Taiwan 2013 - CityInn Plus Hotel (Ximending)

Our base at Taipei is at CityInn Plus Hotel (Ximending). In my opinion, the location is a good one - it is at Ximending where it is known at the Taipei's "Tokyo Harajuku" fashion road but it is not situated in the middle of the busy road. Situated at the other side of the Ximen MRT station, it is a 3 minutes walk away from the start of the road. Thus, you are near the "Hip" place in Taipei but you will not be super disturbed by the noise. 

We booked two different types of rooms (twin room and Deluxe Room with Street View) as there is no available Twin Room in the later part of the trip. The cost of the rooms do not differ much but we thought 2 single beds are always better than a double bed for us. 

The service crews at CityInn Plus Hotel are really great - they are always serving you with a smile on their face. One thing about this hotel is that they would like us to deposit the key with them everytime we leave the hotel. It is a good and bad thing depending on  individual. Thus, every morning when we deposited our key, they would ask us where we are going and would give us their 2 cents worth of thoughts and tips - we got more updated information from them on top of our existing itinerary. 

The basement of the hotel is the service floor where there are computers, pantry and FREE laundry services. Wifi is free and this is totally an awesome thing so that we can keep in touch with family and friends back at home. 

My verdict for this hotel - EXCELLENT - Check out their website for more information. Be sure to book in advance as they are really hot-selling - I reckon it has to do with the affordable price of the rooms at great location. Payment is by credit card and you will have to pay 30% deposit and the rest at the hotel itself. I did a mistake in the booking and payment went through - but the hotel is prompt in their reply and everything was settled in minutes - They gave me a call 2 days before the check in to confirm the stay and also to ask if we would need the airport services - GOOD!

The Rooms

Address:
100台灣台北市中正區寶慶路63號
No.63. Baoqing Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan 100
 Tel: +886 (2) 7725-2288 

Taiwan 2013 - Day 12 - Taipei, Yangmingsan

Last day in Taipei and Yang Ming Shan (阳明山) was the only places of interest that was left on the list. Sister requested to start the day slightly later so as to catch up with some sleep - she had the impression that YMS can be conquered in half-a-day. By the time we started our YMS journey, it was around 11am. Trust me, to fully appreciate YMS, cater one day to it. There are many walking trails in each different stop which could lead you to nice scenery.

First in the morning, we went to Yonghe Soy Milk which was walking distance from our hotel. After which, we took the MRT to MRT Jiantan Station (NT20, 17 mins). From there, we transferred to Bus R5 or No 60 Capital Bus which will take us up to the Yangmingshan bus station. This journey is quite long and thus, be sure to take a seat if possible. At the bus station, there is a visitor centre. Do take this opportunity to clear any doubts before embarking on Bus 108 which will take us around YMS. This Bus 108 Bus 108 (NT60 unlimited rides ticket at first stop) is a one-way circle route that serves all the main attractions on Yangmingshan: Yangmingshan Bus Station → Visitor Information Center→ Yangminshuwu → Xiaoyoukeng → Lengshuikeng Service Center → Qingtiangang → Lengshuikeng Service Center → Songyuan Stop → Jyuansi Waterfalls → Yangmingshan Bus Station.

We stopped at only Xiao You Keng (小油坑), Leng Shui Keng (冷水坑), and  Qing Tian Gang (擎天冈). From Qing Tian Gang, we walked to Juan Si Pu Bu (绢丝瀑布). I am not sure if this is a wrong move as we took quite a walk and landed at a bus where we were not sure where we were. Heading back was not advisable due to sky turning dark. We manged to find a bus stop and that the bus does take us back to Jiantan station - as it was at around 5pm, there was jam and the whole journey was spent standing on the bus and being squeezed! 

Oh well, back to the start of Yang Ming San, the first stop was at Xiao You Keng (小油坑) -  a place full of sulfuric acid and gas. Is really amazing to find such nature phenomenon up there.

Skip  Leng Shui Keng (冷水坑) unless you are into free indoor hotspring that are flooded with the elderly - for this, you have to be naked to get into the hotspring. There is also an outdoor foot bath.  

Next up is Qing Tian Gang (擎天冈). We had initially intended to skip here as it was well past the lunch hour but luckily Sis said to go ahead. Here is a flat stretch of greenery where the cows are free to roam about. A very leisure and relaxing place to be at - If you want, I suggest to pack some food here, and enjoy the scenery with a picnic. Maybe stay for the sunset, it should be nice!

