As I was so excited for my midnight flight to Taipei on Friday, I received the flight cancelation alert email from EVA on Thursday night and immediately got alert and panic. The worse thing is that I have to attend a video shoot for the whole Friday. Since very early morning, I was trying to call EVA office in Saigon while rushing to the set but no way I could get connected with a teller. In the end, I had to sneak out during lunch break to go to the office personally to get my flight change. When I arrived, there was not that many people, yet, and quickly got my flight change to China Airlines at 10:50 AM the next morning, meaning that I lost half a day already. However, it was actually nice because I didn’t get home from the shoot until midnight, no way I could have been on time for the original flight. At least I got some good sleep at home before heading to the airport.
Day 1 – Whole day flight
China Airlines was so nice, their economy seats are not much different from premium economy: leg rest, USB/electricity outlets, roomy space… And the seat next to me was empty which made it was even more comfortable. The 3 and a half hours’ flight led me to Taipei and it was 6 PM already by the time I reach Tomorrow Hotel @ Ximending. (I was supposed to arrive like 9AM in the morning)
After check-in, I quickly went out for dinner at my favorite Niu Dien Beef Noodles (Michelin Bib Gourmand) just nearby. I was hungry after whole day of traveling and pushing my luggage around Taipei Main Station so I decided to get the usual assorted beef noodles and the side dish which I couldn’t finish by myself the last time I was here. And I finished everything this time! The soup is surprisingly clear and fresh despite the rich spices, the beef things are super soft with the right degree of saltiness to go with the noodles. And the side dish, slightly sour, makes a great balance with the soup. I wish I could come back with someone so that I can try more of other side dishes.
Afterward is immediate shopping galore, browsing around Ximending Area with Eslite Spectrum Ximen Store, Uniqlo, H&M and myriads of cosmetics stores Taiwanese facial masks. And that’s all for the very first day.
Day 2 – Shopping Till You Drop
After waking up on the first day to sleep in late after such busy and chaotic week, I found out that it was raining and very gloomy. But it didn’t affect my mood that much, I was all exited to go shopping at Xinyi. Shops in Saigon are quite frustrating to me and I don’t have time to go around in normal days anyway. So I went straight to Eslite Bookstore at Xinyi first – where I can spend hours looking around. I didn’t buy and books since it seemed that they had cut back their English-language books collection so I just got a LIFE note books and one washi tape.
I didn’t eat breakfast because I wanted to go to The Diner to sooth the crave for brunch food after they closed down their branch in Saigon few months ago. However, the shopping was holding me back and it was like 4PM already by the time I took a seat at The Diner @ ATT4FUN . To my surprise, the restaurant was still buzzling at that time. The menu had a whole lot more of new and interesting than what they offered in Vietnam; but again, I can only order one omelet and on mini size chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream (Thanks goodness mini size did exist!). And I got hash brown and french toast for substitute as well. The food was so nice, so delicious, especially for the very first meal of the day at 4PM. So I was fully recharged to continue shopping!
Next is Taipei 101 but no Ding Tai Fung this time for me. The food court outside of Ding Tai Fung was under construction with very few store left open. And I’m not sure if they reopen by the time I post this. I was swamped with Zara sale and that’s pretty much it for the day, too tires already. I got hungry again when I reached the hotel so Taiwanese instant noodles and snacks from 7/11 was the best option!
Day 3 – Glooming Monday
The gloomy weather continued, and it was Monday so I decided to go to café to do some “productive” work. The pick was Heritage Bakery & Café because I wanted their cinnamon bun again as well as trying a new cake. I hardly ever eat cakes back home but they have so many cakes that I would love to try all. In fact, I was mesmerized by the fresh cakes collection and decided to take both cinnamon bun and new guava cheese cake after a hard time deciding. With a cup of cappuccino, again (My usual coffee for low calorie, no sugar, with milk). The cinnamon bun is very good, but it could’ve been much better if I asked the staff to help warm it up a little bit. I was full by the time I finished it and could only take few bites of the guava cheese cake before warping it for take-out. The guava cheese cake was so delightful with sweet fresh scent of pink guava and the right amount sweetness and creaminess. I didn’t have cheese cake for a long time and it was just perfect! Im so gonna come back here with some friends and try the orginal guava cake, and the blueberry tarts…
One note is that they limit your seating time (1 hour and a half as I think). So it should be considered if you want to do some work for a long time, but for like meet ups, it should be no problem. Just right before I was chased out, I received the cancellation alert from EVA Airlines again for my returning flight. Everything was officially doomed!
