I decided not to bring Yong to see the change of guards or the museums whilst we were in Taipei City.
That leaves me with quite limited places to visit during the day (with not enough nights to visit the night life).
The first time I've been to Taipei, I went to Long Shan Shi (龍山寺) with my family.
There are 5 different Long Shan Shi in Taiwan actually =)
The one in Taipei was the Mengjia Longshan Temple was built in 1738 by settlers from Fujian, China.
The temple was destroyed many times and eventually rebuilt over and over again.
It's easy to get here as the MRT station is named Long Shan Shi and there are directions in English from the station exits.
Another bright and sunny morning.
Temple was bustling with people probably due to the starting of school term.
The exterior of the main temple.
In the main hall, there are 6 gods/goddesses and in the back temple - a total of 16.
This temple is also pretty famous for the yue niang which looks after women's fortune in love.
After the quick visit and getting some fu dai for my family, we headed to get some lunch.
We just chose any nearby eateries as Yong was hungry.
I was drinking the Xian Cao and chewing the jelly.
Pork ribs with noodles in soup.
Yummy!
Next, we headed to Taipei 101 (how can a tourist to Taipei not go there right?).
To get to 101, take the MRT to the Taipei City Hall Station.
Look for the Taipei 101 shuttle sign near the exit.
After you reach the bus terminal, walk out to the main street and there are 4-5 bus stops there.
Go to the first one at the right and you should see a paper pasted in the bus stop that says free shuttle to 101.
If you are not sure, just ask around =)
The bus will come with the words Free Shuttle.
There are 2 free shuttles here so be careful which one you board.
Alternatively, you can also walk to 101.
Go toward ShinKong Mitsukoshi (新光三越) and you can walk the link bridge all the way to 101.
NYNY has closed it's doors down. Haiz.
We headed straight up to the ticket counter to get the tickets for the observatory.
With the Youth card, we got a discount of NT50 off the adult price of NT400.
101 is currently the 2nd tallest building in the world.
From 5th floor to the 89th floor observatory took about 40 seconds.
When in the lift, look at the ceiling as it displays an array of lights or the display panel which shows the time taken to reach.
Once you arrive on the 89th floor, you can exchange for a walkie-talkie that offers a guided tour.
Everytime I went 101, the 91st floor open air observatory was always closed due to weather conditions.
This was the first time after 3 trips I've been up and out there!
It's caged up.
And on the 91st floor, there's an area where they play a montage of the building of 101 from the day the foundations were laid back in 1998 till the completion in 2004.
The other famous part of the buiding was the 660 tons wind damper.
Suspended from the 92nd to the 88th floor, the pendulum sways to offset movements in the building caused by strong gusts.
Its sphere, the largest damper sphere in the world, consists of 41 circular steel plates, each with a height of 125 mm (4.92 in) being welded together to form a 5.5 m (18 ft) diameter sphere.
There are 4 very cute damper babies that represent the 101.
These 4 babies are in different colors and have different characters.
Lunch time.
Not very nice =P
What's worse was I saw a cockroach on the wall behind me when I was almost done with my food!
Headed down to Shin Kong to do some Jill Stuart shopping.
Yes, I'm a happy girl after spending NT7,000 at Jill Stuart.
There was a parade going on behind me la!
Taiwan's receipts contains a serial number.
It works like Singapore's Toto draw but there's no need to purchase it.
But they do have lotto there too.
Meaning that you can go shopping (7-11, Watsons etc), keep the receipt and match it on the draw date stated behind the receipt for that period.
And, if it matches, you win the $$$ =)
Back to the parade, it was for donation of the receipts to the aged with no home.
You'll see boxes asking for receipts at the airport too but for a different cause.
So they had parades and carnival which exchange services for receipts.
Pretty interesting right?
We headed back to the hotel to put our stuff and then headed out to Danshui (淡水).
Simply take the train to the last stop =)
From the MRT.
At Qiyan station waiting to change train to Danshui as the train we were on terminates at XinBeitou.
Since it was summer, we decided not to go for hotspring =X
Upon reaching Danshui, we took the red plate bus to Fisherman’s Wharf (渔人码头).
Just head out towards the right and you'll see loads of buses there.
If unsure, just check with the bus driver.
It's the last stop of the bus and we made it just in time for the sunset!
I agree that the bus journey took longer than the ferry but there are more stuff you can see on the bus ride!
So, do weigh the pros and cons =)
Lovers Bridge (情人桥)
Arrived just before sunset *phew*!
Beautiful right?
It was packed with people!
Pretty windy too.
The bridge lit up with the sun setting behind.
There were alot of pro photographers there with their DSLR and stands.
Mine was a Sony point-and-shoot camera.
Hahahah!
Dinner time!!
Local Taiwan food - Taiwan Sausage (I'm a sucker for this), Yen Shu Ji and deep fried mushroom =)
Told ya I'm a sucker for this!
Night fall with the bridge lit up.
Decided it was time to head back to Danshui Old Street (淡水老街).
We took the ferry back.
Waiting for the ferry.
You can use the Easy Card (悠遊卡) for the bus and ferry rides.
On the ferry which was packed to the maximum capacity too.
The ferry ride to Danshui Old Street took about 20 minutes.
The street along the river.
I had to eat this.
The super duper long ice-cream!
Erhm, I have no idea what's with the face.
The ice-cream..well..I like HK's ding ding soft ice-cream better.
We went to buy Tie Dan and then headed to our final stop of the day where Yong got a shock.
Welcome to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) on a Saturday night!
Take the train and alight at Jiantan (剑潭) station.
Be careful which exit you go to.
If you see the exit being real quiet, you're on the wrong side - DO NOT EXIT!
Head back up the platform and walk to the other side to exit. =)
We arrived around 2100 and it was packed!
No la!! Not really actually.
The reason why it looks packed (as always) is that the illegal carts are all set up right in the middle of the one and only main walkway of the night market!
So, don't be scared of entering the night market.
2 very famous online shops - no need for introductions.
It was time for food!!
Can you see how big the 豪大大鸡排 is?
See the queue?
Everyone's given a plastic bag to collect their 鸡排.
And, there's a norm in Taiwan that you put the money at the counter and take your own change =)
So trusting of them right?
Another item we bought.
Scallion pancake.
Not as nice as the Hualien one.
Time to head back to hotel to makan!
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