From here, there was road sign pointing to the waterfall. Well, I followed and the route was up and downhill - my advise, if you are not into trekking, give this walk a miss and take the bus instead. 

The Beauty of Yang Ming San

Back at Ximending at 7pm - Still early as we had made reservations for our last dinner or rather supper at 马辣顶级麻辣鸳鸯火锅 before we headed to the airport. 

Thus, we went shopping again before going for dinner - This Mala steamboat is a buffet style and the food variety is quite good - choose from seafood like abalone, clams, mussels, prawns, fish fillet and sea cucumber, to fresh vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes and sweet corn. For the meat slice, ordered from the service crew - I guess this is to ensure the freshness of the meat. 

For the beer lovers, the beer are free flow too, so are the drinks and ice cream - free-flow Haagen-Daz and Movenpick ice-cream, can you believe it!?

Oh ya, it is really popular among the tourist and locals, so be sure to make reservations prior to that. We made ours through our hotel!

马辣顶级麻辣鸳鸯火锅

Goodbye Taiwan and may we meet again.

Taiwan 2013 - Day 11 - Taipei, Yehliu, Juming Museum

On Day 11, we decided to take this Taiwan Tour Bus which caters this Crown North Coast Route.The route went MRT Tamsui Station⇔Qian Shui Bay⇔Sanzhi Visitor Center and Gallery⇔ Baisha Bay Visitor Center⇔Shimen Wedding Plaza⇔Teresa Teng Memorial Park(Yun Garden)⇔Juming Museum⇔Shitou Mountain Park⇔Yehliu Geological Park⇔Feicui Bay⇔Dawulun Industrial Parks⇔Keelung Railway Station.

For the one day ticket that cost NTD 100, you are allowed to alight at any stop and board the next bus again. However, do note that the bus comes in an interval of one hour and it could be late. They will not wait at the bus stop for anyone. So be on time. One advice is that you could not possibly visit all the places of interests in one day. Thus, make some research on the places that you are really interested in. This really helps. We did not do much research and we dropped off at the beaches where there were no activities going on - we just had to wait for the next bus and did rush through those places that we could have spent more time at if we did not drop off at the beaches.

If you like art and museum, do drop a visit to Juming Museum - this museum is located in a picturesque place on a mountain side, overlooking the sea with a park filled with stunning works of this great artist, Ju Ming. A splendid place to be at, how I wished I had more time there!

Juming Museum

Lunch was recommended in the pamphlet that came with the tickets. The stall is located in the middle of Jinshan Old street. Ask around, you will sure to find it. However, the ordering system is very confusing - You will need to queue to order (there is no menu and so just order what you can see). After ordering, you will be led to another nearby place where there are tables and chairs. The food will be delivered to you shortly. After you finished the meal, just call for the bill. Easy as it seems, confusing when we were there. A delicious duck meat - tender meat, nice!

After lunch, we went to Yehliu Geological Park - it is famous for its fascinating rock formations - a mixed sedimentary sandstone and shale sculpted by the wind and water. A number of its rock formations have been given imaginative names based on their shapes such as Fairy’s Shoe, Mushroom Rock, Candle Rock, etc. The most famous is the “The Queen’s Head” (女王頭), an iconic image in Taiwan. To take a close picture with the Queen, you would have to queue for it. A nice way to end this bus tour but trust me, you will need to do some research to see which are the places that you would like to spend more time on. The tour bus can be late, but if it reached earlier than the stipulated timing, it will simply drive off to the next stop. So remember to be at the bust stop 5-10 minutes before the timing. 

Jinshan Old street,
Yehliu

Dinner was at Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市). Our last dinner at night market and we just ordered whatever was recommended by bloggers and friends. A very filling dinner to end the food street night! Alright, we popped into a stall which we ordered butter crab and clam soups. A very nice clam soup - hot soup for the cool day, especially, it started to drizzle.

Tried the tempura too - deep fried fish which are chewy. It is different from the Japanese Tempura. It does not use much flour during the frying, thus, it was not crispy!

Pork Ribs Soup (排骨羹) is a must have, though I found it a little oily. This was really good too where deep fried pork ribs appeared in a sweet soup with cabbages and pickled vegetables.

Last but not least, had the last oyster omelette of the trip - need I say much!?

