#wentravelogue5 - Taiwan travel blog entry (2)

Part 1 is here: getting to Ximen from Taoyuan, Jiufen, Shifen, Babe18, Yong Kang, One Piece Cafe
http://backstagejuliet.blogspot.sg/2014/06/taiwan-travel-blog-entry-1.html
Taiwan travel itinerary on a budget

Day 4 (21 May 2014)

Went to Animate at Ximen for some anime fix. Quite disappointing though.

Visited Dazzling Café for their famous honey toast and my first time eating Cronuts (mix of croissant and donut)! Super love and nice :D It’s more on the croissant side imo.

Dazzling Café Address: No. 3, Lane 248, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Rd, Daan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 106

Nearest train station: Zhongxiao dunhua station

Went over to Wufenpu for some shopping. But i’ve shopped toooo much during my Hong Kong trip so I just browsed through the shops. Clothes weren't that cheap, mostly looked through the sales rack for clothes that costs 100-150TWD (4SGD - 6.50SGD)

Raohe Night Market was nearby so we went there for dinner. Spent about 1hr playing the claw machines. It was quite fun and interesting :D Beef cubes. Recommended.

Famous Pork Pepper Buns.

Passed by one of the famous lu rou fan shops – Famosa Chang. They are identifiable by their bright yellow signboard.

Day 5 (22 May 2014)
What to eat in Taipei? 

Ultimate FOOD COMA day. Plan was to visit 3 restaurants (since it was our last day in Taipei) but we ended up visiting 5 restaurants in 4 hours. My oh my… Here's my personal review of food in Taipei. 

Shop 1: Started off with Hello Kitty Sweet Treats, since it was the furthest from our accommodation. Food was so-so but the place was so pretty ^^ There was minimum spending of 300TWD (12.50SGD) per pax so we had to order quite a lot ):

Hello Kitty Sweet Treats Address: 台北市大安路一段90號
90 Da’An Road

Nearest train station: Zhongxiao Fuxing station, exit 3

Shop 2: Saw this restaurant (鴨肉扁 ) online in the morning and passed by it at Ximen station, so why not! It was such a good choice. This place sells the best goose meat in Taipei if I'm not wrong. The goose meat is so tender and juicy and the vermicelli soup was so good. The noodles are so soft. (:

鴨肉扁 Address: No. 98, Section 1, Zhonghua Rd, Taiwan 108

Nearest train station: Ximen station exit 5

Shop 3: Went over to the Modern Toilet Restaurant. Minimum spending was 80TWD (3.50SGD) per pax. Shared the Seafood Hotpot set, calamari and a honey aloe drink (in the takeaway urinal). I was so disturbed by it. Calamari was good but the rest was okay.

Modern Toilet Restaurant Address: 2F, No 7, Lane 50, Xi-Ning South Road, Taipei Taiwan

Nearest train station: Ximen

Shop 4: Plan was to eat Niu Dian (牛店) but it was only opened at 3.30pm, so we went to the shop beside it which I so happened to see online in the morning again. It was San Ma Chou Chou Guo (三媽臭臭鍋). Ordered the seafood tofu hotpot (again) and it was SO good. The best hotpot I've tried in Taipei. I’m craving for it now ): Best decision ever.

Shop 5: We were damn full by now but shared a small bowl of beef noodles from Niu Dian (牛店) which is just beside San Ma Chou Chou Guo (三媽臭臭鍋). The soup was good and fragrant. The beef was so nice it melts in your mouth. I prefer the noodles and beef at Yong Kang Beef Noodles but the soup at Niu Dian.

Niu Dian (牛店) Address: 91 Kunming St, Taipei(台北市昆明街91號)

Nearest train station: Ximen

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Took a cab to Linkou, U-Com Motel. Cab ride was about 600TWD (25SGD). It’s more for couples as there was a steam room and an indoor Jacuzzi. It was so nice. I spent most of my time in the Jacuzzi while eating potato chips/cup noodles and just relaxing. Miss it.

Slept at 7pm. Was supposed to go to Club Luxy with the rest but we totally slept through our alarms until 2am when we received S.O.S. and we cabbed back all the way to Taipei.

Had supper at Macs after that and went back to sleep again!

Day 6 (23 May 2014)

Had breakfast at a shop nearby our accommodation. Finally had Xiao Long Bao ^^ The soya bean milk was so nice. Wanted to go to catch the fireflies at Yangming shan but we got lazy):

Decided to just have a romantic and quiet walk around the quiet town of Linkou. There is literally nothing to do in Linkou, which can be good and bad.

Took the public bus to our lunch place and we met an unpleasant Taiwanese bus driver. He literally shouted at us. Guess not all are nice.. Wanted to eat at this pizza place, Eccola Pizza (http://taiwantraveler.org/?p=9717)  ‘cos it seemed so romantic but it was closed/we were lost.

Settled at this random hotpot shop. It’s rather expensive but I guess its quality > quantity. We paid about 22SGD per pax. Good and satisfying meal after all ^^

As mentioned, there is nothing to do in Linkou. Went over to some mall with Cold Storage and walked around. Had our second lunch at Sushi Express, had about 12 plates in total. We really eat a lot! Had a lovely night walk back to our hotel. (:  

Since I was sad about the pizza and I didn’t get to explore many night markets, B suggested going back to Taipei for Shihlin Night Market (士林夜市)!

Tried 50Lan, which is the big brother of Koi I guess.

Different kinds of fried mushrooms.

Fried milk cubes, always wanted to try this and this was good!

Went for express manicure for 200TWD (8SGD) which wasn’t really cheap.

Day 7 (24 May 2014)

Boohooo! It was time to go home ): Cabbed to Taoyuan International Airport for about 400TWD (16SGD). 

Checked in and went to eat the food court. B wanted to have a “small meal” but in the end came back with 3 packets of fried food. That’s not small my oh my.

And it’s time to say bye to Taiwan ):

Upon arrival in Singapore, had dinner at Poulet. It’s not really value for money but the chicken tasted good, so was the French Onion Soup. (: Oxtail was so-so

Home sweet home after that. Thanks for the great trip B! <3

Next's up, #wentravelogue6 - BORACAY!