TAIPEI DIARY (Day 1) > Ximending, ShiDa Night Market (Shi Da Ye Shi)

HEY GUYS

As mentioned in my post, i went to Taipei for 7days!

I'm VERY SURE i gained a whole lot of weight ah it is evident :'( but my tummy was happy every single day of the trip hahaha

They have the BEST FOOD, they have SUPER DUPER NICE LOCALS, nice FASHION, cheaper TRANSPORT, cheaper HOUSING

and not to forget nicer view, nature and just their whole system is better.
It's truly my favourite country in the world and till today i would still love to migrate there.
I don't think it'll be practical to migrate right now cause i probably can't find a job

cause my chinese is crap, so i hope to at least retire/set up a family there instead (MY DREAM, please come true)

This is also a DIY itinerary i planned out just like 2 years ago when i was there (but just for 5 days)
I got lots of help from my Taiwanese friend when planning my itinerary haha and of course
from there i got lots of ideas/tips i would have never known without his help!!

It's really the best to consult a local cause there are many hidden treasures you can never find on google 

Typical locations you could easily find on the net would include Jiu Fen, Fisherman's Wharf (Yu Ren Ma Tou), 

Shilin Night Market and Ximending. Though i love Taipei, these places do get boring if you go there often enough haha

And not forgetting the fact that many are over commercialized and mainly filled with foreigners (AND ANNOYING TOUR GROUPS)

We managed to go to places most tourists wouldn't visit such as ShiDa Night Market, MaoKong (mountain???), 

Shi Fen (THEY FILMED "you're the apple of my eye" there!!!) and some malls / restaurants their local youths would shop and dine at!

And of course, you get to bring back the BEST Pineapple Cakes (Feng Li Su) with their help YAY 

I once went to taipei with a tour group and they brought us to buy "famous" Pineapple Cakes which didn't taste half as good.

There isn't any point in me explaining how heavenly it tastes, you'll just have to go there and buy it for yourselves hahaha

I will certainly put down the address of the shop, just wait for it, it'll be on the very last post of my trip!

6am and we were already at the sg airport, i was so excited i could hardly look tired HAHA

I was actually so excited i couldn't sleep the entire night..........

If you're thinking of planning your own trip there as well just follow the words in bold!
I will list the directions as much as possible haha

Directions:
After arriving Taoyuan International Airport, go down the travelator and you'll see counters selling tickets that lead to many parts of taipei
I would suggest buying the tickets that lead you to Taipei Main Station (because that's like their central/interchange and it gets you everywhere)
and it'll be the ticketing counter under Kuo Kuang via bus number 1819!
It only cost us 125 NTD per pax ($5 SGD) and the journey takes about 50minutes?
The bus only stopped by about 6 stops before we alighted 
and thankfully they will announce at every stop so you'll know when to get off haha (almost everyone alights there anyways!)

If you're wondering why we took a bus, it's because that's the only form of public transport to and fro from the airport right now
They are still constructing the train directly to the airport and it'll still be about 6 years before they're done!!
I would suggest NOT to take a cab to your hotel, cause it'll cost you about 1100 NTD ($48 SGD) and still take you an hr to get there
Like what is the point hahaha, their buses are rather comfy, somewhat like a coach bus so might as well!

On my previous trip i was staying at JianTan station, which is actually the closest station to Shilin (cause i'm a foodie to that extent)
Now i have changed to staying at the typical Ximending location hahaha, it's really way more convenient staying there
and there's still lots of street food/restaurants from morning till night

OH and they have a new MRT map, it's really so different from the one i downloaded 2 years ago LOL
They get you to so many other locations that were once more "inconvenient" or i would rather say higher chances of getting lost at?
(which would include taipei 101 station, their clubbing district etc)

Directions:
I wouldn't know where you guys would be staying at but just remember that when you're at Taipei Main Station,
it is the most confusing station you'll come across and even locals get lost at times.
Remember which line you're supposed to take towards as well as which side it terminates at.
For example, we are going from Taipei Main Station to Ximen, so just take the Bannan Line (BLUE) towards Yongning!!
I would strongly recommend downloading the map really

We also got the EasyCard which is their concession card. I cant believe i didn't buy it previously wth it is super convenient!!!
I realized the instructions found online wasn't clear no matter how much i researched, so i was quite blur when i was finding ways to buy it.
I went to the customer service counter to queue up along with everyone else 
wanting to buy the card LOL and queued up for nothing cause they dont sell the EasyCards there

You just have to go to this machine that has a yellow label to it (almost looks like an atm cause there's a bank name above idk why)
And it'll cost you 100 NTD ($4.30 SGD) to buy the card, but is really just a deposit and you could get a refund on the last day of the trip!
Just put in whatever amount as you wish, i would suggest about 80 NTD for each day so you just 80 X how many days you have in Taipei

