Day 2: Taipei (Maokong 貓空 > Taipei Main Underground Shopping Street 台北地下街 > Qsquare 京站時尚廣場)

Day 1: Changi Airport > Taoyuan Airport > Taipei > Hsinchu > Neiwan

Day 2: Taipei (Maokong > Taipei Main Underground Shopping Street > Qsquare)

Day 3: Taipei (Wu Fen Pu > Eslite > Taipei Main Underground Shopping Street > Ningxia Night Market)

Day 4: Taipei > Taichung (Taichung Train Station > Miyahara Ophthalmology Department > Fengjia Night Market)

Day 5: Taichung (Rainbow Military Dependents` Village > Great Buddha of Baguashan > Lukang Old Street > Taiwan Glass Gallery & Glass Temple > Gao Mei Wetlands)

Day 6: Taichung (Stock 20 > Taichung Park > Yizhong Shopping Street)

Day 7: Taichung > Kaohsiung (Formosa Boulevard > Dream Mall > Ruifeng Night Market > Hanshin Departmental Store > Liuhe Night Market)

Day 8: Kaohsiung > Kenting 墾丁(Fu An Temple 福安宮 > Eternal Flame 出火特別景觀區(恆春出火) > Jialeshuei Scenic Area 佳樂水風景區 > Longpan Park 龍磐公園 > Eluanbi Lighthouse 鵝鑾鼻灯塔>  ShaDao Eco-Protection Area 砂島生態保護區> Chuanfanshih 船帆石 > White Sand Bay 白沙灣)

Day 9: Kaohsiung (Cijin Island > The British Consulate at Takao > 壽山LOVE情人觀景台 > Kaohsiung Martyrs' Shrine > Takao Railway Museum > The Pier-2 Art Center > Love River Ai He > Lotus Pond > Kaohsiung Airport)

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Our accommodation package don't include breakfast so... breakfast hunting was required.

Just around the corner is our favorite place for breakfast!! 

Ham Egg Crepe with sweet sauce 

Going Maokong? It's a breeze with the metro line. 

From Taipei Main Station, either via: 

1. The blue line towards Nangang station and transfer at Zhongxiao Fuxing station to the brown line towards the Taipei Zoo (NT$35) or 

2. Board the red line towards Xiangshan and transfer at Daan station to the brown line towards the Taipei Zoo 

From Taipei Zoo station, exit from the train station and follow the signs for Maokong. Walk roughly 5-10mins towards the Maokong Gondola if you opt for the cable car. 

We went there on a Saturday and oh my gosh! The queue is long by the time we reach at 12.30pm. Surprisingly, we only took around 30 mins to take the cable car

Note: there are 2 types of cable car: regular cable car and crystal cable car. We bought the tickets for regular cable car (NT$50 each/per way) on the spot. Seemed that those who queued for the crystal cable car were by reservation. The types were differentiated only at level 4 queue. On the 1st level, everyone had to queue in the same line regardless of the cable car type. 

The differences I saw was the crystal cable car has a see-through bottom. 

The cable car ride goes to 4 stations, and the last stop is Maokong Station and is approx 20mins~30mins. That was the stop we alighted at for the tea!

I wanted to stay there longer. First was the queue for the cable car to return to metro station was freaking long! Second, we had an appointment at evening hours so we had to stick to our schedule. And lastly and most important, the streets are filled with teahouses!! 

I could have spend my whole day just to stay there and eat sweets and drink teas.

Near the exit of Maokong cable car station, there was a map to guide you around. There were signboards everywhere and you won't get lost. Also, near the bustop, there are cabs if you need a comfortable (could be costly) way to get around.

 We ended up walking a distance not far from the cable car station and went for a sumptuous meal and appreciate tea.

The view from where we had our lunch at

The sun ray!!

Entrance/Exit of the eatery 

XO Cabbage

Red Tea Tofu

Steam Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion

A costly meal it was. The bill came up to NT$1400 (including a bag of tea. yes! A bag! They bring a new bag of tea leaves and open it on the spot to brew. If you can't finished the whole bag, the remaining you can bring home. I guess it's approx. 75g to 100g for that bag.)

After lunch, we headed back to Taipei Main Station via the cable car. There were buses available but the crowd at the bustop and crowd on the bus deterred us from boarding/queuing. Moreover, we didn't know how long the journey will be via bus. 

Once again, the queue for cable car was long... But fast moving. So don't be discourage to join the queue.

View from the cable car downwards 

The view from Taipei Zoo Station towards Taipei Main Station

Once again.. I accomplished my 8600 steps for the day (before evening hours)!

Dinner time!! 

At our friend's recommendation, we headed for Ten Kichi Ya (天吉屋) @ Qsquare for dinner. 