So quickly headed to their office in Taipei and found a full crowd there already. My number was 600 something and they were calling 400 something, more than 200 people! I waited like 2 hours, then luckily I got one staff to help me changing flights for all four of us. The only suitable flight was still EVA at 9:30 AM, resulting in a loss of a bloody full day of our entire trip. But oh well, at least no other booking was greatly affected, so…
Eventually, I walked out of EVA Airlines office with the anxiety lifted, not knowing where to go next. Remember one friend asked me to help buying a fountain pen so I decided to go there while waiting for my Taiwanese friend to get off work. I had been to TY Lee Penshop (https://tylee.tw/) once already and realized that it is very famous to anyone who loves fountain pens and stationary. The store moved a few steps from their old location (now their back office), easier to find on the big street. Their collection is huge and fabulous with limited editions from all brands on top of generic choices. I got a Lamy Safari All Black and Pelikan Edelstein – Smoky Quartz Ink for my friend. For me, the Platinum 3776 in Laurel Green was in my wish list ever since it launched and now that I hold it on my hand, no way I could not resist to buy it, plus considering it was a compensation for all the headaches from flight cancelation. I was happy ever after walking out of the store, LOL.
It was time to go meet my friend, so I went to Dongmen Station and my friend took me to her favorit hot pot buffet here. I think it was Gobar Shabu Shabu from searching on Google Map. We walked in quite late, around 9 PM and only have 1 hour to eat before they close. I loved the choices here so much for their lots of fish cakes, fish balls. They also had fresh seafood, beefs, and lots of dessert which we didn’t have time to try. I realized that the soup is clear and bland because it is only to cook the foods, then dipping into the self-mad sauce from many choices of ingredient. Most Vietnamese took it wrong and put all the spices directly into the soup because we mostly have pre-cook/pre-seasoned soup for hot pot. No wonder so many people told me Taiwan hot pot was not good, no taste at all.
Day 4 – Lost in the Nature
I became so fond of trekking after the first time with my friends, so I must go to mountain every time I come to Taiwan. I tried to wake up early but no way I could, but thankfully the sun was out by the time I got out of the hotel. I found some tips saying that I can take the bus route from MRT Jiantan Station to Yangmingshan, different from the usual Bus 260 from MRT Taipei Main Station. But in reality, I could not find the right bus, and the bus driver didn’t understand what I said for my destination “Lengshuikeng” (I think I was trying to catch the S15 straight there). In the end, I just took Bus 260 to Yangmingshan Bus Terminal, then take the Bus 108 around the mountain. At first I wanted to get off at Menghuan Pond for sight-seeing and then start walking from there. However, I got off at one stop earlier, in the middle of nowhere and started to panic already. So I just go to Lengshuikeng and walked the trail here through Milk Pond, Juansi Waterfall and ended at Jingshan Recreation Area Bus Station to take Bus 108 back to Yangmingshan Bus Terminal.
I was so lucky because it started to rain the moment I reached Yangmingshan Bus Terminal and got very heavy all the way to Xinbeitou for hot spring. Before that, I must feed myself after so much of walking and the choice was Mos burger which I tried back in the time I was living in Korea, a bit healthier than Mc Donald’s, I guess.
This time, I wanted to try a different hot spring from Beitou Hot Spring Resort so I found Sweetme Hot Spring for 650 $NT on weekdays, a bit more expensive. Other places either don’t have public bath or English language page. They have more pools (5 pools) whereas Beitou Hot Spring Resort only had 2 different pools. But this place didn’t serve light snack buffet, which is a big drawback for me.
