Taiwan Day 2

We set out nice and early at 8.30am on the second day of our taiwan trip. Decided the day before to get a "guide" to bring us around for the day. Could be because it was in Taipei itself that why it's a little more expensive...costing us 6800NT. The day itself was really good considering we went many places and with J around and multiple places to visit...not a bad idea to be driven around instead of taking the MRT. First stop brekkie!

四海豆漿 (near Daan MRT) 

Hot Sweet Soybean Milk...yum yum yum

Hot Salty Soybean Milk...erm..not my cup of tea..
but Thomas really likes it...basically it's
soybean milk with vinegar and pork floss added to it

Glutinous Rice Rolls with pork floss and egg
and Shao Bing with egg

Jayden and me sharing a Shao Bing

Pineapple tarts are a must for anyone visiting taiwan. Made a stop at 維格餅家 to get their 鳳 黃酥. Pineapple tarts with salted egg yolk...wooohooo...not too sweet...light and yummy....I have to admit though...my favourite product from there  - 黑 胡椒杏仁豬肉脆紙...it's like ba kwa but very crispy and it's paper-thin....you can order online or from their store and get them to deliver your stuff to the hotel just before you leave...which is a brilliant idea considering that the tarts have a shelf life of only 15 days...

Martyrs Shrine was next on the agenda. It opens from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, weekends and public holidays. The guard changing ceremony starts at 9am for every hour, with the last one for the day at 4.40pm. The Martyrs Shrine is dedicated to approximately 330,000 men who sacrificed their lives to the overthrowing of the Ching Dynasty before the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, and who fell during the Sino-Japanese war (1938-1945) and the Chinese Civil war (1945-1949) - more information http://www.taiwan.com.au/Envtra/Taipei/report37.html

Guard Changing Ceremony

Self-cam!!

Next stop - The Grand Hotel. The hotel was established in 1952. It retains the elements of classic Chinese architecture in it's building. Not only is it the most splendid landmark in Taipei, but also representative of contemporary palatial architecture - more information http://www.grand-hotel.org/main/default.aspx?lang=en-US
The view from the hotel was really amazing...can't really tell from the pictures but you could actually see Yan Ming San....if you google the hotel...you can actually see what it looks like from the outside...very pretty...

Near the lobby area of the hotel - huge and pretty

View from outside the hotel

Proceeded to Xin Beitou next. Xin Beitou is known for it's hot springs. Many hotels there have facilities for people to soak in it's public pools or private pools. Below are pictures of the Beitou library. It is hailed as East Asia’s most eco-friendly building. The library runs solely on solar energy.

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I could not remember the name or the location of the restaurant, which we had our lunch. It's famous for  鲤 鱼(Carp) cooked in 18 different ways. It's one of those restaurants, which only locals know about. The set meal cost 1500NT. Consisted of rice, veg, prawns, soup, fish(cooked in 2 ways) and chicken. Really yummy.

Deep-fried carp with tofu and black bean sauce.

After our fantastic lunch, we headed up Yan Ming San.

Smell of Sulphur waifs through the air. People used to
be able to bring eggs to boil them in the spring until
a little boy fell into the spring and burnt himself.

Dad and Jayden walking around part of Yan Ming San

Our final stop of the day was Danshui. If you go to Danshui, it's highly recommended that you go do all the sight-seeing around there first before proceeding to the food area to avoid lugging all the snacks that you are bound to get around.


Prior to going to Fisherman's Wharf, we made a stop for our first xiao chi(small eats) of the day.. 阿給. Many 阿給 stalls on the same street. This one happens to be the oldest of the lot....阿給 is basically tang hoon in tao pok..cooked in some tao cheow sauce...quite good...

Apparently the best time to go Fisherman's Wharf is in the evening where the bridge is lighted with lights, which changes colour...but to me...I think Lover's Bridge is prettier during sunset...

Of course being in Danshui, it is a must to try their 'small eats'..... Went to Ke Kou Yu Wan...it's well-known for fishballs with meat in them..not unlike the fuzhou fishballs...I have to admit that their wantons were where way nicer though.......

Fishball and Wanton...only 50NT a bowl

Half eaten fishball with their "special" chilli sauce

Here is a list of stuff we manage to try as well....just no pics...photographer busy stuffing face...

• 阿婆鐵蛋 - dad lovessssss it...he reckons it's much better than the century eggs
• 許義魚酥 - it's like prawn crackers except made with fish...very yummy...not too fishy...and not oily at all...only NT50 per bag....
• 阿嬤的酸梅湯 - ohhhhhhhhhh...how how refreshing and yummy is this plum drink...not too sweet...not too sour...yummmy...it's just right next to 阿婆鐵蛋

and here's those with pics...

Fish cracker with Seaweed....yummy

Prawn crackers

Love love love these...cant find them in supermarkets..
you have to either order them online or look out for them
in those small shops..and they always run out of them...
flavors includes-
Chocolate, strawberry, coffee, brown sugar, peanut and vanilla

Charcoal coated nuts...I know..sounds gross rite
but really yummy..

General Info

Vigor Pineapple Tarts

http://www.taiwan-vigor.com.tw/

許義魚酥
地址：台北縣淡水鎮中正路184號  

阿婆鐵蛋  

地址: 251台灣台北縣淡水鎮三民街21號

Get Directions

電話: 02-2625-1625

http://www.onceok.com.tw/more/14251490/14251490_more.html

Healthful Wafer Sticks

http://www.healthful.com.tw/

可口魚丸

地址: 251 Taiwan台北縣淡水鎮中正路232號 

電話: +886 2 2620 9666