Day 8 - HK

*back dated entry*

had to wake up like 3+am in the morning to prepare for the 9am flight to hk... we took taxi to the taipei main station bus terminal A (same terminal as the bus to 基隆).. we could take a cab down but that will cost about 1000NT, so cheapo us decided to take bus instead to save $

bus ticket

after check in, we had a small bite before boarding the plane... expected... horrible food.... if you have time... DONT eat at those cafe inside boarding area... all HORRIBLE food.... i think the public area should have better food but we were too early... most places were still closed....

horrible beef noodle....

tuna sandwich was much better

we reached hk about 11am+... then my bf had stomach spasm so we went to see the doctor at the airport... & my god... we spent like 3hr+ at the clinic lo... kns slow... but what to do... only 1 clinic... so we only had horrible food at airport again.... the maxim at airport was really bad... again... if have time... dont eat inside airport... mcdonald should be fine though...

bus to hotel

this time i chose regal riverview hotel at shatin.... i wanted more city area but due to the super peak season.. most places were either full or too expensive for us... even for this place... for 31st dec - 1st jan, it cost about 80-90sgd/person/night... but what to do...

the hotel.... look kind of run down on the outside...

but the room was SPACIOUS!!! is like almost impossible to have such big rooms in HK

quite big toilet too

even got high quality slipper....

all the toiletries...

really love the big room.... same as what i read from the review... spacious room... but one major drawback about the hotel is no free wifi.... i was quite surprised since it is quite a reputable & big hotel, one would expect to provide free wifi.... it actually cost 120hkd/day for 24hr wifi... i may as well buy a sim card... even cheaper... for me, i can make do with no wifi... my friend almost gone crazy.... haha...

so after rolling on the big and soft bed... we went to look for our dinner = 添好运!!! sg always have super long queue... so i purposely go back to hk and try how nice is this place.... we went to the 深水埗outlet since people said there are lesser people there.... so the place is actually situated in the middle of 深水埗 and prince edward station.... you need about a good 15-20min walk to reach there... luckily for us, we reached the place before 7pm, so there was no queue

the restaurant...

signboard

when i sat down and look at the menu, i was shocked... there is very limited choices of food available... i thought there will be like at least 20 items on the menu but nay....

the menu.... practically almost everything is there...

shrimp dumpling... ok lo...

siew mai,  beef ball & the famous bbq pork bun... these few dishes were not bad

dessert....

prawn rice roll... not bad

i think the taste was not bad for the price... the total bill was about 120hkd.... but i think i wont go back again if there is a long queue... not worth it for such few selection.....

after that we walked to prince edward to my favourite shopping paradise =  花园街!!! i LOVE this place... you can find clothes, shoes, bags, accessories, food, etc... although the prices had increased over the years, i think is still one of the cheapest shopping area in hk.... 

the famous ice cream truck

shopping area!!!

my favourite curry fishball!!!!

normally i will buy ALOT from there but i controlled this time as i have no more space to keep winter clothes & somehow couldnt find anything nice this time.... so after shopping... we went back to hotel & rest....

favourite mochi ice cream

loot from  花园街

Day 7- taipei

 *back dated entry*

today is the last day in taiwan before flying to hk.... we wanted to go for strawberry picking but most of the farms are not open on monday.... & after we returned to sg, my friend told me that the weather wasnt cold enough, so the harvest for strawberry was pretty poor in dec... heng ar that we didnt go down....

anyway, after slacking the morning, we went to 中正纪念堂 cause my friend recommend this ba kua place = 快车... apparently is pretty famous there.... so we went down to buy some souvenir back....

outside the shop

they have the usual thick cut ba kua, some thinner cut and the famous paper thin ba kua... each type of ba kua has different flavour and i think the best is sakura shrimp... really tasty..... if i didnt remember wrongly the price was 100NT/50g.... average price but really nice.... after that we had some random brunch at the area...

cai fan style

beef slices were nice... but too oily

my bf's lunch

after which we went to taipei main station to buy more souvenir and that was a wrong move... that place sell more of japanese souvenir than local food... i also could not find those famous 太阳饼, nor pineapple tarts.... apparently souvenir should go to taipei 101 area... mitsukoshi has almost everything that you want get.... lesson learn... next time must go back to mitsukoshi..... BUT at least we managed to get cheap ice cream from cold stone... so during winter especially during cold days, the price for second cup of ice cream will be the temperature for that day... so we had a 10NT cold stone!!!! yeah!!!

i didnt know weather was 10 degree wor

ice cream!!! yummy

after buying so many stuff... we went back to the apartment to put down the stuff before our night activity.... as we could not book the same apartment due to peak season, today we shifted to another apartment at ximengding area.... the place is own by the same owner so he kindly helped us deliver our luggage to the new location.... yeah....

