Jioufen Tea House (九份茶坊)

When visiting Jiufen (九份), taking a break and dropping by the Jioufen Tea House (九份茶坊) to enjoy the beautiful misty scenery around the mountains and sipping the fragrant Oolong Tea of the season is the highlight of the visit. The friendly waitress introduce us to the various tea of the season that we can enjoy and the snacks available. 

If not for the drizzle, we would have sit outside at this
beautiful area :)

She also guided us on how to brew the tea to enjoy it to the maximum. I'd say that the way she taught was very important as we had some tea leaves left over, so we took it back. However, due to a mistake, I left the tea in the teapot, soaking in the tea leaves for too long and it became very strong and bitter, hence destroying the wonderful taste of the tea. After 2 more tries, I finally managed to get the same gentle taste and nice fragrance by ensuring that the tea leaves are only left within the pot for 3 mins or slightly less, 5 mins will make it rather bitter and strong as well.

These fragrant tea and delicious snack costed us about
TWD $980, I think

The handmade Oolong Tea Biscuit in the picture was heavenly when eaten with the Oolong Tea. Originally, I wanted to buy the biscuits back but it wasn't available for sale in packets so it's merely available for consumption in the tea house and a enjoy it while it last experience.

Overall, we had the most relaxing time during our entire trip at the tea house sipping Oolong Tea and nibbling the delicious handmade Oolong Tea Biscuit. I'd go back again during my next trip but perhaps plan for a longer break at this nice and relaxing venue. :P

Note: Be prepared to spend about at least TWD: $600 - $1000 for 2 person depending on what you ordered. I would say that more people would tend to bring the cost down, due to the high tea leave cost involved. Snacks are relatively cheaper.

九份艺术馆 (Art House Area within the Tea House)

Do remember to take a stroll within the tea house after you are done to look at the various tea pot / cups set collection, around the tea house, especially the art area. The gigantic pumpkin teapot is certainly an unique sight.

Website: www.jioufen-teahouse.com.tw
Address: 142 号，瑞芳镇九份基山街
Tel: 886-2-2496-9056
Operating Hours:
Mon - Thus: 9:30am to 10pm
Fri - Sat: 9.30am to 2am
Sun: 9.30am to 12am

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Jioufen (Jiufen - 九份) - Shihfen (十分) Route

Jioufen (九份) is a nice place for both sightseeing and to enjoy high tea / coffee. It's one of my favourite place to be to relax and enjoy life while going on a trip. Most importantly, to avoid the crowd, you must visit this place on a weekday. In fact, all sightseeing venues are strictly weekday only trip if not you'll end up with messed up schedule due to long queues and long waiting times.

There are 2 main type of routes you can take Jioufen (九份) and Jing Gua Shi (金瓜石) or  Jioufen (九份) and Pingsi (平溪). Most importantly, is to leave early in the morning as you'll need to plan such that the trip will end around 7 - 8 pm when the frequency of the trains reduces and also the shop closes as well.

For those interested in getting miniature Skylights, do take note that you should be getting them at Shihfen (十分) and not Jioufen (九份) as they comes with more varieties at a lower price at Shihfen (十分). You can even get the words handwritten on your very own Skylight collection at a better price. Also, you will get to enjoy the nice scenery at Shifen (十分).

For this particular trip, we picked the Jioufen (九份) and Pingsi (平溪) route but we only ended up at Jioufen (九份) and Pingsi (平溪) - Shihfen (十分) only due to me waking up too late in the morning.

Look for this exit to the bus stop

How to get there:

1. Take MRT to Taipei Main Station (台北车站)
2. Take Train (台铁) towards Hua Lian, Taipei East Direction (花莲, 台东 方向) to Ruifang Train Station (瑞芳车站) ~ 45 mins
   Note: There's a faster / express train ride 自强号 and a slower / normal train ride 莒光号
3. Take Bus 1013 (基隆客运) to Jioufen (九份) towards Jioufen (九份) / Jing Gua Shi (金瓜石) ~ 15 mins
   Do take note that you should hold on to the handrails and best to take a seat as the F1 bus uncle will give you the most exciting bus ride ever! (So far, it's the most happening bus ride I've ever took in my life lol)
   
   There are a few bus stops that you can alight, but it's best to ask the bus uncle about it so that he can advise you and remind you when to alight.

The whole trip will take about 1.5 hours to reach including the waiting time.

