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...

Pizza Hut Lunch Value Meal

Pizza Hut has this Smart Choice Lunch deal/promotion which is available on weekdays from 11am to 5pm , excluding on eves and on public holidays. It includes a main course, a drink and soup of the day, starting at S$8.90. Quite worth the price, I reckoned. 

Today, I ordered the Hawaiian Pizza set and the soup of the day was chicken soup. Not that bad for the soup. Pizza hut's pizza never failed to brighten up my day. The crust is crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. It was served hot though the waiting time can be up to 20 mins or more. So we order the sweet and spicy drumlets  first. It was  also on promotion together with the lunch menu but I forgot how much that was. The drumlets were great. I love it!

Pizza hut is considered a relatively affordable Fast food cafe in Singapore with a drink, a soup and a pizza!

Pizza Hut Lunch Value Meal

Funan DigitalLife Mall
109 North Bridge Road #03-05/06
You can find more Pizza Hut locations here:
http://www.pizzahut.com.sg/dine_in/locator/north.asp

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 7 - Cingjing Farm

Start of day 7 was spent on travelling again. From Zuoying Station, we travelled to Taichung Station (高鐵台中站) to take a Nantou bus to Cingjing Farm (清境農場). Like I mentioned before, we pre-ordered our train tickets online and collected them via the machine at the station - it is really a fast and convenient way for tourist.  

When you reached Taichung Station, get to the basement and look for a ‘Nantou Bus’ counter inside the station, just beside the exit 5. There, you would be able to buy the bus tickets to Cingjing Farm. We bought the return tickets that came with some perks and well, it was cheaper in that sense. There are actually timings for the buses and some buses only brings you to Puli Station. Do opt for the direct bus to Cingjing farm though it will also stop at Puli Station to pick up other passengers. Do be clear and check out this website for more information. We took the 10:20 bus and managed to reach Cinjing Farm area at 12 plus. Do check with your mingsu on the location to be dropped off. There are quite a number of stops in which the bus will drop off the passengers. 

As we stayed at  Misty Villa (雲濛仙境), we were advised to alight at "Guo Min house stay/國民賓館". Thereafter, it was a 5 mins walk (up slope) along "Rong Guang New Village/榮光新村". Misty villa is located on the right. A very nice villa with very nice host. It was not the time to check in and thus, we left our luggage at the counter. The coutner lady, Ms Chen recommended some of the attractions and showed us a map. She was very attentive and was able to give good advice, introducing us to places according to our liking. There, we booked the sunrise trip to Hehuanshan (合歡山) from her. That cost NT400 per pax. 

Then, off we went to the Green Green Grassland (青青草原). There is shuttle bus services that brings us from the Cingjing Carpark to the Grassland on Weekends only. If not, I reckon the walk to be half an hour. There was not much direction and we decided to take the bus. As there was still time, we went to 7-11 to grab a bite - there, I had the instant noodle, with a tea leaf egg and a drink. It was not an expensive meal but the hot noodle brought warmth to us. The temperature at Cingjing was drastically different from that at Kaoshiung. It was cooler and was around 15 degrees. Travel time for the shuttle bus to reach Grassland is about 10 minutes and the fare is NT$20. However, this was included in the return tickets package that we bought earlier on. It was only a one-way ticket but that was fine as we were able to walk back to our minsu from the Grassland.

It was great to spend the afternoon at Green Green Grassland. A very relaxing day with sheeps to keep you company. After the entertaining sheep shearing show, some of the sheeps were left free to roam around the grass patch. It was time to take some memorable photos with them. While strolling back to Misty Villa, we encountered beautiful sunset -  something we did not expect. Nice calming view.

Green Green Grassland

As we reached back Misty Villa, we did the check in and rested for a while. Next up in the itinerary was DINNER. We were also advised by Ms Chen to visit the Small Swiss Garden (小瑞士花園) after 7pm. In this way, we would be able to see the nightview of the garden tonight and the morning view of it tomorrow morning. Wasn't that helpful of her, ensuring that we see both views of the garden. Thumbs up.

