6D5N Taiwan (19th - 24th June 2014): Day 1 & 2

(Read on Day 3 & 4 HERE / Day 5 & 6 HERE)


Procrastinated for the longest time to get this post up because of the number of photos (1000++??) I had to sort through hahaha. Anyway, here it is - part 1 of the #brunchdategirls' 1st ever trip together to Taiwan! Many many more trips to come I hope :D

(Oh and I forgot to mention that I sprained my ankle - I'm really so clumsy I know - just a few days before the trip, so I was still limping on Day 1 & 2 it was horrible.)

Day 1:
Touched down at Taipei airport at about 1pm, got our 7-day unlimited Wifi cards settled (yes, we're social media junkies) and we had a mini-van that transported us to our apartment! We rented our place from the AirBnb app, and if you're interested, it is located at 忠孝东路五段 236巷, a convenient 5-10 minutes walk to Yong Chun and Xiang Shan train stations:









The ultra friendly security guard that greeted us every morning (there's another who said Goodnight to us whenever we reached back to the apartment at night)! People in Taiwan are generally verrry passionate + friendly + helpful and it really made our days there a lot easier/better:



Our 2-storey house consisted of a living room, a toilet, 2 sofa beds and a kitchen area on the 1st floor, 2 bedrooms (each with a queen-sized bed) and a bathroom on the 2nd floor:







First things first: TO LOOK FOR FOOD!! We were starving by the time we were done settling everything.









We bought the EasyCard / 悠游卡 that works like an EZ-link card. I topped up ~NT$700 / S$30 which lasted me throughout the whole 6D5N with a refundable ~NT$180 left at the end:







Our 1st food stop: 金锋卤肉饭 / Jin Feng lu rou fan @ Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall station! Spot it across the street:













Not sure if I was too hungry, but all these tasted really really good to me! :9





Headed to Tamsui Old Street / Dan Shui Lao Jie / 淡水老街 (located @ Tamsui station) after that for some shopping + street food:









Didn't like the Salty Crisp Chicken / 盐酥鸡 from this stall:





The Tie Dan (NTS$10/stick) sold here wasn't good either. They weren't hard enough and had a weird taste. We gave up and bought the packeted ones from an opposite store which had so many flavours we bought quite a few back to SG!:



Spongebob & friends Egglets (NT$45/6 pieces):









Too cute omg hahaha it was heartbreaking biting into them. Mine was Patrick!:



Deep-fried Corn with seaweed powder topping (NT$40 / S$1.70)! This was really yummy but vveerrrryy oily. After seeing how much oil it was submerged into for a good 10 minutes, I was a little hesitant to eat it hahaha:











Took a ferry for NT$100 / S$4.50 per person (payable using the EasyCard) for a round trip to the Fisherman's Wharf / Lovers' Bridge, which is known for its pretty lights and a romantic place for lovers:

















Stopped by for some shooting games hahaha. Love how they have random pasar malam game stations within all their night markets:





At around 10pm, we went to Shilin Night Market for more food! (Note that it is located at Jian Tan station, NOT Shilin station.)

Tried their famous Prince Cheese Potatoes! The queue was sooooo long:







We had Club & Cheese (NT$70 / S$3) which was a mix of everything. So so so sinfully good:



The Chicken Cutlet here is pretty yummy but I don't like how the cutlets sold here in Taiwan have many soft bones which makes eating really hard. Yan and Cand loved this a lot though:





Jumbo Sausage King (NT$45 / S$2)!:







Fresh Fresh Milk (NT$20 / S$0.85) / Zha Xian Nai which I hated because I hate fresh milk. Tasted really yucky to me hahaha:



We also had 大腸包小腸 where a pork sausage is being wrapped in a glutinous rice sausage (bottom left). I liked this a lot!:



Smelly Tofu (NT$45 / S$2)! I first tried smelly tofu in Hong Kong and it really isn't smelly at all when you eat it. It only stinks horribly when you pass by the stall:





And Bev and I shared some Duck's Tongue:





One of my favourite snacks sold in Taiwan - ice-cream with crushed peanuts wrapped in popiah skin. I didn't like this version because of the parsley added, the one we had at Jiufen (Day 5) tasted so much better:







We also had an Onion Pancake, Squid Balls and Fried Mixed Mushrooms! Ate to our hearts' content and we shopped till about 1am before the stores closed.


