Taiwan Part 5 – Taipei Zoo, Taipei City, Shida Market

January 6, 2012 at 2:22 pm

Continues from here.

♥Dec 7th – Sunny♥
Initially, I planned to spend the whole day shopping, but the weather was so good compared to the last 2 days I thought it would be wasted if we didn’t do any sight seeing.

We decided to go to the zoo, do a quick dash and see what the girls have not seen before, i.e. Panda, Penquin, Koala, and then we can do the shopping after that.

We wanted to take the metro, but the station master told us to take the bus instead, as it’ll be quicker. The 45mins bus ride allowed us to have a snooze, which was good.

We were glad we went to Taipei Zoo (臺北市立動物園), a zoo that encloses 165 hectares, including 90 hectares open to the public (compared to Singapore Zoo which is 28hectares and charging almost 10times more). It’s a big and lovely zoo, with lots of wide open space; with eateries, restaurants and rest areas scattered all over the zoo. The entrance fee was TWD60 for adults and TWD30 for children. What a steal for this world class zoo!

We could have spent the whole day there, with so many to see, but we had to be selective and spent time only on the animals we wanted the girls to see.

First stop, Giant Panda House. Unfortunately, both the Pandas were far away from us.
One munching on some bamboo.Panda

Another taking a nap.Panda

They have a big gift shop at the Giant Panda House, girls wanted to choose something to bring home.
All things Panda

She wanted to get something cool for herself.Zaria in Panda sun glasses

And when there were children having a go at the vending machine, both girls wanted a go too.Yoyo vending machine

Zaria with her prize.Yoyo vending machine

Zaria on a giant panda

We have to dash to the next point of interest, the Koalas, after the Giant Pandas (with a zoo so big, it was quite tiring actually).Dashing to the next point of interest

Koala Deco(no photos of koalas although we saw quite a few of them).

We had lunch at one of the rest area, bought some pizzas and buns from a bakery (no inflated price, btw), and just ‘picnic’ there.

When we asked what’s the nicest thing they did or saw in the zoo, the answer was “Jumping on the hippos.” at the African Animal Area.

Girls at Hippo Square

Girls at Hippo Square

Girls at Hippo Square

Decos around the African Animal Area.African mask

Caught one real hippo surfacing.Hippo cooling itself

We spent some time at the Nocturnal Animal House to look at Owls (Influnce from Harry Potter and Legend of the Guardians), then it was to see the Penquins.

Penquins

There’s a children zoo as well, but we didn’t have time to check out. Hippo cooling itselfIt was already almost 4pm when we left the zoo. Next time, we have to come back and spend the whole day there.

We took the Metro this time to the Cityhall Station (市政府).

While having tea at one of the food court, the girls poured out the content of their bags. Their goodies from Taiwan.

Zaria’s loot from TaiwanZaria's loot from Taiwan

Zara’s loot from TaiwanZara's loot from Taiwan

We wanted to head towards Taipei 101 and have dinner around there, and just our luck, we saw a huge Budhist procession near Tapei 101. It’s a procession with ~500 monks, where a Buddha’s tooth relic was featured (佛光山佛祖舍利台北巡境祈福). It seems these monks are doing a round island procession.

Hundreds of monks were walking along the busy Songshou Road (松壽路).Monks' hats

Buddhist monk procession in Taipei

No special privilidges. They wait like us to cross the busy road.Buddhist monk procession in Taipei

Monks crossing busy road

Along the roads, there were little tables set up to provide offerings.Offerings along the road

We were also given bottle of waters, little book marks and souvenirs for just being there!

There were African, Indian and Caucasian monks as well. Buddhist monk procession in Taipei

Buddhist monk procession in Taipei

Monks passing Taipei 101.Buddhist monk procession in Taipei, near Taipei 101

The procession was so long we didn’t wait till the end.

We went to City Hall area actually just to see Taipei 101Taipei 101but was lucky to catch the procession.