After the musical water show at Small Swiss Garden, we proceeded next door to Carton King Creativity Park ( 紙箱王創意園區). It is a creative park where almost everything is made of corrugated cardboard - from the ceilings, the floor, the furniture to everything! We had our dinner at the restaurant where we sat on cardboard, dined on cardboard!. Lucky us, we heard that there were shortage of water after we ordered our food and the restaurant had to deny entry for other customers. Phew!

We ordered the pork rib set and a seafood hotpot -  nice hotpot for the cool weather. We even drank our drink from a carton box. Well, there was a cup inside but I guessed they wanted to showcase their cardboard legacy. The good thing about ordering drink was that, you can bring back the cardboard (asked the waiter to dismantle') and it could be a good souvenir to bring home - it can be converted to a piggy bank!

Alright, back to the food, I quite liked them. I guessed the set was pretty well-thought - Each set comes with a cup of olive rice, soup, vegetables and dessert. They are priced pretty reasonably between NT$200 to NT$360 and I think there was a minimum purchase. Do check this out again if you plan to eat there. 

Carton King Creativity Park 紙箱王創意園區

Okay, time for a good rest after the dinner as we had to wake up super early for the sunrise tour that starts at 3am!

Address:
Misty Villa (雲濛仙境)

南投縣仁愛鄉大同村榮光巷9號

Taiwan 2013 - Day 6 - Kaoshiung, Cijin Island

Today was a cycling day and off we went to Cijin Island (旗津島) at Kaoshiung area. The nearest station is Sizihwan Station (Orange line 01). Initially we thought of taking the ferry over to the island before embarking on the cycling trip. However, at the train station, we rented the bicycle for the whole day at NTD 90. Cheap deal but the catch would be we will be cycling along the cars and trucks to the ferry terminal. Really an experience which we would never do in Singapore. Cool thing was we could take the bicycle on board the ferry to Cijin Island, which will cost you NTD$15 NTD (less than S$1).

Here's the planned route within Cijin Island but well, since it was all about cycling, I think everyone could just go with the flow, not really a fixed route to follow:

旗津區風車公園 (Cijin Wind Turbine Park) – 旗津海岸公園 (Cijin Seaside Park) – 旗津天后宮 (Cijin Tianhou Temple) – 旗後山隧道 (Cihou Tunnel) -旗後燈塔 (Cihou Lighthouse) – 旗後砲台 (Cihou Fort)

As some places did not allow bicycles into the premise, we had to park our bicycle by the side and locked them with a chain provided by the shop. Ok, I guess no one really wanted to steal the bicycles. I simply loved the relaxing day with the nice weather - clear blue sky!

Beauty of Cijin Island

Almost spent the whole day at Cijin Island where we had seafood. There were a lot of seafood shops around selling fresh seafood. Not knowing which is a better shop, we just pop in to the nearest shop available. There, we ordered sashimi, calamari and some shell dish -  it was not very expensive and I can safely say that the food was really fresh. Thereafter, we went to a dessert shop to have some cold mango ice. Well, the shop is just next to the chinese temple near to the ferry terminal, you won't miss it. It was marvelous and refreshing - mango is indeed fresh as well!

Seafood Lunch and Mango dessert

Afterwhich, we went back to the main island and continued our cycling trail. As compared to Cijin Island, Kaoshiung's road traffic was heavier and so, please do take care when cycling along with the motorist. There, we visited the Takao Railway Museum, Love Pier/Pier 2 Art Centre (驳二艺术区) and any places that we happened to pass by which attracted our attention - a very random hop on and off kind of trail. The scenery was really a beauty! 

Beauty of Kaoshiung

After the whole cycling event, we went back to Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市) for dinner. Nearest station will be Formosa Boulevard Station which was near to our hotel. You got to try the papaya milk, it was really great with many famous people visited it as well. As for the other food, just buy whatever that caught your attention - Taiwanese street food is really up to standard. But do try out the dessert - red bean soy milk pudding - it was great especially after eating the main course. 

Food at Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市)

Time to rest for the next day - a day to see the sheeps. Like I said, weather at Kaoshiung had been great for us that my tan-line was formed. Boo-hoo!

Taiwan 2013 - Day 5 - Kaoshiung

Said Goodbye to the beach and off to Kaoshioung (高雄). Luckily for us, the weather had been great since we left Taipei.Time to leave Kenting. Here once last look at the place. Did I mention that the room come with a simple breakfast that we had to walk to a cafe blocks away.