 

Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市)

Taiwan 2013 - Day 9 - Taipei, Jiufen, Shifen

Day 9 was spent visiting 3 different places at the same region - Jinguashi (金瓜石), Jiufen (九份) and Shifen (十份).  We took the Metro to Taipei Main station where we need to find the exit to South Gate 2 and took the TRA train to Ruifang Station 瑞芳. Sis said that we can pay using our Easy Card but well, we made the wrong decision. While with Easy Card, we were able to board the train but we did not have a seat. I reckon that we need to buy a ticket with allocated seats. That would be better given the point that the journey was not that short. 

After existing from Ruifang Station, we had to cross the street to the bus stop next to the Wellcome Supermarket and boarded the Keelung Transit bus towards Jiufen. I forgot if we had to tap the Easy Card when we boarded the bus or when we alighted - so just asked the driver when in doubt. The bus dropped us off right at the start of the Gold Ecological Park in Jinguashi. As easy as that. 

At Jinguashi, we joined a tour that brought us through the park, enlightening us on some important history. Scenic views with history of the mining industry. Further to that, the area was fairly influenced by the Japanese Culture. Interesting. There, I visited the Gold mining tunnel which cost NT50. Nothing much exciting within the tunnel though it was an experience to experience what the miners did back in the past. A very nice place to spend the morning at. 

Jinguashi, 金瓜石

After that, we returned to Gold Ecological Park entrance to take the bust to Jiufen Old street - that would mean eating and shopping again. Get off at the bus stop by the 7-Eleven and the old street begins just across the street.

Jiufen Old street is really a maze. If you have the whole afternoon to it, just walk and walk. Stop and eat, stop to take photos and stop to shop. Never a moment of boredom. Or find a place to drink and relax. Just go with the flow, it is a nice place to simply walk around. Here, we managed to buy the Jiang Mu Cha (Ginger tea) back home as souvenirs - seems that it has many health benefits attached to it. GOOD!

Jiufen, 九份

Well, if you were to visit Shifen (十份), please remember to take note of the train timing. They really have very strict timing where the train from Ruifang (瑞芳) will depart every hour. If you missed it, you got to wait for an hour. Well, we missed the 4pm train and as a result, we were not able to visit the Shifen Waterfall as it was closed by 5pm. What a waste but I guess this makes it a very good reason for me to revisit Taipei again. 

With the hour to spend at Ruifang, we simply walked around the area near the station -  I have to say, nothing much to walk. Finally, we managed to reach Shifen at around 5pm. Shifen is the place where we went to release  the Sky Lantern - Pen down your wishes and may your wishes come true as it flies up the sky. There are many shops offering the Sky lantern services. Just pop in to any shop - the shop that we went to, the lady boss was very helpful and even offered to help us take photos. Good service. At Shifen, when there is no train arriving or departing, we were free to walk along the railway tracks to take photos. A very good experience to be walking along an active track!

Shifen十份

Well, since there is no waterfall to visit, we spent an hour there and managed to catch the next train back to Taipei. As per the trip over to Ruifang, we headed back to Taipei Main station with no seats.  Had a cafe dinner at that area as well as to shop around. Final stop for the day was still Ximending since it was so near to our hotel - a plus point to stay near XMD. 

Not much days left in Taipei...

Taiwan 2013 - Day 8 - Cingjing Farm, Taipei

Walking up as early as 2am was not really a very desirable thing to do during a tour - but well,  all for the sunrise, I really thought it was worth the sacrifice and trouble. 

It was really cold in the wee hours and on our mini van, there was another Singaporean young couple. Off we went together with the driver up to Hehuanshan. The driver told us that it would be well below 0 degree when we reached the top for the sunrise view. Good thing about his service was that he had prepared winter thick jacket for us. Thank you so much as our basic jacket would not be able to take the cold for us. 

First, he dropped us off at the convenience store to grab some drink and snacks. Then off we went to a dark pitch place where we dropped off and looked at the starry starry sky!. Then the journey up was a little long that we fell asleep. The next moment when we woke up, we had reached the pitstop for the sunrise. It was still a little early and thus, we sat in the van as we did not want to be out in the cold. But time came and off we went to the viewing platform. Good sunrise for the trip - totally loved it. Here's some of my captures:

Hehuanshan, 合歡山 - Sunrise tour

After the sunrise, we went back to Misty Villa for breakfast - a very simple buffet spread but it was good enough. Took a quite rest in the room and off we went back to Small Swiss Garden (really wanted to make full use of the time at Cingjing). The view in the day and at night was totally different. While there was new lightings at night, the Small Swiss Garden in the day seems so calming and relaxing. 