To go to Shihfen (十分)  from Jioufen (Jiufen - 九份):

1. Take Bus 1013 back to Ruifang Train Station (瑞芳车站) ~ 15 mins
2. If you intend to do station hopping, buy 1 day pass for the Ruifang - Qingtong route (瑞芳 - 青铜)

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Hua Xi Jie Night Market (华西街夜市)

The night market stretches from Guang Zhou Jie (广州街) all the way up to Section 2 of Gui Yang Jie (贵阳街二段) with a length of about 352m. It is the most prominent night market in Xi Men area yet not as commercialized as the Shih Lin Night Market (士林夜市). For those who enjoyed shopping till late night should visit the area, where you can shop till you drop. I think this is where I bought 2 pairs of boots lol!

Unlike Hong Kong, the Taipei's night market has small stores along the streets and small stalls between the streets. Most importantly the permanent stores along the street have much more variety than those in the Hong Kong Street that I saw during my last trip. At least, that's my impression. But then again, I'm not familiar with Hong Kong, so we didn't actually visited much night market in there. Whichever the case, I would say that all Taipei's night markets that are convenient should be visited as they are really an eye opener for me!

How to get there: Take the MRT 搭捷运 (Bannan line 板南线) to 到 Long Shan Si 龙山寺, alight at Exit 1 一号出口下车. Turn right 右转, walk along Xi Yuan Road until 沿着西园路走到 Guang Zhou Jie (广州街) Long Shan Si 龙山寺, Turn left 左转, walk until you see the night market 至到夜市.

Est. Walking Duration: 3 Mins

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Red House Creative Market (西门红楼创意市集)

Although the Red House looks rather plain and simple most of the time, there's actually a creative market held in front of it only during weekends around late morning till evening time. As I didn't know of its present until I got home, I didn't notice it opening as I sort of missed the timing that it was opened. Hence, I didn't know exactly what is the duration of the market other than the following information I've got from my little book on Taipei. I certainly would drop by the market during my next visit as my colleague also promoted that place.

Address: 台北市成都路10号
Activity Days: Weekends (Sat 星期六 / Sun 星期天)
Website: redhousetaipei.blogspot.com

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Carrefour (家乐福) - Cup Noodles & Grocery

If you do visit Taiwan, don't forget to try out their cup noodles as I felt that the cup noodles from Taiwan is best tasting cup noodles I've ever eaten. Most importantly, you can find all kind of instant food and cup noodles at Carrefour. In fact bought 2 packs back to Singapore. 2 x Beef Noodles and 2 x Spaghetti. Of course there's also the healthier snacks / breakfast type of instant food.

Almond Lian Zi Cereal (Healthier Snack)
I love the taste!

Normal Beef Cup Noodles

Spicy Beef Cup Noodles

Addr: 台北市桂林路1号 (1 Guilin Road)
Operating Hrs: 24hrs
Tel: (02)2388 9877 / 0809001365
Website: www.carrefour.com.tw


How to get there?
Take the blue Bannan Line (板南线) MRT to Ximen Station (西门站) Exit 1 then walk along Xi Ning North Road (西宁南路) towards Long Shan Si (龙山寺) direction until Guilin Road's (桂林路) junction and you will see Carrefour (家乐福) in front of you (across the street).  
Estimated walking time: 7mins

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Fish Almond (Ikan Bilis - 小鱼杏仁) @ Family Mart

My favorite snack in Taiwan was the Imei Brand Fish Almond (小鱼杏仁) which I got from Family Mart. In fact there are many other snacks available. For almond snacks, there's 2 types: Fish Almond (小鱼杏仁)  and Prawn Almond (小虾杏仁). But I would say that the fish almond had a unforgettable great taste, so much so that I bought 2 small packets home after finishing 2 packs in Taipei but the prawn one tasted so-so.

Fish Almond (Ikan Bilis - 小鱼杏仁)

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Watson's (屈臣氏)

Watson's in Xi Men area (西门町) is a rather huge place,  it is about 4 storeys high with various products, from facial mask, makeup to common household products. It is a place I felt is worth shopping at, whether you are buying its products or not doesn't matter but just to take a look at the product range was already much of an eye-opener for me. 

The hello kitty mask is one of the many products that it has in store. But now, I realised that Singapore does carry this type of mask too at S$13 per box, which is almost the same price as what I bought in Taipei. During a promotion, I even saw the same mask selling at just S$10! Almost most masks are about half our price, not all of them are indeed cheaper than Singapore. Only those made in Taiwan are sold at a much better price in the area, with the exception of the hello kitty mask.

