A well planned day….

As usual; had our breakfast provided by the hotel. Packed our 3 days clothes; left our luggage(big items) on the hotel lobby; supervised by the hotel. Because we will be leaving to Jiufen which is away from Taipei for 3 Days. Actually we planed for Sun Moon Lake as well. Somehow we dropped the idea last minute; as the journey to and fro will take alot of time. Ended up stayed in Jiufen for 3 Days. Really a relaxing place I would say.

To get to Jiufen; if you are at Taipei, take train to north to Rueifang station, then in Rueifang, take Keelung transit bus across the station. But we have skipped the bus traveling part. Because the lodging area that we’ve booked, the owner arranged a transport to pick us all up from the train station. So nice of Mr. Hsu. I remembered it was a rainy day. The road to Jiufen all way up were quite narrow & steep. It took us about 1.5 hour to reach the destination.

while waiting for train….

the arrangement of houses in Jiufen

an overview of the cafe owned by Mr. & Mrs. Hsu

a welcome drink…. flower tea

beautiful landscape as background

a temple situated in Jiufen

Left our bags at the cafe; and headed to Jiufen old street to hunt for food. A strongly recommended beef noodles there. Since I can’t take beef; therefore I ordered for a different thing. The rest of them claimed that the beef noodles is really good!

from left: beef noodle; pork noodle

After the satisfying lunch; we took Keelung bus from Jiufen to Jin Gua Shi 金瓜石 and Gold Ecological Park with the entrance fee of  NT100. It sort of a park cum museum; where you can get to know about ‘gold digging’.

at the entrance.

beautiful scenery

of mountain & water

a fine & proper pose take 1

when the gila-ness strike post

The sky gets dark early. By 5pm, its already dark. Felt as though its so late. Back to Jiufen old street to walk & shop. Selling all sorts of food & crafts. Try to avoid to go on weekends & public holidays, as it will be crowded.

view of Jiufen oldstreet

the place where we had our dinner. Each of us ordered the “hot pot” set from the menu. Which comes with a bowl of rice, with the price of NT190.

Alex’s order. Kimchi flavor soup base

My order. The “Malat/spicy” soup base

After our dinner….its already about 8pm. Quickly we rushed to the stall selling Taiwan’s famous dessert “yu yuan”. Because by 9pm; Jiufen’s old street will turn into a dead street; I meant all the shops closed by then. You may order the cold or hot version. I personally prefer the cold one! 阿柑姨芋圓 Ah Gan Yee Taro Balls is one of the popular dessert shop in Jiufen. You can eat the yam ball soup while enjoying a great view of Jiufen here.

After a tiring day of workout; finally we got back to our room. You may browse through this link for the info:-  Windsor B & B

The room is really unique.

We booked 2 rooms to share among 7 of us on the first night.

We gotto be early today! Hence, we are still late for the day. To MRT station again. But this time, you gotto take take the MRT blue line to the Zhong Xiao Dun Hua (忠孝敦化) station, take the exit to Zhong Xiao Dun Hua road, go across the street, there is a bus stop there. Wait for the bus to go to Leofoo Village (六福村).

Waited  for about 1/2 hour for the bus to arrive. The journey took us about 1 hour to reach the destination. Slept all the way there. Wakakaka……

The weather wasn’t that good on Day 3. So windy and cold. Was about 13 degree. With my thin sweater, really could not withstand it. Luckily I got Phoebe to lend me her spare sweater. I’m wearing 2 coats….can you imagine how cold it was…

at then entrance of Leofoo

tigers in the cage

the roller coaster ride

merry-go-round.

Alex & I bought gloves here for less than RM10. Did not expect it was so cold.

Hoping to get into this ride. Unfortunately did not do so because afraid of getting wet and catch cold 😦

Andrew was so brave to take this ride. Screaming Condor (笑傲飞鹰)

I only took 2 different rides. Wasn’t that brave. The weather was so cold till I hardly want to walk.  Had our lunch there, took the fast food, all about burgers, fries & carbonated drinks. Well the food was good!

At about 3+pm; we took the bus back to Taipei City. From there; we went to Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) as planned. One can reach by MRT Bannan (板南) line to Houshanpi (后山卑) station. First it was cold & windy. And now…it was drizzling. Guessed Day 3 wasn’t a good day. Walked on wet roads with an opened umbrella all the way to Wu Fen Pu (五分埔). About 15 minutes away from the station. Had a light dinner there. I was told that the clothes in Wu Fen Pu (五分埔) are cheap. Well…. its not really that cheap. May be I put too high expectation or rather you gotto buy in bulks to enjoy the better bargains. Nevertheless; indeed a place with wide range of clothes!

From there; we walked over to Rao He Night Market (饶河夜市), which is quite near.

Rao He Night Market (饶河夜市)

a temple near Rao He

Wanyi bought this cake(with filling). Quite nice….

We did not spend much time there….While walking back to the MRT Station, we saw this COSMED (like Watson) recommended by my friend. Selling masks with good deals. Without any hesitation, each of us grabbed a few boxes. Returned to our hotel. There goes a tiring day…..

NOTE: Ashley’s Blog as reference 🙂

A fine Day 2. Weather was good. Had our very first breakfast from the hotel.

got ready for Day 2

Walked down the street to Ximending MRT station(our main transportation) at about 9am, took the red line to Shilin (士林站) station. From the MRT station, walked few minutes to get a bus to Yang Ming Shan (阳明山). Once reached Yang Ming Shan (阳明山); we waited for a mini bus that fetched us right till the top of the hill. That pretty spot that we went called Xiao You Keng (小油坑). You can see there’s alot of sulfuric there. Strong sulfuric smell though. Confirmed no SNAKES. Hahahaha…

From YMS, we took the same Red 5 bus back to Shilin station. Then we took MRT red line to Beitou (北投) station. You have drop at Beitou station and then make transition to another train to get to Xin Bei Tou (新北投). It was already noon by then. The weather suddenly changed to hot & sunny. Simply, we picked a restaurant nearby to fill our hungry stomachs. Nevertheless, the food was good!

my very 1st cup of bubble milk tea. so nice….taste so much different from the one we had in Malaysia.

From there; we walked Xin Bei Tou Hot Spring Museum. We did not have any hot spring soaks .

no kidding. this is a library. saw it on our way to museum.

remove your shoes before entering. slippers are provided there.

OK. We are indeed just faking it…. LOL whenever i recall it again.

Now the guy’s turn….

From the museum, we walked back to the MRT station to board on the red line all the way to Dan Shui. Our destination was to Dan Shui old street (淡水老街).

All of sudden the weather changed to cold & windy. Everyone was shivering.

Dan Shui old street (淡水老街)

similar to “TAKO-TAO” that we used to buy from Malaysia

smelly tofu for Day 2 – from Dan Shui

all about dogs and clothes. you can get one for your dog. its very cheap there.

MOS Burger in Taipei.

It was already about 8pm. Hence we still want to carry on with the next destination, as the night is still early. Therefore we decided to go to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). Take the MRT Red line to get to the Jian Tan station (剑潭). Shilin is just across the road. A huge night market with incredible full crowd.

NOTE: Ashley’s Blog as reference