09.17 am – Woke up and took a loooooooong walk by myself around the hotel’s surrounding. Although I’m still physically here, I’ve already started missing Taipei so much!

Passed by the fresh brunch stall by the hotel.

Checked out the menu. Didn’t seem to find anything that interested me.

~aah~ the nearby Ximending on a Tuesday morning. Empty.

Ximending police station.

A huge billboard of Eason Chan by the entrance of Ximending.

Breakfast at McDonald’s crossed my mind as no fast food was consumed during the entire trip.

The streets being cleaned.

KFC occupying the upper floors.

One of the very few breakfast shops opened.

I had all the intention of the world to give this auntie some business but there were 2 problems. One, I cannot read Mandarin. Two, I cannot speak Mandarin. =(

It just didn’t cross my mind to check out Japanese food in Taiwan. Didn’t feel right I suppose.

Walk walk walk.

A free newspaper stand.

However, it is unlike theSun back in Malaysia as it was choke full of advertisements!

09.32 – And so after about 15 minutes of walking around Ximending, I finally settled on McDonald’s.

The counter.

The dining area.

Hot pancakes, egg mcmuffin, hash brown and a cup of coffee for breakfast.

Actually, I didn’t notice this throw away area until I saw people taking their trays here after eating. I think that’s why we found the dining area of the 7 Eleven near our hotel barricaded from the 4th night onwards. (for not clearing up after ourselves)

Ximen station, the starting point of many of our journeys night and day.

10.14 am – Started packing. So sad!!!

Unused voucher during our trip up Taipei 101. Taiwan beer float didn’t sound that inviting.

Targeted places missed during this trip. Ningxia road night market.

Jinquashi gold mine that was closed when we arrived on Day 2.

Missed shopping for clothes in Wufenpu and Raohe night market.

Missed Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.

Missed Beitou Hot Springs + Hell Valley. Mannnn.. 6 days just ain’t enough!

Missed Primo night club. =(

Didn’t get the chance to experience Spark or Twiice too. Actually, we missed so much that when we come back for the 2nd time , it’ll still be like a totally new experience!

Souveniers, souveniers. The glutinous rice balls and pineapple tarts were so good!!!!!! Totally heavenly!!

11.59 am – Went to Ximending for the second time after everyone woke up.

12.13 pm – Last minute souvenir shopping.

The complete collection of Angry Birds.

If you notice carefully, Geoffrey and Gabriel, both who are sitting down, are getting conned to buy super expensive pens to support the “so called girls who need the money for studying”. hehehehehehehe

12.16 pm – I just couldn’t help it.

Just had to have a bowl of Ay Chung flour rice noodles before leaving.

It’s just sooooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

Love it!

12.35 pm – At this point, we all splitted up to do our own exploring and last minute shopping.

Passed by an aiyu jelly shop.

Just couldn’t help it.

Zoomed in and out the mini lanes of Ximending, checking the products on display on both sides of the street.

A rather famous Taiwanese beef noodles shop.

Didn’t eat any as I was so damn full from ay chung. So damn.

11.01 am – Woke up with ‘roomie’ and went out to JSP burger for breakfast. ‘Roomie’ because we are the only 2 fellas with in single rooms.

Fried yam cakes in honey. ~yum~

Pork burger. ~yum~

11.16 am – As the portions were not enough, we carried on in search of more authentic Taiwanese goodies.

Came across a really old school shoplot in one of the alleys nearby our hotel.

It sold soy bean drinks,

onion flat breads (much like roti bawang back in Malaysia) and

doughnuts.

After that we went back to our hotel, cleaned up, woke up the rest and continued with the day’s activities.

01.13 pm – Arrived in Shilin station. Thanks to this notice stuck to the ticket counter of the station, we knew which bus to take to the National Palace Museum.

And also this big poster of the National Museum, which wrote which bus to take, right outside Exit 1.

And so we waited by the bus stand.

Sign boards to help us.

The tour guide hired by the National Palace Museum to instruct tourists.

The snack shop right by the bus stand.

