the perfect comforting meal. Another one of my must-eats in Taipei. Please definitely go try this if you have the chance. I wish we found this place sooner so we could have had more meals here and try other dishes.
Another plus side was that it was only a close walk (8 minutes) to Liberty Square from the restaurant. Tell me if that isn’t perfect! Liberty Square is a pretty open square all decked out in white stone and blue roofs. This huge public space was designed as a memorial to Chiang Kai Shek, the leader of the Kuomintang who established Taiwan after being the Kuomintang Regime was overthrown in China. It makes for a perfect photo op. Taipei’s National Concert Hall and National Theatre are also located on the square so you can admire them in all their glory even if you didn’t get any tickets to any shows. The gift shops in the the National Theatre is also pretty cool – they feature many local artist works and products and is definitely worth checking out if you are there.
Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice 金峰魯肉飯
No. 10, Section 1, Roosevelt Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
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