Love sea 126

Like how we travelled to Love Sea 126, we took the car pool service back to Zuoying. We reached Kaoshioung before noon. Off to a Japanese Restaurant for lunch as we had 'enough' of Taiwanese food! After which, and we went to the Lotus Pond ( 蓮池潭) which is a a man-made lake and popular tourist destination. 

We started off the trail by taking a bus at the bus stop outside the train station to the Lotus Lake. It is a 15-20 minutes ride over, which only cost you NTD$15-20 (less than S$1). After alighting, we passed by the information centre. There, you can grabbed a map of the place. 

First, we visited the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas - zigzag entrance to the mouths of the dragon and tiger where you would pass by the pond filled with lotus leaves. I reckoned the view will be a beauty if the pond was filled with Lotus plants instead. When visiting the pagodas, we entered through the Dragon Pagoda and exit through the Tiger Pagoda.  We paid a nominal fee which in turn, we received 2 postcards. The view up at the Pagodas were great. 

Next up, we also visited the Spring Autumn Pavilion where there is a statue of the Goddess of Mercy riding a dragon. Walked a bit further and we reached the Polar God of Mystic Heaven - A magnificent statue. Our last stop was at the Confucius Temple - an impressive complex of buildings. Enter the premise and you can see some of the items used in the past - A history lesson done!

Lotus Pond and its surrounding attractions

After the walk under the hot sun, we were walked back to the train station which was just round the corner. From here, we took the train to Formosa Boulevard Station where we walked passed the Liuhe Night Market premise to reach our hotel - Jia's Inn Liuhe. A nice hotel stay which I will talk more about next time. 

Taking some time off to rest and wash up, we proceeded to Singuang Ferry Wharf (新光碼頭). Take the Red Line and get off at R8 (Sanduo District). Walk west down Sanduo 3rd Road towards the Harbour for 10-15 minutes. Alternatively, just asked anyone and they will be more willing to give you the directions. After the nice sunset, we went to Dream Mall (統一夢時代購物中心). The nearest station is R6 Kaishyuan Station and a shuttle bus service is available to fetch us to the Mall. Stay and shop if you love shopping. But instead, I went to the top floor to take the Ferris wheel. A nice nightview from the top. 

After some window shopping (well, we did not want to buy and lug our shopping items back to Taipei), we headed to Ruifeng Night Market (瑞豐夜市). The nearest train station is R14 Kaohsiung Arena Station and follow exit 1 or well, follow the crowd. According to the hotel service crew, tt is a very localised night market.

Singuang Ferry Wharf (新光碼頭), Dream Mall (統一夢時代購物中心) and some others

At Ruifeng Night Market (瑞豐夜市), we ate and played the market game. For NTD50, we were given 20 hoops where if we landed it at any item, it will be our prize! In total, our luck was not that bad, we won 3 items overall. As for the food, well, just buy whatever you would like to eat. No worries, they tasted great. We had a prata, 3-kind omelette, chicken chop and more! It was really very full!

Ruifeng Night Market (瑞豐夜市)

Time to head back to hotel to take a early rest. It had been a long day!

Address:

Jia's Inn Liuhe

No. 128, Liuhe 2nd Rd, Cianjin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
台灣 高雄市前金區六合二路128號 

Singuang Ferry Wharf
At then end of Singuang Road, Lingya District, Kaohsiung

Dream Mall
 No. 789, Zhōnghuá 5th Rd, Qianzhen District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan 806

Taiwan 2013 - Day 4 - Kenting

Day 4 was the co-trip with a couple from the USA. And we went for a trip round Kenting. 

First of all, we started the day with the east coast of Kenting - 船帆石 (Sail Rock). See the natural phenomenon, does it look like a face? Cool, and with the blue sky white clouds accompanying us, it was really great. There is also an exhibition centre near the place where you can learn more about the sand and the place.