Day 2
The next morning we had breakfast at 123 Xiao Chi which was of walking distance from our apartment:









Meesua, Tempura and Glutinous Oil Rice:







The lady kindly stopped and let us play/ take photos with her dog:



When she overheard that we were looking for directions to the nearest station + Yong He Dou Jiang, she very actively explained to us and even WALKED us to the restaurant. So thankful!!!:





Yan, Shu, Cand and I swore to try Taiwan's Yong He Dou Jiang after trying Singapore's version, which we thought was already pretty good. There are a lot of Yong He Dou Jiang outlets in Taiwan, but many of them are unauthentic and we were told to be careful when going to one. This outlet here at Yong Chun station is authentic! It's kinda sad that they don't sell beancurds here though:







We bought their Jian Bing and Onion Pancake which we both loved:





Took the High-speed train to Taichung after that for some theme park fun! The train journey took about 50-60 minutes, but the best thing is you can get to EAT on their high-speed trains hahaha and so we finished whatever was left from Yong He:













Changed to Bus 155 which sent us straight to the theme park, and this took another 60-75 minutes:











After a long 2.5 hours of ride, here we were at Lihpao Park!:





It started raining pretty heavily while we were approaching the entrance so we took shelter (and played lolol) at a mini kids' arcade nearby. The rain didn't last long, but some outdoors rides were suspended for awhile before operating again:











Candice and Yanning were the only 2 braves souls to conquer all the rides:



And this was the ride we procrastinated the longest time to get onto, firstly because we didn't want to get too wet, and also because the steepness scared some of us (like me haha). But somehow I felt an adrenaline rush so I said YES eventually and off I went with Yan, Cand and Bev! There were 2 drops in total: one with the car facing backwards (!!!) but lucky it was a short drop, and the 2nd one shown below:



Here's us waving to Jo and Shu, with me acting all brave while the next moment I screamed non-stop as the car proceeded up the slope slowly. Shu said she could hear my voice even when the car could not be seen hahaahahaha. And Candice claimed I was screaming nonsense + I was "too high-pitched" she couldn't make out what I was saying:



Doooowwn we go! Take a look at the close-up hahahah I forced Yan to intertwine our arms so I'd feel safer.:



I was so proud of myself! :D

Candice and Yan took this after that so they could be air-dried hahaha:



GRAVITY MAX! What we actually came here for, but only Cand, Bev and Yan dared to try hahahah:



Look at that vertical drooooop:





We took this too and err... it was scary for me cos I'm afraid of heights. Candice kept telling me: "Open your eyes!!! I can see the ferries wheel from here! .... The roller coaster is just beside!! Open your eyes!!" HAHAHAHA:









Do not underestimate this mini roller coaster that is similar to the one in USS. I think the steep turns and drops are really scary. I was so glad when the ride was over (I had my eyes closed throughout again hahaah) and was about to get out when some guy seated at the front decided to tell the staff: "One more round!!" and off she let us go again OMG:



The Ferris Wheel was under repair :(



And this was a very failed selfie with it hahahah:



Carousel! Shuwei was so excited. We took the one with the horses as this wasn't in operation either:









Hungry after a long day of screaming and laughing:







Miniature pig?? Err not at all:









Bought some mini croissants to eat on the high-speed train back!







After all the young-at-heart activities in the afternoon, it was time for a more matured night hahaha. By the time we bus-ed and train-ed back to Taipei it was already pretty late, we had to cancel our dinner plans at a cafe too :( Rested in our apartment for a while and we cabbed to Luxy Night Club at around 1am:













Went back to our place earlier with Yanning because I really am not a party person. Forced her to help me take some OOTDs hahah:









So this was Day 1 & 2! Wanted to add in Day 3 here as well, but there are just too many photos and I've already spent a week on this post hahaha. Till the next!~