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!! 

If you are a fan of ginza tendon itsuki or tempura stuffs, the tempura from Ten Kichi Ya @ Qsquare is not to be missed! 

It was approx. NT$270~NT$320 per tempura don. 

We tried Ten Kichi Don and Pork Don. It is delicious!!! 

Day 1 Singapore - Taipei - Hsinchu 新竹 - Neiwan 內灣

Day 1: Changi Airport > Taoyuan Airport > Taipei > Hsinchu > Neiwan

Day 2: Taipei (Maokong > Taipei Main Underground Shopping Street > Qsquare)

Day 3: Taipei (Wu Fen Pu > Eslite > Taipei Main Underground Shopping Street > Ningxia Night Market)

Day 4: Taipei > Taichung (Taichung Train Station > Miyahara Ophthalmology Department > Fengjia Night Market)

Day 5: Taichung (Rainbow Military Dependents` Village > Great Buddha of Baguashan > Lukang Old Street > Taiwan Glass Gallery & Glass Temple > Gao Mei Wetlands)

Day 6: Taichung (Stock 20 > Taichung Park > Yizhong Shopping Street)

Day 7: Taichung > Kaohsiung (Formosa Boulevard > Dream Mall > Ruifeng Night Market > Hanshin Departmental Store > Liuhe Night Market)

Day 8: Kaohsiung > Kenting 墾丁(Fu An Temple 福安宮 > Eternal Flame 出火特別景觀區(恆春出火) > Jialeshuei Scenic Area 佳樂水風景區 > Longpan Park 龍磐公園 > Eluanbi Lighthouse 鵝鑾鼻灯塔>  ShaDao Eco-Protection Area 砂島生態保護區> Chuanfanshih 船帆石 > White Sand Bay 白沙灣)

Day 9: Kaohsiung (Cijin Island > The British Consulate at Takao > 壽山LOVE情人觀景台 > Kaohsiung Martyrs' Shrine > Takao Railway Museum > The Pier-2 Art Center > Love River Ai He > Lotus Pond > Kaohsiung Airport)

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It's our yearly Taiwan trip! Flight scheduled at 12.45am and took off as planned. Luckily NO DELAYS!

We reached Taoyuan Airport pretty early and hanged around till 8am for the telco service. There were 3 telco companies to choose. The telco in the middle of the other 2 telco companies started operation before 8am. But we opted for the Taiwan Da Ge Da and waited patiently till 8am.

Going Taipei from Taoyuan, there were a few options: 
1. Taxi (Costly, approx NT$1000~NT$1300)
2. Take the shuttle bus (15mins ride, NT$30) from Taoyuan Airport to Taoyuan HSR and take the HSR to Taipei Main Station (20mins ride, NT $175)
3. Take a direct bus from Taoyuan Airport to Taipei Main Station (an hour ride, NT$125)

Opted for option 2 as we thought it would be faster but not really. The wait for the shuttle bus was approx. 15mins. We spent almost the same time we needed if we opted for the direct bus. 

Our 3 days 2 night accommodation in Taipei was @ Apartment 10F, which was easy to locate from Taipei Main Station. There were 2 rules: No eating in our room if possible (to eat at the lounge area) and have our footwear changed to in-house slippers. (There is a cabinet for our footwear located at the entrance.) The staffs were friendly and provided us with a lot of information for our travel needs.

 The view from main lounge

  A cosy sofa at the main lounge

 The table for dining

After resting for a while in the main lounge, we headed for Neiwan. Unfortunately, we took the longer route. Instead of taking HSR from Taipei Main Station to Hsinchu, we took the train which took an hour more compared to taking HSR. We alighted from Hsinchu Train Station to explore around Hsinchu. Note: Hsinchu train station and Hsinchu HSR are at different locations.

Hsinchu Train Station

Mashed Potato

After a quick bite and much determination, we headed for Neiwan. From Hsinchu train station, board the line that goes to Zhuzhong-Liujia and at Zhuzhong station, transfer to the Neiwan Line and alight at the last stop.

 The two train while waiting for our transfer ride

 The train platform

The train to Neiwan

The original planned route to go Neiwan was to:
Travel to Hsinchu HSR Station > Walk to Liujia station and take the train to Zhuzhong > Transfer to Neiwan Line

After more than an hour spent to transfer rides, we finally reached Neiwan. We did a quick check on the next train arrival timing. Train frequency: An hour!

Neiwan Train Station

Walked into this entrance and at the end of the staircase, there is an art culture store at the left side while straight away is a school.

 Neiwan View

 Neiwan View

Neiwan View

Grelims spotted!!

bamboo holder with wishes written. 

Write your wishes on a blank bamboo holder which is available at the coffee shop. Can't rem the cost though.

