TAIPEI DIARY (Day 4) > Jiu Fen, PingXi Railway (release of lanterns), Keelung Miao Kou Night Market

Hey guys!

So i've been receiving a few comments and emails asking whether i'll be continuing the blog post for my Taipei trip
And since i'm sick and didn't go to work i might as well finish it off (hardly have time for this nowadays)

If you want to find the link between this post and the previous Day 3 post for Taipei click here! (I went to Taipei zoo and MaoKong)

I think i need to make my Taiwan visits a yearly affair, i seriously can't explain how much i miss the place.

Woke up really early on day 4 just to get to Jiu Fen before heading to Ping Xi Railway to release paper lanterns.

I was thinking of the really famous movie "you're the apple of my eye" and i recalled them going on a date which looked like a lot of fun

So i searched it up and decided that i wanted to explore Ping Xi?

We ended off the day with the highly raved Miao Kou Ye Shi @ Keelung!!

Directions:
I was staying at XiMen during my trip, so i took a train (only 1 stop) to Taipei Main Station.
Tap out at Taipei Main Station as you'll have to transfer to the TRA line (huo che) towards
RuiFang.
This would cost you about 50NTD ($2) and takes about 45minutes.

I would recommend for those taking the TRA to check their departure hours online before you fit it in your itinerary
cause the waiting time between trains could be more than an hour!!
You wouldn't want to waste your time waiting at the platform.
Anyways you can eat on the train unlike in Singapore so you can fill your bag with food for the ride.

After you get to RuiFang station, you can choose to take a bus or cab to Jiu Fen. 

The cab cost about 200NTD ($8)!

To be honest, it was my 3rd time at Jiu Fen and i didn't really like how the place was so so so flooded with tourists
even if you decide to go there crazily early in the morning
Along with the fact that they sell fairly typical souvenirs? Would rather have gone elsewhere that's less commercialized with better food
Ended not buying anything and left the place with unsatisfied tummies haha
Many of the shops have changed as well it seems

If it's your first time to Taipei you can visit if you want to experience the place but for me it's just not worth the travel!

Though the trip was quite sometime back i can seriously recall that the "wildboar" sausage i had at MaoKong was
W A A A A A Y better

Not really a fan of QQ balls as well!! :/
This cost about 40 NTD ($1.80 SGD) but this really costs 1/3 of the price for QQ Balls back in SG

OOTD:
Fedora Hat from my old webstore (Stylehacks)
Outerwear from 50Percent @ XiMen
Black Bralet from CO
Skirt bought on Carousell
Samsung Gear Fit Watch
Fav Platforms that i've bid fairwell from China
Silver Socks from TOPSHOP

Jiu Fen is also a good place to look for a cafe, sit down and chill with a scenic view with a cup of coffee but i would say it's still flooded with tourists

I did however do that 3 years back and you can see it here (actually read through the post again and think i kinda liked jiufen back then but not so much anymore HAHA)

And so we headed back to Rui Fang by bus, it's just like near the 7-11 (entrance of Jiu Fen) so it's really easy to spot!!
I planned out PingXi right after Jiu Fen because it's somewhat near to each other.

We were fairly unlucky cause it was close to the date of their annual Sky Lantern Festival so the trains were so packed you could hardly stand
And people have to wait for several trains with 1 hr intervals just to get on. If this happens to you, i would highly recommend taking a cab instead.

Directions:
I would recommend buying a day pass @ Rui Fang Station to explore Ping Xi as it's only 50 NTD ($2 SGD) and
you can sit to any station without having to repurchase tickets.

Anyway i realized they only check your ticket back at RuiFang, when we went to Jing Tong which is the last stop of the Ping Xi Line, no one checks your tickets + there were no gantries?

Also when you reach your destination wherever you are on the Ping Xi Line, do take a picture of their train schedule.

So based on my plan i wanted to drop off at Shi Fen but we ended up at Jing Tong instead because the place was so crowded it was insane.
If you go there on an ordinary day i think you can probably add the Shi Fen waterfall into your itinerary as well.

Well Jing Tong was crowded but it wasn't all that bad!!

Walked past this cafe that had the teapot and tea cup from Beauty and the Beast!!

