Taipei 2014: Day 3 Part 1 (Taipei Main Station - Ruifang - Jiufen)

This post continues from my previous post Taipei 2014: Day 2 Part 2 (Wufenpu Market - Raohe Night Market - Rainbow Bridge).

 Hi there! Welcome back to the blog post series. I had to ask the bf to send over some photos so this post took a while.

We now continue onto Day 3 - our trip to Jiufen and Shifen.

A little background info for you, Jiufen is situated in the mountainous Ruifang district of New Taipei City near Keelung City.

WHY THE NAME 'JIUFEN'?

During the Qing dynasty, there were 9 families living in this area, so 9 portions (jiu fen) of shipment from town would always be requested, hence the name Jiufen.

Jiufen is famous as a filming site for many Korean, Japanese movies and drama serials; and is also Hayao Miyazaki's inspiration for the animated movie "Spirited Away".

When I found out about Jiufen's rich history and culture, I figured that a trip there would be highly required.

Since the Minsu check-in was only at 3pm, we decided that we should only leave Taipei City slightly later after lunch, so that we would not be too early. We left our bulky luggages in Cityinn Hotel (with the reception), and with just a day's supply of necessities, we set off.

We had lunch in Breeze Centre Taipei Main Station - settling for ramen at Ramen Kagetsu Arashi after walking many rounds around the mall.

The menu in this place is only in Chinese and Japanese with pictures, so unless you can read these 2 languages, I would say that you might not know what you will be ordering.
There are 3-4 basic broths (Garlic and Pork Bone Broth, White Pork Bone Broth, Miso Broth) to choose to go with your ramen, and you may choose add-ons such as meat or added spiciness.
Tables are slightly small, but are meant more for a quick, fuss-free meal.
Along with your ramen, they will serve you extra garlic for those who are extra cautious about keeping Dracula at bay (nah i kid, for those who love more of that garlic flavour and juice).

My order of White Bone Pork Ramen - I was looking for a less overpowering taste and this did wonders.

The boyfriend ordered this Garlic and Pork Bone Broth which in my opinion was a little too garlicky and too overpowering for the noodles or to enjoy consumption.

My verdict? There is nothing special to this ramen. Noodles are okay - broth can be considered a little oily for some. I ordered the White Pork Bone Broth which was a little less overpowering than the Garlic and Pork Bone Broth and thus I enjoyed it in a way. Don't expect any runny egg-yolks here. You can get refills on soup but usually you'll be too full for that. Cha Shu is tender and delicious. Eat here if nothing else looks promising.

Kagetsu Arashi Ramen
Taipei Main Station, Breeze Center, 2nd FL
台北車站 微風台北車站2樓

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After a fulfilling lunch, we set off for Ruifang Train Station to head to Jiufen.
Note this is not the usual subway, but the train instead.
NOW FELLOW FUTURE-TAIWAN/TAIPEI  TRAVELLERS, THIS IS THE TRICKY PART.

Much as it is fantastically easy to simply tap your EzyCard and go in (and cheap too), it does come with its disadvantages (as mentioned last post). 
Scanning your EzyCard means that you are not entitled to a specific seat; and assuming that you are heading in the direction of Ruifang station, I GUARANTEE YOU FIND NO SEATS. Passengers who buy tickets get guaranteed fixed seating, and not you (since you paid less). The journey to Ruifang station takes about 45 minutes, and the stand there is really tiring (probably one of the reasons we got so exhausted in the first place).

Get your train tickets from here at Taipei Main Station and you'll be guaranteed a seat. Make sure you're getting tickets for the Tzechiang Train.

And so we set off for the exhausting journey to Jiufen. Once you alight at Ruifang Station (don't worry about getting lost, everybody will be heading there anyway), the most popular and straightforward way to get there is to take the bus. You may use your EzyCard for this bus service.

You won't miss this bus stop. It is simply across the road from the train station entrance/exit, and it will be a large blue bus (unless they change it) with a ginormous amount of people awaiting its arrival. For your reference, this bus is service number 1062.

Getting off the bus at Jiufen is much easier, basically most people alight there. OR because they pack the buses up full with standing passengers, it takes a while for the passengers to alight at this bus stop because of all the pushing and shoving, giving way, squeezing as people hurry to get down.
If there aren't many people on your bus/train, don't worry the bus drivers are extremely friendly and considerate when thinking of tourists.
It was packed for us because we went during the period where Taiwanese students were having their summer break, and many tourists were also in full action.

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It was crazily packed with tourists when we arrived at the old streets of Jiufen. We were literally squished up against people, and everyone including us was sweaty. No photo here sorry, I was just trying not to get pick-pocketed while enjoying the atmosphere. Not to mention complaining my ass off about how tired I was and how warm it was.

It was still too early for us to check into our Minsu, hence the decision to wander about Jiufen Old Street. I think we were really unlucky because it was one of the hottest days ever. We decided to risk the wallets and go into the only air-conditioned restaurant which was at the top of Shuqi Road (which is in fact a road made entirely out of steps - extremely insane and complain-worthy). This restaurant is called 阿理厨房私房菜 (A Li's Kitchen).

The lady recommended for us to order this since she said this is what the mountains are famous for: chickens. So we ordered this. Really quite yummy, I am a chicken skin person and the skin was really well done. Not the fantastic kind I am used to in Singaporean Chicken Rice, but still yummy nevertheless. There's a little more fat under the skin of this chicken though.

