Day 7: Pomelo --> Houtong Cat Village --> Shifen --> Lehua Night Market
Day 8: Pomelo --> The Redhouse --> Bitan Scenic Area --> 雾境景观咖啡 --> Linjiang Night Market
Day 9: 阜杭豆漿 --> East Metro Underground Shopping Street --> Lunch --> Ximending(Movie and dinner)
Day 10: Home Sweet Home
Day 7
For the most important meal of the day, we went to Pomelo at Ximending again! The weather forecast told us that this day will be a better day, and so thereafter, we were on our way to Houtong Cat Village! We took the metro to Songshan Station where we were greeted by a beautiful sight!
Next, we were on the railway train to Houtong Station! For those who are wondering, you can use the Easy Card to go into the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA)! Also adding value into the Easy Card is made very convenient as not only can it be done at the Metro Station, it can also be done at
Convenience stores (7-ELEVEN, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK) carrying the 「
」or「
」 logo! Another fun fact is that food can be consumed in the train! There was a stall at Songshan Station selling packet food (便當)!
After about an hour on the train, we arrived at Houtong!
 |
| Beautiful scenery~ |
 |
| Stay away from me! Meow!! |
 |
| Awww, too cute! |
 |
| Furry head! |
 |
| No fear of heights! |
 |
| Hahaha, cat for sale? |
 |
| Thirsty cat~ |
 |
| Grumpy cat~ |
 |
| Tasty cupcakes! |
 |
| Did you know? About 2/3 of Taiwan is made up of mountainous ranges? |
Next place of visit was Shifen!
 |
| Mandatory thing to do at Shifen! Release sky lantern! |
After visiting Shifen, we made our way to Lehua Night Market! This night market is definitely not as big as Shilin Night Market, but do not worry, because there is still a lot of good food there for you to choose from!
While we were heading to the metro station from the night market, we spotted a shop selling a whole array of fruits. One thing about Taiwan is that everything there is like an up-size of what we have here in Singapore. For example, we saw KFC and Mcdonald's that are three story high. The anime shop, called animate, that we went a few days back was really big. And here we see a shop filled with colorful fruits!
Day 8
Once again, we had our breakfast at Pomelo. Oh how I miss Taiwan's breakfast!! :( After breakfast, we went to The Redhouse at Ximending to have a look. This is a red brick octagonal building with the first floor used as a souvenir shop, cafe and gallery displaying its history. Apparently the second floor regularly holds live performances by Taiwan bands at night, but since we went there in the morning, the second floor was blocked off. I felt that there was not much to look at on the first floor, but if you do go to Ximending, why not take a look!
Next, we went to Bitan Scenic Area, near Xindian Station, which is the last metro station on the south side of the green line. That also explains why this is a scenic area, because other than being able to see the vegetation planted along the river, you also get the to see the natural hills and mountains in all its glory from this place! I felt that it was really nice, after all the tiring exploration from the previous days, to just talk a walk along this place enjoying the sight and fresh air. Other than just taking a walk, there is also a row of shops selling food and other stuffs! There are comfortable seats and tables where you can eat and enjoy the view at the same time. I believe if you come here in the evening or at night, there are live performances as well! If you are looking for a place to just chill and relax, this is a place you can consider!
 |
| The first view we saw upon arriving! |
Bitan Scenic would probably make a good place for lunch, but we had other plans. My mum found out about a place called 雾境景观咖啡 from a travel book that is located further south from Xindian Station, up along a mountain. We took a bus up the mountain and walked to the cafe from there. It is about a 15 minutes walk, but the view along the way to the place kinda makes it a worthy walk. When we finally did reach the place, oh my.. The scenery there was so awesome and beautiful!!! I immediately took out my phone and started snapping some pictures to post on Instagram haha! The only bad thing about the place was the mosquitoes. I wasn't sure if it was because it was located in a forested mountainous area or because it was raining before that. Anyways, I ordered a set meal at the price of NT 400, which I felt that was worth it because it included so many dishes! Below are the pictures!
 |
| Picture taken along the walk to the cafe~ |
 |
| View at the cafe! Feels so surreal~ :3 |
 |
| Salad! |
 |
| Yummy prawns! |
 |
| Soup in a Japanese teapot! |
 |
| Main dish! |
 |
| Fruits, cake and iced milk tea! (The milk tea tasted weird tho, coffee would have been a better choice) |
This is a place that I would definitely recommend to my friends! :)
After having an awesome lunch, we headed back to Bitan Scenic Area to try out the paddle boat! I did not expect the boat to travel so slowly, but I guess it was okay, just chill~
Thereafter, we headed to Linjiang Night Market, also known as Tonghua Night Market. Like always, there is a lot of variety of food for you to choose from. We just walked through the night market and bought whatever food we wanted to try. The nearest metro station is Xinyi Anhe station. Do take a visit at Linjiang Night Market if you are around this area as it is ranked the top 10 night markets in Taiwan! :)
Day 9
First stop for this day was breakfast at 阜杭豆漿. It seems to a be a popular place for breakfast in Taipei as there was a very long queue when we got there and so, I went to find a seat first while my brother and mum continued to queue for the food.
After breakfast, we went to East Metro Underground Shopping Street to take a walk. This is an underground shopping street that spans from Zhongxiao Fuxing Station to Zhongxiao Dunhua Station. After we were done, we headed to 原創花雕雞 wanting to have our lunch there. Unfortunately, they were closed and was only opened in the night! Thus, the lesson of the day is to do your research thoroughly to avoid any disappointment! Anyways, we found a random Japanese restaurant where we settled down for lunch. Thankfully, the food was both good and filling! Nice soup, nice egg, nice pork and nice ramen!
 |
| omm nom nom! |
I was feeling quite tired from all the walking for the past 8 days and so I suggested that we go catch a movie, where we can just seat down and enjoy a show. So, we headed to Ximending where we watched Pitch Perfect 2! After the movie, we just walked around Ximending, to take one last look at it and to find a place for dinner. Thereafter, we headed back to our Minsu to rest and to pack our bags and luggage!
Day 10
We had breakfast, packed our bags, took a cab to Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A, boarded bus 1819 to Tao Yuan Airport and took the plane back to Singapore.
Home Sweet Home. There is no place like home.
But we will still miss Taiwan...
Go to the link if you are interested to see what we did in day 1 and 2! :)
http://musicmilktea.blogspot.sg/2015/06/taiwan-trip-day-1-and-2-taichung.html
I just want to give God the glory for this good trip to Taiwan. It just happened that my brother just graduated from university and had a short break before working, while my mum just left her previous job and I just ORDed and had time before my university starts, that we were able to find the time to go on a holiday. Although the weather wasn't kind to us, I thank God for giving us the wisdom to tweak our schedule around such that in the end, we went to at least 90% of the places we wanted to go. Also, on the bright side, at least the weather was quite cooling most of the time! On the last day when we were carrying our luggage to the Taipei West Bus Station, the sun revealed its power and shone so strongly onto us. If the weather had been like that all the time, I guess it wouldn't have been really enjoyable as well!
I hope that you enjoyed the posts and I hope it helped you in planning your itinerary! (Or planning your itinerary in the future!) Overall, I feel that there are a lot of interesting places in Taiwan! The flight, transport and accommodation won't be too expensive as well! Also, the people living there are really nice! Their service is great and the people are very willing to help. So don't be shy to ask for directions! It's definitely a country that should be on your checklist! :)
Home Sweet Home. There is no place like home. But we will still miss Taiwan...