Easycard is a MUST HAVE when in Taiwan. Almost ALL modes of public transportation uses it. So damn convenient.

Boarded the bus.

The steps that lead to the outer gates of the National Palace Museum. We split up again, and Anthony was my partner. As we already had our breakfast, we continued on ahead first while the others went in search of something for their tummy.

By the gates.

The lion guardians.

The female lion is the one with a mini lion at it’s feet and the male is the one with a ball.

This mustache is actually the number 8 in Chinese character. Akibat ketagih mahjong.

“When I grow up, I want to bathe in it.”

The 2nd building full of Chinese artifacts.

The main building.

The view from the top.

Queued up to pay for admission.

Audio tours which we happily rented.

Notice the many headphones in the background.

Paid for my ticket.

Notice before receiving the audio equipments.

Sadly, I couldn’t find the ‘radio’ button to listen to songs n stuff.

Dynasties divided into years.

How everyone in the National Palace Museum with an audio guide looks like.

First up, the orientation gallery.

The last picture taken before being warned by security.

03.57 pm – It took us 2 hours to complete the main exhibition hall. As time was limited, we had to leave National Palace Museum and miss the second hall’s exhibition. =(

04.50 pm – Passed by Meet Fresh, a Taiwanese dessert place, while walking from the bus stand to Shilin MRT station.

Couldn’t help but stop by for food.

The choices and price. I totally have no idea what is written. Itulah akibat 100% Malaysian, 0% Chinese.

Looks a lot like dorayaki.

Doraemon’s favourite snack.

My Italian mince meat flavoured snack.

Drink that consist of glutinous rice flour products.

Famous Taiwanese glutinous rice flour dessert.

04.51 pm – Being cheeky, we all quickly left the shop when this fella was still in the toilet.

Passed by a smart dog by the roadside.

05.33 pm – After a few MRT stops, we arrived at the bus stand right in front of Taipei City Hall MRT station and waited for Taipei 101′s feeder bus.

11.53 am – Wandered around the streets of Taipei with my ‘roommate’ (out of 8 of us Anthony and I were the only 2 having rooms of our own while the others were 2 in a room) and found an authentic looking Taiwanese shop.

From the conversation we had, I think they served wan than mee.

Hi roomie!

The wan than mee that I didn’t like. Tasted so bland.

Meatballs and lu rou fan for my roomie.

Stumbled across one of the many bubble milk tea stalls and bought myself a cup.

~yum~

12.17 pm – Walked around for awhile before returning to our hotel.

01.30 pm – Took a shit, washed up and went down to do a little bit of research by the computer in the lobby.

02.09 pm – The guys had lunch.

So did I.

Broccoli and

some meat soup for lunch.

~yum~

Super delicious latte from 7 Eleven. No idea what the brand is though. Can’t read Mandarin. =(

02.37 pm – In Ximen MRT.

Waited for the train from the dark green line.

02.44 pm – Clean and bright. Oh how I miss Taipei. =(

The very big CKS Memorial Hall MRT station.

02.54 pm – Ta da! Arrived at the National Concert Hall in Liberty Square.

The National Theater, directly opposite the National Concert Hall, in the distance.

The very big west gate directly facing CKS Memorial Hall.

Cheerleading practice. Makes sense to do it here as there is so much space.

Cheang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

Walked through the souvenir stalls.

Had fun by the entrance.

The view from the top.

The bronze statue of CKS gracing the entrance.

The grand ceiling.

The soldier by the entrance.

Little did we know, the exhibition halls were actually underground!

Chinese calligraphy. Did you know the Chinese invented paper and ink? By the way, I Chinese roots but culturally I’m 100% Malaysian. ^.^

11.49 am – Woke up and found myself a bright and sunny day.

Arrived a minute later at one of the only few places that are open in Taipei for breakfast.

Is that what JSP stands for? Just Start a Powerful day?

Pork sandwich for breakfast.

A cup of coffee.

01.10 pm – We started our day. Our journey today was to the coastal area of Danshui.

Not a seat available in the packed MRT. The Saturday crowd.

View outside.