On my previous trip i didn't buy the EasyCard so when travelling anywhere i'll have to buy their standard ticket (in the shape of a coin) to get on the train
And when i had to take the bus, i'll need to find small change LOL
Even their Taipei Zoo entrance can be paid for by tapping in so you could skip the whole queuing up for ticket nonsense
It saved me money and so much time i actually feel stupid recalling my previous trip >_>

Didn't take many photos at taipei main station cause we were rushing off to meet my taiwanese friend, Jacko!
He was waiting for us at our hotel since 2.30pm and we only reached like 45mins later omg super paiseh hahaha
If you're wondering if we bought the wifi cards to have internet connection the answer is no.
It'll cost you about $20 SGD apparently but whats the point when every station has wifi, some malls have wifi and even certain cafes has it too!
Even Jacko doesn't have internet connection, he just uses the free wifi everywhere HAHA so his phone bill monthly only amounts to $8 SGD.........

Ritche and I knew him through work during the mooncake festival period hahaha we were selling Sheraton Mooncakes at takashimaya.
So i told him i'll get him whatever he wants from Singapore and he requested for Laksa instant noodles, Sambal chilli, kueh from bengawan solo
and my other taiwanese friend requested for Kaya. I'm guessing these are the products to get friends from overseas before they leave SG!

Immediately left off for lunch after meeting him up, couldn't wait to start eating their good food already LOL
This is the Ah Chung (mee sua) Flour-Rice Noodle @ ximending!
They have replaced the usual oysters for intestines LOL took me really long to figure that out.
This is one of the most famous meesua shops in Taipei and there's a constant queue that goes fast so no worries.
Everyone stands around the shop to eat it right away and it's super shiok having it with the 12degree weather!!

It was only 50 NTD ($2 SGD), here is their address
No. 8-1 Emei Street, Taipei
I think my friend mentioned that this isn't the best one in Taipei but it's certainly the best i've had in my lifetime hahaha.
Their soup was beyond tasty and the noodles were so soft and smooth omg.
Just the thought of it makes me want to drool!!

We immediately went for my favourite shop IN THE WORLDDDDD, THIS, the best muachee you
could ever have in your life.
They put the muachee on sticks and then start to grill it. After that they'll squeeze the topping before serving.
It's just right next to faceshop and it's hard to miss cause it's prominent with their everlasting queue at any time of the day.
People just order like 6 at once sometimes!!
It cost 30NTD ($1.30 SGD), and they've got flavours like condensed milk, cheese and chocolate which are my favs.
We were so crazy over it we had to ask for their operating hours (12pm to 10.30pm)
On some days we would rush to get it before they close!
Jacko said that this is the best in Taipei and other shops really dont taste good and he was spot on LOL
We were craving for it at some random night market and tried from another shop and it was horrible. :'(

Just had to take a bite first cause i missed it so badly hahaha

Was quite surprised to find rather cheap apparel shops at Ximending, i would say it's quite rare cause
most of their clothes are a lot more expensive than those you find at Wufenpu (their wholesale market).
Didn't really check it out though cause jacko was there bringing us around and i didn't want to make him wait haha
As seen from the sign it's only 100 NTD per jacket ($4.30 SGD) wtf.

ABC Mart is another good place to visit for branded shoes like Vans, Nike, Timberland, Adidas etc
The average price of their shoes would be about 2000 NTD ($86 SGD)
It's probably the cheapest shop for these brands but they sell older stocks of course!!
They have many many outlets, we have come across SO MANY but most of them sell the same designs, but who knows,
you might get lucky with a nice last piece!

Jacko brought us to this place with rather pricey but super nice items for youths.
He says that many people our age would visit this mall to shop!!
I could literally imagine myself in every piece of clothing there, and ritche was quite impressed with this mall too.
It's called Eslite and is kinda like a departmental store with topshop/zara pricing.
It'll be worth coming back here on the last day if you have lots of cash left haha (and so i did)

Jacko brought us to this nice cafe called LatTea that can be found all over Taiwan.

It's filled with local youths and many of them were either hanging out or studying! (and yay free wifi LOL) it's almost like a starbucks.

Their pay for the service line is a lot lower than Singapore's, 120 NTD ($5 SGD) but their service is always really good everywhere we go!
They don't sulk to their jobs and it is evident that they put their hearts to it, which makes customers feel really comfortable around them.
I dont think singapore could ever reach their standard of service lol

They are actually famous for THIS
It's called "lu gai" in chinese, cause it's green tea with a layer of very strong tasting milk (nai yu)?
Other than green tea they still have oolong tea etc and you could request for more milk over the top for an additional fee!
I didn't spot anyone drinking with a straw cause it's not meant to be mixed in completely with the green tea.
It's supposed to be lightly sipped with the fragrance of the milk and getting to the green tea bit by bit D: IT'S HEAVENLY.

