THSR from Taichung to Taipei.
After we had our breakfast at the hotel, we checked out and cabbed to Taichung HSR station. The cab driver offered to drive us down to Taipei but I still prefer to take HSR, which is faster as compared to a car ride. Furthermore, we do not have such an opportunity to travel via HSR in Singapore. We managed to get a discount for our HSR tickets as it was the non-peak period. In fact, there would be more discount (30% off) if we had booked our tickets online in advance. However, I do not want to make us to be restricted with the timing, e.g. we have to leave the hotel at a certain timing and etc.
I love the convenience stores in Taiwan, be it 7-11, Familymart or etc. They sell a wide variety of items and the main highlights, which are the drinks and food, are so good?!
We had the waffle from Familymart during our HSR ride. It smelt so good and it was crispy. The level of sweetness was also just nice, even though there was some honey on it. Where to get such a yummy waffle at $1+ here... T-T
We also bought 純萃。喝 mandheling. I really miss drinking these, can they be available in Singapore soon...
& finally, we were in Taipei. To be honest, I prefer Taipei to Taichung. I wished I was back home during the days in Taichung although the trip at there was still good, most probably I was freaked out by the stay at that hotel. When we were in Taipei, I hoped that we could stay there longer. Other than the hotels, it is also very convenient to travel around in Taipei by metro and there are more things to explore.
From the Taipei Main Station, we took the metro to Xinbeitou as I booked a night stay at one of the hot spring hotels. Most of the tourist attractions in Xinbeitou are closed on Mondays so do take note if you are going there (I missed out this point when I booked the hotel). By the way, it was kind of tiring to keep going up and down the escalators when we had to take different trains due to the design of the metro station, though all the tracks are located at the same level (unlike the one at Tanah Merah station when we can simply walk out from one train and take the other straightaway).
Accomodation at Xinbeitou
The hotel is located a few minutes walk away from Xinbeitou station and its interior looked classy. Their rooms are more expensive than the other two hotels that I have stayed so far but I realised that there will not be a huge difference in the prices as compared to if I were to book a hotel room equipped with in-room hot spring for a night VS a private hot spring room for a few hours plus a hotel room in Ximending for a night. Hence, I ended up booking the in-room hot spring room, plus we could also have more time using the hot spring.
The hotel provides free newspapers delivery to the room and the guests are able to choose the type of newspapers that they are interested in. It also offers the hotel guests a complimentary entry to the public hot spring. There are a few different types of facilities, such as jacuzzi, cold water plunge pool, hot spring pool, sauna and etc. It would be better to visit the public hot spring in the night as there would be less people. However, it can be kind of troublesome too as there are several rules to be obeyed since it is a public area and the staff working in the area was less friendly (or maybe just the one I encountered). You could most probably stay in your room if it consists of a in-room hot spring.
When we arrived at the level where our room was, a housekeeping staff was stationed there to welcome us and guide our way to the room.
Yes, the receptionist upgraded my room to Classic Double Room, which was their second most expensive room!!! *YAY* I was so surprised as it is my first time encountering a room upgrade. & wow wow wow when I looked at the original price for the rooms. Did we stay in a room that costs $400+ per night... :') I am super glad that I managed to get the room at a super much more cheaper price on the agent's website due to a promotion, plus a discount code (further reducing the charges) heheh.
The room was luxurious and spacious. We had a pleasant stay in the hotel and we actually spent some time lazing in the room throughout the stay instead of looking around at other places hahaha. I think it is worth to spend a night here, experiencing the onsen before heading towards the central area in Taipei.
The bed was so huge. Two bathroom robes were placed on the bed so that we could put them on when we wanted to use the hot spring or steam room.
Two sets of toiletries were provided by the hotel, one was placed on the sink while the other was put in the shower room. The shampoo, shower gels and etc smelt so nice such that we used one set over there and brought the other back to Singapore.
There was a balcony but the heat was extremely unbearable that I immediately closed the door after taking this photo.
Here is the limelight, hot spring bathtub! The hot spring water helps in skin disease, detoxification, stops itchness and etc.
The colour of the hot spring water was quite obvious. At first, I saw a few black stuff in the water and I thought that they were some dirt from the tub. However, I found out that they were soil and it is natural to see them in the hot spring water.
As a complimentary breakfast for two pax was included in our hotel package, we headed to the cafe for the breakfast buffet in the next morning after we were done soaking ourselves in the hot spring. The cafe atmosphere was really good to have breakfast, there were not many guests around so there was not much noise and the cafe played piano pieces of the classic mandopop songs. The waitress directed us to a table with a view of Beitou Park located opposite the hotel, where we could see the elderly exercising and adults going to work.
The hotel cafe offered a wide variety of food and they looked much more appetising. There were bread, cereals, fruits and many more shown in the photos below.