Little did we know that we had to change trains to get to Danshui.

Luckily we asked and were able to make it in time for the next train to Danshui.

02.00 pm – 1 hour later we arrived at the coastal town of Danshui.

The view was beautiful.

There were many stalls by the side of the walkway, facing the sea which many of us stopped by along the way to the pier.

And then this ice cream stall caught my attention.

~yum~

02.15 pm – Reached the pier and

bought our tickets.

Cost us TWD100 for a return trip.

Waited for our boat to come.

Some other company’s boat.

02.34 pm – Lined up for our boat.

More modern than the other boat.

02.38 pm – And off we went to the Fisherman’s Wharf.

The hotel that was still under construction when we arrived.

The funnily shaped triangular rocks.

The Lover’s Bridge.

The wharf.

02.47 pm – The arrival.

Cool winds and clear blue skies!

The really long walkway of Danshui’s Fisherman’s wharf.

At the edge.

By the Lover’s Bridge.

We wanted to walk onto the rocks but it was just too dangerous.

03.09 pm – And off we went to the other end of the wharf.

03.12 pm – Nearing Danshui’s almost completed hotel/resort.

The viewing tower/platform.

Little did we know that it could actually move!

03.26 pm – While the guys took a rest, I ran all the way back to the beginning

from the land entrance of the fisherman wharf to find a toilet.

03.29 pm – After much searching, I found it.

03.49 pm – Met up with the rest of the guys who were taking a rest in

Latte.

Outside, you could find

Andy enjoying his XXL fried chicken from

the American Fried Chicken Room next door.

04.02 pm – Saw a couple of people cycling in a two seater bicycle and I thought of Vivian. ♥

10.30 am – Woke up to a beautiful Friday morning in Taipei.

Took a walk around the shophouses by the hotel myself and found many interesting places.

Was feeling super hungry and hopped into a Family Mart to get something hot to eat.

Decided on dumplings.

Both pork.

Very good milk shake. Very.

11.14 am – Went back to my hotel room to start preparing for the day’s tour while watching Taiwan’s infamous Rainbow channel every now and then.

12.10 pm – Met up outside the hotel.

Started our journey towards Shilin MRT.

12.34 pm – Arrived in Taipei Main Train Station where almost every train and metro in the city network passes through it.

Walked towards the TRA lines (think KTM), to take a 45 minutes train to Keelung.

Boarding Platform 4.

The railway map.

12.50 pm – I like how there are ‘priority seats’ made specially for people who are old, preggers or disabled.

Enjoying the ride to Keelung, discussing about our adventures the night before.

The view outside.

Priority seats, even on the waiting platform.

01.35 pm – And then we arrived.

Quickly proceeded to the Keelung Visitor Information Center to get directions to Jiufen.

01.45 pm – On the bus, on the way to Jiufen.

Higher and higher. Colder and colder.

02.38 pm – Little did I know that Jiufen was actually a place quite high in the mountains.

The weather was REALLY COLD!

Macho (kononnya) in shorts.

Look at the crowd swelling around the entrance.

Yeap, this small narrow lane right beside 7-Eleven is actually called Jiufen Old Street.

Lots of stuff to see. Lots of stuff to eat.

Halfway, a few of us excused ourselves to go to the toilet which was supposed to be right at the entrance of Jiufen Old Street, but was closed for washing. And so, we had no choice but to make our way further down to the toilet beside this HUGE temple. The water was really COLD.

02.54 pm – On the way back to the restaurant, some of us bought some snacks from the vendors along the way.

Stinky tofu. Out of the 8 of us, only 2 could actually eat it.

The SUPER restaurant we had our lunch in. REALLY delicious meat. REALLY.

Different types of drinks in gigantic baby bottles outside the shop.

Lu rou fan. CRAZY good!

I have no idea what meat this was but it was also CRAZY good!

The red meat was actually raw meat (duck I think), the soup was cylindrical fishballs and the uppermost dish is jellyfish.

We had a BLAST! LOVED everything that went into our mouths. AWESOME experience!

And then YK contributed bowls of wet and

dry glutinous rice desserts.

