2013 / Taiwan / Taipei

Does anybody remember of this space? 

I do. Because it's where I get to talk to myself and sound less insane. 

Anyhoo, I wanted to dive straight into editing photos right after coming back since I didn't have much to do. Obviously, procrastination got the better of me and here I am, more than a month since I came back and have even settled into semester 2. Yet I still have not filtered through photos from the second half of the trip, much less edited the shit out of them.

OK SO Taiwan trip 2013 - 10D9N, 5D in Taipei, 4D in Hualien Kenting and Kaohsiung, Airbnb accommodation in Taipei, hotel accommodation everywhere else only booked when we were in Taipei lol, crazy cold weather which makes me wonder how I survived 10D in Northern India the year before, stinky tofu which made the back alley smell more like a back alley than it would on its own, etc...

D A Y 0 1

Sunday / 15 Dec 2013

Arrived in the afternoon and settled down in the Airbnb apartment in Ximending~ Wandered around the area then wandered off to Taipei 101 which wasn't ~wowz~ lol.  

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D A Y 0 2

Monday / 16 Dec 2013

We saw beautiful sunny weather in the day time that permitted us to wear a single layer and even shades. Unfortunately, it went away by the afternoon zzz. 

Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂
I've got like 2 million shots of this memorial hall from 2 million angles and distances lol

Right) One of the two million

Posted out my first postcard ever!

In the afternoon we went to Danshui Old Street 淡水老街~ As pictured, it was drizzling. Little did we know this would be the first to the many rains we experienced in Taipei sigh.

S$1 tall ice cream in that 14deg weather just for kicks ~

In hindsight, it was watery for an ice cream but I shall attribute that to its tea flavour.

Shihlin Night Market 士林夜市
I might have an extraordinary gift for making hyped places look boring as hell

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D A Y 0 3

Tuesday / 17 Dec 2013

I believe we had Ah Zhong Mee Sua that morning bc there was no queue for once that morning when we went down from the place we stayed at. We walked past it every time we left/returned to the apartment and gawd, there was a long queue all the freaking time. Ok anyway, it was nice. And scalding-ly hot. Again, my talent for making things seem boring presents itself here for my lack of photos for the ~*WOWZ*~ Ximending Ah Zhong Mee Sua. Honestly, I'm only wowed by the lack of queue that morning ha ha.

MOVING ON, we went to Yangmingshan National Park 陽明山國家公園 despite walking through the light rain in XMD that morning. I was hoping the rain would stop but no... it got so so so freaking heavy. Plus, YangmingSHAN National Park being on a SHAN made the cold worse because of the strong winds. PLUS PLUS, we had to wait for the bus that comes like, what, once every full moon or sth, in that rain.

And we couldn't see shit up there

Or maybe just two dogs cuddling together in the cold

Left) Wufenpu 五分埔 — It's a wholesale area that was supposed to be very good to shop at according to Priscilla's itinerary but very boring for guys. Yet, my brother seemed to be enjoy the place most amongst us. I was freaking bored out of my wits because 1) they are not my style, 2) they are expensive despite being wholesale (I must have been expecting like Chatuchak S$4 bargains lol), and 3) MOST PROBABLY CUS THEY ARE WINTER CLOTHES. Oh welllllll. I did get two pairs of fleece-lined printed pants because they were S$4 a pair so why the hell not?

Right) Raohe Night Market 饒河街觀光夜市 — It was highly recommended by Bella but sobs most stalls were not open probably due to the rain. Also, I might not be an easily impressed person. Anyhow, we did eat the black pepper beef buns as recommended by Pris!!! They were AWESOME because I love both black pepper and beef.

If you stare hard enough you will find an angmoh working in the stall at the back.

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D A Y 0 4 

Wednesday / 18 Dec 2013

Jiufen 九份

Another view from the same lookout point

And another view - featuring the old street which we then wandered into and is the main attraction anyway 

Icecream popiah in the making

Shifen 十分

What every shop was selling in, available in a myriad of fabric designs, colours, wishes and sizes. Oh and glow in the dark or LED or just plain normal. Lol.

What should happen

What should not happen

Obviously it was pouring again, which was also the main cause of many misfortunes in the releasing of sky lanterns. AND also my misfortune that is the lack of (decent) photos. I stood on the track for so freaking long, one hand holding my umbrella and the other shooting away. Alas, these photos all had a blurry/foggy spot because I didn't notice the rain drops on my lens whilst shooting. Additionally, others' misfortunes in their release of sky lanterns also meant less, or ruined, photo opportunities for me. Sigh.

After Jiufen and Shifen, we were supposed to go to Keelung as we had planned. Unfortunately, the heavy downpour made that a poor decision to make, so we headed back to Taipei. More specifically, Ximending, where we walked through almost every night lol. Ain't complaining cus I really like the 6-stories high Uniqlo there lolol wtf. #diehardUniqlofan It must also have been this uneventful evening that I found SO MANY sneakers I fell in love with arghhhhhhh. Roshes, Chuck Taylors, Tigers... I only brought home a pair of Tigers because they were only S$80 + THEY ARE RED. Ok that isn't really a great reason because all the other pairs that caught my eye were red anyway. Whatevs. MOVING ON!

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D A Y 0 5

Thursday / 19 Dec 2013

On this last day in Taipei, my father's friend who had resided in Taiwan for a loooooong time came by to bring us around.

This is where ~Little Burma~ is, where we had a Burmese meal lulz

Maokong Gondola 貓空纜車

Still can't see no shit

Cute station

Still a cute station

Probably my favourite photo of Taipei *_*

I only regret not stopping to take a photo of similar views on that same MRT line earlier because the darkness and dullness of sunset is not something that can be Photoshopped sigh.

Last walk around Ximending!! Can't believe I only discovered this Coca-cola themed restaurant that night argh.... Much regret. Many sad. Such woes. :(

DONE W TAIPEI!