Taipei 2014: Day 1 Part 2 (Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall - Taipei 101 - Ximending)

This is a continuation of my post from Taipei 2014: Day 1 Part 1 (Airport - Taipei Main Station - Getting the Necessities).

From the Taipei Main Station, we boarded the Bannan Line headed towards Wufenpu.

Then the first complication.

As you can see from my itinerary, it wrote to go to Wufenpu Market. (Yet with severe irony I wrote "do not go on Monday because it is for wholesalers"). So we were on the train, halfway there and we decided to alight at the nearest station - Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall Station.

          Travel mate: Just try lah, you never know what we can see. YOLO.

          Me: Ok then.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall - a really large complex.
Filled with loads of tourists and students practicing dance.

The Giant Sun Yat Sen Statue - much like Abraham Lincoln sitting in the US.
Those soldiers are real people though.

Look at the crazy amount of tourists!

The lovely backdrop of Taipei 101 from the steps of the SYS Memorial Hall.

Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall 國立國父紀念館
No.505, Sec.4, Ren-ai Rd., Taipei 110 (02-2758-8008)
Operating Hours: 0900-1700 (Exhibition Hall Visiting Hours)
                           1900 (Time to enter the Auditorium)
                           1930 (Performance Time)
                           [Closed on Lunar New Year's Eve/Day and certain days for maintenance]
How to Get Here: Alight at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station (Bannan Line). Take Exit 4.
                            Walk along Zhongxiao East Road for about 3 minutes and arrive.
Website: http://www.yatsen.gov.tw/

My verdict?
You can afford to give this place a miss. Even a history buff would be put off at the immense crowds that were here. Since it is free though, you can drop by, take a few photos then head off if you have the spare time. From the memorial hall, it provides a nice backdrop of the Taipei 101 Building.

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From the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, we decided to walk to Taipei 101 since we could see it.

IT WAS REALLY HOT. Taipei in Summer is no laughing matter. I guarantee you will perspire buckets. It was about a 10-15 minute walk but we got there nevertheless with no issues (hard to get lost when you are headed towards the tallest building in Taipei City).

DIRECTIONS: From the steps of the memorial hall where you can see the Taipei 101 building as with the photo above, exit the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall complex and turn left onto Ren'ai Road 任愛路. Once you hit the T-junction, walk across the road then turn right onto Shifu Road 市府路. Walk straight on Shifu Road till you hit a big junction. Turn left at this junction onto Songshou Road 松壽路. Walk straight to the next junction then turn left at Songzhi Road 松智路. Walk straight for about 180m and arrive at the destination on your right.

The Taipei 101 Building is really huge and atas (upper-class). I walked in and instantly felt under-dressed and of a different class system. It is brimming with boutique stores and brands. The basement is where the food court is located and is a good place to stop and grab some lunch or some nougats (which I will talk more about later).

When we arrived at the building it was about lunch time so we figured that we should explore the observatory first to avoid the lunch crowd.
Remember the Youth Card, it allowed us to obtain tour group prices instead to enter the observatory. So instead of NT500 for adults, we paid NT450 per person.

 Taipei 101 Observatory
  89F, No.7, Sec.5, Sinyi Rd.,Taipei City
  Admission: (adult) NT500 but with Youth Card enjoy tour group rate on admission NT450
                    (child) NT450 - children under 115cm enter free; (fast pass) NT1000
  Ticket Booth and entrance at 5^th floor of Taipei 101 Mall
  Operating Hours: 9am to 10pm
  [Visitors in improper attire or slippers will be denied entry]
  [Big Bags not allowed – cannot exceed 297mm by 420mm – otherwise deposit in lockers for free]
  [Free Audio Tour – present passport for headset]
Website: http://www.taipei-101.com.tw/

To get to the observatory, you have to join an extensively long queue (depending on your luck - we had none) to enter this lift to go up. This lift is supposed to be the fastest in the world. Pretty cool hey. Don't forget to swallow your saliva when in the elevator as it will help to cope with the discomfort in your ears.

The fastest lift in the world.

The view of Taipei City from the observatory.
The audio headsets are really informative and easy to use.
If you are feeling lazy, you can just walk around to enjoy the view anyway.

The large damper that keeps the building steady with the crazy winds it experiences
at these terrifying heights. The physics behind this is really cool.

Image from Flickr: The damper baby with the giant damper. PHOTO SPOT.
Sorry I had to take this photo from the internet because when I was there it took
me like 15 minutes to get a photo with this thing. TOUR GROUPS ARGH.