the room

it is more spacious than yesterday apartment but it doesnt have a balcony to air our clothes... so we had to hang our laundries on whatever limited space we can find... so it was like a little jungle.... the location was pretty good too.... the owner said is located at the famous beef noodle street... approximately 8-10min walk from the station

after resting awhile, we went to take bus to 基隆 and my god.... took us a long time to find the right place to get the bus ticket... apparently there are 2 bus stations at the taipei main station.... to get to 基隆,  you need to go to bus terminal A which isnt together with the train station but actually opposite mitsukoshi...

bus berth

bus ticket

so just buy the bus ticket from the counter and queue up to board the bus... bus ride was 45-60min... took slightly longer due to the peak hour jam.... & the reason why we go there was the 黄色小鸭... personally i have no interest in the rubber duck... but my friend like dying to see it then ok lo... since bus ticket only 50NT... just go there see see...

the duck

close up

area map

after that we went to the 基隆/庙口夜市.... the place is quite crowded wor... quite a lot of people... as 基隆 is a port (i think), seafood or crab is actually THE food at the night market... almost every other store will be selling some crab products....

庙口夜市 entrance

there is a temple there so i guess that correspond to the name

takoyaki...

the bubble tea

wasabi takoyaki... so so lo

supposedly famous butter crab

literally butter + crab... no butter taste at all.. such small portion cost 200NT lo.... DONT try...

some crab soup with glutinous rice... average lo

the crab soup store

fried crab + shrimp... yummy but slightly too salty

冰糖胡卢.. inside is some crunchy fruit.,, slightly sour but bring out the sweetness of the sugar even more

fried chicken again....

i think this night market is still ok.... quite interesting food but really too much focus on crab.... i believed there are other interesting places in the area but our main goal was just the rubber duck so we didnt explore too much and had to go back to pack luggage for tomorrow flight...................

Day 6 - taipei

*back dated entry*

today we took the 8am taxi back to taichung... we booked the taxi recommended by the hotel owner... my friend called it some 小黑 thing... it was cheaper than the one we took from taichung up to cingjing... this time it cost 300NT to reach taichung HSR station... we could take a later taxi but we were worried that we could not catch the train back to taipei, as a result, we had to wake up early again =( this time we only manged to get like 15% off our train ticket so it cost 670NT per ticket... found it kind of expensive but what to do...

supposed to be some famous train bentou but seriously, it didnt look appetizing...

scenery at taichung

our seat on the train back to taipei..

more scenery

more greens

so we reached back taipei about 1pm, my friend booked an apartment at 师大 area, so we took the train to 台电大厦

the map we saw at the train station

 we were so tired that i forgotten to take picture of the place.... it was quite a small room... after putting the queen bed + single soft bed... we barely had space to open our luggage.. but the good thing was there was a balcony... so you can washed your laundry & hang outside to dry....

after we deposited out luggage, we took the train to 府中 cause my friend want to go there to do her lash extension thing.... so while waiting for her we walked around the area.... we saw 诚品 so we went in to take a look.... that outlet was really quite pathetic to me..... nothing interest me at all... even food only have like 4 stores.... we chose the udon store since other places were fried food & too many people

my bf curry duon, we added the fried sweet potato & some salad thing

my udon with karage

i would say the food was ok, slightly disappointing but at least something to fill our stomach.... but when we about to leave... we smell the super nice garlic bread from the bakery... so naturally must buy some to try...

garlic "bread"

there were several version of garlic bread... of cause the usual bread, the baguette style and i chose the puff kind... really nice!!!! of cause after that got garlic breath... but worth it... just eat more mint/chewing gum after that

so after my friend did her lash, she went to do her nails at other places.... so we changed location & check out  板桥 while waiting for her since there was a christmas town there....

the christmas town map

some deco at the christmas town

once you come out of the station, there will be direction on the floor to show you the way to the christmas town... it was quite a long walk, approximately 10-15min depending on your walking speed... my friend told me there was ALOT of things to see at christmas town but when i walked out of station... all i saw was just two tends with some games... an open air area for some concert thing... & thats it.... ok... some deco around the area but like omg... i thought it was supposed to be a TOWN??? apparently we went to check out the map & the deco were situated at different areas but still... i think it was still pathetic... of cause those were nice deco but not enough to be call a town...

so our friend joined us back later & we went to 师大 night market which was situated at 台电大厦 station.... my another friend told me she loved 师大 but personally i didnt like it in terms of food... food variety was really limited there... but in terms of shopping... i would say it should be quite good.... i did see quite afew pieces of nice clothes while walking around but sadly SG doesnt have winter so must control & didnt buy.... so from the night market, we only gotten fried cuttlefish & bubble tea.... so we went to a nearby bakery to buy some bread back for dinner.... & that marks the end of our 6th day trip...