There'll be several stalls that sells paper lanterns and they will all offer to help you take photos as a form of service.
So other than the photography skills there's nothing else to compare HAHAH and ya i did look out for that
The different coloured lanterns also represents different things btw
This would cost you 100NTD ($4 SGD)

I got a shock of my life when i saw a toursists' paper lantern swaying too much left and right until the lantern caught fire HAHAHA
To be honest it was funny but pretty sad at the same time cause people write their wishes on it and for them to actually "come true"

After you're done writing on your lantern, they will light the fire inside the paper lantern first (you can really feel the heat) and you eventually let go
If you don't let it go at the same timing as your partner it'll sway left and right and might just catch fire too

Remember this drink so vividly from my childhood!! Always wanted to finish the drink so i could take out the piece of marble inside the bottle lol

Yes so apparently these wishes have been written last year before i actually joined AXA

1. "Wish to have happiness" is something i've always wanted since years ago cause i think my life damn sad esp in the past HAHA

2. "Succeed in my career", well i haven't stopped working hard so i guess one day i'll get to a level i wanna attain

3. "Get married to Mr. R" this to be honest, i meant get married to Mr. Right.
You might think i'm mean, i know my ex's name starts with R.
You might always feel you're dating the right person but months or years later you look back and think, what the hell was i thinking?!
Apparently it was deep in my head all along but was never acknowledged till shortly after! But thank goodness i did though,
if not wishes number 1 2 4 and 5 would have never worked out for me lol.

4. "Buy a house" and i'm already saving up and working towards that

5. "Retire in Taipei", might not be able to do that, always wanted it, maybe i'll just buy a house and visit as much as i like in future.
This would mostly depend on wish number 2 and 3!

People also wrote their wishes on bamboos as well.

Smelly Tofu that i would never try in my entire life ever again lol

The most old school candies you can think of, they can all be found around the area!!
I bought quite a few back to SG

The store's sign directly translates to "Cheese Meat Bun"? There was quite a queue for this!!

Really kudos to the amount of effort put into drawing on the paper lantern!!

After exploring the area for a bit, we took a train back to Rui Fang station before the last stop of our day;

KEELUNG MIAO KOU NIGHT MARKET (seriously one of my fav night markets NOWWWW)
They're really well known for their Fresh Seafood that's sold at their night markets. To be honest,
every night market is known for different things.
if you only go to taipei once, you'll probably assume that all night markets are the same.

Directions:
From Rui Fang Station, take a bus #788 towards Kee Lung (基隆) and alight at Zhong Yi Road (忠一路)the journey would be about 35minutes. If you're looking to head back to Taipei Main Station,
it's about a 10min walk to Kee Lung Train Station.
It'll be good to ask locals for directions to the train station which was what we did. 

YESSSSS
Was looking high and low for this stall, the "Old Soldier Cream Crab" (老兵奶油螃蟹)
I regret not ordering more food from this stall lol.was trying to save my stomach for other things i put in my list!!
Everything was pretty cheap considering it's seafood btw

when you see 2 rows of yellow lanterns like this you know you're at the right place!!

The queue for the Fried Sandwiches was quite crazy!! Lol but i kinda liked it

Ying Yang San Ming Zhi (營養三明治) Stall 58

Think this was the Wu Ji Crab Thick Soup (吳記螃蟹羹) Stall 5!!

Kinda reminds me of the pasamalam kinda "sting ray" soup!!

Their "you fan" smells so good i was more drawn to the rice than the soup hahaha
But it's the best feeling in the world, sitting there with a hot bowl of soup, in cold weather, in my favourite place ever.

Saw many stores selling this fried soft shell crab so decided to give it a go (it was super cheap though i can't recall the price right now)
But it was really bad, think i got it from the wrong stall!!
Can't expect something deep fried and left out in the cold to taste good anyways
Irony on the cup lol

Tako balls!!!
I know 2 things you can't have high expectations of in Taipei; ice cream and tako balls hahaha
Known it for quite some time but when it looks so good it's hard to resist

This is the most, UNDERRATED thing ever. This young man was making mochi at some ulu corner.
I didn't see a single person eating it lol but i decided to give it a try.
Best decision i loved it so much.
It cost me less than a dollar each. I recall seeing stalls in Singapore sell this for about $3 each?

There are many other things to look out for in Keelung Miao Kou Night Market, such as the

Pao Pao Bing

Ding Bian Cuo (鼎邊銼) which is like flat noodles

And their Tempura!!

So yeap here's my day 4. Hope you guys enjoyed it!!