My verdict: As the tallest building in Taiwan, and the grand landmark, I do recommend coming here if it is your first time in Taiwan. If you don't want to spend money by coming up to the top, try exploring the mall as well. You can't have been to Taiwan without coming to the Taipei 101 building. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We grabbed some lunch at Mos Burger in the food court below, and realised we were way too tired. We then went back to the hotel to rest and nap for the afternoon.

DIRECTIONS: From the Taipei 101/World Trade Center Station, take the train to Taipei Main Station (Xinyi Line - 12 mins, 7 stops). Take Exit Z6 to arrive at CityInn Hotel.

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Done with our nap, it was already 7. We decided to head to Ximending to grab some dinner and walk around as it was nearest to our hotel.

DIRECTIONS: From Taipei Main Station, take the train to Ximen Station (Bannan Line - 2 mins, 1 stop).
Alternatively, you can walk there as well.

What do you do at Ximending? Hailed as the Harajuku of Taipei, you shop and eat of course! Ximending is filled with youngsters, food outlets, snacks, clothing shops, a 24 hour bookshop (Migilore).


We were a little hungry so we decided to grab some food to eat.
Upon exiting the train station (just follow everyone - they'll lead you to the right exit), Ji Guang Fried Chicken was just about 30 steps away.

繼光香香雞 Ji Guang Delicious Fried Chicken
No. 121-1 Hanzhong Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City| 台北市萬華區漢中街121-1號
Opening Hours: 11.30am to 11pm Daily

You'll recognise this shop by the red uniforms and bricky walls.

My Verdict? Taiwan is famous for its fried chicken, but which cut of chicken is important. Some people enjoy HOTSTAR which is an entire chicken cutlet of breast meat. I prefer Ji Guang for its tender chicken thigh/leg boneless pieces and flavourful crispy batter. Order their fried mushrooms as well - you won't regret it. The fragrance of the mushrooms oozes as you bite into the crispy morsel. YUMS. Highly recommended.

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On the hunt for more food, and shopping. We eventually found Ah Zhong Mian Xian (somehow we kept missing that turn-off). I was full by this point, but the travel mate insisted that we should try it since we were already here. I told him to buy the smaller bowl.
阿宗麵線 Ah Zhong Mian Xian
No.8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City |台北市峨嵋街8號之1
Walking Directions: 5 minutes walk from Ximen MRT station, exit 6
Opening Hours: 11:00 to 22:30 (Mon – Thu);     |    Tel: 02-2388-8808
                                 11:00 to 23:00 (Fri – Sun)

There was a sure crowd outside this stall.

My Verdict? If you're fond of Singapore-style mee sua where you can actually taste the texture of the noodles, this may come as a little shocking to you because it just feels a little too soft. The travel mate loved it and asked to come back for another bowl another day. I don't think this mee sua is as bad as people say it is (that standards have dropped and they aren't good anymore), but it is still yummy. I realised how much I missed this when I went back to Singapore and gobbled half of my brother's bowl of Taiwanese-style Mee Sua.I can't give you a verdict on oysters because I don't particularly enjoy eating them. 

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We were full so we continued to explore Ximending in the blistering summer heat.

A harpist busking in the middle of Ximending.

A shop declaring to be the cheapest for men's shoes in Ximending.
Cheapest in Ximending - but shoes are cheaper in Taipei Underground Mall.

The bright lights of Ximending.

This KFC and big screen makes for an iconic landmark in Ximending to navigate.

A shop where I bought some pretty sneakers for NT200.

A more quiet corner of Ximending in the night time. There's the Ximen Red House on the right which used to be a market when it was first built. Now it has some amateur artists selling little knick knacks and art pieces.

Thereafter it was time to head back to the hotel. You can always take the train back the same way back you came. We decided to walk instead because we felt so full.

DIRECTIONS: From the earlier subway exit, turn left and walk along Zhonghua Road Section 1 中華路一段/台3線 (360m). Turn right onto Hankou Street Section 1 漢口街一段 (500m), then turn left onto Huaining Street 懷寧街 (120m) and arrive.

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On the way back we chanced upon this stall:

My reaction was: EWWWW

If you don't read mandarin, the sign reads "frog lays eggs" or "frogs eggs". Don't worry they sell nothing of the sort. They simply sell milk bubble tea and ai-yu jelly which is quite refreshing.

Then we went to FamilyMart convenience store next to the hotel to grab some snacks and supper before calling it a night.

Giant bottles of culture milk drinks, meatloaf, onigiri and ice cream.

That's day 1 of our happy travels!

Stay tuned to the next post for more on our Taiwan Trip!

Don't forget to leave any comments or tips for me on how to improve my blog posts!


Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V