Hi! We're on to Day 3 now - bidding Taichung a goodbye as we take the train to Taipei.
If you missed out on the earlier posts, click on the links below to catch up:
- Taiwan 2016: Day 1 - Taichung Bound! (Chun Shui Tang - Miyahara - Feng Jia Night Market)
- Taiwan 2016: Day 2 (Zhong She Flower Market - Sun Moon Lake - Wenwu Temple)
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| Our last hotel breakfast in Taichung! Then it was time for us to be off to Taipei. |
Despite the fact that we were sitting in a car all day on Day 2, it was truly tiring so we actually just decided to take a later train so that we could have a more relaxed morning on Day 3, board the train and arrive just in time in Taipei to check in at our hotel.
JUST TO BE CLEAR: We bought our train tickets on Day 1 of arriving to ensure we had seats that were together. A 2-hour ride is not one that I wish to spend standing.
Alternatively, you can also take the high speed rail (HSR) which will be a lot faster (but tickets are more expensive), and you can also take a bus (but I don't think you'll want to spend so much time on the road).
ACCOMMODATION IN TAIPEI:
When booking accommodation in Taipei, I highly recommend booking your hotel/accomm either:
- Near Taipei Main Station (so that transportation is convenient)
(CityInn Hotel Chain, Finders Hotel)
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| CityInn Hotel: My favourite chain (pictures are from various sites and not mine) |
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| Finders Hotel, another popular spot |
- Near Ximending (so that you can shop at any time)
(Orange Hotel, amba Hotel)
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| Orange Hotel Ximen (my second choice for this 2023 trip I'm about to go on) |
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| amba Hotel in Ximen (a boutique hotel) |
However, since my brother was in charge of the booking, and he was very late in doing so, we didn't have many hotels left to choose from. As a result, our accommodation was Starbeauty Resort, near Shihlin Night Market. Even in this hotel, there weren't many rooms left so we had no choice but to get my parents the better room
It's actually a pretty nice hotel! The downside is that due to its location, you've got to travel further to do stuff during the day.
Here are some pictures from Booking.com and the hotel website.
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| The rooms were really spacious though as it seems like an older structure but there was plenty of room to pack our luggage and to move around. |
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| My parents had some exclusive room (Luxury Double Room) and they were so surprised to see a koi pond inside! I'm not sure if this room still exists in the hotel because it has been a while. However, they did say that when they were sleeping at night, you could occasionally hear splashing sounds from the kois in the pond. 😂 So... probably not the best room for light sleepers. |
No.38-1, Qiangang St., Shilin Dist., Taipei City |台北市士林區前港街38-1號
Telephone: +886 2 2882 8080 | Website: https://starbeauty.hotel.com.tw/eng/
After a quick rest till evening time, it was time to head to Shihlin Night Market to enjoy the night scene in full swing. Among all the night markets, I'd say Shihlin is definitely the most suitable for tourists. Locals are hardly seen around this night market. That being said, it is also more tourist friendly (menus in different languages, has products that tourists would likely be searching for).
You already know the first stop for us at Shihlin Night Market was...
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| Prince Cheese Potato! |
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| Look at that gloriousness! I can't wait to go back and have this. |
No. 1, Jihe Road, Shilin District, Taipei City
My other recommendation at Shihlin Night Market is definitely...
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| Zhong Cheng Hao Oyster Omelette! There are two branches within Shihlin itself. One on the main floor area, while the other is in the basement food court. |
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| We also tried out some taiwanese tempura known as 甜不辣. It's nothing at all like the Japanese tempura. It's a little more like fish cake but slightly different in texture (hence I eat it). It's also drenched in a sweet sauce. |
忠誠號蚵仔煎Zhong Cheng Hao Oyster Omelette
No. 15–32, Dadong
Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan, 111 | 台北市士林區大東路15-32
Contact: +880-2-2883-8833
Opening Hours: 4pm–1am (Weekdays), 3pm–1am (Weekends)
- Oyster Omelette, Smelly Tofu, Tempura (Taiwan-style)
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| Remember the Pokemon Go craze? We were so psyched to go to Taiwan and I did manage to catch a Farfetch'dof my own right in Shihlin Night Market! |
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| My dad wanted to try out this pork spring onion roll! It's stuffed full of spring onions so those who are picky about the "spicy" onion/spring onion taste will probably not be able to appreciate this. |
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| Fried Milk! So affordable for a stick (this stall was near Prince Cheese Potato I think) but there are a few stalls around the night market. |
There are plenty of other night market stalls set up so eat, drink and shop to your heart's content!
Eventually, we were tired and the crowd was way too intense! Thus, we decided to take the food back to our hotel.
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| Yes, you can ask for the cheese to be separate for your Prince Cheese Potato! And look at our fried squid craze =) |
It was a delicious end to Day 3. What we realised was since we were on holiday, we should not have been packing it full with plans but rather take the time to rest when moving from one place to another.
Stay tuned for Day 4 which was Christmas Day, our first time spending Christmas overseas.
Till then,
Fly safe and eat happy,
V
