First up we went to visit Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Take a train to the station of that name and it's at exit 5 if I'm not wrong.
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| National Theatre |
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| National Concert Hall |
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| Liberty Square |
There is a very big square there with all four sides having a building of significance. For this part I was just being a typical tourist kay haha, taking photos and all. The square kind of reminded me of Tiananmen in Beijing, it was so grand and huge!
That's the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Chiang Kai-shek was the president of Taiwan hence he was very influential. This memorial all was built after his passing to commemorate his contributions to Taiwan.
There was a crowd gathered there to watch the changing of guards ceremony.
I think the parks surrounding it is very pretty. Obviously it's man-made and they have to keep it nice and pristine, since it's a tourist attraction and a significant landmark in their country, but it's still very pleasing to the eye. (:
After that we took a train to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. To commemorate the national founding father Dr Sun Yat Sen's unparalled morality, revolutionary conducts and to excel his doctrine, this memorial hall was built. It also serves to provide a place of remembrance for all to emulate the national founding father, encompasses the functions of cultural and artistic education, leisure recreation and academic research.
There were some galleries inside and the photo below is an example of their polling station in the past.
We didn't stay long there cos there was nothing much to do. But Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is a good spot to take pictures of the famed Taipei 101!
Next we went to Taipei 101 to look see look see. It used to be the tallest building in the world until 2004, when Burj Al Khalifa overtook it haha.
We were just walking at the shopping mall there and didn't go up because you have to pay. But there's actually a Starbucks on the 33rd floor, if you wanna go up and have a look. I wanted to but I couldn't find the lift lol, so nvm. Anyway if you think about it, the 33rd storey isn't super high up, so even if you don't go up it's not a pity HAHA.
The shops at Taipei 101 shopping mall are very high end, similar to our MBS. So we went out and walked to the nearby shopping malls to have our lunch.
I saw a crepe shop and I couldn't resist having one!
Some noodle thingy that my mum had.
BREADDDD AHH BREAD! My favourite food! Haha there are also many bakeries in Taiwan, something like those slightly higher end i.e. Breadtalk that kind. Their breads look so tasty and yummy I always go in to have a look but not buy any LOL.
This is me with my favourite food hehehe.
We were shopping then decided to have tea break at one of the bakeries (yay!) so we shared this Danish pastry thingy which was very nice!
I expected it to be custard filling inside, something like Bo Lo bun, but nope it was very light and fluffy! Yumyum~
At about 3 plus we made our way to 五分埔 (Wufenpu) shopping district. It's a shopping street (or rather, many streets) that's similar to Bugis Street, but here it's a more wholesale kind of shopping place.
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Travel tips
Take the train to 後山埤 (Houshanpi) station, exit 1. Cross the road in front of you and walk straight then turn left. It sounds vague here haha but there'll be signs to guide you.
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The prices range from S$4 to S$50 for clothes, depending on the quality, design etc. They also have shoes, bags and accessories. There are also guys stuff so don't worry about the guys having nothing to see lol.
I only have those two photos above of Wufenpu LOL cos I was just shopping all the way. I felt like I was busy while shopping because I also had to look out for things to buy for other people sigh. But it's okayyy I still had a good time shopping! Didn't manage to walk the whole area, think it'll take me up to one whole day lol.
After so much walking, we finally made our way to Raohe Night Market! It's about a 10 minute walk from Wufenpu. Basically walk out to Songshan station then continue walking straight. Ask the locals for directions!
This is a temple that you will see while walking towards Raohe. The entrance is just to the left!
Yay another night market whoohoo! I was very excited especially after my good experience (overall) at Shilin the night before.
So the first thing I just had to buy is the 胡椒餅 (Black Pepper Bun)! It's like the most famous food at Raohe Night Market, and somewhat to portray its significance, the stall is located right at the entrance of the market! You can immediately see a snaking queue for this bun.
There are many people working at the stall helping to prepare the bun. First someone will roll the dough into the bun shape.
Next there'll be 2 to 3 people stuffing the fillings into the bun. Which is the meat then the veggies.
After that an uncle will stick the buns on the walls of the charcoal 'oven' like thingy, where the bun will take some time to be baked! Or cooked. Or whatever you call it haha.
And tada, the buns are ready! :D I love watching these kind of food-making process, so interesting heh.
My bun with meat and veggies in it, oh so yummy! I like how it's not deep fried, unlike most street food, but it's still crispy on the outside and full of flavour! :D
Haha this grilled corn was a joke. My mum felt like eating it so we bought it, but I think we got cheated. We paid S$3.40 for this stick! Super overpriced! The thing is there was no price indicated there so we suspect the shop auntie just quoted us a higher price as she could kind of tell we are tourists. Humph felt so scammed man.
Bought a 蔥肉生煎包 (bun with onion and meat inside) because my mouth was itchy and it's similar to bread HAHA.
Rested our feet at a table as we shared a bowl of tauhuay. We could definitely do with some cold desserts to refresh ourselves! (:
Mum was kinda craving for this fried cuttlefish so she queued for it.
I wasn't very interested to try but one bite and I was sold. It was so good! Never mind that it's deep fried (again), it was just so crunchy and chewy at the same time! :D
And while leaving the night market I passed by this stall. Anything with biscuit-/bun-like small snacks will just tempt me seriously. Argh was already full but it looked yummy and small enough (LOL) so I bought one of them in the end! #itchymouth
Anyway I feel Raohe is less interesting than Shilin. Yes it seems a little more authentic to me, and I do see more locals there, but I think it lacks in variety when compared to Shilin. So I was a little disappointed at Raohe. :/ But no biggie each night market has its own yummy food and unique things so I still did enjoy my time at Raohe! (:
Whoa that was another long day of walking man! Sightseeing + shopping + walking and eating at the night market! So shiok! Ah can I just go back to Taiwan now... :'(
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