The busy Songshou Road.Songshou Road (松壽路)

We had dinner in a Ramen Restaurant, a meal was not worth mentioning, and then did food shopping in the supermarket and food halls around that area.

♥Dec 8th – Drizzle♥
The day has come to go home. Girls were getting excited, but Zara was dreading the flight home.

After breakfast, I went out to Shida Market to shop for some food stuff. After that I came back to pack, while it was Daddy’s turn to go to the market to take photos. These were the shots taken in the market. (And if you’d followed my site long enough, you would have realised we always like visiting markets every where we go).

Shida Market lane. Shida market

All sort of fish.Fresh fish

Fresh fish

Fresh fish

Fresh belt fish

The market was not too crowded, and rather cleanFresh belt fish

Chicken seller. (Take note the chicken there have ‘black feet’)Chicken seller

Cooked meat seller.Cooked meat seller

Super delicious dried persimmons (we bought some).Dried persimmons

Sesame oil and tea oil for sale.Sesame oil and tea oil

Bamboo shoot.Bamboo shoot

Breakfast counterBreakfast counter

Vegetable stallVegetable stall

Hot spring salted egg.Hot spring salted ett

Humongous Chinese Yams.Chinese Yam

And guess what this is? Each of them the size of my palm??

BBQ Goose eggs it seems. Didn’t try it. Should have just bought one and tried. ?

By 12:30pm, we were out of the hotel, and headed to the airport for our flight.

It was a good trip. And the girls can walk. On a daily basis, we left the hotel at 11am, and returned at 9pm. They just walked and walked and walked with us, sometimes even refusing to take the escalator but use the stairs instead at metro station. Just so much energy.

Taiwan is relatively cheap compares to Hong Kong or Singapore, and there are still so many beautiful places we’d not seen. I believe, we’ll be going back to Taiwan again when Daddy accumulated enough airmiles.

Taiwan 2011 Part 2 – Palace Museum, Shida Night Market, Bali, Danshui (故宮博物院, 師大夜市, 八里, 淡水)

December 23, 2011 at 2:54 pm

(Continues from here)

♥Dec 2nd – Drizzle/飘雨的台北♥
My collague, Teresa, came to the hotel to meet us. Somehow, Zara and her ‘clicked’, and the rest of the day, they were glued together (oh well, Teresa was looking after Zara for me).

Because it was drizzling, our plan of going to the zoo has to be changed. We went to the National Palace Museum (故宮博物院) instead which was packed with tourists who came in bus load.

Zara showed lots of interest in the artifacts, reading the didactic to learn more about them, not Zaria though.

However, both were intrigued by this longish painting from 1085-1145, which is 528cm long capturing the daily life of people from the Song period at the capital. It’s called Along the River During the Qingming Festival (清明上河圖).

You can view the animated River of Wisdom, to see why it’s so interesting for the girls.

(No cameras are allowed in the museum, so no photos of the artifacts)

Teresa bought us a simple lunch at the Museum Cafe (delicious!) and then we went to Shinkong Mitsukoshi. The Taipei Station branch there was having an aniversary sales, and I don’t know why, I didn’t buy anything even with the good discount. o.O”

Teresa bought us dinner as well in Shinkong Mitsukoshi, and got the girls some presents. The girls said Teresa took care of them like their Gu-ma(姑妈), and called her their Taiwan Gu-ma. o.O”

In the night, after we parted with Teresa, we went to Shida Night Market again (師大夜市) since it’s so near the hotel.

Trendy boutiques to cater for university students are every where. This one has some rocking horses at the shop front.Zaria on a rocking horse

Another funky shop.The name of the shop on the ground

The display window.The display window

Bubble tea is sold everywhere, this one has miniature samplers.Miniature sampler - bubble tea

A nightmarket can’t do without some stalls selling food. This old man was burning grilling some corn.Grill corn seller

Eww. Pig’s blood cake.Pig blood cake stall

Tangyuan (Glutinous rice balls) shop where we had 2 bowls of tangyuan from. Maybe because they do tangyuan with pork too, the sweet tangyuan we had tasted a bit porky. o.O”Tangyuan shop

♥Dec 3rd – Sunny/放晴♥
After a day of drizzling, it was sunny. Lucky for us, because we’d made plans to meet up with my collagues at Bali (八里), a seaside town near Tanshui (淡水).