Next up, we went to the 鑾鼻燈塔 (Eluanbi Lighthouse) which is within the Eluanbi park. We spent almost 3 hours in the place. There is admission fee to the place but it was not that expensive (I forget how much that was). The lighthouse is considered one of the most popular icons in Kenting. Though we could not enter the lighthouse for a better view of the place, the lighthouse itself blended well with the sky. Within the park, you can take a trail along the sea and enjoy the sea breeze and view. After some walk, we reached the next phenomenon - 鹅銮鼻公园的亲吻石. The 2 rocks seems to be kissing and that's how it got the name for it. 

Top:  1. 船帆石 (Sail Rock), 2. 鑾鼻燈塔 (Eluanbi Lighthouse) 3.鹅銮鼻公园的亲吻石
Bottom: 1. 臺灣最南點 (Southern Most Tip of Taiwan) 2.龍磐 (Long Pan) 3. 风吹沙

Following up, we went to the most southern tip of Taiwan - 臺灣最南點. Kenting is at the southern part of Taiwan and there we went to the most southern tip of Kenting. Did not get to take much photos there as there were a crowd of tourists there as well.  But well, we needed to walk for 10 minutes in order to reach the place - that's how deep we needed to reach the tip. 

For a relaxing view, we were brought to 龍磐. We were facing the big sea with nothing to block our view. The wind was strong and the place was really amazing. It seemed that we owned the sea, the land and the sky. I really hoped I could stay there the whole day, relaxing and doing nothing but to stare blankly at the sea. 

Next up was another phenomenon - 风吹沙. How did the place gotten its name. It seems that the sand at the beach is blown up by the big wind and slowly with time, the sand covers the piece of land and slowly forms what we see now. WOW, imagine how strong the wind is in order to make the light sand 'flew' such a long distance. 

Time for lunch at 2pm was well, making us hungry. We were brought to 恆春古城 (Hengchun Ancient City). This is an old town but it was made popular after a movie Cape No. 7 (海角七號) was filmed there. The guide recommended us to try the local dessert - 绿豆蒜. For a hot day, this cold icy dessert really made my day. We did not have any staple food as we were told that he would bring us to a seafood place for meal. 

So we took the time to explore the place like the stand alone southern gate that was left, the house which the male lead lived in in the movie - you need to pay a fee to step into the house and well, we did not since we were not into the craze. 

Top: 1. 恆春古城 (Hengchun Ancient City) 2. 南门  (Southern Gate)
Bottom: 1. 阿嘉的家 (Ah Ga’s house), 2. 绿豆蒜

After our seafood, it was time for sunset. We reached 白沙灣, Baisha Bay. Okay, remember the movie,  Life of Pi? One of the film locations was at this Baisha Bay. Taiwan is really a great and nice place for film making. 

Some of the sunset I took along the way and at 白沙灣, Baisha Bay

After 白沙灣, Baisha Bay, it was time to head back to our minsu. After some wash up, we headed back to our food street for dinner. Seriously, we still had many food that we had yet to try. The highlight for the night was the stinky tofu. It was really delicious! The cheese shrimp balls was not that bad but too bad, the lady boss was not flexible enough. There was this tourist lady who liked to try mixed flavours, and paying at a premium price but the boss rejected. Wonder if it was communication breakdown or that the lady boss believed that certain sauce can only go with certain ingredients and that's why she was not willing to compromise. The pan fried dumpling was special - normally we always had the steamed kind. The boss even told us that he has relatives staying in Singapore. So coincidental!. 

Food, Food and more food
1. 臭豆腐　2. Cheese Shrimp Balls, 3. Pan fried dumpling 

The food street ended our night in kenting and time to pack up for our Kaoshiung! Kenting, you have been very nice to us with all the great food and the great weather, we will miss you!

Taiwan 2013 - Day 3 - Kenting

On the third day, we were venturing to the south of Taiwan. Thus, we did an early check out and deposit our luggages at CityInn plus, bringing only bare essentials for the day trips. In order to reach Kenting at the soonest, We took the High Speed Rail (高鐵) to reach Zuoying station (高鐵左營站) where we waited for the driver to pick us up to our Minsu (民宿) at Love Sea 126 ( 戀海126).

