I not mean the NT550 at the airport wan lah...I mean other than the one u posted earlier...Those cheapo onn lai tarts

1st day (Thurs) - Arriving at Taoyuan airport ~2:10pm. Noted a moiney changer even b4 baggages reclaim area! There are more at the arrival hall. I changed all my US$600 for NT$19,146 after NT30 bank charges. It is strongly recommended to change US$ 1st in Malaysia & thereafter to NT$ due to lousy NT$ & Ringgit!

1) Evening - 5pm Bought Easy card at NT$500/pax & visited Shihlin nite market beside Jiantan MRT (NOT SHIHLIN MRT hor!)
Having lousy Ocien & also economy beehoon for 4 ~ NT160. Thereafter conmtinue wth drinks & also Stinky tofu..I hv to finish all...My family not dare to try ..Well Shihlin nite market not really a recommended place to visit!!




By ~7pm me at Ximending already. I combined my 2nd day Ah Chung mee sua here too as I failed to find the mee sua on 1st nite.

Famous restored Xi Meng Ding red house. Now art centre, Ximenngdi Museum, pubs & bars.

Previously Ximengdi is a old town & restored to the current state as yuppies area.



Ah Chung Mee sua (camera phone). The que can be as long as 40!!


Yanji Peanut & ice stall at Xi meng di - yummy peanut soup wth tofu far, mango ice shave, & muar chee:



OK 1st day in Taiwan...continue 2nd day soon to Hualien, Chin Sui Cliff & Taroko Gorge.....

if its not cold why the hell is everyone wearing super thick clothings ? u bluff me ah u say not cold oso

haha.. maybe for us malaysian thats not cold?? haha

Well 2nd day will be one of my best ever Holiday so far...2nd to Bali Uluwatu, Tanah Lot & even the Volcano of Kintamani.

1st I bought the return train ticket to Hualien station at NT794/pax & NT$380 below 12. 8am train is an express tilted train which took 2 hrs to Hualien (Coming back is normal train like KTM- slow 3hrs 15min to reach Taipei!)

Taipei main railway station. Don't be fool by the smaller size compare to Sentral KL...Activities happen 3-4 storeys below the stations where all MRT, train station & bullet trai station combined into 1 gigantic station all underground!


Once arriving at hualien, just negotiate wth the 1st taxi on the line..Offer me NT$1800 to Taroko. I asked for Chin Sui Cliff as well & he asked for additional NT500. I re-negotiated to NT2000 for the 5 hrs trip. but at the end I gave xtra NT$200 for the friendly Ah pek. so it's NT2,200 bcos we exceeded the 5hrs limit!

Photos:

Chin Sui Cliff - Remind me of Uluwatu in Bali...U can see the road tunnels & railway tunnels criss-crossing the high mountains which are .1000M high!! Super engineering on those buidings the tunnels..not 1 but many!! & very long too..




Taroko Gorge & bridge view from the train:


Taroko Waterfall temple - not far from the entrance but we visited this last!


Taroko Swallow Grotto (2nd stop & the best) lotsa hig mountains & deep canyon wth clear water river..:



jiu tong or 9 tunnels..Actually these 9 tunnels are closed to traffic as the new tunnels have been built deeper inside & now this area only a walkway..certain area closed due to fallen rock..Safety helmet provided! Infact there was a lady kena the fallen small pebbles behind me!!..so dangerous!!




3rd day to be continued...Taipei City visit to Chaing kai Shek, Sun yat sen & Taipei 101.....

mana itu pompuan taipei ???

Well temp just ~21C on that nite...just like Early Morning temp at Cameron Highland. They just wear for fear there's drop in temperature kua..Me also wearing bcos everyone wearing haha

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Added on December 17, 2009, 5:31 pmWell as Vkeong said...Those in taipei, The pinlang girls are either old ladies or old men wan!! The young almost naked wan all located hulu-hulu places!! I saw few just outside Taouyuan airport but too slow to take...So those going to Taipei..Prepare super fast zoom camera as those Pinang girls stalls are located just after the airport exit towards Tauyuan city & before entering taipei freeway

This post has been edited by stimix: Dec 17 2009, 06:06 PM

4th day. taken a bus from a bus stop opposite shandao temple which is near my hostel & also shangdao temple MRT. (tips from my fellow hostel mates)..Took about 1hr to reach Yehliu bypassing keelung. Walked down the narrow Yehliu fishing town.. very scenic town ..remind me of photos from scandinavia fishing village:




Yehliu Geopark - Mushroom shaped rocks:


Yehliu -Candle shaped rocks:


Yehliu - sandal rock. Near to the princess rock..Too many ppl take this princess rock dy..so I dunwan postr any here:


After shopping & Lunch at Yehliu canopy/tent stalls (Again lousy Ocien) took 1022 bus to Keelung. View of Keelung highest tower from the bus terminal 9more like a stop!


Thereafter bus no 1013 to Jiufen at Family mart shop beside/not far from keelung train station.
Jiufen is a no-no during weekend- Human jam & crowded like sardine:



And during late Evening, you can see the scenic sea view due to the cloud. Dun be fool wth the mist..It's not as cold as genting! Temp ~20C nia!







This post has been edited by stimix: Dec 17 2009, 08:47 PM

Aiyah deleted my 3rd day report..So reposting again...

Spent the day by visiting lungshan temple..Never expecting interesting daily taipei ppl activities surropunding this part of Taipei - Old buildings, Restored Qing dunasty Bu pi Liao shop houses, Wet market & also fresh medicine shops at the back of the temple

Lungshan temple:


Lungshan Wet market:


Old buildings beside the temple:


Restored Bu pi Liao Qing dynasty shops at the oldest area of Lunshan temple (Need to walk ~ 1km from the temple):


After lunch, took MRT to Chiang Kai Shek memorial:



Thereafter another MRT to Sun yat sen memorial & walked to Taipei 101:



From Taipei 101- Ticket at NT$400 & NT370 for children below 12


World largest earth quake damper:

5th day. My last day as tourist bcos on 6th day me preparing bck to KL dy. On 6th day just walk around Shangdao temple area.

Today concentration on National Palace museum, Dansui & at nite to Wufenpu:

national Palace museum - Take bus no 255 or 304 from Shihlin MRT station..It's the last bus stop. easy. (NT$15 to the museum).. Well for me it's one bloody overated museum..Nothing special although touted as the largest collection of China history taken from China Mainaland) Cherrrrr wasted NT$160/pax there.


Back to Shihlin station & having thjis yummy steamboat/wok -NT$100/pax only:




Continue to Dansui but skipped Beitou hot spring bcos family kenot walk liao.
Dansui old st from MRT station:



Bali volcano/hill from Dansui:



The best fish ball & also stuffed Tang hoon inside abig Tofu..Damn yummy (Dansui very famous of their Fish Ball industry..They even hv a Fish ball museum!:

Which one is the steamboat restaurant , Stimix ? Look nice

The red one:


More on Taipei food...The best burger Mc Donald Pork burger + Mc Cafe only NT$49! My daily breakfast except last day MOS burger however not as good as Mc D!! M'sian Mc D super duper inferior to Taipei Mc D..



Din know Taipei esp Xi Mending got Roti Canai..Fuuuuuuu..Too bad din try...Not worth when the price >RM3/pc


Uncle Chang At Wu fen pu NT240 for these:




White bitter gourd juice NT$50. Not cheap but very healthy:


Stinky tofu at Shihlin nite market..me rike it..NT25 for a box.


Cheap chapfan in Taipei beside Mc D Shandao temple - NT$55 for 5 dishes!! Beside the signboard is an oldman selling Pinang


My humble Taipei Hostel - NT600/nite...RM63 nia...dirt cheap...esp for those only need a place to stay for few hours/day...no need nais hotel wan.




This post has been edited by stimix: Dec 18 2009, 01:24 AM

bringing a 28' luggage will airasia consider oversize?

stimix , I am suprise that you stayed in Taipei Hostel but Lily never suggest you anything about your trip in Taipei?

1. Shi Lin is definetely worth going. The real Shi Lin night market would be the stalls around the place you visit in the photo. The food in the so called "Government planned" Shi Lin night market sucks. You can find delicious "Hao Da Da Ji Pai" (Hao Da Big Chicken Chop) and etc etc around the place with many shops and stalls. In fact you can see crowds move towards there from MRT station.

2. If I were to suggest a place for dessert in Xi Men Ding then I would suggest the shop named "3 Xiong Mei" (3 brother sister). As you stand at KFC facing the main street, it is at the end of right side.

3. You can actually walk from Taipei Hostel to Sun Yat Sen memorial hall and it's like wtuf so near lol ..

4. etc etc , and most important, I miss Uncle Zhang !! Their "lu rou fan" is definetely the best !!

U stayed there too?.. Actually Lily helps a lot on transportation tips & also location of Ah Chung mee sua & Yanji...I suspect you stayed there last week too as now you are my dupe!! I can see u as my dupe haizzz!!! Are you the M'sian check-in during midnite last Saturday?

On Sun Yat Sen, Probably I can walk but not my family & my dad...too old to walk so far...it's about 3km away...Taipei Hostel having so many nice & weird Ang moh, Japanese..just like one International kopitiam..U sit around & chat whatever you like...I just luv staying at hostel...probably my future trip elewhere will continue staying in this type of environment..cheap, Free wifi, free cooking, free laundry except the room is just very basic but reasonable clean room.

This post has been edited by stimix: Dec 19 2009, 12:02 AM

Yup I stayed there but it was like 1 month + ago. Anyway, don't quite get what do you means by "your dupe" lol ...

Yeap those ang moh are nice ... and a black guy which I don't know he's still there or not. I was really surprise when I saw he was talking in mandarin better than you and me LOL.

and yes the japanese girl rika-chan. She's my friend. Cute girl right? ^^

No wonder-lah. U probably din log-out your Lowyat a/c at Taipei Hostel & when I logged-in last week, you appeared as my dupe! die liao!

Yeah those Mat Salleh there speaks mandarin & few even speaking UJapanese & Korean..wow...Found out most of them are staying long-term at the hostel while working as temporary English teacher...Yeah Rika still there...She's cute for sure...Mum Japanese dad Chinese...very friendly....Those Mat salleh were shock when my banana wife & daughter can't speak proper mandarin...haha..The negro no more there but Kelvin & Michael still there. Michael just got a job in Kaushiong & going to move out fromn the hostel soon. Kelvin is so friendly & even though me Korean..I din know Korean so simple!!

This post has been edited by stimix: Dec 19 2009, 12:22 AM

can i ask...anyone when to the little world? xiao ren guo?

i wan see doreamon lo...but next yeat march onli go taiwan...

No point going there for those rubbish thingy..just ebjoy the scenic view of Taroko Gorge, Chin Sui Cliff, Dansui, yehliu & more..Taipei is boring but not the outskirt of taipei..

imma going there for that too so it not rubbish