Jemin Travels to Taipei Scrapbook

Covid-19 may have deterred our travel plans so the only way we can travel is by reminiscing on our past trips, and hence I decided to do a scrapbook in my free time. As we are advised to stay home during this circuit breaker period and also the photo printing shops are not opened, I could only purchase polaroid films online and print it using my Instax printer.

So exactly three years ago on 23 April 2017, we set off on our first official trip overseas together to Taipei, Taiwan.

Each MRT station in Taipei has a rubber stamp station, with designs representative of the area, a free souvenir that locals and tourists alike could collect. I had brought along a notebook for the trip and I had fun collecting stamps at every station, which also became an embellishment for the scrapbook. 

The theme of first day is SEE FOOD diet, so our first stop after checking in is to have lunch at Taipei Fish Market where we had fresh sashimi, abalone and miso soup! For dinner, we headed to Jiantan station where Shihlin Night Market is located and continued our eating tour. 

For our second day, we went out of the city by taking the railway transport out to Shifen. First, we had to take the express train to Ruifang before changing to the railway train to Shifen station. There, we checked off the item off my bucket list which is to write our wishes on the sky lantern and send it up to the skies. At that time, I wished that Pigg and I could travel together around the world, a wish that I hope could come true soon in this Pandemic period, where travel could be possible again.

After that, we headed to Jiufen where we explored the Jiufen Old Streets. The view of the mountainous area is indeed breathtaking and the weather is also cooler up high. If we had more time, I hoped that we could enjoy a cup of tea at the iconic A-Mei Teahouse which appeared in my all-time favorite animation 'Spirited Away'.

On our third day, we headed to the Alpaca cafe located in Tamsui. The dorkiness of the alpacas was quite cute at first until they started chewing on people's hair. Located on the second floor of the cafe are the owner's savannah cats which had to make a special request in order to see them. 

After a fun time with the animals, we headed back to Tamsui where we explored the old streets and took a boat ride to Bali Left Banks (quite disappointing as there was nothing much) and we should have headed straight to Fisherman Wharf instead.

On our fourth day, we headed to Taipei Zoo station, not for the zoo but for gondola instead. But since we were there, so we just took a picture from outside as the pruned bushes looked pretty.

We took the crystal cabin gondola up to Maokong, where the views of buildings slowly turned into greenery and mountains. The air up in the mountains is indeed fresher and we took a hike in one of the recommended trails before heading back down. I totally enjoyed every moment of being away from the bustling city.

For lunch, we headed to Din Tai Fung for Xiao Long Bao! Somehow, the soup dumplings tasted even better than Singapore's version, and we also learned the proper way to eat and how to make the perfect sauce. 

After lunch, we headed to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, though we are not history buffs, it was still nice to check off one of the must-visit places in Taipei. I could remember us running just to catch the guard changing ceremony in time. 

On our second last day, it was also Pigg's birthday, we decided to make it a chill and relaxing day by going for a soak in the private bathhouse and having an afternoon tea after. 

For dinner, I had previously made a reservation at Wang Steak, a considerably high-end steak restaurant that is well known among the locals. Pigg loves steak so this would be a treat for his 22nd birthday. To get there, we braved the heavy rain in the chilling weather but it was all worth it. The food, ambience, service and company is indeed an enjoyable dinner. 

For our last day in Taipei, we went to my favorite character, Rilakkuma Cafe! We were their first customers for the day as we reached earlier.

I always thought that such character cafes have food that is nice to look at but not nice to eat but Rilakkuma cafe proved me wrong as the food was not just adorably cute that I could not BEAR to eat it but tasted equally delicious as well!

Turned the leftover scrapbook pages to keep the stamps of the places that we have been to. 

Ximen - where our hotel was located and more late night shopping at the end of the day 

Taipower Building - where Shida night market was located, love the clothes selection there as it more trendy and affordable since it caters to the nearby University students

Xindian - where Volanda Urai Hot Springs is located, too bad we did not get a chance to explore the Wulai village as it was raining that day

Songshan - Where Wufenpu and Raohe Night Market (another of my favorite night market) was located

Nanjing Sanmin - where we bought my favorite Chia Te pineapple cakes 

Zhongxiao Dunhua - where Rilakkuma cafe was located

Taipei 101/World Trade Center - need no explanation, we did not go into Taipei 101 but went there for Wang Steak.