We took the metro to Guandu (關渡), one of my colleagues, Iris, met us there, and then together, we took a cab to To House (兔子餐廳), and met up with the rest of my collagues.

To House (八里兔子餐廳) is a theme family restaurant with a compound housing lots of rabbits.

Healthy looking rabbit in To House.Rabbit in To House

Besides rabbits, there are other animals too, i.e. Parrots.Parrot in To House

Parrot in To House

There’s also a pig!

Girls spent the whole time petting and feeding rabbits. Coming in only to have their lunch. Leaving me lots of time to catch up with my collagues whom I was meeting for the first time.

Girls with rabbit

Zaria feeding a rabbit

Zaria feeding a rabbit

Zara feeding a rabbit

Zaria feeding a rabbit

Zaria feeding a rabbit

Deco around To House.Decorative rabbit

Ceremic bird

We left the place only at about 3pm with Iris, we took the bus and went to Bali Ferry Port.

The Streetfood, mainly selling seafood, around the Ferry Port, attracted lots of customers.
Steamed squid

Fried shishamo

Steamed crabs

Salted eggs are supposed to be famous here as well.Salted eggs seller

And in Taiwan, Stinky Tofu is sold everywhere.Stinky tofu seller

Guess what? We didn’t buy anything from these stalls, except a stick of squid cake. We were too full from lunch, and I didn’t feel good everytime I wanted to get something, Iris rushed to pay.

We took a short Ferry ride to Danshui.

Over at Danshui, it’s the same, food stalls are everywhere and each one of them were very crowded.

This is the famous Amah’s sour plum drink, but we didn’t really like it.Amah's famous sour plum drink

Danshui street.Motorbikes at Danshui

Busy Danshui street

Catching the sunset is one of the main attraction, but the evening was gloomy.

Girls found a new game of throwing pebbles into the river.Girls throwing pebbles into Danshui River

Riverside Living Statue.Living Statue

There are lots of streetfood available too.
Deep fried hot dogs, sweet potato balls and oyster buns

Grilled squid

Boiled and dried seafood

As the only pork eater at home, she has the honour of having a stick of famous Taiwan grilled sausage.Zaria eating a Taiwan grilled sausage

There are grabbing game machines again.Zara staring at Grabbing Machine

And other games.Games

Once we got to the Metro station, Iris, left us to run her own errands.

Outside the metro station, we caught a puppet show.Puppet show

Lottery icket seller outside the Danshui Metro Station.Lottery ticket seller

Busker crooning Jacky Cheung’s hit.Basker outside the Metro Station

We had BBQ buffet dinner at Danshui before taking the metro back to the hotel.

To be continued.

Taiwan 2011 Part 1 – Ximending, CKS Memorial (西門町/中正纪念堂)

December 21, 2011 at 11:36 am

When we suggested for a holiday further away from Hong Kong, Zara made some noise, “What’s the point of going for a holiday when all we do is walk walk walk?” “It’s so boring taking the plane.” “I have ear problem, and you still want me to take the plane” etc etc.

We gave her 2 options, either go with us, or stay home with Jelly. Of course, she chose the former.

Daddy’s airmiles could cover 4 of us to either Perth, or Taiwan. Looking at the AUD exchange rate, we therefore decided to go Taiwan instead. We have to time our trip according to flight schedules claimable by airmiles and to make sure I’m in town on December 9th because I have bought tickets for Jacky Cheung’s concert. Hence, the trip was made during the wet season in Taiwan. Sigh.

