Taiwan Day 1

We were freaking early the next morning after our KK tour to embark our new journey to Taiwan! So excited although this was not our 1st visit for both of us. Can't wait to explore more new places and foods! I actually did a very thorough planning of our itinerary of where to go. George even claimed that it was better than those by travel agencies as we had those different experiences in which tour groups could not provide. So obviously, I'm the tour guide for our trip. It was tiring but indeed very fruitful.

Taoyuan International Airport

Reaching Taoyuan International Airport around 1130am, we immediately proceeded to the telecommunication counter which was easily located after making a right turn upon exiting the luggage collection hall. Got our prepaid card for easy internet usage throughout our vacation. Without wasting time, we moved on to purchase our KuoKuang bus tickets to Taipei Main Station.

Comfortably waiting if or passengers to fill up the empty seats.

Taipei Main Station

After getting the Youth Card (For more info, visit https://youthtravel.tw/sub_en/card/) from the Information Counter as the cards could allow us to enjoy special discounts in certain places, I searched for Uncle Tetsu's Cheesecake as it was recommended by many. Bought the whole cake and enjoy bits of it. It was really soft. Some people actually queued up to get the instantly made cakes, but we were in a rush, so I just got what they had there. Upon that, the next thing was to get EasyCard for easy access around Taiwan which could be used for buses, railways and Metro's rides.

XiMenDing

Board on the metro to XiMenDing (XiMen Station) with our heavy luggages so that we could check in to our hotel (ColorMix Hotel). With the help of a local taxi driver, we found the hotel in a small alley within the bz and crowded shopping district. As the check-in time of most of the hotels there were abt 3pm, we were still quite early and left our bags at the counter so that we could head on shopping and eating without wasting time.

Good weather.. Not too cold.. Just nice..

王子起司马铃薯 😋😋 could not forget how good it was when I had it during my previous visit.

Too bad the pic was overexposed which I did not realize. Couldn't show how mouth-watering it was.

火焰骰子牛. They cooked the beef cubes on the spot with fire. 

It was so so so delicious!! Meat was tender and juicy, not losing the beef aroma, perfected with the added flavoring chosen (玫瑰矿盐). No regrets!

Another popular stall - 日式碳烤麻糍. Grilled mua chee which we could later select the seasonings we wanted. We went for one salty which I think was cheese and another one of sweet version which I think was teriyaki sauce. The cheese one tasted rather bland but the teriyaki one was quite ok.

Along our shopping routes, we also searched for the famous 赛门甜不辣.

Only tried this bowl of 甜不辣. Quite nice with all the fish balls, meat balls, horseradish together with the sweet paste. A new dish that I never taste before. Could be very filling if this was eaten all alone.

Miramar Shopping Centre

Took the metro to Jiannan Rd. Station to get to Miramar. Wanted to go for the Ferris wheel ride, but queue was rather long. So we just walked around and waited for the free shuttle bus to Shihlin Night Market.

Shihlin Night Market 士林夜市

Shihlin is a must visit night market in Taipei. You could get almost very local snacks here and also do some shopping for clothes. It's one of the largest in Taipei. However, it is really packed and crowded. Sometimes you just have to squeeze and push through your way to get around. Foods here are available in 2 sections, located along the streets and also underground.

Some seafoods you could get

Massive production of Taiwan famous oyster omelette. It's really delicious!

Cheap and yummeh beef steak you could get here.

Some foods we enjoyed for the night: Quail eggs, Grilled celery wrapped in bacon, Grilled Octopus 👍, Oyster Omelette 蚵仔煎, Deep fried chicken butt 七里香 (the best chicken butt I had so far), Beef steak with spaghetti and sunny side up (meat was so tender), Deep fried Yam with Egg Yolk 👍, Grilled Chicken Thigh Sausage (bursting tasty juice once you bite) and Red Bean Cake 红豆饼.

XiMenDing 

Got back to XiMenDing and continue walking around. Walk and shop to digest more and eat more! Haha! Found the famous 阿忠炭烤 for supper. We definitely walked a long way for this. Partly was because we lost our way. Still wasn't familiar with the road signs.

Select whatever you want and have it grilled. There were quite a number of people waiting before us. But it was worth the wait! ☺️