We had earlier booked our tickets online and managed to get it at a discount due to their early bird discount - it works in such a way that the early bird discount of 35% off, 20% off, or 10% off are offered with limited quantity no later than 8~28 days before the departure date (including the departure date). Thus, it is always good to plan your itinerary early in order to enjoy such discount. The collection of the ticket is very simple as well, so no worries on it. 

Ok, back to the day. From Ximen station, we took the train to Taipei Main Station (NT16, 3mins) and then walk to Taipei Station (5 mins walk) to take the High Speed Rail. We bought a train bento as our brunch so as to save time. There was only two types of bento sold at the train station, namely the pork and vegetarian. Needless to say, we bought the braised pork bento. We took the 09:54 hr train from Taipei which will reach Zuoying Station at 11:30hr. A very smooth trip without any hitch. The bento set was simple but tasty. 

Taiwan Bento - Braised Pork

As the arrangement for the driver to pick us up was at 1pm, we had about 1.5 hour to spend at Zuoying station. We spent out time walking around the shopping area at the station and took a light lunch at a cafe. The pick up service cost NT350 per person per way and it will be shared with other passengers. The car journey took about 3 hours and we eventually reached our B&B inn at around 4pm. 

As mentioned, we stayed at Love 126 and here's the link to their website in English. For the 2 nights we stayed, we paid NT$2200 per night with simple breakfast included. It is a double room with sea view. Nice! The room has all the basic necessity, not a luxury place to stay if you prefer a room with more facilities. But it was well equipped enough for us. They do provide housekeeping which we were not informed of. The owner of the place who also acted as the receptionist was very friendly. He directed us to the beach and also the way to the Kenting Main Street for dinner. 

Through our previous email correspondences, we were also informed of a half or full day tour which he could help arrange for a car/driver. The rates are as follows:

2 persons half day tour (5 hours) - NT2200

2 persons full day tour (8-9 hours) - NT3200

4 persons half day tour - NT 2500

4 persons full day tour - NT3200

As there were only the two of us, we opt for the 2 persons full day tour. But luck was on our side. There were a couple staying at Love Sea 126 who also wanted such tour. So together, we formed a group of 4 which we managed to save cost. It was quite nice of the owner to make such an arrangements.

Love Sea 126 戀海126

Alright, after we put down our luggage, we went to the Dawan beach 大灣沙灘 opposite our inn for a stroll, and hoping to catch the sunset. Here's the few pictures of the beach... I really love the sun, be it sunrise or sunset. 

Dawan Beach 大灣沙灘

The night was still young but there was not much we can do in Kenting. We went to the Kenting Main street to look for dinner. Here's the food we had on the first night:

1. Fried Milk balls 炸鲜奶 - a special dish that I have not tried before. They really fried the milky mixture. Do not pop the whole ball in your mouth as it is really hot from the pan. Should try if you have not eaten before. 

2. Grilled Cuttlefish 烤鱿鱼 -  very chewy, very flavourful

3. Grilled meat 烤肉 - tender meat - you can choose what you want and they will grill in front of you. 

4. Sausage - I found it normal!

Food street at Kenting Main Street

If I remembered correctly, by the time we felt full, it was only 7pm in the evening. We popped into some shops to see if we could find some special souvenirs to bring home. After a while, we decided to go back to the Inn to rest. Well, an early good night rest. It was quite windy at Kenting so do bring along a jacket when you visit the place though it is a beach area!

Address:
Love Sea 126 - 戀海126
No. 126 Dawan Road, Kenting Li, Hengchun Township, Pingtung County 946, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Nam Nam Noodle Bar

Pre CNY lunch at Nam Nam Noodle Bar with Sis before heading to Chinatown for the Chinese New Year Market. The shop is always crowded and it is common to see long queue during meal times. Here, you would have to wait for a seat before ordering at the counter. 

We had the lunch menu that come with a bowl of pho (a choice of your own), a salad and a glass of coffee - Quite worth the price at $9.90. Read a good news about Nam Nam and that is – no MSG at all. That means the broth is cooked with real good stuff that made it sweet and the addition of spring oinions, white onions, fresh herbs and bean sprout made the broth flavourful. The pho was springy. I ordered the Chicken pho where the chicken was tender. The broth really complemented both the pho and chicken. Yumz. The salad that made up of crunchy pickled vegetables, fish cake, pork belly and peanuts was great too. Personally I liked the pork belly a lot - tender! We ordered the Crispy fried prawn & pork rolls as side dish. This roll was served hot and it really lived up to its name. Crispy!

