The morning call was supposed to be at 7.30am but we woke up super early and we went down for bf at 7am.
Our breakfast buffet...
The fruits in Taiwan are so super duper sweeeeeeeeeeeeetttt!!!
There was still ample time left before the meeting time so we decided to walk to the very famous temple nearby to bai bai.
The traffic lights in Taiwan are very cute cuz you'll get to see this lil green man "walking" on the screen. And the time allowance for each traffic light varies, the longest that I've come across was 70 or 90 seconds lor. Can you imagine how long you gotta wait just to cross that stretch of road? I guess you'll never ever find such a time allowance in Singapore cuz the pace of our society is just too fast le, who would bother to wait such a long time for the light to turn green?
Public transport in Taiwan...
On the way back to our hotel, we spotted a very interesting underground passage.
The whole underground passage was lined up with a whole array of fortune-telling shops, side by side. Wonder how they can operate under such stiff competition from one another.
Convenience stores are located all around Taiwan, not just 7-11, there are also Family mart and another one which I cant recall the name. We went to 7-11 to purchase a phone card, planning to call my grandparents. Funny thing was we asked the cashier guy how to use the card then he blah blah a whole chunk of instructions which none of us understood. So we decided to read the manual inside and figure it out ourselves. We tried a couple of times but it didn't work so we asked the tour leader and ta da, the line got through! You cant imagine how happy we were when we heard those familiar voices coming from the other end. Heex...
The one with the green receiver was the phone we used to call back to Singapore...
By right the first place that we were supposed to go was to 阳明山纱帽温泉 but the tour guide decided to bring us to this very grand and famous hotel to see see since he said it was on the way.
圆山大饭店
The interior of the hotel was very grand, just like a palace. According to the tour guide, this hotel is just like the heart of the country. Many years ago, the roof top of the hotel was damaged by a fire and not long after this fire, the economy of the country suffered badly. Since then, the people believed that this hotel has very much a feng shui legend and are doing all they can to safeguard this place.
The ceiling of the lobby. There are around 200 dragons encarved on this celing.
The exterior of the hotel...
Then off we go to 阳明山纱帽温泉!!! I've been so looking forward to this 泡温泉 experience. Will never get to experience this kinda spring in Singapore, not even in Sembawang. That is only 小巫见大巫 compared to those in Taiwan and Japan.
The water that runs to the 温泉 place.
There are 2 types of 温泉 available - the public pool and the private pool. The public pool is of cuz sharing the pool with the public, people that you don't know. Then you are not supposed to wear anything on you when you go there cuz it's a shared pool mah. So, as you can guess, we chose the private one. 1-2 people can share each room, and inside each room there's a small pool for you to enjoy the dip. But you first have to fill up the pool yourself lor, you can add in cold water if you think that the 温泉water is too hot for you. It's really very refreshing and 舒服.
On the way back to our coach, there was this very strong pungent smell. Looking around, we realised it was sulphur. You can see yellow patches here and there on the rock, the sight was really wow.
Then we headed to 淡水老街 where it is famous for its 阿婆铁蛋 and 阿给贡丸汤.
There are many many such shops in 淡水, it's amazing how these shops can survive just by operating these machines. But seeing these shops brings back alot alot of childhood memories.
It's freezingly cold!!!
Such a lovely and romantic name of this scenic bridge was actually given by the ex-President of Taiwan.
The bridge at around 6plus...
It's dinner time!!! We headed to their night market to try out their local snacks.
Frankly speaking, I prefer the 蚵仔煎 in Taiwan. Partly it's because of the sweet sauce, and also, it's not as oily and cui as those sold in Singapore. It's really tasty. *Slurps slurps*
We bought 鸡排，sticks of local delicacies such as breaded sausage and 甜不辣 (picture shown below), 抓饼(which is something like roti prata and my mummy loves it alot), redbean pancakes (the fillings simply fill up the whole pancake!) etc etc back to our hotel to slowly slowly enjoy the food. Heex...
Day 3 to be continued...
On the way back to our coach, there was this very strong pungent smell. Looking around, we realised it was sulphur. You can see yellow patches here and there on the rock, the sight was really wow.
Then we headed to 淡水老街 where it is famous for its 阿婆铁蛋 and 阿给贡丸汤.
铁蛋
The rectangular猪血糕 is really not nice, has a weird and funny taste..Heex...
We dared not try the 臭豆腐 cuz it's simply too smelly!!! From a distance you'll be able to smell something chou chou and you can confirm then that there is a 臭豆腐 stall around. That's how characteristic this snack is. Heex...
Even though the weather was super cold, I couldn't resist the temptation and tried their very tall ice-cream.
There are many many such shops in 淡水, it's amazing how these shops can survive just by operating these machines. But seeing these shops brings back alot alot of childhood memories.
Papa decided to try his luck but it was just too challenging le. Heex...
Headed down to 渔人码头 after that.
A very beautiful 情人桥 near 渔人码头 at around 5plus.
It's freezingly cold!!!
Such a lovely and romantic name of this scenic bridge was actually given by the ex-President of Taiwan.
The bridge at around 6plus...
It's dinner time!!! We headed to their night market to try out their local snacks.
The famous 蚵仔煎
Frankly speaking, I prefer the 蚵仔煎 in Taiwan. Partly it's because of the sweet sauce, and also, it's not as oily and cui as those sold in Singapore. It's really tasty. *Slurps slurps*We bought 鸡排，sticks of local delicacies such as breaded sausage and 甜不辣 (picture shown below), 抓饼(which is something like roti prata and my mummy loves it alot), redbean pancakes (the fillings simply fill up the whole pancake!) etc etc back to our hotel to slowly slowly enjoy the food. Heex...
Day 3 to be continued...