After getting myself wall relaxed and refreshed, the rain was still heavy. And from the frustration that they don’t serve any food, I was craving for soufle pancake. From my research prior to the trip, I marked on Bell Epoque Café @ Zhongxiao Fuxing so it is the next destination. The rain finally stopped by the time I reached the café, the lighting of the front was quite cinematic. Stepping inside, it’s actually a restaurant serving mainly pizza, pasta… with an even more famous dessert menu, not a coffee shop as I expected. The menu looked delicious but unfortunately I didn’t have enough cash (yes, cash only) and stomach room for both main dish and dessert as I noticed that their portion is huge. Focusing on what I wanted the most, I ordered on Tiramisu soufle pancake and it was just heaven for a rainy night. The pancakes were warm and soft and literally melting in my mouth. The smooth creamy cheesy sauce topped with cocoa powder add the right sweetness and bitterness to the taste. Actually Bell Epoque is most famous for its boba pearl pancake because of its visual attractiveness but I didn’t really buy it. Maybe saving it for the next time, I would like to come back here for a full course date.
Going back to Ximending to end the day, I got hungry again and just go to Coco Ichibanya @ Ximending. I think I was out of my mind to order fried chicken with omelet instead of my favorite “omelet katsu curry don”, well, it was still okay, still good and satisfying.
Day 5 – Keelung Day Trip
From the morning, I had to check out of Tomorrow Hotel and change to Miniinn Hostel @ Taipei main station where I would share the room with my friend. She was supposed to arrive in the morning but her new flight wouldn’t arrive until 3pm just like my arrival flight.
After check-in, I headed to meet up place with my Taiwanese friend, we were going to Keelung together. So I met 2 more friends of her, one was our driver for the trip. On the way, we stopped once for lunch at a small restaurant where there were only us. They served simple, comfort foods, especially very good fish and chips.
Then my friends took me to several scenic spots on the way to Keelung. I was so happy to have someone helping me to take pictures, good pictures!
The last destination is the famous Keelung Night Market where I started off with the crab soup, then eel soup and ice cream. I wish I could try much more but it was time to go back to Taipei already. My friend from Vietnam arrived at the hostel already.
Day 6 – Be a real tourist in Taipei
For today, we had 2 people to go around Taipei. We went to Huashan 1914 Creative Park in the morning and it was sunny. This is the heaven for people who love taking pictures, and there were not as crowded as later in the day. But it started to rain just after finished looking around.
In the rain, we went to Yongkang Beef Noodles @ MRT Dong Men Station. This was also my first time here and it was full when we got there, but we got our seats right the way. We ordered on Beef noodles and one dried noodles with some kind of fermented beans, I didn’t like it that much. The Beef noodles is good, but the taste wasn’t standout. I think I still like Niou Dien Beef Noodles the best.
The rain continued so we just got some bubble milk tea at 50lan and Coco and then go to Tamsui. Tamsui was all sunny like there was no rain at all, lucky us! We walked around, browsed the souvenir shops, ate fried squids and then going back to hostel to wait for 2 more friends to arrive from Vietnam.
After gathering, all 4 of us to back to Taipei Main Station to take THSR to Tainan (booked at Kkay). We was supposed to go in like 10AM with the original flight, so we lost a whole day in Tainan. I mistook THSR station for the Tainan Station right near the hostel so we just took taxi straight to Journey Hostel. It was already 10 PM when we check-in and we had to moved quickly to go to Flower Garden Night Market to eat because it would close at might night, and it’s the only night market for that day. We managed to get some foods like oyster omelet (but not as good as in Keelung or Taipei), ell noodle soup (I guess I have something for eel)…
Day 7 – Old Tainan Day Tour
Thanks goodness our booking with Klool for Old Tainan Day Tour stayed intact and we departed at 9AM with a very nice guide. We visited Eternal Golden Castle and Anping Tree House in the morning. For lunch, I thought it was with other but we got a private tour so I was expecting to eat with the tour. Luckily, I did some homework just in case. The recommended was Du Hsiao Yueh for traditional Taiwanese food. We ordered several dishes to share. With 4 people we could tried a whole lot more dishes than eating alone. The Mapo tofu and the spicy beef would be the highlight while the order dishes are also very good. Such a comfort, delicious, happy family meal. They have several locations in Taipei as well.