03.32 pm – Dropped by the popular pineapple tart shop and bought ourselves

at least 2 BIG boxes each.

03.44 pm – We also dropped by this shop to buy packets of their REALLY DELICIOUS dry glutinous rice desserts. I highly recommend them.

And then we continued walking and walking, sure as not to miss anything as there was only 1 path to follow.

Stopped and bought myself a cup of Taiwanese fig jelly called aiyu ping.

03.51 pm – Continued on after that.

04.00 pm – A crowd of people lining up caught my attention.

I have no idea what this is.

And then I continued on.

Stumbled upon condom world

04.08 pm – Reached an open area at the end of Jiufen old street.

Found lots of guest houses here.

05.37 am – Andy arrived at my house. Actually, I could HARDLY sleep the whole night. I think I only slept like 3 hours. Woke up at around 4. Too excited!

05.48 am – Shawn in the car.

06.15 am – Arrived in Penang International Airport, met with YK and took a seat in McDonald’s as Anthony’s fat hands appeared out of nowhere.

One of his primal instincts kicking in.

06.43 am – By this time, we were already on the plane from Penang to KLIA-LCCT.

Began reading the super cool in flight magazine.

First and last flights to and from Penang are usually full flights.

And off we went into the air!

08.04 am – And then we landed.

08.30 am – Met up with the KL brothers and proceeded to LCCT Food Garden for a heavy breakfast.

Tastes crappy but we had very little choice.

09.01 am – Check in to International departures were quite easy as I’ve checked us all the way from Penang to Taipei and back.

Oh, and another thing, Airasia is VERY STRICT with their 7kg maximum carry on policy. All of us got stopped and had the weight of our bags measured. Although most airlines allow 10kg, none of them can match the amazing low fares of AirAsia. So I guess this is where they try to make back the money. Fair enough, I suppose.

09.39 am – Walked to our Airbus A330.

The guys walking up the steps.

All of us were in a row.

It was a really full flight and the experience was like in the wet market. All the aunties and uncles standing around and talking. Kesian the stewardesses who had to remind them to be seated every now and then.

10.01 am – Started watching Jackass 3D.

And this was my favourite scene of the whole show!

12.07 pm – Lunch time!

Very delicious Smokey bbq chicken!!

01.17 pm – Everyone in dreamland.

02.47 pm – Welcome to Taipei!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having our usual toilet break right after arrival.

03.06 pm – The first thing we did after leaving immigration was going straight to buy ourselves a prepaid card each.

Filled up a form, paid TWD 360, showed our passports and driving license and received

our Taiwan mobile prepaid card, preloaded with TWD350. Believe me, with that amount, it can last me up to a month!

03.22 pm – After settling our phone numbers, we proceeded to the tourism counter to apply the Taiwan Youth Card.

How it looks like. With this, we can get up to 50% discount for admissions into many, many popular tourist destinations. Applicable if you are between 15-30 years old.

03.34 pm – The van came and we started loading our bags.

I remember we were so busy trying to get each other’s phone number in the van.

Hello Taipei!

04.25 pm – About an hour later, we arrived in TS Hotel aka Ta Shun Hotel.

Got us registered into our rooms.

04.54 pm – I was assigned single room 505.

I LOVED IT! It was just big enough for 1 person.

Also, it came complete with a television, hot water facilities, a fridge, a humidifier,

and a clothes stand.

The bathroom was modern looking and very clean!

There were 4 different types of water outlets in the shower stall.

I didn’t use any of the 5 breakfast coupons as I ventured into the streets of Ximending EVERY morning in search of the authentic Taiwanese breakfast experience.

05.26 pm – 7-Elevens were everywhere.

So convenient.

Bought myself a very delicious sesame seed bun.

05.49 pm – Began our tour of Taipei from the very nearby Ximen MRT station. Very, very near to our hotel. Very near. So, so, so convenient! Notice the very BIG billboards in the background? That’s the entrance of Ximending.

Inside Ximen MRT.