The boyfriend ordered Lu Rou Fan because he said its a Taiwanese specialty. He was shocked to find a pig's hair in one of the pieces. If you can see in the photo, it is on the piece in the middle. The food was good until he found that, and it put him off the entire meal.

Cod Fish with crispy bean paste. I haven't had cod fish in a long time and this was really good. Unfortunately we were given this after the pig hair so we were already a little scathed. The crispy bits were wonderful, and the cod was beautifully cooked, and oozed with its natural oils.

My verdict? I actually would not recommend this place since there is so much more wonderful delicacies and food available in Jiufen which we were just too uncomfortably warm to endure. This restaurant had a lovely accompanying view (if that adds a bonus for you) but I would only suggest coming here if you are that desperate for air conditioning. The price isn't too friendly on wallets (compared to other Jiufen prices) and the food is as mentioned, a little inconsistent in standard. NOT QUITE RECOMMENDED PRICE-WISE.

九份阿理廚坊小館-道地美食 Jiufen Ah Li Kitchen
224 新北市瑞芳區豎崎路7-2號2樓

*Side note: the boyfie paid for this generously <3 THANK YOU!

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After that meal break, we ventured around Jiufen for a little more because it was yet time to check-in. Looking back this was a little silly. The Minsu owners were quite friendly and nice and we should have asked if we could check-in early, instead of waiting around for 3pm then rushing over to Shifen later (and only being able to release sky lanterns among all the things we wanted to do).

Photo op moment at the edge of Jiufen old street which gives you a clear view of the winding roads leading up to Jiufen.

The famous Shuqi Road (which I absolutely hate for the monstrous stairs). We were heading down since the restaurant was at the top of this road, and our minsu was right at the bottom.
To make matters worse, Shuqi Road's connection to the main streets of Jiufen Old Street were somewhere near the top 2/3 of Shuqi Road.

Going down the stairs was easy. I mean, isn't it always? We neglected to think about travel plans as we made our way down to the Minsu, eager to dump our bags in our room and head off to Shifen. It took us a little longer than expected to find the minsu using google maps because google maps was being annoying and laggy. Nevertheless we found it, an immaculate beautiful house designed to be a minsu among ruins of houses.(No kidding, the house in front of this Minsu looks like it literally has been razed to the ground - blackened ruins).

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There was a front porch with pebbled paths and tables outside, and opening the door near the entrance of the minsu would lead you to the eating areas (for complimentary breakfast) and the front desk counter. The owners of the Minsu were wonderfully hospitable and helpful, they do love good chats as well.

Photo taken from http://hweimingblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/day-6-in-taipei-2013-jiufen.html.

We paid the remaining cost of our room, and the owner gave us the key to our room. There are only 3 rooms in this hotel: the 2 bedroom (迷恋二人房), the 4 bedroom ( 藍天4人海景套房) or the double floored room for 2 (星光閣樓).

Of course being the cheapos that we are, we only opted for the simple 2 bedroom, since staying here was just for an experience. Air-con, TV channels, wifi and packets of tea are available. I've also included some photos of the room from the hotel's website (mandarin only) for your viewing pleasure.

The door to our 2 bedroom. I put in the pretty halos 'cos the chinese name of this room sounds so lovey dovey.

The adorable room that we had (yes the giant teddy and 2 mouses were in the room as well). I must add though that this photo must have been taking quite a while ago. While the room is still clean, it does look rather aged.

The lovey-dovey bed. Anyone else hates these sort of bed curtains? I'm absolutely put off by how dirty they can be. And true enough we found a cockroach on this at night before sleeping. At the back curtain near the pillows.

The bathoom. YES its no fantastically equipped hotel bathroom, since this is meant to be a homestay of sorts. It's large though. The Minsu includes big and small towels, toothbrushes and toothpastes, hairdryer and bathtub. I do feel that I have to caution you about the water heater though. Maybe we didn't know how to use it, but the hot water kept going on and off erratically. It would be a comfortable temperature for like 30 seconds, then freezing cold or boiling hot the next, where you would have to turn the knob to adjust (but its not too effective).

The minsu stay was a lovely experience, but the minsu does have to improve on some facilities.

My verdict? I loved the Minsu, even though it is slightly older, but it is more of its location which is tiring for me. Having to crawl up the stairs everytime we want to head to Jiufen tired me out more than necessary and made me very irritable and cranky. I tried my best to psyche myself as I walked up the stairs, but there's only so much psyching can go. If you are confident of conquering the steps, I RECOMMEND this Minsu. The owners are absolutely hospitable and friendly. The room is also spacious.


水映藍天民宿 (新北市) [Water Reflects the Blue Sky Minsu
台灣新北市瑞芳區坑尾巷23號  22448 | New Taipei Ruifang District, Kangwei Alley, No.23
Website: http://www.bluesky.224k.tw/ (Mandarin Only)


If you need help navigating their website, or want to find out more about this Minsu, don't hesitate to ask me or post any comments below.

Stay tuned to the next post, for more on our Jiufen and Shifen travels - where we set off sky lanterns and explore Jiufen at night!

Don't forget to leave any comments or tips for me so I can improve my blog posts!



Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V