I think gongcha in singapore sells something similar called the Alisan Green Tea but it isn't as good of course haha.

We didn't have much planned out for our day 1 cause i didn't want us to travel too far / squeeze in too many things to do cause it'll be too tiring.
SO Jacko suggested for us to check out ShiDa Night Market, which i've never heard of!
It ended up being Ritche's favourite night market and it is also Jacko gf's fav place to shop at
If you want to check it out >>

Directions:
It's located at Taipower Building, on the green line towards Xindian! Just 4 stops away from Ximen station. 

After we got out of the station we had to go and buy scarfs immediately HAHAHA 

We were FREEZING it was almost like a necessity to have scarfs on so we bought 3 for 500 NTD ($20)

but i'll consider it to be really worth the money and cheap cause we used it throughout the whole trip and they were really nice!

I dont remember buying much from the other shops and i have no idea why LOL maybe i was too tired from the flight :(
But i did buy 2 skirts for 350 NTD ($15 SGD) altogether and also pants for 200 NTD ($8 SGD) which is super duper cheap.
Come to think of it the quality is really good too!

There's a famous restaurant for beef noodles as recommended by Jacko

but we didn't try cause we wanted to save our stomachs for street food instead haha (Ritche was addicted to xiao chi) 

Will definitely go back to try it when we're there! 

The problem with Shi Da Ye Shi is that they don't really have many street food stalls, but there was this one with a mini queue so we gave it a try.
It's something like the pancake you find at Mr Bean but they only bake a thin layer of the outer coat,
 so it's crispy on the outside and on the inside it's completely filled with whatever you order
There are about 40flavours as you can see from the photo before LOL

We were still freezing despite wearing our scarfs so here's a picture of Ritche enjoying the heat from the pancake HAHA

Decided to make our way back to Ximending cause it seemed like there were many shops we haven't explored
And of course, lots of food we have yet to try!

OHHHH i quite like this one hahaha i tried this when i was there 2 years ago too!
It's just 3 stalls away from the muachee shop, and actually everything along that stretch is really good.
This still tastes just as good, order the one that's 60 NTD ($2 SGD),
they wrap the sausage with glutinous rice, vege, onion and idk what but there's a whole lot of ingredients put together.
The guy is seriously an expert at preparing the food, it takes him less than a minute to complete an order.
Just imagine your subway prepared at that speed!!

The shop you see with the yellow sign (50 lan) is actually Singapore's KOI.
Till now we still can't figure why they changed their name to KOI when opening an outlet here lol.

Finally took my OOTD;
Coat i got online for only $18 (i've been looking for this for ages and got it just in time for the trip)
Inner Net Tank from Editors Market
Leather Jeans from Diesel, Paris
Platforms from Stylehacks.net under backorders
Scarf i just bought from ShiDa Night Market hahaha
Fedora hat from Stylehacks.net for $15

Ritche's OOTD;
Denim Jacket from Pull and Bear
Inner Checked Shirt that can't even be seen from Zalora
Scarf just bought from ShiDa
Camo pants from H&M
Lacoste Shoes

Someone please encourage him to smile more for photos (i am not convincing enough)

Heavenly cubed beef topped with rosemary salt (so atas sounding HAHA) and it only cost us 60 NTD ($2 SGD)
Who needs a whole slice of steak when you could get ready bite sized ones at street shops?!

There are many other shops elsewhere selling this flamed cube beef but it was overcooked / too salty etc

And yes,one of my favourite street food,the fried mash potato stuffed with bacon and warm nachos cheese for only 60 NTD ($2 SGD).
I remember this tasting better 2 years ago though, i dont know if it's because i ordered the wrong thing, or because of the outlet.
I tried this at Shilin last time! But it seems to be the same franchise. *shrugs*
Still tasted good anyways HAHA.

We also rushed to this shop called 50percent which sells rather nice and quality clothing!
I would say it's rather cheap for it's quality.
How it works is that you get an ordinary item for eg 1000 NTD, then you can go look for an item
that's 1000 NTD at the red labelled rack for FREE.
We ended up leaving with 2 long sleeved shirts for ritche, 1 biker jacket, 1 coat and 1 cropped top for 3300 NTD ($140 SGD) in just 5minutes hahaha
They also have other outlets in Shilin but if you're in Ximen it's really easy to spot their shop because it's 4 storey high!

I would think that days 3, 4, 5 and 6 were far more eventful than day 1's (obviously).
But day 2 was actually my actual 21st birthday celebration hehe so i still have so many photos to share!
We went to this steamboat place which was affordable yet atas and superb,
then went on to Taipei101 to shop (which is really quite a bad idea cause we are not rich kids) and finally to Shilin for dinner!

Hope to find time to blog up my next post real soon hehe