Small Swiss Garden, 小瑞士花園

We checked out at 11am and rushed to take the 11:10 Nantou bus back to Taichung HSR. Though the timetable stated 11:10, we waited for quite some time. So my take was, please be there early, just in case though you might have to wait - we did not want to take the chance as we had prebooked the HSR tickets. Our trip back to Taipei was smooth-sailing and back to CityInn Plus hotel at Ximending area. After checking in, and resting, we decided to head to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) for Dinner. Eating street food has been a routine for us. Loved it!

At Shilin Night Market (Jiantan MRT), remember to try the 豪大大鸡排 and 卤肉饭. But well, like I always say, try whatever you think you want to try - my liking may not be yours! At this market, I bought 2 pairs of shoes - wooah... at NT390 for each pair and well, I am still wearing them now!

Shilin Night Market, 士林夜市

Taiwan 2013 - Day 2 - Taipei

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.

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. 

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 國立中正紀念堂

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.   

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!

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!

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). 

Add caption

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.

Kenting (墾丁), Kaoshioung (高雄) and Cingjing (清境), here we come!

Address:

Fu Hang Dou Jiang, 阜杭豆漿
2F No. 108, Section 1, Zhōngxiào East Rd, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, 國立中正紀念堂
No.21, Zhongshan S.Rd., Zhongzheng Dist.,Taipei City 10048, Taiwan

Din Tai Fung, 鼎泰豐 (First Branch)
No. 194, Xinyi Road Sec. 2, Da-an District, Taipei City 10651

Sun Yat-sen MemorialHall,  國立國父紀念館,
No. 505, Section 4, Rén'ài Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110

Taipei 101
No. 45, Shìfǔ Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110

Taiwan 2013 - Day 1 - Taipei

Finally, I am going to start on my Taipei Trip -

Midnight flight was always the best - you can sleep through it especially when we are on budget flight with no entertainment or food to disturb us. This time round, scooting off to Taiwan for about 2 weeks. We bought the Scoots tickets at around SGD225 for person during the Scoots promotion. This included check-in luggage but excludes the entertainment and food. A relatively worth-it tickets. 

Timetable of the Buses

We reached Taoyuan International Terminal 1 at around 5 am and after collection of luggage, we followed the sign to the bus terminal. Before reaching the bus terminal, we passed by a convenience shop and popped in to grab breakfast - our first meal of the trip - ice coffee and rice bun. At the bus terminal, checked out the timing of the next bus and the destination it will bring you to. We stayed in Ximen area and thus, we took the Kuo Kuang bus(NT125, one way) to reach the Taipei Main Station (terminal stop) and then took the MRT to Ximen Station (NT16, 3 mins). The travel time to reach Taipei Main Station was around 1 hour.

As we reached the Taipei Main Station around 8am, people were travelling to work. Thus, it was a bit crowded but everyone was very orderly. Remember to purchase the Easy card at MRT station or convenience store so that you need not worry about not having enough change to take the public transport. Also, it did save up a bit in the long run. *Tip: After 9am, they have shuttle bus from Taipei Main station to Ximen Station. Do check it out when you are buying the bus ticket. 

Anyway, at Ximen Station, we exited from Exit 3 and our hotel - CityInn Plus Ximending - is on the left. It was initially hard to notice the hotel as it shares the same building with other shops. But no worries, looked up to the left and you will share to spot it. If you still cannot spot it, no worries, walked down to the pedestrian crossing in front, crossing the road to the left side and you will see it. It is next to shop - Bee Hiang  Cheng. This hotel was our rest point for Taipei. *I will give a review of the CityInn Plus in another post soon. 

Too early for check-in, but no worries, we left our luggage at the hotel and made our way out for our first stop - Mengjia Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) - to pray for a good trip. From Ximen Station, take the MRT Blue Line to Longshan Temple Station (NT16, 2 mins). Well, the weather was not being nice to us, it was drizzling and that somehow dampened our mood. When you reaced Longshan Temple Station, followed the signs and you will be brought to the exit where you can see the Mengjia Longshan Temple at the opposite road, on the right. 

