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Sunday, October 13, 2024

Day Six of The 8 Days 7 Nights See Iconic Taiwan Anew Tour Package via Chan Brothers


Detailed Postings for the Day
Sharing something useful if you are travelling; the disposable briefs for men from Guardian Pharmacy are the better ones if you are lazy to wash them! Since I do travel occasionally with my dad, these have been indispensable; fresh brief every morning! 

Starting the day with the hotel's breakfast! For this tour package, I stayed in six different hotels and this the breakfast from Lakeshore Hotel (新竹湖濱館) was the best! So much so that when I am travelling to Taiwan in January 2025, I was even thinking of having a stopover at Hsinchu just to have a go at the breakfast buffet again. 

Leaving the foggy windy city (as Hsinchu is known) for the capital city of Taiwan! Damn, I should have paid more attention to the roads as we are now contemplating renting a car for our visit next year.

Passing by a Buddhist temple; 圓通佛導眾寺 that's at New Taipei City. Visual highlight would be the golden child Buddha on top, that had a hand pointing to the sky. From Google Maps, it seemed like many people were curious about this temple, including me. 

Arrival at Taipei City.

Drove past the super iconic Yuanshan Hotel Taipei - Grand Hotel. Even before my first trip to Taiwan, I told myself I must stay at Yuanshan Hotel one day. Fast forward to ten years later and the desire is still the same. Pity I am not scheduling a visit to Taipei next year.

Upcoming modern and futuristic looking building.

Minquan West Road MRT Station; as tourists, we would always prefer someone much more centralized for east of travel. But it might not be a bad idea to live on the outskirts, where locals would congregate and you can a more authentic experience. 

First stop was the Pixiu Lucky Charm Centre aka Chung-hwa Pui-shiou Museum; you can click the link to read more about the shopping stop. Above photograph was taken after the visit, on our way back to the coach. 

Yuanshan Hotel again. It looked like an impossibly humongous traditional Chinese style building that makes you take a double take at first sight; is that a temple or what? 

Travelling out of Taipei City, and that's Taipei 101, with its top half covered by the low lying clouds. Hope we would be able to see it's full glory in the next few days! 

I find the tour to be relatively strange in the way routes were planned. Why were we travelling out of Taipei City when our hotel for the next two nights would be in the capital city!? 

Turned out we would spending a few hours at Shifen Old Street! I am not stranger to this area although my last visit was late and it sure wasn't as crowded! Refer to above photographs and also the links for more. 


On our way back to Taipei.
Fully visible Taipei 101.

Car washer manned by ladies! 
Not common even in Singapore.

Xingtian Temple; built to honour the God Of War, Guan Yu. Interesting fact about this temple; it's the "first in Taiwan to ban the burning of incense"! That's a feat given that it's one of the components for funding for Taoist temples.

Here's Yuanshan Hotel again! 
Now, you know what I meant by strange tour routes.

Disembarked right in front of this Hai Chong Bao Pearl Exhibition Centre; yes, another shopping stop that we can't escape from. How I wish Taiwan has the option for "no shopping stop", like the ones offered for many China tour packages nowadays. 

Out in no time as the pearls don't captivate us at all. Unlike for older folks, pearls are just not popular as jewelry for my generation and those after us. The only thing I did consider buying was pearl powder and even then, the price was too high for me to stomach. 

Yet again another shopping stop; Kong Kee - Taiwanese Pastries. But this one I like as there were plenty of samplings; necessary for me to determine which are delicious enough to bring back for family and friends back home. 

My second visit to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Compared to my first time, at least I learnt more about former President Chiang Kai-shek and his formidable wife from our tour guide, KK.

Election fever in Taiwan then as the Taiwanese general elections, "to elect the 16th president and vice president of the Republic of China, and all 113 members of the 11th Legislative Yuan" were to be held around two weeks later on 13 January 2024.

The Little South Gate (Chongxi Gate); one of five ancient gates in Taipei, do note that four were rebuilt, including this one, after World War 2, and they were not exact replicas. The only original gate was the North Gate near Taipei main station.

Alighted opposite the East Dragon Hotel. A few hours for us to explore Ximending and for ease of directional reference, we were asked to meet at the same spot before proceeding to our dinner venue.

Saturday in Ximending, the largest pedestrian zone in Taiwan, was no joke. People everywhere and a bit clueless of what to do since shopping has that tiring effect on my dad.

With recommendation from KK, we proceeded to the heritage shop of Yang Ji Peanut Corn Ice for some iced desserts! Fill up my dad's tummy before I bore him with shopping.

So many street hawkers but my dad kept nagging that dinner would be provided and we shouldn't be wasting money like that... If greatest Kon were with me, he would have heck care.

OMG, this was still surviving!? Mei Guan Yuan (美觀園) is a Japanese restaurant that opened in 1946 and I dined there back in 2014. An absolute disappointment back then though.

Pop Mart; looked like it was just opened for business with a long queue trying to get in and maybe grab some limited editions. So glad I am only obsessed with piggy banks. 

Street hawkers, including one that sold memorabilia for Team Taiwan, which had gained traction in recent years with Taiwanese identifying themselves more as Taiwanese, instead of Chinese.

Let's cross the road to Red House; a heritage building in the Ximending district that offered many unique and interesting products for sale. 

Live music, and they were good! 

The classical tourist view of Ximending, with the large centerpiece in the middle. I bet that advertisement spot is going to cost a lot of money as it has so high visibility! That guy in the poster was Show Luo, a celebrity who was embroiled in some scandal.

Another live band and I didn't realize this then when I took the photograph; it's actually the actual spot of the popular rainbow road. Sorry, have to blame my short stature for not noticing it earlier.

I remember this product as our dear Alex bought a big one back to Singapore back in 2014! And what happened to it now?! Abandoned at my parents' house I presume. p.s. a peeping Labubu at the side.

Xin Fu Tang in Ximending and it was drawing a long queue! Apparently, their pearls were freshly made daily; was that the same in Singapore? Anyway, their last outlet in Singapore closed in January last year. 

Election publicity by Taiwan's People Party (TPP); helmed by former Taipei mayor, Ko Wen-je, it was known to be a 3rd force in the Taiwan's political landscape which was historically between Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).

For a shopping district, you have to note that you don't get big shopping mall. While inconvenient, there were smaller scale malls like the above, which can go all the way up and deep in. Just that we wouldn't know if it would be worth the effort. 
 
Saluting frog mascots! They were frequently showcased in Douyin (available for the China market) but the Chinese authorities were said to be clamping down on them as it's "illegal to sell things in public without a permit".

Live singing again! I was more amused by the name of the singer; in English, the Chinese name means milk bottle, and it usually has a sexual undertone when used on adult ladies. 

Pets were also brought in by their owners to enjoy the outdoor atmosphere! I mean, I understand dogs but why would someone bring a rabbit?! I thought rabbits can get highly stressed?! 

Starbucks Coffee - this would be a great spot to take time-lapsed videos! 

A small scale demonstration against the Chinese Community Party (CCP); impossible to be held in China or even Hong Kong, Taiwan is said to be the last bastion for democracy. The banner message said "CCP doesn't represent China. End CCP". 

What I found funny was the Winnie the Pooh mascot; dressed in emperor attire (even though Winnie the Pooh is female), I got the nuances as I do follow political news. The cartoon character was said to be censored in China given its visual similarity to Mr Xi Jinping, incumbent General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.

Rubbish track along the pathway; one thing I envied about Taiwan was the success of their recycling efforts, where there was a "55% collection rate from households and businesses". When could Singapore emulate the same?

Street performers / buskers. 

Shop selling Taiwanese food souvenirs; I think most visitors would have bought somewhere else but there's something from this shop that would draw attention. Hint in the picture above; bottom left. 

Sidewalk claw machines.

I was wondering why there was a long queue for this music shop with the name of 95 Music Zone; tuned out they were all lining up for the milk tea shop right next to the entrance.

Intriguing residential block next to 95 Music Zone; seemed like the facade was filled with staircases and more staircases. From Google Maps, it was indicated as a condominium complex known as Hotel 6.

While waiting for the rest of our tour mates opposite East Dragon Hotel, let us go for cup of the white bitter melon juice from the King of Bitter Melon! My second try since the last one almost ten years again; my verdict was once again not really my cup of tea. 

Dinner - Shabu Shabu Buffet at 新千葉火鍋; a lot of available cooked food, one person one pot, and there were so many people waiting outside the restaurant for their turn to be called. Thankfully, tour groups were treated differently.

Traversing the small little lanes to get to our coach! 

Checking in to the five-star Grand Sheraton Hotel; walking distance from Shandao Temple MRT Station and in the centre of Taipei! Hope breakfast was as good as Lakeshore Hotel.

My gosh! This brought back memories of 2014; this was the same McDonald's where Alex and I had our first meal in Taipei! Of course, I had to share the picture with Alex and asked if he finds it familiar. He didn't remember. =_=

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