Gonna attempt to blog down my taiwan trip... with FB these days, i rarely blog as much as i used to. But i still think that despite the saying that 'A picture is worth a 1000 words', descriptions and narratives are still very much important. I don't think that I can remember everything about my trip just by looking at my pictures 2 years later..
Yvonne found this really cool hotel, Ambience Hotel and I was pretty impressed with it!
Its a boutique designer hotel that wasn't too pricey.. i think it cost us only S$500+ for 5 nights for 2 pax? Plus breakfast was provided too! The service was exceptional as well. :) Highly recommended!
Ambience Hotel
the room!
Went to a japanese departmental store at Taipei Main Station to get some ettusais products as Korea doesn't carry this line. Am quite pleased with the results! ^^
I arranged to meet Shalin & Dingdang on the 2nd day I arrived & since we had some time to kill before meeting them, we headed off to Ximending to soak in the atmosphere!
Outside Ximen Station!
My 1st meal in Taiwan was the Ah Zhong Mian Xian that everyone was raving about online!
Ah Zhong Mian Xian!
It was pretty tasty too.. n cost only $2 or so for this whole bowl! I shared half with Yvonne as I didnt' want to spoil my appetite for the buffet that we were gonna have!
Check out all the food!
We headed to a buffet restaurant on the 2nd level of Rainbow Hotel (note: the buffet restaurant is not inside the hotel, but outside it!) and it cost abt NTD$450~ or so for a free flow of food n drinks + desert! But the downside was that the food was limited to 3 orders per item. Even then, we were pretty stuffed by the 2nd order, so i suppose that its more than enough. The beef was extremely good!
Yvonne brought me to this 'wholesale like' store that sold cosmetics, masks and other toiletries for a pretty cheap price!
the entrance to the store
the building opposite it.
Its located on the outskirts of Ximending though.. anw, i bought like S$60+ worth of masks & toiletries! hur hur hur.
Ximending wasn't all that impressive. in the sense that the shopping wasn't really my style. Cheap though it may be, the quality just didn't justify the price tag.. We adjourned to a nearby Starbucks for a toilet break. The interior decor was really cool! I think it must have been a teahouse or sth at one point in time. :)
interior of Ximending's Starbucks
The MTR has priority seats for the elderly and handicapped, similar to what Korea has! However, there weren't that many seats to begin with though...
inside the MTR
Met up with SHalin & Ding dang @ Taipower MTR station before heading off to Shida Night Mkt for shopping! the clothes were markedly better, though albeit at a much higher price. And most of the clothes were imported from Korea. Didn't make much sense to buy them since I could get them for a much cheaper price in Korea..
It was really great meeting Dingdang after 3 years! n Shalin after 1 month (she came over to Korea in March!) would love to go back someday to catch up with them more.. Dingdang's pretty busy with her store, so she hasn't been out of the country since 2008! Anw, i'm not done with exploring Taiwan too! so yup, that gives me a good excuse to go back to visit!
Shalin, dingdang and me.
my loot for the day