Addr: 武昌街二段39号

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Daiso at Cheng Ping 116 (诚品116)

Perhaps not as big as the one at 信义区 (Xin Yi Area), still the Daiso at Xi Men Ding's Cheng Ping 116 is pretty big as well. Most importantly, it's located at a easily accessible building at the heart of Xi Men Ding. The main highlight of the Daiso in Taiwan is that it is way bigger and had a lot more things sold at TWD $38 which is about SGD $1.7 after conversion. From nail polish to makeup to household products, it's almost you name it and they have it. 

Of course don't expect those expensive house hold applicants to be available for sale there.

Address: 台北市汉中街116号 (I can't remember which level is it located at so look out for the sign board)

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Hello Kitty Store

If you are a fan of Hello Kitty, you might want to drop by to take a look at what's in store. I saw a nice camera pouch for sale in the store but since I had already got a new one in Singapore, I decided not to get that. There are also other cute Hello Kitty items for you to choose from.

I didn't have the exact address but from that photo above, you should be able to located it near KFC, along 台北市汉中街. It is quite near Cheng Ping 116.

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Sophisca (菓风小铺)

Sophisca (菓风小铺) sells various interesting items such as Xiao Long Bao (Mashmallow), Poison like Medication (Sweet), Pad  (Sweet), Condom (Sweet), etc. They also sell seasonal products that are related the the latest festival during that period. As you can see, I visited during the Halloween season so they have various Halloween theme products on sale.

This sall is also available at Jiu Fen and various other places as well. A pretty common stall I should say.

Website: www.sophisca.com
Address: 台北市武昌街二段26號
Tel: 02-2370-4740

Operating Hours:
Mon - Thurs: 10:30~22:30
Fri: 10:30~23:00
Sat: 10:00~23:00
Sun:10:00~22:30

Here's the blackcurrent
candy that I've bought
(Packaging - Death in 1 day)

Xiao Long Bao Packing Marshmallow 

Personally, I prefer the Xiao Long Bao Marshmallow and it finished within 1 day. While the other candy take much longer to finish.

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Yang Ji Ice Peanuts & Corn (杨记花生玉米冰)

花生玉米加三圆冰 (TWD $80)

The All-In-Mixed Ice as shown in the photo above is one that you should give a try as it contains peanuts, corn, yam ball, sweet potato ball and rice ball, sweet tasting and nice to eat. Even though the 2 of us shared this bowl of ice, we still didn't managed to finished it all, probably because we ate too much in total. There are also other desserts available but if you have 2 or more people in your group, I would recommend that you give this dessert a try. For me, being a corn lover, I like the corn part of it most :)

Address: 台北市汉口街二段 38 & 40号
Opening Hours: 11:00 - 22:00
Tel: (02) 2375-2223

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Cheng Du Ice Starfruit (成都杨桃冰)

The Cheng Du Ice Starfruit (成都杨桃冰) is one of the recommendation in the guide book. I would say that it is certainly worth a try to share a small cup. As it has been marinated with salt, it no longer has the usual starfruit's bitter sweet taste, giving it a slightly salted yet sweet taste and crunchy feel when you bite the starfruit. However the taste of the syrup that came with the dessert is a bit too salty for me. I wouldn't recommend that you finish the liquid portion for health's sake.

Address: 台北市成都路3号
Operating Hours: 13:00 - 22:30
Tel: (02) 2381-0309
Price: TWD $40

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Duck Meat @ 鸭肉扁 (Ya Rou Bian)

The one and only unique Duck Meat store is located in Xi Men Ding (西门町) Area. The duck meat had a unique taste that is not cooked via the common braised or roasted way that we get to eat everywhere in Singapore. It has a slight burnt taste probably the method used for coking is smoked. Hence, leaving the lean meat almost fat free and tasty. I would say that it is more of an acquired taste kind of food, so you either love it or hate it. And you have to try to find out. :)

Taipei's one and only 鸭肉扁 (Ya Rou Bian) stall
Located at: 台北市武昌街二段2号
Opening Hours: 09:30 - 22:00
Tel: (02) 2371-3918

As there is only 1 store as mentioned in the signboard, meaning you can only try it out at Xi Men Ding area.

Here's the bee hoon and yellow noodle soup that you can order to eat with the duck meat. I would say that the noodles tasted better and even if you just eat the noodles, you will feel very full as it also come with some duck meat in the soup itself. But of course, this meat is mainly used to give the noodle soup it's flavoring and the actual duck meat certainly tasted better. If you are a small eater, you might want to consider sharing 1 bowl of noodles instead.