The pho at Nam Nam Noodle Bar may not be as good as those I had in Ho Chi Ming, but definitely worthy enough to at least give it a try especially when the 3-course lunch menu is priced at SGD$9.90nett. Well, the service at Nam Nam was excellent and basically you need not wait long for your food. From the time sis ordered at the counter till she took the utensils back, the food was already on the table. See how fast that was. I did not wait long for my food but queued long enough for it!

Crispy fried prawn & pork rolls, Salad of crunchy pickled vegetables, fish cake, pork belly and peanuts and Pho chicken

252 North Bridge Road, #B1-46/47
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Osaka Ohsho Raffles City, Once again.

Lunch date with the ex-colleagues was really a challenge - working at four different companies now, the most centralised place to meet for lunch was at Raffles City. Lunch crowd is something that I hate most but is something that is unavoidable. Lucky for us, there is this one person with 2 hours lunch break. Thus, she volunteered to order food for us. 

Venue was decided to be at Osaka Ohsho. I have decided what I wanted to eat after my first visit there last December - Fuwatoro Tenshin Han Set. The Gyoza was a must and since it is lunch, rice is very important to me too. I have read some good reviews on the Fuwatoro Tenshin Han and thus, been wanting to try it . 

The first look at it, it looked like omelette soaked in thick gravy - A very normal appearance but well, it was really nice. The fluffy omelette upon slicing into, revealed steaming Japanese rice. The first look was quite alarming as it was really a bowl of rice - but I loved it as it was rich in flavour. The gravy really complemented the egg and rice. And with the pan fried gyoza, this meal really made a wonderful lunch date with the girls. Like what I mentioned before the gyoza was cripsy on the outside and super juicy for the fillings. Yumz. 

A great lunch that cost SGD12.90 before gst!

Fuwatoro Tenshin Han Set

#B1-75 Raffles City Shopping Centre, 

252 North Bridge Road Singapore 179103

A day across to JB

The first overseas trip in 2014... that was across the border to Malaysia for a shopping and eating trip with siss. As it was a weekday, there was not much people travelling over though Chinese New Year was around the corner. 

A light breakfast at home led to a heavy lunch - we went to Bornga for some korean food. Though Bornga also co-exist in Singapore, I have not been to the local branch yet. Like all said, for most of the restaurants, it is normally cheaper to eat in JB than in Singapore. Well, it applies to Bornga as well. For the three of us, we ordered a BBQ pork, a tofu stew and a seafood pancake. 

Frankly speaking, I found the food quite normally. The seafood pancake wasn't crispy at all. It was a bit soggy but in my impression, I had crispy pancake before. The best ever korean pancake I had was at Big MaMa in Singapore. As for the BBQ pork, though it looked like alot, there were quite a fair bit of pork with just the fats. Sinful dish but well, it really goes well with the lettuce. I loved the way Koreans mix meat with vegetables. A pity that they did not provide garlic which I thought was a norm and went well with the pork. 

As the the side dishes, Bornga did not disappoint me. There were in total seven different variety and personally, I found the Kimchi, the potato salad and the peanuts the best - well flavoured. We did not ask for any refill as we were real full though I am not sure if they allowed free refill. 

Total damage for the meal was MYR98. There was like less than SGD40. Woooah... Sis had Bornga in Singapore before and she mentioned that for the same food, it costed her SGD80. Crap! We should really go over to JB to eat if time allows!

Bornga Korean Food

I was not expecting myself to buy anything that day as I always did not see things that I liked. But as Chinese New Year was coming, I was hoping to get a new pair of shoes. And here this pair of heels caught my eyes. A normal black pair of pumps but with a bright orange heels. NICE. It costed MYR75 but that was a 20% discount (=MYR60)  if we used Citibank Credit Card or if we purchased 2 or more items. Sis helped me to pay using her Credit card and when the bill came, the heels costs SGD24. Wooah... My best buy of the day!