Went straight to the information counter and bought 8 Easy Cards for each of us. It cost TWD500. Each Easy Card came filled with TWD400 credit as TWD100 is subtracted for the refundable deposit.

Waited for the train to…

06.29 pm – Shilin Night Market.

Candy coated strawberries. Just by looking at it makes me feel diabetic.

Saw many people lining up for this stall. Should be nice I guess.

Some cheese coated thingy.

Super fried chicken.

The smelly tofu stall which I stood in line for 30 fucking minutes.

I NEARLY fainted.

Papaya milk juice stall which also had lots of people lining up for it.

08.15 pm – And so we bid farewell to Shilin and proceeded back to our hotel for the second part of the night.

08.36 pm – Arrived back at the front of Ximen MRT.

I did some calculations and found out that our hotel is approximately 3 minutes away.

09.52 pm – The early birds waiting outside the hotel for the late birds.

Taking the MRT to club! What an experience!

10.54 pm – Finding Lava was easy. Just look for the crowd at the Neo19 building.

And so we stood in line like the rest of the young Taiwanese clubbers, waiting for our turn to pay TWD700 for a truly free flow of ANY drink you point to on the menu. So cool!

11.21 pm – Found ourselves a spot by the side of the bar. It was near the drinks counter and it had a good view of the stage.

Saw lots of promo around the club for the Taiwanese branded Jellybird gelatin shots.

My first few consisted of Vodka limes and

my last few were cans of Bodingtons English pale ale. I think tonight was the night we drank the most compared to other nights. Free flow ma.

The rest of the guys saw ‘it’ but I didn’t cause I was too busy lining up to get my refill.

‘It’ being the sexy dancers on stage taking of their bra, dancing with their hands covering their nipples! So out of this world! and I missed it!

(it simply means I’m DEFINITELY going back to Taipei)

03.47 am – And then we had supper by the convenient 7-Eleven opposite TS Hotel.

05.42 am – Woke up to a super early breakfast of toasts and tea.

06.15 am – All packed and ready to go.

Checked out.

06.20 am – Got into the private car.

07.02 am – Began lining up to check in to our flights.

Checked in 13kg worth.

Got the boarding pass and passport chopped.

KL, here we come!

07.29 am – Arrived at the departure gates. So sad. The first day being the happiest and the last being the saddest. =(

09.25 am – Take off!

10.17 am – Brunch time!

Vivian’s boring brunch. =P

Fortune cookie says…

10.39 am – Began watching The Game starring Michael Douglas and Sean Penn.

12.35 pm – Added an hour to the watch.

—————————————–
From here onwards is KL time. +1 hour Vietnam time. Eg: 1pm in Vietnam is 2pm in KL.
—————————————–

01.52 pm – Arrived at LCCT.

Waited for our luggage at the belt.

02.44 pm – Started facebook-ing while waiting for the KUL-PEN flight.

03.45 pm – Boarded the plane.

04.58 pm – Waited for our luggage.

06.43 pm – Unpacked. What an awesome trip in Vietnam! Loved it! Next, Taipei in April!!!!!!!

09.18 am – Had breakfast, showered, shitted and was ready to rock and roll!

09.43 am – Our personal tour guides (1 on 1) of the day came to meet us at the hotel, hopped into the taxi and proceeded towards our first destination.

09.52 am – The Museum of Ethnology.

A must visit place if you’re in Hanoi!

The girls buying the tickets.

Operating hours.

A ticket cost VND 25,000.

Layout of the entire museum.

The first thing we came across was this funny tall structure.

Ha (in red) and Tran (in black) explaining how Vietnam is divided into 54 different ethnic groups.

I find it very important to have a tour guide with you because they can explain in details the things you are looking at. If I came here alone, I’d have no idea what I’m looking at and it’d be meaningless.

Water puppetry, a tradition that dates back as far as the 11th century CE when it originated in the villages of the Red River Delta area of northern Vietnam.

Traditional wear and stuff of a particular tribe.

Vietnamese conical hat called ‘non la’ at different stages.

The baskets are all fish traps.

What’s amazing is how SO MANY is stacked and transported on a bicycle!