♥Nov 30th♥

We arrived at Taipei about 7pm+, it was already dark. Upon arriving at the hotel, a package from my Taiwan colleague, Teresa, which consisted of a Taipei Guidebook and 2.5Kg of Taiwan rice welcome us.

Our hotel for the next 4 nights will be Li Yuan Hotel (儷園飯店), a small hotel located near Shida (師大) and 1 minute walk from Tai Power Metro Station (台電大樓站).

We got a family room with 2 queen beds. The room is small but functional and clean.
Li Yuan Hotel

Soon after we checked in, we went straight to Shida Nightmarket (師大夜市) for dinner. We picked a restaurant which specialises in herbal chicken soup, 龍涎居雞膳食坊. We were too hungry to take any photos, but Daddy who’s not a chicken eater claimed they serve one of the best chicken soup he’s tasted.

We did some walking about the nightmarket after dinner, and then headed back to rest.

♥Dec 1st – Gloomy♥
We woke up late and missed the hotel breakfast and had to eat out.

Our first destination after breakfast of road side pao and bubble tea was Bo Ai Road (博愛路), the Taipei Camera Street, to get a lens Daddy was eyeing (he did the research before arriving and knew exactly which shop to go to. o.O”).

We spent sometime in Ximending (西門町), for lunch, to glance through some of the small shops.

Shops and stall at Ximending :

菓風小舖, the sweet shop where we spent most time in. 菓風小舖

菓風小舖

Roadside Sweet Potato Ball SellerSweet Potato Ball Seller

Girls kept asking for money for these ‘games’, but I didn’t let them.Game shop

Game shop

Lots of shops have dogs at the door front, this is one of them.Small Risotto Restaurant

上海老天祿 stewed duck wings上海老天祿

The Red House (西門紅樓), Taiwan’s first public market now a theater.The Red House (西門紅樓)

Girls were fascinated with the many costume shops across the Red House.At the Costume Shop

Costume Shop

Besides getting some sweets from the sweet shop, we didn’t buy anything else in Taipei’s shopping street. o.O”

As Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (中正纪念堂) is nearby, we thought we’ll visit it as well. Not knowing we’ll spend so much time there. As it’s surrounded by a big park, lots of locals walk their dogs, do team practice for various events etc etc.

We saw a brass band practice in the park.Brass Band practice

Brass Band practice

National Theater

Zaria spent so much time chasing after pigeons.
Chasing Pigeons

Chasing Pigeons

Chasing Pigeons

Chasing Pigeons

School team practicing march.School team practicing march

Li Zhen’s Sculptures (李真雕塑) were exhibited in front of the Memorial Hall.Li Zhen's sculptures and Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall

Li Zhen's sculptures

Girls wanted to take photos of the sculptures.Zaria taking photo

And wanted to be photographed with the sculptures.Zaria with Li Zhen's sculpture

Zaria with Li Zhen's sculpture

Inside the Memorial Hall, the girls could not believe the still guards were real, and not human. Guard inside the Memorial Hall

Guard inside the Memorial Hall

Zaria asked who the statue is “Is he the King of Taiwan?” o.O”

As we were there in the evening, instead of change of guards, we managed to catch the flag lowering ceremony (at 5pm).
Guard leaving the Memorial Hall

Guard leaving the Memorial Hall

Guard leaving the Memorial Hall

As night fall, they started lighting up the whole park.

Li Zhen’s sculpture.Li Zhen's Sculpture (李真雕塑)

That night, recommended by my Taiwan colleague, we went to the Eslite flagship bookshop (誠品信義店). A bookshop with 8000m² of floorspace! Heaven for me!

We even had dinner there at their food court, then just glanced through the various floors.

We love the 杏仁燒, an almond dessert with grass jelly, peanuts, red bean and tosted almond chips from this dessert shop Summer Tree Sweet (夏樹甜品) at the food court.Dessert Shop (sorry no photo).

(To-Be Continued)

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