Taiwan June 2008 Day 2

Hello all! This is Day 2.. And I realised that sometimes touring a country on your own can be quite fun..

Day 2- 12 June 2008

Travelling alone can sometimes be quite fun.. Go where you wanna go, rest whenever you wanna.. But it sometimes get a bit lonely as well.. Like when you see something interesting and want to share it with a travelling buddy but only to realise there's no one to talk too.. Haha..

Had breakfast all alone this morning as my father had already gone to work.. Then it was off to Taipei 101! It was just 2 MRT stops away from my hotel.. Kinda got lost after exiting the station as I was too early for the shuttle bus.. Ended up walking there myself.. Haha..

Some buildings still remain the same after 3 years though.. Haha.. During my first trip to Taiwan, it was with my mother and my father but again, he had to go to work so left the 2 of us.. We met up with my Grandma's friend who showed us around the place.. Haha..

Dunno what is this for.. Probably to ward away the sunlight or something bah..


Ah! Taipei 101! The World's Tallest Tower! Ironically, I came back to the hotel to see on BBC News that Tokyo would be building the next World's Tallest Tower called "Tokyo Sky Tree"..

And this is how Taipei 101 looks during New Year's.. Cool right?!

Pretty excited to be going up this time as I didn't manage to go up the other time due to foggy weather or something.. Cannot rmb liaoz.. Haha.. It costs about S$20 to go up.. The attendant checked my bag first before boarding the lift with a few other guests..

Taipei 101 is about 500m and the lift is also the World's Fastest Lift.. It brings you up in just 37 secs! That's like 1100m/min.. Ears pop like crazy.. I wonder how the staff can stand the pressure all the time.. Started at the 89th Storey first.. Anyway, went to exchange my ticket for an audio guide that points out the location of the buildings that you can see from the top..



And here are some scenery.. You can see that it was getting foggy and light rain was pouring in.. Nonetheless, I love "high up in the sky" stuff.. Haha.. Singapore Flyer, Hokkaido's Star Tower, Shanghai's Pearl of the Orient, Beijing's CCTV Tower and now Taipei 101..

And this is the gift shop.. Took this picture because I like the words, "纪念品".. Haha.. Went down to the 88th Level to take a look at the World's Largest Damper..

We had to pass thru this space thing first.. Dunno what izzit for anyway.. Haha.. I like this pic of me with the beam of light in the centre.. Like I have some magic powers.. So cool..

And this is the damper.. I thot it was used to control the speed of the lift however, later on my father told me it's used to balance the tower during earthquakes.. The 91st Storey outdoor observetory was closed as it was raining.. Shucks.. Took the lift back down..

And this is the interior of Taipei 101.. Level B1- 4 is a shopping mall while the remaining are offices.. Saw Page One and went in to have a look.. Almost the same range as Singapore's but the English books are so expensive.. Left Taipei 101 after that as most of the items were branded stuff..

Wanted to go watch a movie so was searching for this place called Warner Village Cinemas.. The Village company is the same as Golden Village's.. The info counter told me to pass thru a shopping centre next door called New York New York first..

Stopped by to shop a bit first but didn't find anything interesting and most stuffs were expensive.. Though I stopped to get some donuts.. Hehe..

Ended up not finding Warner Village Cinemas but Vieshow Cinemas instead.. Give up le so decided to check what movies they offered.. They had Narnia 2! I was quite weary that the language spoken would be Chinese so I approached the counter stuff to ask but he told me it was in English.. Good good! Then I asked the price; NT$290.. Bad bad! That's equilivant to almost S$15! Faster walk away.. Singapore normal tickets also highest is $10.. Haha..

Decided to eat lunch after that.. Poor me had to eat alone again.. But the above meal costs about NT$140 which is S$7.. Ok price lah considering that it was Chicken Drumstick and it was quite good..

Off to Ximending again after lunch.. Saw another cinema and decided to see try my luck again.. KNS! The price only lesser by S$0.50.. Haha.. OMG.. Watching movies in Taipei is like a luxury.. Walked around abit and realised the clothes were too young and funky.. Not my type.. But a lot of bags and shoes on sale! The bags were still considered quite expensive though but the shoes were cheap.. But I couldn't get a single pair cos all no my size.. Sianz..

