Category Archives: Random Daily Blabs

A year after he proposed, we decided to head back to Taiwan since we had such a good time the previous year, we wanted to explore more areas in the beautiful country 🙂

The airport was quite crowded before taking off, but thank God for the non existent cranky babies (if not, it could have been a rough four hours plane ride).

Upon arriving, the weather greeted us was refreshing and cooling.

The type of weather that I love the most! 🙂

This was us at the airport before flying off 🙂

We didn’t snap any photos at the airport in Taiwan because we arrived late in the evening and wanted to reach the hotel as soon as possible.

The airport did not change much from our previous trip there.

Youth Cards provided at the Information Counter was the same as last year, but brochures were different.

Jason couldn’t get a new Youth Card because he was above 30 years old in 2013 🙁

Nonetheless, I still gotten myself a new card without any issues 😉

(Shows how YOUTHFUL I am! Bahahaha!)

After the whole i-am-old-and-you-are-young talk in the airport, we then took the bus to Taipei Main Station since according to the hotel’s website, the place is just a 10 – 15minutes walk away from the station.

For a moment, we thought that we were lost because we couldn’t find the right exit at the train station.

But after asking a nice security guard for the correct exit, he directed us to the right one (thank you Mr. Nice Security Guard) 🙂

We stayed in a hotel called ‘See You Hotel’ located in the Zhongzheng district (a quick walk away from Taipei Main Station).

In general, the staff there were quite friendly during our one night stay and even though the room was smaller than I was used to during my previous trip in Taiwan, it was clean and neat (so no complains there) 🙂

The rate of the room per night is an estimate of RM350 (without discount), but you could always try to get a great deal online when it is available.

If you want to get more information about the hotel we stayed in, please feel free to click the link below:

http://www.taipeiseeyouhotel.com.tw

A photo of the room (no bathroom photo because somehow I forgotten about it, but the size was decent enough)

Freshened up and it was time to purchase our dinner from random restaurants, stalls and family owned shops.

Something that I recommend trying if you do not have a sensitive stomach! 😉

But it is also recommended that you follow the strict rule of expiration dates on food if purchased from convenience stores (both of us had food poisoning during our stay in Taiwan which I will cover on in my next few posts).

Stopped by a small shop at the corner because we passed it on our way walking to the hotel earlier and it was selling lightly fried buns with such a delicious meat filling in it.

Yums! I still miss it till today.

The people who makes the delicious stuffed bun *drools*

A close up view of the buns before they were made into perfection 😉

And this was the final product of the bun! Oh how I missed it! 🙁

The juice was so hot to the point that it burned my hand as it spilled out from the bag, but I had no regrets even though the hot sauce left a mark on my hand for the entire night! 🙂

I forgotten to take down the name of the shop while I was there.

However, you can’t miss it if you stay nearby the hotel that we were living in because people were practically lining up after we bought our yummy-licious bun 🙂

While munching on some goodness, we were on our way to Ximending.

The first time when we were there in 2012, the place was not as happening as the brochures portrayed it would be (maybe because we were there in the afternoon where nothing was really opened yet).

So this time, we decided to head over in the evening when everyone came out to play after their school and work 😉

As usual, our mode of transportation in Taiwan were their reliable railway train system.

One of my best friend is currently living in Taiwan and she got us a student EasyCard which gives us a discounted rate for bus and metro train rides (saved quite a bit on transportation with that card) while we were traveling around the country.

Thanks Dim! *mwahs!*

For more information on the EasyCard below for your reference:

http://www.easycard.com.tw/english/easycard/index.asp

Upon our arrival, we were quite happy to see such a lively place filled with people walking around enjoying the place and cooling weather.

We were so lucky to be there when they were having a mini flea market around the Red House 🙂

This simply means shopping! ;p

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My fiance (at that time) posing quite forcefully with the view of the Red House behind him :p

A view of Ximending in the evening

Handmade pouches for phones (I’m sorry to be completely oblivious to the sign, but it was too cute to pass on)

Sweet looking handmade lights available for sale! 🙂 

Pretty handmade doggie collars for your furry friends at home! I bought a tie for my ShihTzu back home 🙂

People busy purchasing their own unique handmade item 🙂

I personally think that the items sold there were quite affordable since it is most likely the only piece available in their collection.

It is quite good to support young people in their dreams of becoming someone someday 🙂

This type of trend keeps the place lively and beautiful!

Inside the Red House was really something similar to the fleamarket outside with unique and handmade items, but the things sold inside was a bit pricier than the ones outside.

I just bought a pack of cute looking stickers from one of the shops downstairs that costed RM1 per sticker.

In total, I bought 10 small pieces because the slightly bigger ones costed about RM1.50 and above or more, which was not something that I would spend on.

A couple selfie before entering the Red House 😉

The design on the wall of the main entrance

A very cute themed window of a shop

A cute bunny mascot themed shop with loads of their products all around

Some shops selling traditional prints in a modern day concept

Everything handmade! 🙂

One of my favourite window decoration in the place because it reminded me of how my table would be like :p

Their very own mascot outside the shop <3

Their window decoration beside the blue mascot

A very cute way to use a plain board <3

Another way of mixing vintage items with a modern touch 🙂

The view upstairs with other available shops

A shop selling unique design tshirts for men

A wall at the middle filled with different images of people (quite a good idea for my photos at home)

This really cute thing was standing at the side of the walkway to the teahouse to welcome guests I guess? ;p

We headed back downstairs to find a teahouse available for people to sit and enjoy the ambiance in the Red House, but it was quite packed when we were there and decided to head elsewhere to have something to eat.

For more information on the Red House, click on the link below:

http://www.redhouse.org.tw

This time, we walked across the street where most people were.

A lot of restaurants with different themes and food were all over the place!

We decided on our meal as we saw the all famous Ah Chung Mee Sua shop with a short line :p

They serve you with a spoon in a bowl to eat with and the remaining sauces were available at the side of the store near a pillar.

So for people like me who eats with a fork and spoon, the feeling to eat with just a spoon was quite odd. Haha.

But nonetheless, that bowl of noodles were really good 🙂

Something different from the usual Malaysian style of Mee Sua that I am used to.

The busy street of Ximending

The all famous Ah Chung Mee Sua shop

Look at his happy face while eating :p

With a semi full belly, we took a short walk to look around Ximending.

All I can say is that the place is totally different from the day scene and I like it!

In the afternoon last year, there weren’t as many things to see as compared to just one evening.

We found food again to satisfy our tummies (we are really small eaters) while walking around and it was another yummy treat in a bun *yums*

The back of Ximendng street with a few unique things to see

Huge sausage in either a rice bun or normal bread bun 🙂

Different types of gravy to choose from the menu

I can’t read, write or speak Mandarin so my fiance ordered instead :p

We bought just one and shared between the both of us because it turned out to be HUGE.

While he was waiting for his food, I stepped into a shop selling umbrellas just opposite the stall.

I did not manage to snap any photos in the shop, but I bought two umbrella’s for our use in Taiwan.

Apparently, the umbrella’s sold in Taiwan is somewhat wind proof and easy to open and close with a touch of a button!

You will never need to pull your umbrella shut in the middle of a rain anymore 🙂

But the cheapest umbrella sold in the shop was around RM35 with minimal functions.

I bought the RM50 one with additional functions :p

I tried haggling with the salesgirl there but she said the price was fixed 🙁

Anyways! It was time to say goodnight to our first day in Taiwan with a happy and full belly 🙂

(plus the stuff I bought just on the first day. hehe!)

A last photo of myself for the night 🙂

Goodnight Ximending! <3

You were a wonderful experience for our first night in Taiwan.