Taoist altars that can also be found back here in Malaysia.

Dong Ho, a place well known in Vietnam for hand-made woodblock prints.

Puppets.

Explanation of ethnic groups along the wall.

A trap for doves.

Musical instruments.

Traditional wear.

Kitchen utensils.

Different types of boat miniatures.

10.21 am – AIDS section.

The pie of how AIDS spread.

Audio booths.

A dress made out of condom.

Types of condom brand.

Condom decorations.

I failed to find a paper and pen around to write a note and hang it on the wall.

10.36 am – And then we went outdoors.

The water puppet schedule.

07.10 – The dining area that can fit only 12 at a time.

There were 3 type of breakfast sets to choose from. Being in Vietnam and not eating Vietnamese just doesn’t feel right.

Still sleepy V.

Took a name card from the reception. I find it very important to have the hotel’s name card with you all the time.

A hot cup of coffee.

A glass of lime juice.

The super awesome authentic original Vietnamese pho!

A banana for dessert.

My birthday dessert! (Today is Vivian’s birthday. 6D5N Vietnam is actually her gift.)

08.17 am – Mai, our tour guide of the day, came to the lobby to bring us to

the van.

Passed by Hoan Kiem Lake, residence of the famed 1000 year old turtle.

How the van looks like.

After going to several other hotels to pick up passengers, we started our journey towards Halong Bay.

10.46 am – Stopped by a statue factory.

I guess here’s where tours to Halong Bay usually stop by.

Out of courtesy, I still walked through the place but quickly, and found the kitchen!

The Vietnamese curly noodles were excellent!!

12.41 pm – At last, after 4 long hours, we arrived at the front entrance of Bai Chay Tourist Wharf.

We already have a boat waiting for us so we just walked right to it.

Hundreds of junk boats!

Our junk boat for the day, Ha Long 08.

12.54 pm – Left the pier and proceeded towards

the beautiful limestone karsts by the sea.

And then I became captain.

Passed by another junk boat.

It was sooooooooo cold. Imagine being blown by 9 degree celsius wind.

And then we got nearer and nearer to the cluster of limestone karsts.

The rock fishermen go to pray for a good day’s catch before heading out to sea.

01.26 pm – And then we arrived at the floating farms.

06.57 am – Decorations along the staircase between the 4th and 3rd floor.

3rd and 2nd.

2nd and 1st.

1st and ground.

Good morning, Vivian!

Hard at work. Btw, the super awesome manager of Bich Duyen, Chanh, will be leaving pretty soon. =(

OJ.

Omelette and the Vietnam standard bread, baguette.

09.24 am – This lady went to get her nails done for a measly RM6. Imagine the conversation between the store owner and her child. “Son, today we get to eat a slice of beef thanks to this sister over here. Faster, say thanks.”

09.35 am – Went out for a final stroll along September 23 Park. Funny how a park is named after a date.

Made a friend along the way.

A tiny one at that.

09.52 am – Arrived at Ben Thanh market.

The legend for only the west side.

And there she goes.

Everytime I see narrow lanes with shops on both sides, I am reminded of the great chatuchak market.

10.06 pm – After we were done with the clothing,

we moved on to the F&B section.

There were rows and rows of food stalls filled with salespeople trying to get us to eat from their stall.

This stall stood out because there were no pushy salespeople and we felt comfortable. If only they realize that force, no matter how concealed, begets resistance.

We sat our asses down on the chair right in front of the stall and ate like any Vietnamese would. Like the saying goes, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.

Fat juicy Vietnamese spring rolls.

Fat juicy beef and fat juicy prawns.

We loved it so much!

The beef was so tasty!

10.16 am – The drinks stall next to us.

Spoilt for choice.

Narrowed down to three.

The chosen one.

It’s more of a dessert than drink actually.

10.46 am – As we excited the ground of Ben Thanh Market, we saw the complete overview of the place.

10.59 pm – Saw a big ass durian on the way back to our hotel.

Met up with my friend again on the way back to the hotel.

11.53 am – All packed and ready to go!