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Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodle (阿宗面线)

With the help of the guide book, we managed to have a taste of the famous Ah Chung Flour Rice Noodles (In Singish, we will call it Ah Zhong Mee Sua), it has a rather thick soup full of noodles and the chewy pig intestine. Do remember to give it a try if you happen to be in the area.

Website: www.Ay-Chung.com
Address: 台北市峨眉街8之1号 (No. 8-1, Éméi St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108)
Opening Hours:
Mon - Thurs: 11:00 - 22:30
Fri - Sun: 11:00 - 23:00
Tel: (02) 2388-8808 / 2388 - 8182

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Tamagoya (蛋蛋屋)

Tamagoya's Egg certainly tasted nice. Just remember to moderate your intake. :) For me, I didn't exactly finished my share as I ordered too much.

Dear ordered: Omelette with Chicken

I ordered: Omelette Rice with Mushroom

Tip of the day: Decide if you still wish to order
your dessert only after you had settle the bill

They might give you a free dessert voucher after your meal. If you do get that and you can still eat, why not order another dessert? Otherwise, you can always keep it for another day I guess.

Address: 15 号台北市成都路

Tel: (02) 2371-3837

Operating Hours: 11.30am to 10pm (Extended to 10.30pm on Fri & Sat)

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Miku Coffee (米加咖啡)

Breakfast at Miku Coffee (米加咖啡) comes with
Magazines Reading Session while waiting for our food

Service at Miku Coffee was excellent! With the enthusiastic and very friendly sales man bringing in the crowd, sharing tips with the tourists on their planned visit. Entertaining their guests with magazines. What else are they short of? I guess, that's perhaps why their business is pretty good. We simply felt at home sitting in the cafe waiting to be served.

I find the Noodles Better Tasting

The very full baked rice

The friendly salesman even wrote us a guide to Tamsui
as our plan was to visit Tamsui that day. :)

These 2 slips of notes is certainly worth the visit!

Website: www.mikucoffee.com

Take Away Hotline: (02) 23700111
Address: 134號之1台北市萬華區昆明街

I've dropped by their website to see how does it look like. To my disappointment, it actually called Mika Coffee and not Miku Coffee. With the current website design, I wonder if there are any natural traffic that ever visit their website apart from those that visit after seeing that banner on their shop? What a pity!

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Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡)

I suspect that it is due to the special coffee making process that it produces better tasting coffee. My partner felt that the coffee is one of the best after tasting various other coffee in the area. At least better than the store next to it and other normal coffee in the area.

Even their figuring are cute!

Here's how they brew their coffee with the flask

Waiting for the water to boil

The big coffee machine!

The antique one

If you ever visit that place, do drop by to have a drink. Even their milk tea tasted better :)

Opening Hours: 8am to 10.30pm
Addr: 42号台北市成都路
Tel: (02) 2371-9577 / 2331-0230

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Xi Men Ding (西门町)

Xi Men Ding (西门町) is probably something like our Bugis Street. Filled with small little stores along the streets and they have a big shopping center at the center of the street (Cheng Ping / 诚品116). Someone told me that it's something like Orchard Road but based on the items on sale in the area, I would think that Bugis is a better fit.

How to go: Take the MRT to XiMen (西门) Station along the blue Bannan Line (板南线).

At Xi Men Ding, I would recommend a few places of places:

• Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡)
• Miku Coffee (米加咖啡)
• Tamagoya (蛋蛋屋)
• Ay Chung Mee Sua (阿宗面线)
• Duck Meat @ 鸭肉扁 (Ya Rou Bian)
• Cheng Du Starfruit Ice (成都杨桃冰)
• Sophisca (菓风小铺)
• Daiso at Cheng Ping 116 (诚品116)
• Yang Ji Peanuts & Corn Ice (杨记花生玉米冰)
• Red House Creative Market (西门红楼创意市集) (Weekends only)
• Carrefour (家乐福)
• Hua Xi Street Night Market (华西街夜市)

Note: For the list of items on the book, we would think that Hot Candy had closed down as we are unable to locate that place.