Black pump with orange heels

Well, time passed fast when we shopped and it was time for dinner. Not knowing what to eat, we stumbled upon PaPa Rich - Malaysian Cuisine. After looking through the menu, siss concluded that it is simliar to White Town Coffee. In the end, we ordered Chicken Satay, Curry Mutton, Penang Prawn Noodle, Chicken Noodle. The best dish was the Curry Mutton with the Naan. The Naan was softer as compared to what we had in Singapore but it complemented the curry very well. The Chicken Satay was tender but I preferred the peanut sauce found in Singapore. The peanut sauce at Papa rich was not very thick. The chicken noodle was quite noodle and the prawn noodle was a little too spicy to my liking. Overall, the food was quite decent though we preferred White Town. 

Papa Rich - Chicken Satay, Curry Mutton, Penang Prawn Noodle, Chicken Noodle

With this, we ended our JB day trip! A fruitful and filling trip indeed. Till we cross the border again!

Luncheon Egg Sanwich

Mummy's not cooking and so it's the day to make my own simple lunch. Judging from the ingredients at home, i decided to make a Luncheon egg sandwich. A very easy, simple dish but it is also simply delicious. 

Well, like what I had mentioned before, cooking is also mood - dependent and according to the chef's preference - thus, here's my ingredients for the day:

Ingredients:

Bread - 2 slices

Luncheon Meat - size of your delight

Egg - 1 or 2 depending on your preference - i used 1

Butter or Cooking oil - I used butter

Steps:

1. Toast the breads

2. While step 1 is in progress, beat the egg(s) in a bowl. Add salt and pepper if you wish

3. Heat up the pan and put butter

4. After it melted, pan fry the luncheon meat

5. After that, add more butter and pour in the egg 

6. When all's done, cut it into halves for easy- eating!

As simple as 1,2,3!

Ch4r's Luncheon Egg Sandwich

I am now exploring some recipes. Hopefully I can cook soon!

Hotpot @ Shabu Sai

Lunch for the day was at Shabu Sai - a treat from Sis made the day. She highly recommended to go to Shabu Sai at Orchard Central to have hotpot. The lunch buffet starts at 11.30am and we read that we have 70mins of time limit to complete the meal. However, upon asking the manager, he mentioned that it is only upon there is a crowd and line forming that they will execute this time limit. Well, a reasonable answer to our question. 

At Shabu Sai, you would have to pay before eating. For each pot, we are entitled to 2 soup choices with a total of 7 soup bases to choose from. In the end, we took the Sukiyaki Soup and the Seafood White Broth. The latter is the special soup of the month which changes every period. For weekend lunch, the price is S$19.90 per adult and we add on S$1.99 per adult to enjoy free flow of drinks.

The buffet concept is that the vegetables, ramen, udon, and some seafood are put at the counter for self-service. For the meat (chicken, pork and beef), we would have to order from the service crew who will bring them fresh to us.

For the chicken and pork (we do not eat beef), they are very thiny sliced and thus, it took us just seconds to get them cook in the hotpot. The meat was tender and sweet. As for the self service counter, there were cooked food and sushi and rice for us to eat while waiting for the hotpot to be ready. The variety of vegetables was great - mushrooms, chinese cabbage, lettuce, radish, carrot, bamboo shoots and more but the other variety of hotpot ingredients was lacking - just mussels, clams, crabstick meat, fishballs and vegetable balls. But well, I guess people go for the meat, that's why.

There is a counter where we can mix and make our own sauces according to our preference. I added sesame sauce to peanut sauce and added sesame seeds to it. I quite liked the combination. The soup broths got saltier as we put in more ingredients along the way. The way to tackle this saltiness was the pot of seaweed broth on the table to dilute the soup broth.

To conclude, Shabu Sai is reasonably-priced. Thus, if you are looking for affordable Japanese Buffet in Orchard area over a good supply of meat and vegetables, Shabu Sai is a place you can consider. Moreover, it is located at Orchard Central which is a relatively less crowded place to dine at. 

