Taipei 2014: Day 4 (Jiufen - Taipei Main Station - Shilin Night Market)

 This is a continuation from my previous post Taipei 2014: Day 3 Part 2 (Shifen - Jiufen)

We woke to a beautiful view of Keelung City and a complimentary breakfast by our lovely Minsu owners.

A lovely breakfast in the welcoming area of the hotel with wooden tables and chairs and a giant plasma screen TV.

The breakfast was really delicious! I think it was ham and egg sandwiches with mayonnaise and shredded cucumbers, a side of cut guava and cherry tomatoes and some delicious mashed potato. Healthy, wholesome and extremely tasty - we were initially sad that we were sacrificing tummy space on the Minsu breakfast instead of having the opportunity to eat the specialties of Jiufen. I must say this breakfast did not disappoint!

After a hearty breakfast, we decided to head off to Jiufen to explore (since there was still about 3 hours more till check-out time, we had to make full use of it!).

To head to Jiufen from the Minsu, we had to climb the monstrous stairs of Shuqi Road. I even told the travel mate that I'll snap photos of it just to commemorate how much these stairs sucked the life out of me. Nevertheless, we went off, determined to conquer the beast.

The beginning of Shuqi Road (which is just stairs). Please remember to wear comfortable shoes!

I swear this isn't even halfway through. This is a continuation of the photo above. I was determined to take photos all the way up the stairs, but after a while it was more crucial to focus on climbing stairs.
YES I AM WEAK! Haha but I was just trying not to fall.

Countless tourists here even though barely any of the stalls are open. All the stores on Shuqi Road are actually closed in the morning because they are teahouses 茶樓 which open till much later at night.

The streets are so empty and deserted, completely different from yesterday. But the crowds start till to fill up the streets and alleys over the course of the day.

Photo from thebluewater.blogspot.com This was my absolute favourite loot from Jiufen because I got to keep the baby bottle and choose a favourite drink of my choice! I chose the rose water drink which was absolutely refreshing in that blistering summer heat! The words below read "Childhood Memories" - awwwww.

 After that, it was time to head back to the Minsu to check out. To head back to Taipei, we would have to take a train from Ruifang Station. From our Minsu, we took a cab down to Ruifang Station, because as mentioned before, it is impossible to board the bus at Jiufen. 

There are also fixed prices for single destination journeys for the cabbies in Jiufen so you won't get cheated! All cabbies should charge you the same price.

These are the prices from Ruifang Station to the following destinations:
Jiufen (九份): NT180; Jinguashi (金瓜石); NT240,
Shifenliao (十分): NT480; Shuangxi (双溪): NT600
(so the journey back should be more or less about the same price).

Our cabby constantly tried to convince us to have him send us straight to Taipei (so he could earn more) but nahhhh.. we had to save money! So we politely declined ( a few times as he politely hinted a few times) and made our way.

Alighting at Ruifang Station, we went up to the ticket counter and bought our train tickets.

As you can see from the photo, our tickets each cost NTD76 which is about SGD$3+ and we get SEATS! Why not? Pay more for comfort, it is after all a 40 minute journey. Taking the Zi Qiang train would have assigned seating. 

We had to wait for about 40 minutes to take the Zi Qiang train, which was a little long.
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TOURIST TIP:

if you are going to be using google maps to get around, they do have the train timings indicated in the routes mapped out for you, that should help you to plan what you can do conveniently.

Also, trains in Taiwan are very punctual. Make sure you are at the respective platforms early otherwise you will definitely miss the train!

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Once we were back in Taipei Main Station, it was lunch time! Since we were a little tight on budget, we figured that we should rule out eating at restaurants.

TRA Bento Boxes are really famous. You can purchase them during the train ride, or from the shops in Taipei Main Station itself (there are a couple, as we realised). They usually include pork chop on a bed of rice, braised egg, a side of vegetables and certain other pickled things (depending on which one you choose). There are vegetarian options available as well. These bento boxes range from NT60 to NT100 (if I remember correctly). The menu does change from day to day so be sure to check out what food they have on the day itself.

