[3D2N] July's Taipei Weekend Staycation - Day 01

After a super super long hiatus, I finally made my way back to Taipei. Thinking back, my last trip was back in 2010, OMG!!!! 15 years ago…. Hahaha sia! I decided to redeem my KrisFlyer Miles for a return flight, as my miles are expiring soon by this October. Thanks god for free tickets!

We took a morning flight, and it is scheduled at 0830hrs. I had a pleasant 4hour+ flight to Taoyuan International Airport. We arrived around 1.30hrs local time. (do note that there is no time different)

After clearing the customs at the airport, we made our exit to take our pre-booked return transfer online from the airport. It was pleasant and hassle-free. The private car took an hour to reach Songshan District where our hotel was located.

We booked our stay in Taipei at Mandarin Oriental, Taipei. I decided to splurge on our accommodation since we didn’t pay for our airfare.

I love the room, as it is perfectly beautiful and pretty spacious. It is located in between Nanjing Fuxing Station and Taipei Arena Station. The black and white contrast of the bathroom creates a striking visual effect. What’s more, the bath amenities at the hotel are supplied by Diptyque, adding to a luxurious experience

IMHO, location not the best but the room and amenities and service rendered by the hotel is top notch.

After check-in, we made our way by foot for our late late lunch. We settled at ‘A Handsome Guy! Restaurant, which sells the classic Taiwanese street food-Braised pork on rice. We ordered a bowl of the normal rice 滷肉飯 each, and it was tasty.

 

The fatty pork was great and the rice was fine. But it didn’t rock my world, probably I just expected a bit of something more special and unique in Taiwan. I may or may not go out of my way to get it again (depend on the hotel I stay for my next visit).

After our meal, we took the subway to Ximen to visit Ximending - vibrant, youthful district in Taipei known for its shopping, entertainment, and street food, as compared to Korea’s Myeongdong.

A stop at 阿宗麵線 at Ximending 西門町 is mandatory for many tourists include me to Taipei. Even it was pouring that day, we still made our way to queue for a hot and savory soup noodles. It took them less than 10 seconds to serve a bowl of mee sua, so the queue moved pretty fast.

The mee suah noodles were done very soft to near breaking point. Do remember to add some sauce from the sauce station, as they really enhance the overall taste.

The rain was pouring heavily, so I went to do some shopping at Poya - a lifestyle and beauty store while waiting for the rain to subside. As for Baby, he waited at the McDonald’s for both the rain and me to finish my shopping purchase.

We went to the POPMART - Taiwan’s Flagship for some retail therapy. We waited in line for about 20mins before we can enter the shop. 

It is a 4-storey shop with a magnificent MEGA SPACE MOLLY showcase - reminiscent of an old school movie theater, complete with Hollywood style cinema billboards and lightbulbs.

Beef noodles is arguably Taiwan’s most iconic dish. We continued to find good food in Ximending for our dinner at Menqian Yin Wei Beef Noodle Restaurant (門前隱味牛肉麵). It is a hidden gem that is popular among the locals.

It beats the same concept just like Ichiran Ramen. Diners can choose between thick or thin handmade noodles, and to add spiciness to their beef noodles. The meal is completed with a selection of small side dishes and a refreshing drink, creating a well-rounded and satisfying meal.

The depth of flavour in the soup was remarkable, and I enjoyed it very much.

The damage was leading towards the steep side, as we paid about SGD20-ish per pax. 

The weather was pretty humid after the rain, so we decided to have some cold desserts. We came across this crowded dessert shop - Yi Zhi Mai Ice Shop.

Although the eatery place is packed, the service was fast as we got our order in less than 10 minutes after we ordered.

Overall, this is a fuss-free dessert place which is not really meant for chilling as the shop was noisy ; fill with crowd! The desserts tasted great and did the job to  quench our thirst, therefore we were not bothered by the noisy environment.

The rain stopped, and we decided to bash down to Shilin Night Market by train. This night market offers an abundance of all sorts of food and drink stalls. We found souvenirs, clothes and carnival games there too!

We left around 11-ish as the train runs till midnight! What a fruitful day one in Taipei. We were dead tired! We went straight for our shower and then headed to bed after a long day. We needed to charge up our energy levels in order to explore the city the very next day!