淡水老街 Tamsui Old Streets
Address: 新北市淡水區中正路
Nearest Metro Station: Tamsui 淡水
This is definitely a must-visit place on my list! The view is good for photo-taking. Furthermore, there are so many food that we could buy back and there is a stall selling some clothes that are more towards my liking. I always try to aim to buy clothes that cost from NTD100-150, but I am willing to spend a little more at this stall (aside from Ghost Emma), which was 2 for NTD350, or NTD300+ for a nicer piece. I was glad that the owner was still doing his business over there during my second visit to Tamsui. I am not very sure if the clothes are imported from Korea (some shops do get their stocks in Korea regularly) but their tags are in korean. I managed to get a few pieces this time (like last year) and the owner gave me a discount yay.
We got a 愛玉檸檬 (aiyu lemon) from the well-known stall, 哇..青蛙下蛋. It was really cooling, especially during a hot weather.
The first must-buy food in Tamsui, 阿婆鐵蛋 (Ah Po's 'iron' eggs). We have currently finished three packets and sadly to say, this year's eggs were so disappointing. They were more dry and less tasty as compared to last year's.
The second thing to buy was the 酸梅湯 (sour plum drink). Initially, I was hesitating between the two shops which are famous for this drink, plus they are located near each other. In the end, I randomly picked this because the signboard looked cute LOL. The drink was good anyway.
The following food we bought were 黑金剛花生 (black peanuts), which tasted so nice this time, and 合益魚酥 (He Yi Fish Crackers). Again, there are two shops that are well-known for the fish crackers but I got them from He Yi as the other shop was closed when we were there. The fish crackers from He Yi tasted better and crispier than the ones we got from Ah Po 'iron' eggs shop previously.
Beautiful views at Tamsui, especially in the evening.
No filter, and yet the sunset still looked so beautiful.
九份老街 Jiufen Old Street
Address: 新北市瑞芳區基山街224號
Nearest Train Station: Ruifang 瑞芳
The train ride from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang is approximately 45 minutes.
From the railway station, we walked to the police station nearby because the bus stop to Jiufen was around that area. We were kind of lost at first because I used Google Maps to search on the route to the bus stop but it failed, then I finally thought of locating the police station instead.
Most of the buses at that bus stop go to Jiufen and they would usually display their final destination as 金瓜石 (Jinguashi) but it is still better to ask the driver while boarding the bus. The bus journey from Ruifang railway station to Jiufen is around 15 to 20 minutes.
The scenery at Jiufen was really beautiful!!!
Jiufen Old Street is located a few minutes walk away from the bus stop.
It was our first visit to Jiufen as I was so tired during my previous trip after going to Shifen and we gave up on visiting this place.
I was tempted to get the malt candy. Besides the fact that it is cute due to the design, I simply love eating it. However, I guess that I can just get one back here when there is pasar malam heheh.
Many shops at Jiufen sell souvenirs and traditional items. We went to one of the shops and purchased some souvenirs. Surprisingly, the prices were still considerably acceptable even though Jiufen is a famous tourist spot. I bought one three-eyed alien pouch and it was the cheapest among all the stalls that I had seen in Taipei. Anyway, while we were in the shop choosing our stuff, the shop owner was introducing the prank products to a group of kids. He told a girl to look at the ring and then, it sprayed the water out LOL.
We bought the 花生卷冰淇淋 (peanut wrap with ice cream) since the stall in Jiufen is popular among many tourists.
It was surprisingly good! The peanuts were crunchy and tasty together with the taro ice cream. Plus the staff was nice to cut it into half for us when she knew that we were going to share it.
Another must-try food in Jiufen was the 芋圓 (taro balls).
My mummy ordered the hot bowl while I had the cold one as I could not stand the heat and needed something cooling.
The taro balls were chewy and nice. However, the taro balls would taste better when they are warm as they will be softer. Do try the hot one if the weather is cooling.
十份老街 Shifen Old Streets
Address: 新北市平溪区十分老街
Nearest Train Station: Shifen 十分
The train interval for Pingxi line is approximately an hour and the train journey from Ruifang to Shifen is about 35 to 45 minutes. Thankfully, we still managed to sit throughout the journey as I cannot forget how packed the train was during our trip last year due to the summer vacation.
I happened to see a shop selling the old-school soda drink, 彈珠汽水 (Ramume), so I bought one to try. Nothing fascinating but it was more gassy than the soda drinks that we usually drink such as coke. & I forgot that I could take the marble out before disposing the bottle (I did not manage to see any recycling bins though).
Initially, we wanted to visit Shifen Waterfall but it is 15 to 20 minutes walk away from Shifen station. Then, we decided to drop the idea of going there and leave Shifen as we could not stand walking that distance under the hot weather.
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