For the afternoon, we visited Woshantou Resevoir Scenic Area and Japanese Village (The ice cream here was very good, must try!) There were few more stops in the itinerary but we were all tired so we just ended the tour early to go back to Taipei. The timing was actually just right. We took some rest and went to Ximending to buy some masks before having late diner with one of my friend’s friend there.
We reached Old Shichuan Hot Pot at past 10 PM. This was my second time here, no need to wait since the friend arrived earlier and there was no on waiting either. We took the set menu since it was hard to understand the entire menu. But it was worry-free because everything would be delicious. We loved the spicy duck blood so much… well, everything was just so good. Sadly, I couldn’t take lots of spicy hot pot because it was too spicy for my taste buds and stomach as well, but I still loved it.
Day 8 – Saturday
One last day in Taipei. We were determined to wake up early to go queuing up for Fuhang Soy Milk. At 7 AM Saturday but the line was not that bad, we quickly got inside and ordered our foods: xiao bing and soy milk for each. I love the taste of satisfaction when the bread, the youtiao and green onion fried eggs all blended together. I wish I could eat more or bring back some for my family back in Saigon.
After breakfast, it was still early and we were still exhausted so we went back to the hostel. After some rest, we when to Eslite Xinyi Bookstore, all my friends love this place. But then my friend got tired so we went back to hostel again. With much effort, we got out once again to Yongkang for mango shaved ice at Smoothie House which is the love of my life. With 4 people we could try 2 different types, the strawberry was a bit sourer than the mango one.
The last destination of this entire trip was Ningxia Night Market, my favorite night market for food. The food choice was dumpling (my Taiwanese friend took me here before), Liu Yu Zi taro balls (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2019), thin noodle soup, stinky tofu…
The awesome food filling really ends this Taipei trip because our new flight back was in early morning the next day, still with EVA at 9:20 AM the next day, so I don’t want to call it Day 9.
The Eat List:
1. Niu Dien Beef Noodles (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2019)
91 Kunming Street, Wanhua, Taipei, 110 (MRT Ximending Station)
2. The Diner @ ATT4FUN
No. 12號, Songshou Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, 110
3. Heritage Bakery & Café
No. 73-2, Sec. 1, Hankou St., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei City
4. Bell Epoque Café @ Zhongxiao Fuxing
23 Lane 52, Daan Road Section 1, Daan Taipei, Taiwan
5. Coco Ichibanya @ Ximending
108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Hanzhong Street
6. Gobar Shabu Shabu
106, Taiwan, Taipei City, Da’an District, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, 2號
7. Keelung Night Market, Keelung
8. Yongkang Beef Noodles (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2019)
17, Lane 31, Section 2, Jinshan South Road, Da’an, Taipei, 110
9. Flower Garden night market, Tainan
10. Du Hsiao Yueh, Tainan
Tainan Zhongzheng Flagship Store –
No. 101, Zhongzheng Rd., Tainan City
11. Old Sichuan Hot Pot
No. 112, ChangAn East Road, Section 2, ZhongShan District, Taipei City
MRT: Songjiang Nanjing Station, Green Line
12. Fuhang Soy Milk (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2019)
Stall 28, 2F, Huashan Market, 108, Section 1, Zhongxiao East Road, Zhongzheng, Taipei, 110
13. Smoothie House
Smoothie House NO. 15
No.15, Yongkang St., Da’an Dist., Taipei City 10650, Taiwan
13. Ningxia Night Market
14. Liu Yu Zi taro balls (Michelin Bib Gourmand 2019)
Stall 91, Ningxia Road, Datong, Táiběi, 110
The Stay List:
- Tomorrow Hotel: Ximending, Taipei
- Miniiin Hostel: Taipei Main Station, Taipei
- Journey Hostel: Tainan
The Visit List:
- Ximending Shopping district
- Eslite Bookstore at Xinyi
- ATT4FUN
- Taipei 101
- Yangmingshan
- Sweet Me Hot Spring, Xinbeitou
- TY Lee Pen Shop
- Huashan 1914 Creative Park
- Yongkang
- Tamsui
- Tainan Day Tour
chocoblueberry 
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