The queue to get the bento boxes at Level 1 Brezze Centre Taipei Main Station. Boxes usually sell out fast so you may not get the one you want. While queueing, think of a second choice just in case.

They ran out of NT60 sets so the boyfie got a NT80 bento box for me, while he got a NT100 box for himself (and we accidentally ate each other's bento boxes).

Bought some Chatime Bubble Tea to go alongside our Bento Boxes. That's the NT100 one.

Sitting on the Taipei Main Station floor and having lunch like everyone else. When in Taiwan, do as the Taiwanese do. Again, another glimpse sans the braised egg (I gave it to the boyfie 'cos I don't eat it) of the NTD100 bento. The floors are extremely clean so you don't have to worry about cleanliness issues. Also, no one will stare at you since everyone is doing this whole "get-comfy-with-food-on-the-floor" thingy.

My verdict? Not sure what all the rave reviews are about but I didn't quite like this. The pork chop was a little too soggy (I'm fine with slightly soggy because of condensation but this way way too much), and there were some bits where I could taste more flour than meat. Vegetables and rice were good for the NTD100 set because instead of white rice you get a special flavoured rice. Nevertheless, it is slightly ridiculous to pay NTD100 for rice and vegetables. In my opinion, I wouldn't eat it again. Was it worth trying? Not really. Maybe I should have gone to the branch situated in the basement where the subway entrances are (Branch 2) but I thought since Branch 1 was the original and had the most customers, we were more likely to get fresher bentos. Kind of disappointing actually.

P.S. There are other shops (not of this brand) around Taipei Main Station that sell slightly more expensive Bentos but with better looking ingredients, you may want to give those a shot.

Taipei Railway Bento (TRA No. 1 Boxed Lunch Store)West 3 Entrance, Taipei Main Station
Opening Hours: 10.30am-7pm

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After that, we walked through the Taipei Main Station Underground Mall for a little shopping till about 3pm then we went back to CityInn Hotel 1 to check into our new room and catch some rest (because the trip from Jiufen is honestly exhausting (if I've not already mentioned it like 2000 times).

Level 6 of CityInn Hotel 1 has an iTunes theme!

afternoon nap time... snoozing away...

We woke up and decided to go to Shilin Night Market (yes as you can see we didn't quite follow the itinerary because of exhaustions and such). If you are planning your travel itinerary, try to keep it flexible and open, or include opening hours/addresses of shops and locations so that if you shelved the plans for that day, you can always push it to another day and access the locations easily.

HOW TO GET THERE: From Taipei Main Station, take the Red line towards Beitou Station, and alight at Jiantan Station. Take Exit 1, and walk straight. You won't miss this night market since there's just too many people!

We were too busy talking on the train ride there that we got off at Shilin Station instead.
DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ALIGHTING HERE. The walk is way too long and you start to get tired and cranky before you even arrive at Shilin Night Market.

We made our way to the underground/basement food court area to grab some food (because it was way too crowded at Xin Fa Ting Shaved Ice area). Many of the stall workers will badger you into patronising their stall. No seriously. They will hold out menus, shove them in your face, "come in come in" in mandarin of course. If you hesitate, they will say "what do you want to eat?" WHATEVER IT IS YOU SAY, THEY WILL SAY "WE HAVE IT". So we relented to one stall because among all the other stalls, it was the only one that had 2 seats left.

紅油抄手 Dumplings in Chilli Oil and Vinegar which were just so-so. The cut up spring onions provided a nice touch. There wasn't enough chilli oil in this dish to make it really jump out at you. Vinegar taste too was not too strong (though stronger than the chilli oil).

Can't come to Taiwan and not try their oyster omelette.
SINGAPOREANS AND MALAYSIANS BE WARNED: chances are you will not like this dish because it is way too starchy to the oyster omelette we are familiar with in our own countries.
Based on that alone, I can safely say Taiwan oyster omelette is just not my thing. That being said, some stalls try to be cheapos and put way more starch in so that they can scrimp on other stuff - this stall for example.

I can't tell you which stall to avoid, because chances are with all that badgering you might end up going to a stall even worse. I can only say, try to order what people around you have ordered and hope that it turns out good. These stalls aren't too much about service, but more about serving you food, and chasing you away once you're done. Kinda the Asian mentality for food - fast and cheap (quality varies).

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While every other blog can recommend to you the typical Shilin Night Market street snacks like grilled squid, taiwanese sausages, fried milk, coffin bread; let me take a different approach and suggest to you other less commonly known snacks.

First up: 大餅包小餅 or Big Crepe wraps small biscuit?
This shop is located in the basement food court area somewhere near the centre. There are only 3 people working here: the guy who makes the crepes, a lady who takes orders and collects money, and a lady who makes these delicious morsels (rather slowly though).
When we walked past this stall, the travel immediately exclaimed: THIS IS THE ONE I ATE AT SO MANY YEARS AGO! Okay then, since it stayed fresh in his memory, we had to queue for it. I must say that the crepe-maker and order-taker work really fast but not the lady in action.

A photo of the lady in action. See those brown pastries there - they are the small biscuits or Xiao Bing. When you begin queueing, you will be given that laminated sheet there to choose which flavour you want, sweet or savoury. We chose pork floss. So the lady takes one of those brown things, puts in in a crepe skin and covers it up, then raises a hammer and smashes said brown thing into bits under the crepe skin. Then she opens the crepe skin, puts a spoon of pork floss filling (or whatever filling you chose), along with some grounded peanuts and wraps up the crepe

Wrapping up the crepe and all the brown bits.

Top view of this delicious snack. Even the plain crepe skin tastes really good , and is wonderfully thin. Give this snack a try when you are at Shilin Night Market.

Happy with my tasty morsel!

My verdict? If I've not said enough yet to make you interested in purchasing this snack, I can only say this in caps. GO TRY THIS DISH! It's wonderfully excellent and you will not regret it.

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2nd: for the people who have been to Korea and love their banana milk, I present to you the banana milk ice cream - which took me straight back to cold cold korea, slurping smooth fragrant banana milk through a straw too dainty for me; all while standing in the middle of a hot and humid Taipei night market.

This stall is/was (I hope its still there) out on the main streets of the night market, and has a large banner with Kim Soo Hyun's photo on it, along with this banana milk logo. Urm - since when did he advertise for Banana Milk? haha I bought this nonetheless - best decision ever! Even though I was too full to finish it.

My verdict? If you are walking around Shilin Night Market feeling hot and sticky, this is the snack for you. If you miss banana milk in Korea, this is the snack for you. If you enjoy eating ice cream in cold weather (visiting Taipei in Dec) then this is also for you. What I can say about this dish is that it will definitely not disappoint. The cone for me however was a little soggy after a while (which meant that it wasn't of a good quality).

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3rd and last on the list: the ultimate find - and my ultimate steal of the night -- FRIED SQUID!
There are many fried squid stalls in Shilin Night Market, but I can assure you that this one is really really fantastic. You will also recognise it by its blue hued exterior and spinning metal oil remover. This stall is particularly unique because their pieces of squid are so huge and after deep frying these babies, they are placed in a spinning metal ring which swings out all the unnecessary oil.

This is the stall owners in action. Cutting up the crispy fried squid after it has been spun in a revolving metal container which gets rid of all the excess oil. He then tops the pieces of fried squid with a topping of your choice (that you chose earlier upon ordering).

My verdict? YOU MUST BUY THIS SQUID unless you are vegetarian. I promise that you will not regret it. I practically ate almost 3/4 of that box even though I was so full and originally didn't want to eat anymore food. 

If you're looking out for this stall, their name is 魷達鮮炸魷魚 Crispy Fried Squid and they are somewhere at the intersection between Da Xi Road and Da Nan Road.

