Cynthia Luvs, 8th April
I'm astonishingly awkward, easily affected and extremely negative.

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Just got back to SG on Thursday and here I am to update on my most recent trip to Taiwan! Quite efficient, I would say since I am pretty laid back in updating my blog these days but I am worried that I would forget about some details here and there so it's still better to update before my STM acts up.

It was a midnight flight so I could nua at home on Saturday, 20 August 2014 till 10pm whereby we would have to leave the house and head for the airport.

Some selfies before I went to bath and head out because I would grow alot fatter during the 5 days trips so keep some selfies first though I didn't have my contact lens and make up on! >_<


SIAN-ed faces because my bloody period have to visit me on the start of my trip which I have been so excited about for months! -___________- WHY?!?!

Just had to look on the brighter side of life and tells myself that it's finally the day for my long awaited trip and my first trip in 20 years to Taiwan! YAY! #SelfConsole

Reached Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 10.30pm and we went to have some supper after checking in our baggage. Had to fill our tummies before boarding because I knew that we would be hungry during the 4.5hrs flight and we didn't got the in-flight meal which I felt wasn't worth the money. 

Had McDonald's because I was craving for it and it's been months since I last ate McDonald's so my mom, being a very 'anything' person, agreed so our supper was a McWrap and a Samurai Beef Burger with Tamago!


Just got them without the set meal because we didn't have any cravings for the french fries or drinks. It was $10.80 in total but I was damn satisfied! ^_^

Dabao-ed half of my beef burger which I couldn't finish after having half of mom's McWrap which she couldn't finish! Didn't want to waste the beef patty which was quite yummy and I was having major meat craving at that point of time so I brought the leftover to finish on plane which wasn't allowed technically.

Walked around the airport since we still have the time after finishing our food and here's my mom who wanted a photo with the flowers!


She wanted more flowers to be in the photo so I think I delivered what she requested for, buey pai ba?

Flight was at 12.45am and we reached Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5.30am via Scoot Airline.

Couldn't get any sleep at all during the 4hours plus flight, damn torturous! Was still glad that the leg space and seats were considered spacious as compared to other budget airlines so I could survive the long hours on flight. Was lucky I brought my S5 with me so I have my music to accompany me throughout the flight since I didn't talk much to mom who was trying really hard to sleep. 

Also finished my leftover beef patty from my burger during the flight, HIAKHIAK! :D

Cleared custom at about 6am. Decided not to get any data sim card from the counters at the airport as most of them will only be opened at 8am.

Went to get 2 tickets from the bus counters to head to Taipei Main Station, following the signs stated at the airport!


Managed to get our bus tickets successfully at 125NT (SGD5.40) each from 国光客运. We got our tickets from 国光客运 even though it's slightly less comfy as compared to the other bus companies because we didn't have to wait for long before the bus leaves. The other buses heading to Taipei Main Station were set to leave after 6.50am while 国光客运 was 6.30am and it even left at 6.20am because the bus were full.

Sat separated from my mom because the bus didn't have available 2 seats that were together. Oh well, survived the 40mins ride and reached Taipei Main Station at 7am.

Tourist mode on when I reached! Snapped some pictures of the architectures outside the station. 



Lighting was so good that the pictures didn't need any filters! All pictures from this trip are from my S4's camera even though I brought my camera along but I didn't use it at all since my phone's camera works as good too!

Not much shops were opened at 7am+ except for some bakeries and convenience stores.

Decided to get a bread each from GAKUDEN 樂田麵包屋 which was located at the basement of Taipei Main Station [台北市忠孝西路一段49號B1(捷運台北車站3號出口內)] because their breads smells so good when we walked past the bakery.


The one on the left was Mom's pick and the bakery's Top Seller No.2 which was really huge irl! Mom said it was 58NT (SGD2.50), told ya I have serious STM and I have already forgotten most of the details during the trip after just a few days.

Taste was quite good and not too sweet too because most of such pastries are always overly sweet but theirs was just right with some raisins in it.

The one on the right was mine and I shared half of it with mommy because it was so good!!! It wasn't even one of the top seller but it's already one of my favourite yam bread!

