I made a trip to Taiwan last November (2009).

I would say it was a unique experience (I’m sure my pal will agree…), and I have never been so tired in a holiday OR, during a holiday! Our legs and muscles were aching, our bones were sore…because I’ve never had to climb so many flight of stairs and walk a great deal of distance in transition for public transport – mainly I’m referring to Taipei’s MRT network. It’s a maze of the MRT, Rail and High Speed Rail. It’s more confusing when you hardly could find directions or explanation in English, or any other foreign language other than Mandarin.

So be well prepared to have a few ‘lost’ moments, and going round and ending up at the same spot you started off!

There are countless exits at the Taipei MRT, but you will only find 1 lift specially for the handicapped in one long aisle of probably 6 to 7 exits. Each of those exits, you need to climb up 4 flight of stairs. Imagine yourself carrying a 15kg luggage up those stairs on your first day on arrival at Taipei Station. Your first goal is to find a lift, but there were hardly any. When we finally saw one, we didn’t dare to use it since it had the ‘Wheelchair’ signage on it. Being foreign, we had no idea what are the rules there. So we reluctantly went up the stairs with the heavy luggages and handbags! Later on, we saw some locals using the lift anyway (so we know it’s OK for our next round of ‘luggage-tugging’ moment!). Well, consider that a bizarre moment for us cuz’ we had to get used to climbing so many stairs and getting lost…so meaning more stairs for us than normal other everyday people!

First day, first moment. But one of the other best ‘first day, first moment‘ for us was…….THE BEST BEEF BRISKET NOODLES & SOUP EVER!!! We were ravenous, but not because of that we said it’s the best, but because we tried another bowl of beef noodles on the last day before we left for our home, it was not as good as our 1st bowl. 1st bowl was enjoyed at a little nook in a night market street opposite Danshuie MRT station. Since it was impromptu, we were just looking for dinner cuz we were so hungry, we jumped into this lane and chose this little shop among the other little shops selling these popular Taiwan foods – duck noodles; ‘mee suah‘ or ‘min xin‘ with small oysters/clams in thick starchy-egg soup or a shop selling pork ball noodles. All of them deserved a chance to be tasted in that little small nook, but sadly we only have 2 stomachs to fill and short of time (cuz’  we made appointment for a hot spring bath soak in Beitou!).

I did wish we had more time to savour more foods, but being our first time and touristy minded, I had to cramp in as many activities or places I can visit in a day!

I would not digress about all the touristy stuff like countless other blogs have talked about. However, below is a series of pictures in time order, that would be our story, our trip. A photographic journey.

Another point I’ll like to add, Taipei is a good place to taste and discover patisseries, local desserts, Japanese cuisine and of course local foods. My point here being if you can’t afford to go Tokyo to taste Laduree or the likes, Taipei is a good alternative. Why? It’s because Taiwan is very influenced with Japanese culture, as the Japanese were ruling the country for quite some time until recently.

Here is Taipei and Kaohsiung, a photographic experience.

We made it to Shihlin Night Market & its’ Food Court on our first day, almost 10pm. So we had a supper of famed blended milk fruit juices and ‘pearls’, PLUS the commonly seen street snack ‘small sausage wrapped with large sausage‘. The best part is…’large sausage‘ happened to be a surprise of glutinous rice, as picture above!

This is the CKS Memorial Park which houses the National Theatre, a memorial park and I think the other is the National Hall for events. They are identical opposites of each other.

If we were not hungry, because we didn’t really have a proper breakfast, we would not have stopped for this noodle stall parked at the traffic light junction’s corner at Wufenpu Garment District. Simply fare with simple deliciousness. That’s cold fresh noodles drenched in peanut sauce, light and tasty with fresh slivered cucumber pieces. On top of that, a bowl of pork ball miso-soup style with eggs pairs with it. True satisfaction…and if you can read Chinese, it says she’s the original stall. We saw another stall selling the same item up the block further down, but it didn’t have as many people as the one we tried at. Needless to say, shopping at Wufenpu is No.1! Reasonable prices with many choices of clothes, all fashions. We definitely burnt a hole in our pockets here!

