夜市初体验
L and I arrived in Taipei on a Wednesday evening and Mousie came to pick us up from the airport. It was great seeing her again and she actually claimed to have dressed up to meet me! Ha! Anyway, she looked as sweet as ever. It was a 40 mins' drive from the Chiang Kai Shek International Airport to 板桥, where Mousie suggested that we dine at 南雅夜市, one of the many famous night markets in Taipei. Being a foodie lover, I was naturally excited. We tried the 麻油鸡(chicken in sesame broth) which was one of the popular items in 南雅夜市. I found it too oily for my liking though.
南雅夜市的麻油鸡-很有名哦！
看起来很不错吧。
The next dish that we tried was 麻婆臭豆腐. It was a spicy hot pot with fried "smelly beancurd", pig's blood and assorted vegetables. This was more to my liking, unlike those really smelly ones in Hong Kong, and I ate quite a lot.
好吃的臭豆腐
We walked around the 夜市after dinner and I continued to indulge myself in various snacks like red bean mochi, honeyed sweet potatoes and sour plums. It seemed as though I had been starved for years! As we were a little tired after our flight, we decided to go back to Mousie's house early to rest before "cheonging" around Taipei the next day.
十分瀑布-惊险时刻
Actually I was really thankful to have gone on the trip with L because she practically planned everything! I was literally "travel-loafing". We wanted to go somewhere further the next day so 十分and 九份 were on our radar screens. From 永宁车站, we took a 4o mins' ride to 瑞芳, before changing another train to 十分 to see the biggest waterfall in Taipei. A little hitch occurred along the way as we misread the map shown at the train station and alighted one stop earlier, at the deserted 大华车站.
Since the next train was a 1.5 hours wait (believe it or not!), we decided to walk to 十分瀑布 to save time. It was a 30 mins trek along the railway and across a dark tunnel. I was worried as I walked and it didn't help that a small snake came crawling out halfway and scared me out of my wits! But we had to brave through the journey (as shown in the picture on the left). When we finally reached 十分瀑布, I decided it was well-worth the "danger" that we risked. Of course it was not comparable to a scale of the Niagara Falls but it had a unique charm of its own. We took the opportunity to sit there and chat, take a few pictures, before trotting our way back to the correct train station aka 十分车站 to complete the second part of our planned journey to 九份.
You should have seen how my eyes lit up when I saw this sign!
This is the prelude to the fall...
Now you see it!
The "aftermath" of the fall... Serenity...
Doesn't this waterfall look like a pair of spectacles? It's called 眼镜瀑布.
The famous hanging bridge or "吊桥"at 十分.
On our way back to 十分车站, we saw an interesting sight. There was a team building exercise going on and the employees wrote their wishes on 天灯 or "sky lanterns" before letting go of the lanterns into the sky. It is said that if your lantern is launched successfully, your wish will come true. We also walked through the old streets of 十分 where we saw a few old handicrafts stalls and a "mama" shop selling ice cream and sweets.
Top row: Launch of the sky lantern
Bottom row: Shop selling sky lantern, the old "mama" shop and handicraft stall
Top row: The pretty 十分车站
Bottom row: The platform where we waited for our train
九份老街-又吃又买
Due to the unexpected delay in trekking towards the waterfall, we reached 九份 in the late afternoon. For those who are not aware, 九份 is a famous tourist attraction in Taipei because it is an old town so you get the nostalgic feeling as you roam along the small streets and enjoy the busting atmosphere. It was one of the highlights of my trip, especially since the food there was really yummy. Well, the pictures tell it all!
It was late evening when we arrived at 九份, located on top of a hill...
Left: The scene where the movie "悲情城市" was taken
Middle: A teahouse where you can sit down and relax after a long walk
Right: Rows and rows of unique shophouses selling snacks and soveniors
Assorted fish cum meat ball soup (top right).
Braised beancurd. (bottom left)
芋头粉圆汤-超好吃！
It was quite late after we had our dessert and time to head back to Taipei City. We bought a lot of things at 九份, almost 2 bags each and had a hard time lugging everything back to Mousie's house. I took a picture of 瑞芳车站 before we boarded the train. Really enjoyed the trip here lots and would definitely recommend this place to anyone who's visiting Taipei. Trust me, you will have lots of fun and food here. :)
Coming up next... Visit to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall
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