TAIPEI DIARY (Day 2) > Zhe Yi Guo Restaurant, Taipei 101 (Shinkong Mitsukoshi, ATT4FUN), Shilin Night Market

HEY GUYS

Sorry i took so long to blog this post up haha.
I'll try to make more time to do all the days up at once!
Work has started for me (or training i might say) and it's quite a busy schedule cause i'm still teaching as well.
If you havent read about day 1, here is the link CLICK ME especially if you're planning a trip to taipei
cause most of the details are in that post!

Alright so on day 2 which was the day of my 21st birthday celebration, we went to this place recommended by my taiwanese friend

for hotpot, called zhe yi guo (这一锅)!

It was really good timing cause the weather was insanely cold and so was the walk towards the restaurant haha.

The warmth from the restaurant and the soup was just amazing.

My friend jacko said that it'll cost  us about 1000-2000 NTD ($43 - 86 SGD) but we spent way lesser than that.

Directions:

Take a train from ximending to Songjian Nanjing station (just 3 stops) which is on the green line (terminates at Songshan)
Transfer to yellow line to get to Xingtian Temple (1 stop). The whole journey takes less than 10 minutes!
Their address is: No. 190, Jilin Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, 104
The walk from the mrt is just a straight route down of about 5 minutes?

We were actually unsure if we were on the right route to the restaurant and asked this friendly taiwanese guy
who used gps to search up the location for us hehe
The people there are really very helpful and nice so even if you get lost there isn't a thing to worry about!

This place is super atas and we thought we'd be using up a lot of our TWD on this 1 meal but we were so wrong
Their soup base was about 100 NTD per pax ($4 SGD) which is quite cheap in my opinion,
we ordered their herbal chicken broth and even before adding any ingredients it was already super tasty.
I could just have the soup with their free flow rice alone LOL
Honestly even restaurants like imperial treasure have herbal chicken broth but it's really bitter and doesn't taste good without adding in the ingredients.

Boyfriend busy eating their free peanuts (which was very nice apparently)

I didn't bother trying cause how nice could peanuts be HAHAH or is it really that good idk

I was trying to capture an artistic photo of him but captured this instead aiyoyo
I shall post up at least 1 unglam photo of him for each taipei post hehe

Artistic peanut shells.......

JUST LOOK AT THAT

All of this including their free flow rice, free peanut, free tea and free desserts and fruits served at the end of the meal cost 800 NTD (34 SGD) only

And i think it's extremely worth it for their service and the whole ambiance and not forgetting the good food!

I actually took the photo below using Ritche's iphone6, we're using a 45mm lense and so everything is SUPER close up. Even after standing on the chair or whatever we can't capture all the food haha  

Slurpppppp

This was some lime, wintermelon dessert served in test tubes and a test tube stand!
It's actually my fav part of the meal hehe
Would probably come back for their food again.
My friend also mentioned that you can take photos in those royal empress and emperor costumes at the restaurant!
We didn't do that cause ritche refuses to wear some costume hahaha

We then made our way down to Taipei 101, as mentioned they now have a station right next to 101 so it's really convenient to get there.

I actually don't understand why 101 is a "must visit" place with tour groups and tourists cause i didn't really find anything there to be interesting :/

The clothes are expensive and just designer labels (dont interest me), 

almost no local shops (i might as well be at Singapore's MBS or ION no diff) and NO STREET FOOD NOOOOO.

I think it might be heaven for rich kids but i dont get why they'll buy lotsa branded stuff when you could just get it back at wherever you come from?

Unless it's a local brand then it's a different story but most of these brands are imported so it's just a waste of luggage space......

We actually decided to go there because we wanted to visit this bar/restaurant place for dinner,
with nice local artists' performances till late in the night to end my birthday nicely!
But we still scraped the idea in the end cause shilin sounded more like good food to me hehehe
I'll still put down the address of this restaurant so you guys could go and visit!