Mengjia Longshan Temple 艋舺龍山寺

I read it somewhere that the Taiwanese would do their daily ritual praying in the morning and we managed to catch it. The temple was filled with the devotees, who would make themselves comfortable by finding a seat or standing and chanting away. Though I do not understand what they were chanting, I did feel at ease. 

After the temple visit, we walked down the street to the Bopiliao Old Street (剝皮寮老街). Well, this is one of the historical street in Wanhua District and it increases its popularity after the movie, Monga (艋舺). Sadly to say, we missed out on this important information that is, the place is not opened on Monday. We just walked a bit round the circumference. Time check, it was around 10am and it was time for food. 

We popped in to Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥 for some stable food. This shop is recommended by our blogs when we were doing our research and since it was nearby, why not? Oh well, we did not regret this. The food was great. But it was confusing for the ordering part. We were ushered into the shop and given the menu (in chinese). Then, the service crew left us to 'fend' for ourselves. No instructions was given and we were really lost. Sis went over to the counter and well,she managed to order the food through the service crew's recommendation. I really agreed that when travelling, ASK when you are lost. It does not cost you anything and you will in turn, gain something from it. 

The food did not take long to be served. The porridge might look ordinary, looking brownish and unappetizing. But it was tasty with the pork bits and fried shallots. The roasted pork was tendered and well, oily. The bamboo shoot (till date, we still do not know which type that was) was recommended by the service crew who mentioned that the bamboo shoot was in the season now. It was tasty and crunchy. Good recommendation. We had a good meal there. 

1. Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥
2. Roasted Meat
3. Bamboo shoot

For this day, our initial plan was to visit Yang Ming Shan (阳明山) and to visit a hot spring for a wash up. But it was drizzling and we decided to push forward some indoor activities - National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) and National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine (忠烈祠). 

From Longshan Temple Station, take the train to Taipei Main Station and change to the Red line to Shilin Station (NT24, 19mins). From the station, just follow the sign to the bus area where you could catch the bus to the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院). Well, it was good to do research on how to get to places, but the people and signs in Taipei were informative too. You won't get lost there. The bus ride took about half an hour to forty-five minutes. *Tip: It was confusing on whether to tap your easycard when you board the bus. Some buses require you to tap when getting up, some only require you to tap when getting down while some require you to tap when getting up. As days passed, we got the hang out of it. When both the front and rear door opened for boarding, it would mean to tap when you alight. If only the front door opened, the trick is just to observe the person in front of you. Needless to say, just asked if you are unsure. 

The National Palace Museum is really huge with its exhibition halls. We spent almost half a day there and we were not able to complete the halls. Moreover, it was crowded in the afternoon with many tourists hogging the place. Queues were formed to allow entry. The good thing was, we managed to cut the queues and we managed to catch some of the guide's story of the exhibits. We learnt a fair bit from them and were well informed than us just reading off the walls. 

The special exhibition we got to see was "The All Complete Qianlong: a Special Exhibition on the Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong". Interesting history lessons for the trip.  

National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院

After which, we headed to the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠. Sadly to say, the main hall was closed for maintenance. But we managed to catch the march of the changing of guards. Not a wasted trip after all. In spite of the rain, there were quite a crowd. The soldiers made their way from the entrance gate and walked the entire length of the grounds before heading back to the entrance gate. I guess the route would be different if the main hall was not under maintenance. 

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠

With this, we went back to the hotel to check in and to wash up a bit. And it was time to head to Ximending for some shopping and eating. Well, more time was spent on eating and sorry dude, I only managed to take some photos of the food we had. Not much research is required for food recommendation in Ximending. Just headed down and if you see queues, just queue if you are interested in the food. If not, I reckoned any street food tasted great!

Eating at Ximending

After much eating, time to head back to rest and recharge for another good 11 days in Taiwan.

Addresses:
CityInn Plus
No.63. Baoqing Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan 100

Mengjia Longshan Temple 艋舺龍山寺
No. 211, Guǎngzhōu St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Bopiliao Old Street 剝皮寮老街
No.101, Guǎngzhōu Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥
No. 104, Guǎngzhōu Street, Wanhua District Taipei City, Taiwan 108

National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院
No. 221, Section 2, ZhìShàn Rd, Taipei, Taiwan

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠
No. 139, Běiān Rd, Zhongshan District Taipei City, Taiwan 104