It was still raining on Day 2 and did I mention, it was real cold at night for Day 1. But well, we got to make use of the time we were there and we decided to tweak our itinerary once again. For today, me and Sis would spilt up with me visiting the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂) and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館) while Sis went on her shopping spree. It so happened to be the anniveray sales for Sogo.
We asked the Hotel receptionist for some directions and they were really very helpful and even gave suggestions to us. Really appreciated their kind service. For breakfast, we headed to Fu Hang Dou Jiang 阜杭豆漿. This place opens from 5.30am. We took the train (blue line) from Ximen Station to Shandao Temple Station (NT16, 4mins). To our surprise, there was already a long queue forming. When approaching the stall, we saw a picture notice, showing customers on how to queue for the stall - dumbfounded. "The food must be great" went to my head. But with the long queue, we did not really wait long - probably half an hour or so.
Oh well, the food tasted great! It's really like fresh out from the oven/pot that the food really tasted hot and fresh. The salted beancurb was special as it was the first time I tried it. I think this flavour is not sold in Singapore. Pardon me if I'm wrong and please let me know where to get it in Singapore if there is a branch selling it. The egg prata, i would call it, was great. Do try it when you are in Taipei. The fried fritters was filling as it was really made up of flour and more flour.
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| Fu Hang Dou Jiang 阜杭豆漿 - 热豆浆，咸豆浆，蛋饼，薄饼油条 |
After breakfast, Sis and I split up and we arranged to meet at Din Tai Fung, 鼎泰豐 for lunch. Off I went to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Take the train back to Taipei Main Station and transfer to the red line to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall Station (NT16, 8 mins). It was a little confusing when we arrived at the station. No worries, follow the sign to get to the right exit. From the exit, I remembered I saw a dry market within a building. I happened to see a traffic police and got the direction from her. Cross the pedestrian crossing, and walked through a lane between the buildings (you will see a kindergarten school). Walked till the end and turn left, keep walking and you will see the Memorial Hall in front of you at the opposite road.
This Memorial Hall is really big and I managed to view the special exhibition of Mrs CKS - an interesting biography. Oh, by the way, they do have the guard changing ceremony at the top floor. Ask the receptionist at the information counter for the timing if you would like to view the ceremony. This was the second time I watched and well, it gave a different feeling as it is indoor. I spent like 2 hours in the area, viewing the exhibitions as well as walked around the compound. Felt so relaxed walking in the drizzle - the weather was indeed cooling.
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| Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 國立中正紀念堂 |
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| Some of the exhibits |
Time to meet Sis for lunch. From CKS memorial hall station, take the train to Guting Station (NT16, 8 mins). Well, this is the direction given by the CityInn Plus receptionist. Initally, we thought of stopping at Daan Station which was the direction we googled. It turned out that there are new stations added to the metro network and Guting Station is really very near to Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) first branch.
Despite the light rain, despite being a Tuesday afternoon, there are crowds standing outside the shop when we reached. We took a queue number and the menu to take order first. The catch of the menu, if you would like to have half a dozen of the dumplings, write 0.5 instead of 1 on the menu. This was what we learnt from the service crew. We ordered quite a number of dishes despite the heavy breakfast. 2 different Xiaolongbao (Green Squash and shrimp XLB and Pork XLB), a steam shrimp and pork dumpling, a plate of pork chop fried rice and a plate of stirred fried cabbage. The standard I deemed it to be of the same as what I ate in Singapore. Nothing really fantastic but there are more variety of dishes to choose from. A waiting queue of 20 mins was acceptable.
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| Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 |
Next up after lunch for me was a visit to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 國立國父紀念館. 12 Nov 2013 marked the 148th birthday for him. I expected the place to be crowded and I had diligently avoid this day for a visit. But the weather made me visited this place to celebrate this day for him. The guard changing ceremony was a little bit different in this case, with flower wreath being presented at the end. Totally gained the respect of the people!
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| Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 國立國父紀念館 |
From Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, it was a short walk to Taipei 101 building. Went up to the observatory to have a bird eye view of the city. It costed NT500. As I reached around 4plus, I stayed there till after sunset to view both the day and night view of the City. Pretty amazing to see the sun setting from afar in a building. You can rent a audio guide which points out to you the view you are looking at - informative!
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| Taipei 101 |
Well, it was time for dinner and we had pre-arranged to meet at Shida Night Market (師大路夜市) for dinner and to shop. From Taipei 101, I walked to Taipei City Hall station so as to catch the night view of the building. The walk took about 10 minutes and the train ride to Taipower Building Station took around 17 mins (NT25).
Sorry, the only food photo we took as we were busy eating and shopping. Sis loved Pig blood cake and today was the day we first lay our nouth on it. I found the taste a bit strong and a few pieces of it was well enough for me.
We ended the night a little early as we needed to pack our bag for the next few days' trip to the south of Taiwan.
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We ended the night a little early as we needed to pack our bag for the next few days' trip to the south of Taiwan.
Kenting (墾丁), Kaoshioung (高雄) and Cingjing (清境), here we come!
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