It's rather famous and comes up on most of the websites i searched, also recommended by my friend.

Directions:
We took the yellow line down to Dongmen Station (3 stops) that terminates at Nanshijiao and
changed to the red line to get to Taipei 101 station (4 stops)!

Dat ass right next to my head HAHAHA

There were several protests against china people right outside 101 cause this place is flooded with tourists (and china ones especially)!

The government doesn't do anything to these protesters cause they aren't breaking the law in any way

Funny how the consequences of doing so in Singapore is so severe

SUPER CUTE DOG D: 

Inside Taipei 101 

95 percent of the shops in the malls nearby 101 were expensive / not even affordable except for this super

huge mall called 新光三越 aka Shinkong Mitsukoshi They have about 3 buildings selling branded stuff more than 5 stories high i think but half of a building was dedicated to their 1st ever H&M opening in Taiwan! 

My friend said that the queue was ridiculous and even after the 2nd day of opening there was still a queue lolol When we were there it wasn't opened yet but if you wanna go there now it's already open hahaha We weren't very affected by the fact that it wasn't opened yet cause wah singapore already has more than 5 outlets already? Nex somerset ion JEM etc Plus i'm very certain it'll be strictly winter clothing only, the weather was unbearably cold. You might think it's only 12 degrees but the strong winds was a killer!!

Another mall you could consider if you're

Just so you know, my boyfriend was wearing a t shirt underneath, then a pullover, then a checked longsleeved shirt, a denim outerwear AND a scarf
But he was still freezing HAHA

We also visited this mall called ATT4FUN, the only 2 shops that interest me was a japanese label that's similar to uniqlo (but nicer),

on the 3rd floor! It's called GU and it's a sister brand of Uniqlo. 

I don't really know why but it seems that taiwanese really like Uniqlo, it's seriously everywhere and their outlets are always few stories high!

I also asked where most of their locals buy their clothes, the answer i got was usually online or Uniqlo.

It's probably because of the quality of their products, though i'm really not a fan.

Another shop would be Pull&Bear >_> i dont even know why i bothered when sg has so many outlets hahaha 

Had to take so many shots of Ritche cause he was trying so hard to not look cold in the photos HAHAHA
Just look at that facial expression

Boyfriend couldn't keep his hands out of his pockets.......

Scarf from Shida Night Market bought on Day 1
Denim Jacket from PullnBear
Checked Shirt from 50percent ($20 SGD only and the quality is good)
Denim Ripped jeans from Shida Night Market on Day 1 as well (about 30 sgd)
Leather Shoes by Lacoste

Biker Outerwear from 50percent
Scarf from Shida Night Market
Black laced Bralet that you can't even see.........
Skirt also from Shida Night Market for about 7 SGD
White Wedges from stylehacks.net

I actually had a rather nice maxi dress planned out for my birthday outfit in Taipei but i really didn't expect such cold weather
Plus the dress was fully bareback i would really end up falling sick after wearing that :'(
Brought it all the way to Taipei for nothinggggggg

We went back to Taipei 101 because we were considering if we should go up to the 91st storey of this building
It costs 500 NTD which is really quite costly ($22 SGD) per person
Their ticketing counter was on the 5th floor!!

We went to the 5th floor and saw this, no this isn't the ticketing queue, it's the queue to take the lift up to the 91st floor like WHAT

And tour groups started streaming in and it was so annoying we decided to just leave haha

If you're intending to go up 101, i feel that 5pm would be a good timing cause you'll get to capture photos of the day time,
then 5.30pm would be their sunset and 6plus you'll see the city lights!!
Also, 91st floor is the outdoor observatory spot and on the 89th floor is the indoor one.

If you don't think it's worth going up or you're not too sure if the view might be worth the money, you could try going to Starbucks on the 35th floor!
It has a nice view according to my taiwanese friend. But when i checked, you actually have to make booking in advance......

