Sun Moon Lake 日月潭

Just a short post on Sun Moon Lake, the largest lake in Taiwan. The reason why it is named that is due to the shape of the lake which resembles the sun and the moon. 

Photos are mostly taken during the ferry ride between the last stop back to the first stop. The tickets were bought together with the package that comes with the bus ride throughout the lake, tickets to the aboriginal theme park and bus ride from Taichung to the lake. 

Longshan Temple (龍山寺) @ Taipei

We actually stumbled into this temple by accident and didn't know that it is quite famous in Taipei, something like what Wong Tai Sin temple to Hong Kong. To get to the temple is actually quite easy. Even the MRT station is named after the temple and you definitely can't miss it. Stop at Longshan Temple station at the Ban Nan line. Once you walked out from the station, you will spot this temple.


What we didn't expect that it would be so crowded and smacked in the middle of the town just like the Wong Tai Sin in Hong Kong.

Food to Eat in Shih Lin Night Market, Taipei

Opera going on when we reached Shih Lin night market

The temple in Shih Lin

Temple

Finally, it's the last entry on food in Taiwan. This time, it's all about food in the night market in Shih Lin. Actually, the title kind of misleading as it combines food from Shih Lin night market and also the breakfast shop that we love so much which is nearby to the hotel we stay in XiMenDing, Good Ground Hotel. Not exactly a hotel I would recommend but this shop, I totally recommend it. 

To get to Shih Lin night market, take the MRT and stop at Jian Tan station instead of Shih Lin station.

one of the famous bun

the sesame bun

the famous potato and very long queue too

eating at the road side in Shih Lin

the most spicy curry ever

only Leng can take this

the Japanese restaurant where we had the curry (in XiMenDing)

dessert stall in Shih Lin

our dinner, not too tasty

 The place we had the best breakfast, located in Xi Men Ding near to Good Ground Hotel

If you notice, that most of my food photos were taken from Leng, my travel mate as I was too busy eating than taking shots of the food.

More of must eat night market food in Zi Qiang night market in Hualien and Feng Jia night market in Tai Chung here. 

Beitou Hot Spring @ Taipei, Taiwan

Finally we reached

The trip to Beitou hot spring is a short one, just a day trip from Taipei. It's part of our schedule on the same day we head to Yang Ming Shan and Dan Shui. From Yang Ming Shan, we took a bus back to the MRT and took the MRT red line and stopped at Beitou. From the Beitou station, we changed to another line which reached directly to the hot spring at Xin Beitou stop. 

We didnt get to dip our feet at the hot spring as the area for public is closed. Instead we went to the Geothermal Valley and the Beitou Spring Museum which are free admission. 

walking towards the Geothermal valley

So much of smoke

Inside the Beitou spring museum. No shoes are allowed

Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

The memorial is built in memory of  former President Chiang Kai - Shek. It is situated at the heart of Taipei and easily accesible via the MRT. There's stop named after the memorial and so you cant miss it. 

 

We only managed to visit the memorial on the last day of our Taiwan trip right before our flight back. And we made a right decision to come early in the morning, I think as early as 8am before the truckload of tourists came pouring into the Liberty square (the square where the famous memorial located). Due to time constraint, we only managed to view the place from outside (anyway I am not a fan of museum or historical places) but for those who wanted to know more about the place, it's worth a visit.

It would be picture perfect if the Malaysian tourist group is not there

One of the four 'entrance'

the memorial

Jiu Fen 九份, Taiwan (25 March 2011)

the crowd


narrow streets of Jiu Fen

Jiu Fen is located about an hour away from Taipei. Jiu Fen used to be a mining town back in the 1950s but today it was considered one of the hot tourist spost in Taipei.

Hence, we decided to join the crowd and went to JiuFen for a day trip from Taipei. To get to Jiu Fen, we took the MRT to Songsan station and took a bus (Keelung bus). Look out for bus going towards JinGuaShi 金瓜石

The winding and narrow streets of JiuFen is full of shops and restaurants catered for the tourists. Some of the famous food here are the taro balls, ice cream popiah and lots of shops selling mochi. JiuFen is also a perfect place for photographers as the town is picturesqure in every corner. It's a pity that we didnt stay on for the night view as it started raining in the afternoon.

To get out of JiuFen, walk towards the 7-11 store and wait for the bus going towards Taipei.

view from the top

a woman selling fried mushroom


the place we had Taro balls


delicious 'kuih'


the famous teahouse in Jiu Fen




every street is a postcard view!

Attraction

I love using my DSLR.

If you need attention, it's one tool definately worth using.

Guys use it to attract girls' attention and girls use it to attract kids?

At least that's what I manage to attract a little kid while on the train to Taichung from Hualien. A five hour journey turned interesting as he obviously was very attracted to my big lens once I took it out from my bag. The little boy even stopped crying and just look straight into my lens.

What a cutie!

I was actually scared that his mum would not let me to take photos of him but she surprised me by giving her email to me so that I could send her son's photos to her!

Feng Jia Night Market @ Taichung

After Hua Lien, we moved on to Taichung and stayed at this city for the next two days. We decided to go for a day trip to Sun Moon Lake. While in Taichung, we took this opportunity to visit the famous Feng Jia night market 逢甲夜市. The night market is near to the Feng Jia University and is considered one of the largest night market in Taiwan. While in Feng Jia, we had a chance to see the filming of some Taiwanese game show and two popular host though I only know the guy. To get to Feng Jia Night Market, you can take the bus 25 or 35 near the Tai Chung railway station and stop nearby the Feng Jia University.

We also went to Yi Zhong street which is a walkable distance from our hotel, Good Ground Hotel. I would not recommend staying at the hotel as it was quite small and crowded. Yi Zhong street has a lot of street vendors selling clothes and food which were quite cheap comparatively to Taipei. In fact, some clothing and shoes were only sold here.

the famous hosts


our dinner at the night market


first taste of smelly taufu in spicy sauce




taroko balls


taufo fa with yam flavour tong yuen


our breakfast in the hotel


the famous big sausage wrap small sausage
the outer layer of the big sausage is made of glutinous rice


the stall