Pink guava! Oishi!

Fried Ginger Lily（野薑花）

Can't resist the temptation despite not hungry. But still~~~I bought it. And yummy! Tasted like onion rings with a mild sweet taste but not overpowering and keeps you going for more. Before you know it, it's gone! 

"Neiwan is a community surrounded by hills and waters, with mostly Hakka peoples gathering and living in this lovely town." - quoted from TravelKing

You can easily find Hakka foodies in any of the nearby eateries. Not as packed as Jiufen or Danshui on the human traffic so it's nice to just stroll through to buy or dine.

The only disadvantage the travelling hours from from Taipei to Neiwan. We started our journey at 11am, spent less than an hour at Neiwan and Hsinchu each, and ended our journey around 7pm (when we reached Taipei Main Station).

A quick calculation 6 hours on travelling!! 

Taking a train to Hsinchu from Taipei Main Station was already 2 hours 15mins. 

(Take HSR if to save travelling time)

From Hsinchu to Zhuzhong and from Zhuzhong to Neiwan is roughly 45mins BUT if you missed the timing, that's where everything gone wrong. We spent almost 30 mins waiting for each transfer! 

Conclusion: Plan your time wisely!!

Waiting for the train at Zhuzhong station to Liu Jia Station

It was already turning dark at was not even 6pm!

Instead of going to Hsinchu train station, we headed for Liu Jia train statioin in order to board the HSR at Hsinchu HSR Station. With a better time estimation, we took less than 2 hours to reach Taipei Main Station. Exhausted, we hunted for our dinner at Qsquare.

Hotplate Dinner! Nice Nice Nice!!

Oreo Coated Cream Puff with Earl Grey Filling!! But too much cream given and I scrapped almost 1/4 of it away!

Finally back to our accommodation and ta-da! 

Guess what!! I achieved my minimal 8600 steps for today!!

Foodie Times Tsujiri @ Tanjong Pagar 100AM

Continued my eating spree in the lunch hours.

The hot weather forced us to seek shelter in the airconditioned shopping mall @ 100AM.

Came to this store Tsujiri which take prides in bringing the best quality green tea (matccha).

Majority of their items are beverages but the roll cake caught my attention. 

Hojicha Roll Cake

Ever since I tried Hojicha, everything related to Hojicha will immediately get my attention. If I remembered correctly, there was a label saying this roll cake is a limited quantity item. I bought it almost immediately. 

A plus factor for the roll cake, it came with (I assumed) matccha whip cream and red bean. It helped to "up" the roll cake's value. Cake texture is compact. The red bean added sweetness to it. The whip cream is light on taste but it turned watery. The presence of Hojicha is minimal.  

Cost: Approx. $5+ (Can't remember the exact cost)

Quantity: Good

Visual: Good 

Location: Around 10 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT

Foodie Times Tendon Ginza Itsuki@ Tanjong Pagar

Went to Tendon Ginza Itsuki on a weekday and joined the queue at 11.20am.

Afternoon operation starts at 11.30am till 2.30pm.

The staff/chef came out to take order at around 11.25am. Had to decide on the spot between the 2 set as they need to prepare. With a price difference of $1, I opted for the Special set which had prawn, chicken on top of the pumpkin, baby corn, etc etc which I remembered from the internet menu it was priced at $13.90.

We were given a seat at the corner table and ordered green tea. With no menu found anywhere, I just assumed green tea would be the least pricey drink. 

This bowl of cabbage was the free flow side served in Tendon Ginza Itsuki. Seemed pretty similar to normal cabbage, not spicy or sour just mild sweet and crunchy at room temperature or slightly cold and mixed with other vegetables. I had a small serving of this and stopped to save space for the main dish later.

After waiting for roughly 10-15 mins, our food came...

The Chawanmushi has a soft and silky texture covered with a layer of thick broth which reminded me of sharkfin. The seaweed complements the egg perfectly with naruto, mushroom etc within. 

Here is the main course

Highlight of all would be the baby corn.
I am not a corn lover, but this baby corn is crunchy and has a fresh corn smell/taste which is just right for my taste bud.

The least recommended ingredient would be the chicken.
I am a meat lover and I didn't like how the chicken doesn't taste like chicken. Even the taste of chicken wasn't present! It is recommended to "bath" the chicken with the sweet sauce to compensate for the bland taste.

Although the portion seemed small, but I was bloated in the end. Maybe it's the tea although I had a cup only.

Settled the bill but... Surprised!Surprised!

Cost: Approx. $22 each person. (The green tea was $3.80 and not yet inclusive of the additional charges!)

Quantity: Just nice! 

Visual: Excellent (The mushroom came later and was served separately. The staff offered to help place it nicely)

Location: Just 10 minutes walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT