Taipei Trip with Darx

Went to Taipei with Darx on the 29th to 5th Oct cuz I managed to buy cheap air tix during Scoot 2 cents promotion. hehe. Overall it was an "okay only" trip... probably cuz it was raining 5 out of 6 days we were there and that kindda dampen our holiday mood...not forgetting I did not plan for wet-weather activity for my itinerary....

Day 1 + 2.. Arrived at Taipei in the evening....took the bus to Taipei main station and we then took the MRT to XiMenDing then our hotel.. nothing much on the first day, just check in hotel and walked around XiMenDing.. Day 2, Not a good way to begin our trip. wasted our morning...took an hour bus ride to YangMingShan...only to encounter strong wind and heavy rain with foggy weather. end up couldnt see a single thing...took another hour bus ride going back to Taipei City...decided to walk around Taipei Main Station because it seems like there were alot of shopping malls according to the map from the MRT station...but end up nothing much.....loiter till evening...proceed to Shilin Night Market...Finally! something more interesting to do...SHOPPING. Spent SGD$200 that night buying loads of stuff that evening... at least something to cheer me up after loitering around the whole day. haha.

Day 3..Had breakfast at this Soya Bean Milk shop which is suppose to be quite popular...but in my opinion I find Singapore Soya Bean Milk taste nicer? Proceed to Beitou area for Hot Spring. Again, it was raining...so we didnt walk much around that area.... but we went to this hotel for our hotspring session. Hotel was very nice! worth the money spent. After hotspring, went to tamshui old street....walk around that area...just an street full of food....took a ferry to lover's bridge...er...just a bridge..then took the ferry back. nothing interesting seriously. of course again, it was raining.

 Day 4, Visited Shifen area. Walked to the popular shifen waterfall but it was a disappointment. It's just a waterfall. And we walked 20mins from the train station to that waterfall which is nothing fantastic or "wow". Luckily the weather was not too bad...thou it still kind of drizzle abit... After visiting the waterfall, we did what a tourist would have done there, bought a sky lantern, wrote our wishes and the release the sky lantern. Let's hope our wishes come true! Went to Keelung Night Market after that...another street full of food...then it was still early so we went to another night market  -  Raohe night market. All night markets are pretty much the same I think.

 Day 5..Visited the Taipei Zoo! It was raining AGAIN. Wanted to visit the Panda...but panda Mama just delivered her baby in July and was under confinment....so there's only Panda Daddy. The panda enclosure was indoor and everything looks fake? Kindda disappointing. Their only black bear and elephants looks like they were exhibiting sterotypic behaviour which was sad to look at as well. The worst thing was when I visited the Gorilla enclosure. That was the first time I see a Gorilla in real life (always see them on TV), and I had this sudden gush of emotions coming up to me when I saw the expression of the Gorilla, especially when he look into you. OMG. He was so sad looking. that kind of I-am-sick-of-life-in-this-enclosure. I'm wasnt sure if it's due to the fact the the Gorilla is one of the closet species to human so I feel that I can tell his feelings by it's look...or was it because it was my first time seeing a Gorilla (and probably all Gorilla look like that)...But I was feeling really sad for the Gorilla. He is not happy at all. It was the first time I go to an enclosure, look at the animal and i'm like.."I don't wanna look at him anymore. It aches me to see that expression."  :((
I might sound crazy but it's time like this, the thought of "All wildlife should be set free and live in the wild like how they should/suppose be" come into my mind.  :'((

After visiting the Zoo...took the cable car up to the mountain...suppose to be looking at tea plantation but we didnt...cuz there really isnt much interesting thing to see....And darx somehow ended up with lotsa rashes on his leg...many bugs biting him there?

Day 5. Had brunch at the famous pioneer shop of Ding Tai Feng. er...but the xiao long bao taste the same as Singapore leh. Meaning Singapore Ding Tai Feng is good enough liao? lol. Walked to Taipei 101....Just another Skyscraper...Visited Hello Kitty Cafe....Raining again.....went to Shilin Night Market again cuz we run out of ideas on where to go..but I didnt bought much thing there the second time round. 

This kind of sum up my Taipei trip. Food - ok only. they eat alot of pork and beef organs like intestines, liver etc. which I obviously doesnt eat it. and they have lotsa street food which are pretty much all deep fried...

Shopping - not dirt cheap like shopping in Thailand...just a few bucks cheaper than Singapore. so not a plus point either.

Scenery/Sightseeing - Not much places of interest to go in Taipei. Scenery are mostly places out of Taipei which we didn't visit...so probably next time? No "wow" factors in the places we go.

The only thing I like about Taipei is that people there adore dogs! Dogs are seen everywhere! At the shop, on the streets, off leash following their owners, in a carrier in the MRT(yes, they allow dog in the MRT as long as they are in a carrier). How nice is that! lol.

Nevertheless, it was still a good break away from work. Oh, and I get to drink my favourite bubble tea everyday! if I stay there any more longer i'm gonna get diabetes soon. haha.