Like what?!!! STARBUCKS BOOKING?

and you even have to call starbucks before being able to go upstairs cause it's kinda like restricted access idk how this works really

Ritche's hibernating photo 1 

Ritche's hibernating photo 2 LOL

Oh as mentioned above we went to Shilin instead of sticking around 101 to watch this live band bar/restaurant near 101

But if you're looking for a nice place to chill i think this might be good!|
It's called Brown Sugar and i would suggest going there earlier maybe around 7pm if not you'll end up standing around to wait for seats.
Their performances are between 9pm to 1am! If you want to know how to get there here are the directions; from ATT4FUN > 

go past the club street with starbucks on your left > cross the road and you'll see brown sugar right opposite Kelti International
The price range is about 2000 NTD according to my local friend

Here is their address: no.101 Songren Road, xinyi district, Taipei City, 110

And OFF TO SHILIN! By the time we reached there it was 6pm hehe just when most of the shops open.

I'm fairly familiar with Shilin because 2 years back when i was in Taipei i purposely chose a hotel that's 5 minutes away from Shilin
just so i could go there every single night for supper HAHAHA omg i really am a foodie...
Everyone has been asking me WHY i chose that location cause it's actually quite inconvenient to get around... now you know why hahaha

One thing i learnt on my 3rd time to shilin was that, you'll really have to be selective over what you eat, though there's street food EVERYWHERE

Cause there are so many stalls, you can't possibly eat everything, though that's what tourists would do.
I would suggest going for everything that has a queue if not you'll be too full to try the good stuff midway through.
Based on experience EVERYTHING i tried that has a queue was worth the wait!! Like really the standard is quite up there

Plus they have quite a few shops selling the same street food, some could be rated as a 11/10 and some a 2/10?

(btw ritche likes to call the street food > small eat cause it's xiao chi in chinese WHY)

Directions:
There is a Shilin station but you'll be surprised, shilin night market is actually nearer to Jiantan station.
From we were at which was taipei 101, it's 12 stops direct train to Jiantan on the red line.
But typically most tourists come from Ximen right so take the blue line towards Taipei Main Station,

change to the Red line to Jiantan (5 stops) that terminates at Tamsui! 

Corndog for 45 NTD ($2 SGD) with 5 different flavours! 

We had the cheese one haha i would definitely have had the spicy / black peppered but ritche doesn't take spicy stuff 

Other than a whole lot of street food, they had games as well! Super old school but yet it seems many locals still enjoy playing them.
These games have been around for so long but the trend never died haha
You just have to hold this gun and shoot the balloons but i saw some guns with lazer guidance like WHAT IS THE POINT LOL
Unless you point at the styrofoam there's really no way to miss.

Shilin also has quite a lot of cheap shopping, massage parlours and mini factory outlets!
We actually spent almost 5 hours walking around shilin cause it is really big and branches out to many small alleys

This mahjong game that i really have no idea how to play

Huge sausages for 60 NTD, i still remember this shop from 2 years back haha

Having my FAV SNACK omg this is the best thing ever
It's called milk sticks, like i dont even know how they make the milk into solid cube form before frying it actually.
But after frying it it'll be in the shape of a ball!
When you bite it, it's really soft and MELTS IN YOUR MOUTH AND IT TASTES SOOOO GOOD
The person's service was really good too, she wraps every stick with serviettes and packs them in a paper bag and goes "xiao xin tang o!!!"
Which means careful it's hot :')
Anyway this cost 50 NTD for 3 sticks (9 pcs) $2 SGD

After trying this at Shilin i visited everywhere else trying to find the same thing and when i did find milk sticks it tasted so horrid wtf
So please try the one at Shilin!!

