I didn’t check out Taipei 101 (apparently the tallest building in Asia) because I don’t like paying to see something. Haha. I’m cheap that way.

I’m trying not to narrate ‘coz I know it’ll get boring, so I hope the extensive pictures will entertain you better.

Accommodation:

After the fear-inciting night at Happy Family Hostel, I knew it was time to move, and move I did. Unpacking and packing led me to Chairman Hotel. For NT$1100 (S$55) a night for a single room (without windows. A window-ed room would cost about NT$100 more), it was sufficient and cosy.

I stayed on a street that was selling plenty of cameras.

The Night Markets:

Shilin Night Market is a confusing grid of eating shops which sell almost the same thing. What’s the competition about? Which tofu is the smelliest?

The Food:

Pot stickers

水饺 (dumplings)

soy bean drink!

花枝 (something similar to squid)

淡水阿给 (VERY NICE). I was very full but couldn’t resist finishing this. Wrapped in beancurd skin, the vermicelli (aka tang hoon) dipped in the special sauce makes you full but yet dig for more.

What youngsters do:

At every mini arcade, youngsters are crazed addicts at the bball machine.

The Hair Salon:

My own TV set to be entertained while my hair gets done.

I permed it a little. Total hairdo (hair wash with incredible massage, cut, style, perm) cost me less than S$50.

Getting Around:

Using the EasyCard gets you cheaper fares than single-journey tickets (although in a very cute form of a token). Tourists are usually inclined to purchase a day ticket, but after some questions asked, I find the EasyCard of the best value. Purchase it for NT$500 (NT$100 deposit, NT$400 value), use it as much or as little as you want on trains and buses, and you can get back whatever value there is left, and even the deposit. The one-day ticket can be purchased at NT$200 but only restricts your unlimited rides on the MRT only.

The amusing:

This got me googling “betel nuts”.

The enlightening:

A Giordano salesgirl wrote me detailed instructions on getting to the places I wanted to check out!

Excursions (to Keelung city and Yehliu Park):

A morning tour in a private car for only NT$900 (S$45) and who should I meet but 2 other Singaporeans in the tour!

Cheng Pin Bookstore (this section is dedicated to CG):

This bookstore is renowned for their opening-and-never-closing hours (24 hours lah)! Although this particular outlet was not the 24/7 one, I found it a very conducive place, complete with a tea cafe on the 2nd level, accessible by wooden staircase.

There were many specialty shop corners though, which I thought was a little inappropriate for serious book lovers, but oh well.

Then GUESS WHAT??!!!

I found an abundance of great NOTEBOOKS!!!!!

And I couldn’t resist buying a few hehe. CG, they pack your purchase in paper bags!

I learnt a slang word in Taiwan! K书 means to be a very avid reader. This derived from 看书…something like 书，一直看看看…so it became K书, and is used widely as a term to either describe a reader, or a provider).

Last glances:

It was my first time on seats located at the front of the screen…our food trays are actually tucked inside our handles, and we can’t place our bags in front of us. And many kids step on our feet while trying to cross over to get to the other bathroom.

Taipei is a city with blue skies and mountains as its backdrop. More importantly, I found Taiwanese to be very friendly and helpful, a stark contrast to mainlanders. A simple direction question posed to strangers on the street led to a Taiwanese whipping out his PDA to locate the place for me, or a Giordano salesgirl writing it down for me. Should the same question be posed to Shanghainese, a curt reply or a wave at the direction will be all you get. Or they’ll tell you to walk some distance ahead, and ask someone else.

Incredibly looooooong queue to check-in to my Vancouver flight. The flight was fully booked (thus very hard to obtain a seat when booking), and they were checking in passengers going to Honolulu too (some passengers were dressed in Hawaii shirts and straw hats haha)

So I queued only after buying a BK lunch so that I could eat while waiting.

I’ll miss the Taiwan meimeis who add an 哦 (in first tone) at the end of every sentence.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 4:40 am and is filed under Cameras. Pictures., Taking in; on; and to Shanghai (or China in general), Travelogue. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.