Hotpot @ Shabu Sai

Address:
Shabu Sai
#08-09, Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road

"Staycation" at Blue Bali

Was supposed to be having a staycation with them. But everyone seemed busy and in the end, we settled for a chillax dinner for the first meet up in 2014. After much deliberation, we agreed to visit Blue Bali - just think of Bali and it's like we are out of Singapore (*self-illusion*). Well, Blue Bali at Cluny Road is located in quite an inaccessible location - within NUS Law School. We walked for about half an hour from Botanic Garden Mrt to the place - not a place that I would visit again unless there is a car. Luckily we made a reservation prior to the dinner - I cannot imagine having to deny dinner after the long walk.

Upon reaching Blue Bali, we were brought to the backyard which is al fresco dinning concept. The design of the Balinese garden gave us the feeling that we were in Bali. What a staycation concept! My fren mentioned that at Blue Bali itself has their very own brewery and they do help to pair up a glass of wine/beer with your food. But still, you have your freedom to choose whichever drink you want.

In the end, we ordered the Mongolian Chicken (S$20), Pumpkin Prawns (S$20), Ayam Bakar (S$20), Indonesian Nasi Goreng (S$16) and Paneer Tikka (S$16). All the food mentioned were under the Main dish menu. With the arrival of the dishes came our surprise - we thought that main dish normally comes with rice. But the dishes (exclude Nasi Goreng) were without rice. It was more towards the 'zhi char' concept. That was not a bad thing after all. We ordered rice and shared the food. If only we knew, we would have either ordered less or ordered more variety. 

As for the drink, I ordered the Pink Mamba (1/2 pint). It has a tint of sweetness and well, I am not sure it goes well with the food.

We managed to get a 20% discount off the total bill with a particular credit card (which I forget which was the one). Further to that, for the beer, the next pint only cost S$6 when you order the second glass and more! So for the beer lover, I think this is quite worth it.

So much for the walk, ciao till we meet again!

Our food....

Address:
One D Cluny Road, S259600
(behind NUS Bukit Timah Campus oposite Law Faculty Eu Tong Sen Building)

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

Songfa Bak Kut Teh

Back to Songfa Bak Kut Teh for lunch. This time round, we ordered the Pig Kidney Soup, Pig Stomach Soup and a plate of Kai Lan. As usual, the lunch crowd was there. My advice, to avoid the crowd between 12pm and 2pm or go in a small group. In this way, you will be able to get a table in the shortest time.

Food was served relatively fast and you got to pay when the food is served. I had the Pig Stomach Soup for today. Nice and chewy went the pig stomach - great taste. Did I mention before, they will top up the soup when you (almost) finished it. Either they notice it or you can just signal them to top up - do not feel shy about it. The kai lan was well cooked with the oyster sauce, topped with the fried shallot.

This place is definitely not a place for a lunch date during weekdays. The shop was very busy and noisy and the service crews are always walking up and down - bringing customers to their seats, or taking orders or serving the food. They do not even have time to help brew the tea (using teapots) for customers. That was what I overheard them telling the table next to ours. So if you like to have brewed tea to go with your food, it would be best to go when there is less crowd. 

Total damage for lunch was S$21.30 with two bowls of rice and wet tissue.

1. Pig Kidney Soup
2. Pig Stomach Soup
3. Kai Lan

Seoul Yummy @ The Central

Seoul Yummy offers affordable Korean food and I would occasionally patronise  it when meeting my friend for lunch during weekday. 

I ordered the Beancurb seafood soup and the service crew asked if I would like it to be spicy or not. I asked for less spicy and I almost got a shocked when my soup arrived. It looked real spicy. But well, it only looked spicy -  it did not taste as spicy as it looks, phew. If you like beancurb, this dish is definitely for you. Almost 80% of the ingredients was beancurb. Prawns, and cuttlefish contributed to the 20%. Not too bad for lunch - had a hearty lunch which cost S$9.90 (before gst and service charge).

Oh well, like most of the Korean eateries, Seoul Yummy serves banchan (aka Korean side dishes). We noticed that they would serve 3 side dishes for a table of 1 and 6 side dishes for table of 2 and above. Maybe for more persons dining together, they would have served more variety. For today, we had the kimchi, cold spicy tofu, sauteed peanuts, ikan bilis, potato salad and radish. I loved all of them - they really tasted great and I guess I could just eat them as my main course instead. 

1. Spicy beancurb seafood soup
2. Banchan