10/3/2016 - Last Day in Taiwan

It was raining cats and dogs again on our last day in Taipei. Since I was in a rush to the airport that afternoon, the (ex) bf and I decided to settle with a simple and nice brunch at 永和豆浆, which very much satisfied our cravings for a typical Taiwan 豆浆油条 meal.

After brunch, we headed back to hotel to pack up our stuff. With a little bit of extra time left, the two of us started posing and snapping photos of one another in the room we had had the luxury of spending a night in =)

Those were two of the many photos I personally like most. Proceeded to buy pineapple biscuits for people back home before I finally left for the airport.

To wrap this trip up, well.. I would say it was probably more fun during the first few days when the weather was slightly friendlier. Even though things got a little bumpy with the ex towards the end of the trip, I must say we had our share of fun and memorable moments which we hold dear to our hearts. This trip was also the first time all the four of us PY, Jo, CL and myself managed to have an overseas trip together, which made it even more memorable. Going on holidays have always been my favourite activity. I can only look forward to my next trip now that I am finally done blogging about Taiwan! 

9/3/2016 - W Taipei

We started off day 5 in Taiwan with much enthusiasm because all participants of our trip had finally arrived! there you go, as py's facebook caption went, "do, re, mi, fa, Mrs. So" implying PY was married to a man with the surname So. such coincidence.

Our first stop of the day was to shop at Wufenpu. Surprisingly though, we girls didn't buy much from that wholesale area.. somehow the clothing this year did not catch my eyes as much as it did two years ago. After spending a couple of hours at wufenpu, we proceeded straight to W Taipei to check-in our room.

Not too long after we checked in the hotel, we were served with complimentary drinks all thanks to Joanne for linking us up with her Taiwanese friend who happened to work in W. Sadly the weather on that day wasn't in our favour. It was raining cats and dogs since afternoon so we ended up lazing around the hotel, followed by a simple dinner near Taipei 101.

While we were expecting the rain to stop after dinner, it disappointed us further by pouring even more heavily. Instead of getting to explore the city, we resolved to just having some drinks at the bar in W before calling it a night.

Our day would have been so much more colourful if it hadn't rained that day. what a waste...

8/3/2016 - Wulai

Day 4 in Taiwan was the only day that we actually traveled outskirt of Taipei, to a district called Wulai. Generally speaking, Wulai was very different from the places that we had visited over the last three days. It has mountains and hills, waterfall and greenery that one simply could not resist falling for.

Over there, we had a choice of either taking a tram up the hill for sight seeing or we could make use of our feet to walk around. We picked the latter as we felt that it gave us more flexibility and time to enjoy the beautiful greenery around.

Not too long after we started walking, we reached the Wulai village. There, we stopped by a coffee place for a short break. The view from the coffee place was too nice for us to resist snapping thousands of pictures together lol.

I hope Choy Mun and the (ex) bf did not silently curse us for making them take countless number of photos for us at the very same spot... teeheeeee.

After coffee and some relaxing chitter-chatter that was not restrained by the number of hours we had this time (ah-har!), we continued to walk into the Wulai Old Street for some local food.

After that, we went closer to the beautiful Wulai outdoor hot spring river that was open to public.

The colour of the river was so beautiful we couldn't believe our eyes. Before we left Wulai, the five of us made a spontaneous decision to have a private hotspring bath at Volando Urai Spring Spa & Resort that offered good view and relaxing experience at a more affordable price compared to that at Beitou. hmm... the thought of the hot spring experience made me smile in contentment :)

After a warm comfortable hot spring bath, we headed back to Taipei to meet up with our dearest SoLong couple who had finally arrived in Taiwan!!! 

Dinner was held at Ding Wang hot pot with Simon's Taiwanese friends. I must say this hot pot was so much better than the one we had in Ximending on the first evening. Looks like the locals do know a lot better than us. hehee....

After steamboat, the (ex) bf kept his promise accompanying me to EZ5 Music Restaurant just so I get a chance to witness the performance of one of my favourite local singers, Shennio Lin Xin Yi. *beams*

Also present that night was Zhang Xin Jie, who sang pretty well too!

Up close and personal. I was truly a happy girl that night! wheeeee~~

7/3/2016 - Shifen, Taipei 101

After having tea in Jiufen, we stopped by the suspension bridge connecting Shifen and the Nanshan Villages that offered great view of greeneries with a stream of river underneath it.

 

We then proceeded to Shifen not long after to get a glimpse of the famous old railroad town which preserves the charm of the yesteryear. 

Thanks to my then favourite photographer, I've got such a nice photo of myself on the railway with a lovely background *beams in satisfaction*

Of course, just like any other tourists, we also participated in the fun experience of releasing sky lanterns in Shifen. One thing really alluring about sky lanterns is that we get to paint our wishes with calligraphy on four sides of the lantern before releasing it to the sky - think of it as sending your prayers straight to heaven and hoping that your wishes will be granted from up above.

I still remember how bright a smile he put on when we released our lantern. This simple activity proved that happiness could be so simple, so easily attained.. I can never forget this beautiful moment that we shared together. =)

After returning from Shifen, we took a short rest before heading to Taipei 101 for Din Tai Fung.

I really didn't know that DTF actually originated from Taiwan until this trip happened, as I expected it to be from China instead. Apparently the dishes that they served in Taiwan were slightly different from what we get in Singapore or Malaysia.. Worth a try.

Us at Taipei 101 =)

After dinner, we went ahead to visit Joanne's friend at Owl's Bar. 

Played some games, drank a bit and called it a day. Just blogging about Taiwan makes me miss going on holiday all over again.. Imagine waking up every morning not needing to even know which day of the week it is, or what else is on your to-do-list. Aahhh... the feeling was so blissful I can't wait for my next holiday already!

7/3/2016 - Jiufen

Day 3 started off with us sharing a cab to Jiufen together - the second time I visited this place. The only thing I noticed that was different from my first visit was that instead of having stalls selling ginger tea all the way up the hill, most of the stalls were selling jasmine tea this time around. I guess this could be due to the different seasons of visit?

Since everyone was getting a little hungry by the time we got there, we stopped by a fish ball shop and a few other random food stalls to fill up our tummies. Little bites in Taiwan was actually pretty good, in my opinion.

 

Although Jiufen is famous for selling all sorts of little local souvenirs, the first thing that came to my mind upon reaching there was to have the famous Taro balls!! - which thankfully, I found the right stall for it. We all had a good time indulging in this wonderful dessert :)

 

After having taroballs, I remember we had to do quite a bit of walking up the hill to reach a tea house called 阿妹茶楼, one which I had not visited during my first visit to Jiufen.

Nice view, good tea. Only regret was that despite the beautiful weather and the mesmerizing view, we could not spend ample time there as our driver was waiting to drive us to our next destination then. A piece of advise to anyone (including myself) who will be vising Jiufen in the future, get a one-way driver instead of a two-ways driver there. Otherwise, while you're supposed to be carefree enjoying the fresh air and your cuppa tea, you bound to feel stressed chasing after time instead. Better planning next round.. :)