Paw burger also found in Singapore but i'm 1000% percent sure it tastes better in Taipei even though i didn't try hahaha

Huge ass chiffon cake freshly baked out of the oven! Didn't try this but it smells damn good

Upon receiving orders then he'll start slicing it and the portion is HUGE

I feel that the sheltered area with the "Shilin Market" sign isn't really worth going cause the street has way more things to see and buy
They have a food court at the basement of this place though

I've tried the food here at this basement 2 years back but it tastes of disappointment LOL
They did have different food compared to what you'll find outside this building,
such as oyster omelette, noodles, seafood, and lotsa main courses.
The food didn't appeal to us and it was really crowded and i don't want to be disappointed a second time so we left the basement!

They had this game in which they'll provide you with a few paper nets to catch tortoises, so actually if you soak it in water it'll just break HAHA
Then it's really cute to see people trying really hard to catch it and the tortoises just end up piling in that corner you see there to avoid being caught LOL

The dick shaped idk what, that's really expensive just because it looks funnily obscene lolol
Taiwan really has many of these funny things, like their toilet bowl restaurant
whereby you eat while sitting on toilet bowls, and eating out of a toilet bowl, and eating ice cream out of a toilet bowl cup in the shape and colour of poo poo
AHAHAHA
And not to forget one of my fav shops called Sophisca with like cotton candy pad packaged treats, condom chocolates,
mint chocolate plasters and all sorts of things! It is expensive for sure and you're really paying just for the packaging (it doesnt taste good HAHA)
I used to really like the shop and went back whenever i was at ximending since like 8years ago.
But now they have an outlet in Singapore it just becomes ordinary so i didn't bother buying any of these things back :(

We were glad to see 2-3 50percent outlets at Shilin as well! If you don't know the concept of the shop refer to my previous day1 post about it ~
I feel that the pricing and quality is reasonable and their clothing is rather decent!

Saw a queue for Ji Pa (Fried chicken cutlet) and just had to join in hehehe.
Waited 15minutes for this huge piece of heaven. I was really really full though HAHA.
This shop can be found just in front of the famous cheese fried potato shop, along the main road near the traffic light.
It was soooooo worth the wait, they only had 1 flavour and it's just whether you want it with chilli powder and whether you want it cut or not.
It's 70 NTD ($3 SGD!)

I didn't know the difference between the ones sold in SG and this could be so vast.

I saw this and was thinking to myself like "how good could this taste sia it's just some flat pancake unappetizing looking thing"

and when i saw them prepare it, it looked so easy (almost as though i could prepare it too)

We still decided to try it cause we were curious to know how it tasted like haha 

But some things don't have to be complex to taste good and i was really surprised by it!
We took the peanut one at first, and we couldn't help but try the other flavour as well (honey).
This only costs 20 NTD each ($0.8 SGD)!

Ritche said this breed of cats are relatively rare. it's quite cute but i still hate cats hahaha

Trust me, i was really really freezing cold but i still had my ICED chocolate milk tea to end of my night at shilin hahaha
This costs 45 NTD from 50 lan (Singapore's KOI) $2 SGD.

We also had several things that weren't photographed such as a huge grilled squid for 80 NTD ($3.50 SGD),
this bacon wrapped around some kind of vege and no not asparagus for 10 NTD per piece ($0.43 SGD)
and this is really good trust me, i actually regret not having more of it,
we also tried the cubed beef with rosemary salt but no this outlet was overcooked and didnt taste good :(
And i really can't remember, we tried everything we possibly could hahaha.
I also bought a few cheap things from this shilin! Just imagine, boots with a bit of platform for 190 NTD ($8 SGD),
furry winter boots for just 120 NTD ($5 SGD), and a rather thick pullover for 200 NTD ($8 SGD)!

I'll post a photo of all my buys on my very last taipei post hehe cause every night after going back to the hotel we're always dead tired
thanks to the crazy weather and all the walking and early mornings!
I can remember the price i paid for most of what i bought anyways
so you guys could have an idea of how it's like shopping in taipei and what apparels/shoes you could find here!

My Day 3 was spent with my taiwanese friend Jacko and his girlfriend, who brought us to visit the taipei zoo and maokong which is a mountain!

Till next time hehe