Merry Christmas 2013

d e s m o n d c k w ◦ p h o t o g r a p h y wishes all of you a Merry and blessed Christmas 2013 !

Happy Halloween 2013 !!

Happy Halloween to all of you !

基隆 Keelung, Taiwan

On the same night when we were in Jiufen (九份), we went to Keelung (基隆) night market for some snacks and minor shopping. From Jiufen (九份), we took a bus with its destination “基隆” in LED sign display from Old Street stop (across the road from 7-Eleven going downhill). It costs NT$42 per pax and about 40 mins travel time. Alight one bus stop before reaching Keelung Railway Station at Lions Bridge (獅子橋) stop on Chung Yi Rd (忠一路). It’s nearer to Miao Kou Night Markat (庙口夜市) than from Keelung (基隆) Railway Station.

Here we are ! I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

You should try Peanut flavor ice cream !

Overall, I would prefer this night market more than Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). Lastly, I would like to end this post with a photo of a cute little girl staring at me while eating :)

Click here for the full 8D7N itinerary.

九份 Jiufen, Taiwan

It's our 6th day in Taiwan so we planned to visit Jiufen (九份) since we were in Taipei (臺北). We headed to Wanhua Station (萬華車站) to get a train to Ruifang (瑞芳). The train ticket costs NT$53 per person and about an hour trip.

We took the public bus from the train station to Jiufen (九份). We were still too early to check in to the hotel so we took another bus to Gold Ecological Park (黃金博物園).

Nothing much to do here besides visiting to the museum and the gold mine tunnel.

You may also try experiencing the Gold Panning (淘金體驗) for NT$100 per person. It's quite a good experience and you can take the gold (more like gold dust to me) back with you as souvenir.

We had our lunch at a restaurant there. We tried their famous signature Miner's lunchbox. The lunchbox costs NT$220 each which includes stainless lunch box, a wrapping cloth designed with a map of the Park, chopsticks, rice, pork chop and pickled side dish.

We then went back to the homestay to check in and a short rest. We were staying at Sunny Room Minsu (陽光味宿民宿) for a night.

We continued to Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) for a short while as we were planning to go back there again the next morning. After that we took a bus to Keelung (基隆) night market which is about an hour away. I'll post more about Keelung (基隆) night market in my next post separately.

In the next morning, we woke up early for breakfast. It was a clear sunny day so I went out and took photos of the Sunny Room's surrounding while waiting for my breakfast. 

Our simple but very nice breakfast !

Before we left, I took a photo from inside my room to capture how beautiful the view was during day time !

We went back to Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) again to buy souvenirs and snacks before we left Jiufen (九份). You can find a lot of souvenirs here especially those Taiwan's specialty like Bamboo Charcoal Peanut, Sun Cake (太陽餅) and many more.

We bought quite a lot souvenirs here as the shopkeepers here were very friendly and there were a lot of samples to try before we buy. Finally, we went back to the same bus stop to take the same bus down to Ruifang (瑞芳) train station.

Last but not least, the best view of Jiufen (九份) in my opinion was from the bus stop we were waiting.

Click here for the full 8D7N itinerary.

臺北市 Taipei City, Taiwan (Part I)

Late in the afternoon, did our final shopping at Sun Moon Lake (日月潭), we were ready to leave at around 5:00 p.m. Luck was at our side, we bumped into the same taxi driver who drove us to Cingjing (情境) again. He offered to send us to THSR Taichung Station (高鐵台中站) with another guy to share the fare. So we agreed and reached THSR Taichung Station (高鐵台中站) an hour later. 

We bought the train ticket at NT$700 per person to Taipei (臺北) and departed at 6:39 p.m. We had our dinner in the train eating 便當 (lunch box) which we conveniently bought from inside the train.

Around 50 minutes later, we finally reached Taipei Railway Station (台北火車站). It is an interchange station that links a few transportation services such as Taipei Metro, Taiwan Railway Administration, Taipei Bus Station, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Access MRT System, etc. We headed to Taipei Metro or Taipei Main Station to get a train to our hotel or inn to be exact. We took the Blue Line to Longshan Temple Station (龍山寺站) which is 2 stations away.

After we checked in, we walked around the surrounding streets as we were being told that there are a few night markets nearby. We were given a map too by the receptionist. Finally we found something to eat but all other night markets were already closed. So here ended the first night in Taipei (臺北).

The next morning, we woke up early to grab some bites. We went to Mei Er Mei (美而美) which was only a few minutes walk from the place we stayed.

After that we went to Ximending (西門町) doing some shopping at the underground shopping malls as well as hunting for foods. There are a lot of underground stores here and hours of shopping will not be enough for shopping enthusiast.

We didn't spend too much time there as we planned to visit Ximending (西門町) again two days later. So we made our way to Taipei 101 (台北101) after our early light dinner. We reached there quite early about 5:30 p.m. We spent sometime walking around that area while waiting for the blue hour to capture the bluish night view of Taipei 101 (台北101).

Here ends our day 5 in Taiwan. Hope you like the photo of Taipei 101 (台北101) during the blue hour below.

Click here for the full 8D7N itinerary.