The 6th day of Taiwan trip

• Walking around the park near the hotel   ––––––>   • Breakfast at Kao-ji  ––––––>   • Taoyuan International Airport  ––––––>   • Changi International Airport 

On the last leg of the trip, we decided to take a walk slow around the park near by the hotel.  It was a good walk before having breakfast.  

The Kao-ji restaurant opens 11:00am.

When we get in the store, all staffs were still busy setting the tables and tidying up the seating area.   We were the first customers of the day.   ^_^/  

Kao-ji is one of the popular restaurants for a shanghai cuisine.   We got a hot Chinese tea first as usual. 

Darrin finished Xia long bao in a twinkling of an eye, and I took picture of the empty basket. -.-;

Shanghai style fried pork buns

Steamed pork buns

Stir-fried mixed vegetables  

Pan-fried rice-cake with red bean paste

 On the way back to Singapore

Darrin's getting our bags on the belt at Changi international airport. 

The 5th day of Taiwan trip

• Bruch at Bite 2 Eat  –––––––>   • Chun-shui-tang Tea House  –––––––>  • National Taiwan University  ––––––>  • Dinner at Wu-ma-wang( 牛魔王)  ––––––>   • Shida Night Market (師大夜市)   ––––––>  • Foot massage

A late brunch at Bite 2 Eat pizza restaurant across the street from the hotel we stayed.  

The restaurant opens 11:30am, but Darrin and I got in 30 minutes ahead of time to make sure that we get seats this time.  Actually, we had come here at an opening time on weekend, yet unfortunately couldn't get a table due to a big crowd of people ahead of us.  -_-;;

This is what we ordered for brunch.  The wine based seafood pasta and the thick cheese crust pizza with some honey.  

After brunch, we came down to Chun-shui-dang Tea house to have some cup of tea.  Darrin was patiently waiting for getting a table.  

We went for a walk around another district, so called the Gongkuan area, the southern part of Taipei. 

Surprisingly, you still can see the mom and pop corner stores at any turn in the back alley.  How nice to see them after all these years.  Since the big supermarkets or the convenient stores were built everywhere in Seoul, it's hard to see such a small corner shop in my town any more. 

Taiwanese people are a fervent lover of the motor scooter.

Darrin asked the young people for directions on the street, and they ended up having a nice little chat.   I was quite impressed with most of the people in Taiwan who were genuinely amiable and friendly. 

On the way to National Taiwan University

Funny thing is, the green light was bliking for 67seconds at a short crosswalk (probably about 20ft breadth at the most).   ^_^

The campus view of the University from the entrance. 

There were many students going back home by bike, since it was late afternoon. 

The bicycle parking facility on the campus

One the way to the ShiDa night market, the secondhand bookstore which created a friendly atmosphere caught my eye for a while.

Once we reached to the ShiDa night market, we headed for the steak noodle house, Wu-ma-wang.  

Steak set menu_ TWD120  (USD4 only) 

Steak noodle with a cup of soup, potato salad and water

what a bargain! 

Just looking at the pictures, it makes my mouth water.  

Let's have a nice little stroll after dinner. 

Trying on a floppy hat at the fancy little shop in ShiDa Rd.  

ps. The dog walking by kept following me  heading for the sausage shop, and I ended up sharing some of the snack with him.

Trying a pan-fried pork dumpling at the snack bar.

Gotcha!  

What you doing??

Just checking...

The smell passed..., and guess what?

I bought a pack of the fried stuffs and finished it up with the dog. 

The 4th day of Taiwan trip

• Long-shan-shi Temple(龍山寺)   –––––>   • Bruch at Chun-shui- tang (春水堂)   –––––>   •  Late lunch at  Dǐngwáng spicy hot pot (鼎王麻辣鍋)   –––––>   •  Shopping at ChiaTe bakery   –––––>  Cheng Pin Shu Dian Book store   –––––>   • 101 Tower  –––––>   •  Kaifun (開飯川食堂)   –––––>   • Foot massage at Shilin 

In the early morning, Darrin and I made a quick trip to Long-shan-shi temple, the oldest buddhist temple in Taipei (was built in 1738).   The roof of the temple was richly ornamented with carving and incredibly colorful.  

It was already crowded with the locals and tourists.   Darrin was fascinated to take pictures of some people telling fortunes by throwing a pair of the red wooden sticks.  

If you get one side up and one side down of them, it allow you to make a wish to God.  Right after praying, you throw them again to see your wish will come true or not.  People was throwing them hard again and again until they get the message their wishes come true.  

Whoopee!  She got it.

The women's room at the Long-shan-shi MRT station.  Darrin enjoyed checking on which number I got in.  (Do we really need this notice board? @-@)

I was excited to have a hot milk tea at Chun-shui-tang which is my favorite tea house in Taipei.  This branch is located at the basement of ShinKong Mitsukoshi department store.  

The shop puts some short notice on the cover of the menu that it is the origin of the Pearl Milk Tea.   

Look at this!  What a great feeling with a cup of the milk tea.

Darrin loves Ice lemon jasmine tea.

Even though we just finished up the brunch, we were standing at another restaurant to eat again.. lol

Ding-wang Spicy Hot Pot restaurant is well known for the Taiwanese style Shabu-Shabu. (BOC, we won't miss it ^^)   We made table reservations once we arrived in Taipei (4 days earlier), so have no problem to get in during lunch time. 

Woohoo!  

You can choose two different tastes of the broth.  One is the spicy soup, the other is the clear soup with the sour cabbages. 

 Don't forget to take photo before starting to eat.  "Cheese~~~"    ^_______^ 

Oh oh, Oh dear... soooo full,,, but we've got to stop by Chia Te to buy some desserts, the Fruit and Walnut Pastry. 

Chia Te bakery shop very near the restaurant.   It has a great selection of the traditional pastries and the cookies as well as the fresh breads.

In front of Elite Book Store(誠品書店) at the Dun-hua shopping area in Taipei.   This book store is the largest in Asia and opens 24 hours a day. 

It has an enormous selection of the books, the music CDs, the stationaries, the electrics and computer accessories and so on.  Not just that, there are a couple of the nice and cozy cafes inside of the store.   I immediately lost my heart to this lovely bookstore.

On the way to 101 Tower

We took the world's fastest passenger elevator at 101 Tower in Taipei.  It brought us to the 89th floor of the building that has a 360 degree night view of the city.  It took only 37seconds from the ticket counter at the fifth floor. 

Lovely, lovely, lovely!

Dinner at KAIFUN 

We chose Szechuan cuisine for dinner at that night.  It was a great choice.  Every dishes we ordered were so fresh and yummy.