Very generous amount of yam filling! Not those cream type but pure mashed yam kind of filling, taste was just right, not too sweet nor too bland and texture was really smooth and a little Q! Bread was chewy yet soft and taste wise, it was light so it matches very well with the awesome yam filling!!

I think it was 40NT (SGD1.70) if I didn't remember wrongly. About the same price as breads from SG but it's really worth the money for the amount of yam in the bread! *heart eyes*

Good food made our morning a little better especially when we were so restless after a night without sleep!

Walked around the station to find the counter to get our Easy-Cards which is similar to our EZlink card in Singapore which can be used for some buses, metro or even payments at certain shops in Taipei.


It was 200NT (SGD8.60) each with 100NT value and 100NT as deposit which can be refunded when you return the card.

After walking rounds around Taipei Main Station to get the EasyCard, we finally reached our platform for Tamsui Line (Red Line). We were heading to our hotel located near Jiantan Station first to put our baggage which was such a big burden to bring around.


There weren't much people at around 8am, so glad because I always feels annoyed when places are too crowded!

Also got a seat on the metro because it wasn't crowded, lucky us! It was 5 stops to Jiantan from Taipei Main Station and the journey took about 10-15mins which is pretty much the same speed as our MRT.

Booked Star Beauty Resort （星美Hotel) from Expedia to accommodate us for our 4 nights in Taipei. Paid SGD460.88 in total for 4 nights with daily breakfast and wifi inclusive of taxes or whatsoever.

Direction:
Walk along Jiantan Road from Exit No. 1 of MRT Jiantan Station to Hougang Park, and then make a right turn to Hougang Street.

That was the directions given from the hotel but we spent quite a while to find the hotel which was surprisingly ulu and we definitely walked more than 15mins just to find the hotel!

For me, I would suggest turning left after the Exit No.1 of Jiantan Station, walk straight. Cross the traffic on the right at the junction, walk straight and cross a traffic light. You would see a big fruits stall, walk along the fruit stall (turn right after crossing the traffic), turn left into a lane and walk straight all the way and TADA, hotel found!

It's pretty much a 8-10mins walk from Jiantan station to the hotel. 

Check-in time is 3pm so we could only deposit our luggage at the hotel before having to go 流浪 till 3pm when all we wanted to do at that point of time was to SLEEP!

The hotel had this seating area for hotel guests with free hot drinks and lemon water which I thought was quite sweet of them.



Had a cup of water at the lobby before heading out to wander around for 6hrs till we could get our room to sleep!

Bad choice for a midnight flight especially when we couldn't get to sleep on flight.

Headed back to Taipei Main Station because we actually didn't plan much for the trip and just go wherever we want to.

Found another bakery, Shun Chen Bakery ( 順成蛋糕) which was pretty crowded at 9am+. We bought some breads there before heading out of the mall for a place to sit down and eat.


Forgot what was it called but it's a Walnut pastry which mom loves and rated it a 9/10! It was NT50 (SGD2.15), not a big slice but worth the money. Crust were very crispy, generous layer of walnuts and the 'cake' layer were very smooth and light. Overall it's pretty good though I'm not much a fan of such pastry!


My Polo Bun w Yam and Custard! I can't remember the exact price but it was about NT30+.

Didn't really like the texture of the bread and it's a little dry but the custard layer were so pudding-ish! It's just like slurping pudding! Yam layer were not bad because it have really rich yam taste but it was cold so overall it's like eating a hot bread with cold custard and yam layer which is a little weird!


Yam Mochi, NT30 (SGD1.30). Mochi layer were thin which was good because I am not a big fan of mochi! Filling is a big ball of chewy yam similar to the yam bread I had from Gakuden.


Sat outside this really cute shop while eating our buys which we couldn't finish as we were quite full from the breads from Gakuden earlier on.

Went back to Taipei Main Station and went cray cray buying shoes at the R and Y zone because there were so many footwear shops!! Most of their flats/pumps were only NT200 (SGD8.60) and some were really pretty! *-*

Such a pity that all the really nice platform shoes have only size 39 max and there's me who needs a size 40! So sad because I saw quite a few pairs which I really wanted but were not available size 40 or the size that I want is OOS. Sigh, this is life but was still happy that I got 3 pairs of flats and mom got a pair of slippers and a pair of shoes for work!