Decided to go find that popular "Oyster Mee Sua" place that we couldn't locate last night.. Finally found it at a corner street.. So many people crowding the front.. Damn popular.. It's called "Ah Chung's Flour-Rice Noodle".. So next time go Taipei, make sure go and eat ah.. Don't say I never recommend.. Haha..

And this is it.. I rmb 3 years ago the bowl was orange.. Guess they decided to change it to match the parsley.. Haha.. Damn nice! Must eat again before I leave..

Came back to the hotel for a rest after that while waiting for my father to finish work.. And he told me to go ahead with my plans to go to Miramar Entertainment Park first.. Took a cab there as it was raining and there was no near MRT station..


Welcome to Miramar Entertainment Park! Beilin, does it look familiar? Haha.. Yes, you are right! It was used to film the idol drama, 换换爱!


See the staircase in the picture above? Exact same on as this picture.. Haha..

And this is inside the mall.. I think this was where 王传一 threw money at Rainie in the series.. Haha.. Forgot le..

And this is the escalator where 王传一 passed his mother by.. Very confusing escalators..

And this is the ticket booth inside the entertainment park.. It's half open air.. GV should follow this style sia.. Let the patrons get wet before buying tickets.. Haha.. Then they will faster buy and stop choosing seats.. My father decided to ride the Ferris Wheel with me.. I knew he was very scared lah.. Pretend only.. Haha..


And this is the best photo I got of Taipei's night view at the highest point.. Very blur sia..

Ok fine.. I was pretty scared too.. Pretend only.. Haha..

Look Ma! I'm glowing!

Cabbed to Shilin Night Martket after that.. Even though there was a heavy rain the whole day, it didn't dampen the spirits of the shoppers as there were still so many ppl.. Haha.. And things there are real cheap.. You can get a slipper or shirt at S$5 each..

And it was kinda funny to see the illegal hawkers gathering their stuffs and running whenever somebody sounds the alert that the Health Officers were there.. Sort of like Singaporeans running to their cars whenever the aunty comes to check coupons.. Haha..

Stopped to eat at the roadside stalls.. My father had Mee Sua while I ate 甜不辣.. Forgot to take picture.. 甜不辣 is actually kinda like Yong Tau Foo but instead the items are fixed and is of a much smaller portion.. And the gravy is actually our Yong Tau Foo's sweet sauce mix with soup.. Very very nice! Another must eat in Taipei!

Passed by a dessert and shop and decided to try the ever popular Mango Ice.. Ordered one for myself as my father ordered his own.. Didn't expect that it was so huge! It was meant for at least 3 ppl to finish.. Now why didn't the shop keeper tell me? Haha.. But very nice.. Mango very fresh..

Last but not least, must eat the Chicken Cutlet! Costs only S$2.50 and it was damn huge.. Hmm.. How to explain huge lehz? Erm.. Put your 2 feet tgt.. Yup.. That huge.. Not kidding.. Very fresh and hot.. I like..

My father saw a stall selling "Indian Teh Tarik" and went to buy it not realising that it was cold Teh Tarik.. Haha.. Guess the stall owners were afraid of scalding themselves and came up with "Cold Teh Tarik".. Haha.. Very very sweet sia..

Cabbed back to the hotel after that.. A few things I picked up today..

1) Taipei is swarmed with taxis.. Haha.. In fact, too many.. The entire road is 1/2 filled with taxis while the others are vans, motorbikes and cars..

2) Taxis in Taipei is expensive.. Starting fare is S$3.50.. Meter jumps like crazy.. Try to avoid taking taxis.. Haha..

3) Taxis in Taipei are not allowed to roam the streets for passengers.. They are only allowed to pick them up at designated areas.. For example, you pick a passenger up from Point A.. You head for Point B.. Drop the passenger off.. Cannot drive off.. Must remain at Point B until the next customer comes.. Sort of a way to control the number of cars on the streets..

4) Avoid the shopping malls.. The prices are almost the same as Singapore's.. If not, even more expensive..

5) Don't watch movies in Taipei. Period.

Ok! Good night! Going to the Taipei Zoo tml! Haha..