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That concludes this post. Thank you for reading and do stay tuned to the final day of our Taipei journey in June! After concluding the Taipei series, I will move on to recount to you my holiday in Korea back in 2012, which also works as a preparation for me for my upcoming trip in November.

Do leave any comments or questions, or feedback to tell me how I can improve on my posts.

Till then,

Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V

Taipei 2014: Day 3 Part 2 (Shifen - Jiufen)

This post continues from my previous post Taipei 2014: Day 3 Part 1 (Taipei Main Station - Ruifang - Jiufen)

Once we put down our bags, and grabbed our necessities, we decided to head off to Shifen. The original plan was to board the 1062 heading in the opposite direction from which we came, then alight at Ruifang station, and take the train to Shifen.

MISTAKE A: we walked all the way back up to the Jiufen old street area to board the bus when we could have boarded the bus from somewhat right outside our minsu.
MISTAKE B: After all that time waiting for the hotel check-in time, we actually had not much time left to head to Shifen. I was so tired I was even contemplating not going anymore, but the travel mate said that since we were already here we should go anyway.Remember to check with your minsu owners if its okay to leave your belongings there first while you explore, they are usually really nice so they should be cool with it. I read on many other bloggers pages that they too had plans ruined because of this check-in situation.
MISTAKE C: We neglected to consider that the bus would be as crowded as when we came, and true enough it was. After painstakingly making our way to the bus stop up top, we couldn't board the bus. We wanted to take a cab instead, but many were unwilling to take us unless we paid a little more, since we did not hire them for a full day's activities.

By our sheer luck, we managed to flag down a cab driver who was willing to take us to Shifen Old Street. On the way there, he agreed to take us to Shifen Old Street and back to our Jiufen minsu for a slightly lower price than pacakge B (this is because it is impossible to get taxi drivers at Shifen - most of them are already attached to customers who booked them under travel packages which you can get at Ruifang Station.

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TOURIST TIP:
if you're thinking of spending a day's worth of activities in Jiufen, Shifen, and Jinguashi; there are taxi packages which you can get from cab drivers outside Ruifang Station.

Packaged destinations:

Package A (NT$1,000)
Ruifang Railway Station (瑞芳火车站), Nanya Rocks(南雅奇石), Yin Yang Sea (阴阳海), Thirteen Level Refining (十三层遗址), Gold Waterfall (黃金瀑布), Jiufen Old Street (九份老街)

Package B (NT$2,300)
Ruifang Railway Station (瑞芳火车站), Jiufen Old Street (九份老街), Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布), Shifen Old Street (十分老街), Taipei (台北)

Package C (NT$2,000)
Ruifang Railway Station (瑞芳火车站), Jiufen Old Street (九份老街), Yehliu Geopark (野柳风景区)

Package D (NT$2,800)
Ruifang Railway Station (瑞芳火车站), Nanya Rocks(南雅奇石), Yin Yang Sea (阴阳海), Thirteen Level Refining (十三层遗址), Gold Waterfall (黃金瀑布), Jiufen Old Street (九份老街), Shifen Waterfall (十分瀑布), Shifen Old Street (十分老街), Taipei (台北)

*Prices for reference only. Check the prices when you are there.

P.S. All prices are fixed on a laminated sheet all over, so they can't cheat you, and neither can you bargain. In my opinion, it is quite a win-win situation especially if you don't speak mandarin.

P.S. 2: Like in Package B and D where they return you to Taipei, bear in mind that Taipei is a really huge place, so some taxi drivers may ask you to pay them more if you aren't asking them to drop you off in central Taipei. Make sure you check with the taxi driver first!!

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The trip from Jiufen up to Shifen is winding, so if you do get motion sickness easily, I recommend that you try to sleep, otherwise motion sickness will hit you real hard, like a slap to face.

Upon getting out of the taxi, our driver gave us an hour or so to go release the lanterns and explore the street while he waited outside along with all the other cab drivers. He told us to take a picture of his plate number so we would remember which cab was his.

LANTERN TIME! Most of the stalls have the same price, so it is really up to you which shop you want to pick. We chose this stall because it looked the most 'decent' and 'legit' (if that makes sense?). Since they were all the same price, may as well do it in comfort.