Let’s visit the Red House Theatre, an old classic theatre in the past. It is just off the corner at Ximending’s MRT station. It is an artsy place, inside the theatre now houses artsy shops selling merchandise.

Above is Ximending, the Harajuku District of Taipei, where the Japanese culture is evidently seen and practiced in this side of the city. Fashion, food, lifestyle, etc…you name it!

We travelled to Kaohsiung after 2 nights in Taipei. It’s a bit like Kuala Lumpur, so on our first day, I was wondering what am I doing in this city! Anyway, the other side of Kaohsiung is quite charming .

Kaohsiung is actually an important port-city-hub. This is the other side of Kaohsiung, overlooking the sea, and later, Cijin Island is just round the bend, but we have to get a ferry to get there. The brick building above is the British Consulate Mansion, now a tourist spot. I had to climb 160 small steps (stairs) to get up there to enjoy the view! Haha!

On the grounds of Cijin, where you’ll visit the Lighthouse and quarters, the beach where you’ll see some surfers, a night market, plenty of seafood restaurants and grilled seafood snacks on the roadside, and a very brightly lit Temple of worship.

The Love Pier (bridge across the river), popular lover’s spot. Not far from that, is the Catholic Rose Basilica. Thanks to our good and friendly tour guide, he dropped us here for a short visit and we made our wishes……

The above does remind you of the Louvre in Paris, no? This station is Kaohsiung’s largest MRT station, Formosan Boulevard, IF my memory serves me correctly! Eeekks, I need to check… That was our last night in Kaohsiung, after purchasing some snacks and the best papaya-milk drink ever tasted! (And the stall is very popular too, it has many signatures on its signboard including some celebrities! We also loved the deep-fried giant mushrooms, addictive snack.

Back to Taipei….we visited the Yeliou rock formations site. As you can see, very unique formations because of the high iron content in the sea water. We loved the scenery here, and it’s a good spot for fishing, if you like.

After Yeliou, we proceeded to Jioufen Village, quaint village atop the hill, made popular after a movie production filmed there. This was just a 30 minute climb by car from Yeliou. In Jioufen, you gotta try all the foods they have to offer there because it’s not easily available or found downtown in Taipei city. So go there with an empty stomach!

Various delicacies, unique food, which I didn’t get to eat all since we didn’t have so much space in our tummies.

Whatever you do, try to schedule in Jioufen village into your schedule.

Now, pictured below is unmistakably Taipei 101 Tower and shopping mall. We have to concurr that we were kind of dissapointed, we expected superb architecture, but it was anti-climax to us. 101 was nothing compared to our Petronas Twin Towers in KLCC. We really should appreciate Malaysia more, sometimes……

Off the beaten path, we headed to Wulai, another hill-topped town rich in its aboriginal culture. This was our last night in Taiwan, we had the chance to visit a small organic farm on the hill, pluck some mushrooms, scallions and a new vegetable of purple and green-black leaves which we’ve never seen or tasted before. This was a very laidback day. The hotel organised this trip which was included with our hotel package. As you can see, during our 8 course grande dinner, the chef cooked the vegetables and mushrooms we have plucked/collected from the farm we visited!

My favourite was the CAKE, of course! Hehe…and to have truffle and steamed egg (chawan-mushi), yummmm!

The hotel grounds, and those fabulous clay mask are hung at the hotel’s basement carpark lobby. So cool art. If you are wondering, we splurged at Wulai Pause Landis Hotel and enjoyed the in-room hot spring bath!

The aboriginal wood carvings of Wulai, which was just opposite the hotel we stayed in. Well, this wraps up the photographic journey of Taipei and Kaohsiung from me. Hope you enjoyed it.

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