Not too bad because we at least bought some stuffs, we was so afraid that we would go home empty-handed!

Walked around before we headed to the Z zone because I wanted to visit a wholesale store for some beauty and household products.

As it was our first time there, we spent quite a while to find the right exit! Felt so accomplished when we found the store, like finally!!!


Directions:
Taipei Main Station (Exit at Z4, which is the exit for Shin Kong Mitsukoshi). Walk towards the back of the building and you will see this!


It's the one with yellow banners and they are 3 storeys high! They really have lots of items for us to shop for and good to spend time in especially when we have so much time to waste.

Level 1 are mostly CDs, level 2 are mostly stationary which we finished browsing through within 10mins. Spent most of our time shopping at the 3rd level because it's filled with beauty products, accessories, makeup and even snacks! My favourite level to shop at!

Spent 2009NT (SGD86.20) in total for a full bag of stuffs, all from level 3!

Here's the items we got!


Some snacks we got! Snyder's Pretzel pieces which I finally bought to try, the cheese one was quite nice! Yet to try the caramel one and they do have alot other flavours. The small pack was NT25 (SGD1.07), medium pack was NT49 (SGD2.10).

The pretzel from the other brand in Honey Mustard flavour was only NT15 (SGD0.65)! Not sure why is it so cheap but have yet to try it!


Masks that I got! Was so spoiled for choices so I didn't got much because I couldn't decide what I want!

There was a buy 1 get 1 free promotion for the SexyLook Masks at NT279 (SGD12) and some other brands. Was so happy about it and only realized I actually paid the original price when I went back because the cashier scanned both boxes so it's like I'm getting it at NT279 each, OH WELL.

Foot mask was NT149 (SGD6.40) while the box of eye mask was NT169 (SGD7.25). Not exactly super cheap and not sure why I even get them too. I blame the lack of sleep!

Also got a box of Hello Kitty masks for my favourite C, Cherlyn who is a kitty fan!


I swear we were damn crazy to buy big bottles of Johnson's body wash oversea because it's so heavy but pretty hard to find in SG so we got 2 bottles of it! It was 119NT each (SGD5.10), quite affordable I guess since I'm not sure how much does it cost in SG.

Also got some facial wash for mom and bro, body scrubs and Tsubaki Shampoo!

Could have bought more but our hands were full and we wanna visit other shops too so we didn't carry on shopping at Kuang Nan or else I think we would have to cab back to the hotel.


There's also a Daiso which is 4 storeys high at the same lane as the wholesale store but we didn't get anything there because we have most of the stuffs in the Daiso outlets in SG. Price weren't too much of a big difference, theirs was at NT39 (SGD1.70).

Wind was so big that it was so hard to even walk properly, I was still happily thinking it was such a windy day until I realized it was actually the typhoon wind the next day. ~_~

Had to walk around even though our legs were breaking because it was not even 1pm when we finished buying all our stuffs.

Having nowhere to go with so much bags of stuffs, we went to take the metro back to our hotel. Settled at one of the eatery nearby our hotel for lunch and a place to sit down and rest at about 1.30pm. 

One of the worst decision ever, food were really bad and prices weren't even cheap.


All of the above for NT420 (SGD18), would rather settle for a meal at 7-11 because most of their convenience stores provides seating.

Their soup were quite light but pretty tasteless. My seafood noodle in cream sauce is quite creamy but the noodle doesn't really goes well with the sauce and was a little overcooked. It was a big portion but it wasn't really pleasant.

Their chef's recommendation, 三杯鸡 was quite bad as well. It wasn't flavourful at all and just really MEH. Potato that comes with the rice was the best among all, I guess. Mom's mango juice were pretty fine but my raspberry tea was so tasteless and actually slightly bitter.

It's just like paying for a place to sit down because the food were really quite bad. Service was still good because the staffs were quite friendly so not too bad overall, just don't find it worth the money.

