Day 3 - 1 June

Having learnt a lesson about our hotel's free buffet breakfast, we decided to go out for breakfast this time. Taipei is full of breakfast shops or 早餐店, which sell a good selection of sandwiches, omelettes, noodles, porridge, soya bean curd/drinks and other breakfasty fare. We selected a breakfast shop near our hotel.



They sold hamburgers, toast and noodles. I had the noodles, JY had a chicken hamburger (called ken de ji...kentucky. get it?) and Flora had toast.





The set meal cost less than 2 dollars, and it came with our favourite drink.



It was a satisfying breakfast, cheap and good haha. We then hopped onto our favourite public transport to go to Wu Fen Pu. I can safely say that we now know the Taipei MRT routes very well cos we used it so many times everyday while we were there. Hahaha.



Wu Fen Pu is a place with many wholesale retail shops selling clothes, bags and some accessories. It looks exactly like Bugis Village in there, except less hot. But maybe cos it was a rainy day that day.

The selection of apparel is wide, the clothes look good, and the prices are low and (usually) bargain-able. The only downside is that you cannot try the clothes on. We had a fun time shopping in there. Jy got rather pek cek though cos they only had free-size for most of the ladies' cut t-shirts. Which among us only Flora can fit into.

I decided to take a risk and bought a pair of 3/4 jeans. Amazingly, it fit perfectly when I tried it on back at the hotel room. Lucky me!

Before leaving Wu Fen Pu, we spotted a small cart selling Xiao Long Baos and decided to see if they tasted any different in Taiwan. They were just as nice, but cheaper. Wahaha. Which reminds me. Next time I go, I shall visit Ding Tai Fung.

Our next destination was Ximending. We decided to walk around there and have a light dinner. We saw this curious teahouse, and couldn't resist its charms.



The teahouse had swings for seats, and Egyptian motifs on the walls.





After having our dinner and taking another quick look around Ximending, we made our way to the Miramar Entertainment Park, another of Taipei's attractions. Our target? This huge ferris wheel:



I love the ferris wheel. The lights on it are really very beautiful. They change color! If you find this ferris wheel familiar, it's because some idol dramas have used it as a backdrop. I wonder if our ferris wheel will be nicer?

Anyway, we paid the very cheap entrance fee (like 5 SGD?) and got into one of the many air-conditioned cabins on the wheel.



Inside the cabin

I was excited until the point when our cabin started lifting itself towards the top. Then the acrophobia kicked in. Haha.







Luckily the view wasn't anything to write home about, so I didn't miss out on a lot while I was busy feeling nervous and wondering when we would start descending.



Five stars for the ferris wheel! I officially name it my favourite attraction for its prettiness and cheap-ness.

Besides the ferris wheel, the Miramar Entertainment Park had some arcade games like the basketball-shooting game (which we had a whale of a time playing). You could even buy popcorn. I think there was a theatre there as well. The ferris wheel and all that was on the top floor, and the lower floors were shopping centres.

There was a posh toilet befitting a tourist destination.



A special room for make-up beside the washing-up area.



Their taps, like those in the VivoCity toilets, also work via sensors located on top of each tap. However unlike those in VivoCity, these had stickers on top of every tap telling you that the sensor is there. If VivoCity's taps had such stickers, I wouldn't have hit my hand on one of them and cried out in pain and embarrassment. Hahaha.

Upon exiting Miramar, we discovered that there was actually a shuttle bus to and from the nearest MRT station. Earlier, we'd panicked when we couldn't find the place on the map outside the MRT station and ended up taking a cab there. No wonder the cab driver seemed hesitant when we told him our destination and asked him how far it was! Haha.

So we took the shuttle bus back to the MRT station, which was very near the most famous night market in Taipei, Shihlin Night Market. It was very crowded and to our slight disappointment, they only sold food. There were only a few shops selling other things located at the extreme end. It also looked different in that the whole place seemed to be a wet market by day, while other night markets we went to were located along streets.

The food was impressive though. We bought an XXL Chicken Cutlet from the stall with the longest queue, and to this day I still miss the taste. I can't really describe it...it's slightly salty, pepperish and just absolutely delicious. And huge.



Just look at the size of that!

A steal at only 2 SGD, though beware, it's all bones at the bottom.

We also tried another delicacy, the 大饼包小饼. Erm...I'm not sure how to translate it into English...it's kinda like small-biscuit-in-a-big-biscuit. Hahaha.





It's actually made by smashing a curry-puff-like shell containing the desired filling, and wrapping the crushed bits in a popiah-like skin. Quite nice. They have various fillings like peanut, taro, and so on. 4 pieces for about 5 SGD.



Naturally, the stalls there are all very competitive. We were ushered into this stall selling shaved ice. They even had an air-conditioned area for customers seeking reprieve from the humidity. Their shaved ice was marvellous! Its texture was like ice cream, and they added many delicious fruits to make it the perfect dessert for anyone with a sweet tooth.





After we'd finished abusing our stomachs with all kinds of oily and unhealthy food, we headed back to the hotel to relax and unwind from the long but fruitful day.

Labels: I-Gulliver