Day 4 began with a hearty breakfast at the hotel restaurant
there were cereal, porridge, noodles, sandwiches, toast, eggs, fruits, cakes etc
after fueling up for yet another long day
we returned to the room to pack our stuff into a box (courtesy of the hotel)
and left it at the concierge (didn’t want to lug it around)
after which we set foot again to the nearest bus stop
and hopped onto a bus (can’t recall what no)
which was headed for Taipei’s most popular landmark
Taipei 101
my favorite Taiwanese lass
we were both grateful and upset because it was foggy that day
grateful because it meant cool wind in my hair
the latter because pointless to go up to the observatory level on the 87th floor
such is life
i must say i saw alot of things that i wanted to buy and i supposed i did
i finally found a luggage bag that i liked – Eminent
i have always used that brand, besides Samsonite (not anymore)
and all my loot, is hidden inside the luggage you see in the picture above, hehehe
since we weren’t going up for the bird’s eye view of the city
we went back to store away my luggage bag
before heading to Taipei Main Station to buy railway tickets to Ruei Fang
where we would then take a bus up to Jiufen
the train ride was a nice experience
initially i thought i’d be riding on the high speed train
but because the destination was too close, so it was the conservative train for me
choo choo, the ride was approximately 20 min only
like the locals, we bought a bien tan and a drink to feast in the train
unfortunately, it didn’t taste as good as it looked ..
so screw that ….. however the train ride was quite comfortable
so that pretty much made up for the yucky food.. (don’t be fooled guys)
come think of it, i think we ate quite a bit that day
the bf actually had a big bowl of pho in Taipei 101 foodcourt
when i say big, i mean big..
like this big!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i dunno where he found place to store all the food
but so long as he was happy i guess i am ok with it
besides, we had alot of walking to do, which means they’ll be burnt off anyway
i lost 3-4kg after the trip * (grinz)
notice how most of the girls had surgical masks on?
the bf managed to catch a power nap in the train
while i pressed my nose against the window
looking out at the scenery
i thought Sarawak had alot of greens, turns out Taiwan is pretty green too!!
i guess the first thing one’d notice once we exit the Rueifang station
is that the roads are made of clay, at least i did
i thought that was quite odd
but not all the roads la…..
so the plan was to take the bus up to Jiufen
we cheated
we caught a cab, which cost us NTD180
which is a pretty reasonable price, haha,
i’m just happy i didn’t have to walk that much
i wanted to conserve energy for the walk around Jiufen
which i am glad i did
less walk = less blisters
after the mandatory pictures – scenic background
proof that you’ve been to Jiufen,
we took on ‘Lao Jie’ which loosely translated is Old Street
that was littered with little push carts selling food, drinks, memorabilia etc
the famous yam ball dessert – a must try
Jiufen was a mining town during the Japanese occupation
the village became a tourist attraction not only because of the great scenery
but because also of a movie scene starring Tony Leung there
i could hear many languages including Japanese, Korean, Cantonese
while walking along the winding street
there were also a lot of alleys
which made it very quaint and beautiful
tea houses were aplenty
obviously characterized by Japanese influence also
we were tempted to visit other nearby attractions
but due to time constraint, we had to pass on it thus
we made our way back to the railway station
to head back to Taipei
and on that very night there was some kind of concert
with a lot of artistes expected to perform
they include Jolin, Jay and Show Luo
as much as i had wanted to see it
we had to pass on it as we made an appointment to meet someone that night
BOO
sucks innit?
free some more!!!
staytunedformore
e