After reading through the book again, I'd plan a visit Xi Men Ding (西门町) on a weekend probably starting around 10am:

1. Breakfast at Miku Coffee (米加咖啡), where the friendly sales person might recommend you the places to go around the area during your visit
2. Stroll along Cheng Du Road (成都路)
3. Take away a cup of nice coffee from Fong Da Coffee (蜂大咖啡)
4. Visit to the Red House Market (西门红楼创意市集)
5. Share a bowl of Starfruit Ice with your loved ones at Cheng Du Starfruit Ice (成都杨桃冰)
6. Shopping at Daiso - Cheng Ping 116 (诚品116)
7. Share a bowl of Mee Sua at Ay Chung Mee Sua (阿宗面线)
8. Proceed to Sophisca (菓风小铺)
9. Shop along 武昌街二段 (Wu Chang Jie) - 西门徒步区 (XiMen Walking Zone)
10. Take a break and share some Ice at Yang Ji Peanuts & Corn Ice (杨记花生玉米冰)
11. More Shopping along 昆明街96巷
12. Late Lunch at 鸭肉扁 (Ya Rou Bian) 
13. Walk around 西宁南路(Xi Ning Nan Road) 
14. Then 汉中街(Han Zhong Jie)
15. Dinner at Tamagoya (蛋蛋屋)
16. Ending your trip at Carrefour for some grocery shopping (Don't buy too much if you still intend to visit the Night Market)
17. Take the MRT to 龙山寺站 (Longshan Temple Station)
18. Visit Hua Xi Street Night Market (华西街夜市) for more shopping at night

I'll test out the feasibility of this plan the next time round as I didn't have a full day to visit Xi Men. Most importantly, my hotel is here so I'm there almost everyday. I covered those places in about 3 separate occasions on 3 separate days :P

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Easy Card - Taiwan

Similar to our ezLink Card in Singapore, Taiwan had their very own Easy Card where they can use to take almost all the common transports available in the city. The startup cost of the EasyCard is TWD $200, where $100 is the deposit and $100 is the value which we can use for travelling. Should the amount not be enough, the deposit may be used to make payment.

The deposit can be refunded if you no longer need the card. An admin fee of about TWD$20 will be charged for the refund, which seems to be waived if the period of use is less than 1 month. However, as we felt that we should be going again, we decided to keep the card. :)

It seems like there is no expiry date for the Easy Card, so it should be fine to keep it for long. As it also mentioned that you will need to topup the card in order to re-activate it if it is not in use for more than 2 years.

Their website: www.easycard.com.tw

Customer Service: 412-8880 (add 02 prefix if calling from mobile phone or from Kinmen or Matsu districts)

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Taiwan Voice & Data Mobile Plans

If you are interested in getting a Taiwan line with either voice or data mobile plan, try FarEasTone (远传) or Taiwan Mobile (台湾大哥大). Where the former offers overall cheaper calling service, the former offers better coverage. For data plan wise, both offers the same rate:

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Taipei, Here I come!

The lovely looking cloud welcomed me to Taipei

I woke up at around 4am on the 18th Oct, 2011 to catch my 7am flight to Taipei on Jetstar! Although excited about my trip, I still felt very sleepy and struggled to wake up for the trip. Thanks to my beloved partner for waking up even earlier to pick me up and send me to the airport, we managed to board the flight on time and are on our way to Taipei.

As you can see, here's the contrast of
my hardworking partner vs the sleepy head - me. :P

Of course, a playful photo of me & piggy.
Who's the piggy here?
*Pointing at each other*

After around 4 hours 50 mins of flight, we arrived at the Taoyuan Airport. Here's some photos of the beautiful side of the airport.

Even Toilet Walls are Beautiful

There are bathrooms available but you will need to
pay to use and there is actually time limit

Airport Toilets are full of instructions

They even provide hot and cold water dispenser

Lovely public lounge for those to rest during transit

I'd recommend that you exchange your country's currency to the Taiwan Dollar (TWD) at the Airport as that's the place with one of the best exchange rate in Taiwan. If you happened to arrive at the Tao Yuan Airport, try the Mega ICBC Bank (the 2nd money changer within the Transit area). There are actually many money changer within and outside the transit area. So don't worry about the queue, just visit the next one. In fact, after looking at the various exchange rates available in the airport, I found out that the 2nd money changer the Mega ICBC Bank offers the best rate. If you find the queue still very long, try out the other money changers within the transit area as the exchange rates there are slightly better.

To change the Taiwan dollar back to your own currency, you might want to try the money changer at your own country, who knows, you might make some money in the process. :) As the rates you get in Taiwan is really very good but not so when you change back.

After leaving the transit area, we took bus 1819 at about $125 per head to the Taipei Main Station. They had someone to help carry our luggage onto the luggage compartment of the bus, so I would say that their service is excellent.

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