You can choose if you would like to have your lantern with no colour (meaning white), 1 colour (since different colours have different significance), 4 colours (see photo below: the first 4 colours in a set, or the bottom 4) or even 8 colours; of course, each with its own varying price.

If you can read Mandarin and Korean, these are what the different colours represent.
RED - luck, ORANGE - success, BLUE - peace, GREEN - health, MAGENTA - social relations, YELLOW - wealth, PURPLE - career/knowledge/wisdom, PINK - love.

Many youngsters came here to write their wishes and release their lantern.

We went to Ah Ma's Sky Lantern 阿嬤天燈 (Ah Ma means granny in dialect) to have our lantern's released. Everyone in that shop can speak mandarin, or understands basic english. There are signs in the shop with English instructions as well.

Its been a while since I wrote mandarin, and with the lanterns hanging at that angle, it isn't easy to write with a calligraphy brush.

The shop owners only provide photography services when its time to release the lantern on the tracks. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE PHOTOS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO EXPERIENCED THEY DO A REALLY GOOD JOB! =)

OH WHEN YOU'RE THERE:
don't forget to buy some cute sky lantern souvenirs!

Photo taken from Spunktitud3!

These are really cute and interesting souvenirs, with well wishes attached as well! One costs about NTD50, while glow in the dark ones cost NTD100 (thereabouts I hope prices don't change too much).

P.S: another tourist tip - if you're thinking of buying many of these, let your taxi driver know! Our cab driver told us later that he knew of a place that sold these on the cheap.
This particular shop gave us one free for 20 we bought.

THEN IT WAS TIME TO GO BACK TO JIUFEN =)
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Our cab driver returned us to our minsu so that we could catch the sunset: since most of the shops in Jiufen were closed by now anyway.

Those land masses are from Keelung City, which looks really pretty at night!

Then we decided to go explore the night view of Jiufen - cos I pressured the travel mate to go. Seeing the Jiufen streets was my main goal. I wanted to see how similar the scenes of Spirited Away looked like to the streets of Jiufen.

Still pretty packed despite most stalls being shut for the day.

Photo at the iconic Shuqi Road made of stairs!

Sense any similarities? I think Hayao Miyazaki really captured the night atmosphere of Jiufen well!

I didn't see anything that looked much like this in Jiufen, but this feeling you get just looking at the photo: its the same sensation as walking through Jiufen.

Hayao Miyazaki's drawing of the Bath House in Spirited Away - inspired by the structure of Ah Mei Teahouse in Jiufen. Compare this with the photo below.

Excuse the fact that i'm not a good photographer - but I think, he did a pretty good job.
BTW: Our cabby told is not to visit this Teahouse because they charge a lot. The staff aren't friendly either.

Exhausted from exploring, we returned to our minsu to rest - not before we stopped by the convenience store to grab snacks and dinner!

Night view of Keelung City from the Minsu - along with some dude checking out his car

This was my dinner - because I was too tired to eat! Pretty yummy - while I watched Tin Tin on the telly!

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TOURIST TIP:
Jiufen is a really lovely place to explore but I do advice bringing comfortable shoes because the "terrains" are not easy, and the stairs are really steep.
If you are travelling with older people, climbing the stairs may be really tough and taxing on them. We came across a group of older Japanese ladies who were heaving and puffing as they had to climb back up. I too, was struggling because the stairs are really not easy to climb.
I would recommend for you to take the taxi packages if you are travelling with older people instead of having a night's stay in Jiufen just so it wouldn't tire everyone out so much that they can't enjoy their experience there.
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That's all for now! Stay tuned to the next post where we explored a little more of Jiufen in the morning, had a railway bento lunch and then took in the smells and sounds of Shilin Night Market, while feasting on wonderful yummy snacks!

Don't forget to leave any comments or questions you have to ask me, and also pointers for me on how to improve my posts!


Fly Safe and Eat Happy,
V

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