Went back to the hotel's lobby at about 2.30pm because the eatery closes at 2.30pm. Waited for a while till almost 3pm, where the receptionist finally gave us our keycard for our room which is located at the 3rd floor!


Also received our breakfast coupons for the next day and 2 coupons to redeem either ice cream/waffle at the family mart opposite the hotel which we forgot to use it in the end.

They do not have any bellboy in this hotel so we carried our stuffs up along with our luggage, so lucky we only brought one luggage or we would be super 狼狈.

Here's our room for the 4 nights stay, we got the Business room which cost about just $8 more per night but slightly bigger than the standard room!



Area outside the toilet and beside the room door. Mini fridge with free cans of drinks and 2 bottles of mineral water. Small wardrobe for us to hang our clothes which mom conquered all the 5 hangers so I just threw my clothes in the luggage! #StoryOfMyLife


Heh, lazy to clear the area to take photo but this is the area for us to eat almost every night when we takeaway food from the night markets.


TV which mom is super glued on and always ignores me when I talk to her. #TVIsMoreImportantThanMe *Wipes tears*

Dressing table which is pretty huge, good for us to put our buys everyday and ends up being my personal dining table when mom watches her TV and ignores her cutie. HAHAHAHA!

Nua-ed a little while in the room, bathed and went to nap at about 4pm because we were so sleepy after a night without sleep yet have to wander around for hours.

It was my 30th hours being awake when I could nap, talk about my panda eyes.

K.O and woke up around 6+ in the evening before we prepare and head over to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市), the largest and most famous night market in the city which is a 10mins walk from our hotel!

It was raining really heavily, mood becomes sian ji pua because it's quite inconvenient to shop around and some street stalls weren't opened due to the rain.

Randomly enter this eatery, 宏冠土魠鱼焿 because mom was craving for something soupy in the cold weather.



BEST CHOICE EVER! Food were decently priced yet really delicious!

Here's our dinner on the cold night which was served in less than 5 mins after ordering!


Mom rated it a 4.5/5. I think the soup is really flavourful and beehoon was cooked just nice so it actually does absorb the soup taste. Fish was well fried and very tender! Worth eating!


My first time eating this and my eyes went *-* when I first tasted it! It was SO GOOD and the small bowl was enough to make me full because the portion is considered big! The meat are so soft and it melts in the mouth literally and sauce was just right, not too salty or tasteless!

Totally missing this now! U_U


Wasn't expecting much for this because we just ordered it without knowing what it actually is but this is so enjoyable!

The fish roe are well fried, not dry or oily at all!! It goes so well with the sweet kind of mayo so we won't get sick of eating so much mayo! Totally a 5/5!!! Matches even better with my luroufan! *-*

3 dishes were only for 150NT (SGD6.45) and it was so simple yet so satisfying!

It was dessert time after a good meal and despite the cold weather, we still went ahead to look for a cold dessert shop!

Settled down at 阿忠冰店 which is located at the basement of Shilin Night Market, at the corner!



We ordered the Strawberry-Mango-Kiwi Ice cream Snow Ice (草莓芒果奇异果雪球雪绵)! All 3 are my top 3 favourite fruits, how happy is that?!?!


It was 150NT (SGD6.45). More than enough to feed 2 because it's really a big serving and they are so generous with their fruits though I find fruits quite expensive in Taiwan!

The snow ice was good, very fluffy and smooth! Slightly sweet and goes well with the fruits which are mostly slightly on the sour side! Mango cubes were like frozen mangoes which was super cold and shiok though I feel a little brain-freeze at times.

It was good with the strawberry syrup and condensed milk plus the awesome mango ice cream! Totally worth the money for such a pleasant bowl of dessert!

Walked around and decided to head back to the hotel at about 9pm+ because it was still drizzling and really inconvenient to shop around.

TV time till almost 2am and another bag of stuffs from Watsons which we got at the earlier part of the day.


Just slightly cheaper than the price in SG but just bought them since we saw them!

This marks the end of my Day 1 which concludes the long and tiring day! Would be better if we could fall asleep on flight but oh well, at least we had some really good food and dessert!

A really long post which I actually spent hours doing up this post! PHEW!

Labels: Dessert, Food, Shopping, Travel