台北 二

3/4/12 TODAY IT IS BLOWING A STRONG WIND in Taipei. We want to do our laundry and manage to find a coin launderette nearby 帥客.

It's not because some one is particularly irksome, it's I who is not personally cultivated, 修养素质不够高。 不够修身养性、反省自新、陶冶品行和涵养道德。

Things that are superficial pass eventually, things that are of the spirit are everlasting.

 

Whilst doing the laundry we "discovered" 刘妈妈饭糰 a few doors away。It is simply beautiful 饭糰; tasty, hot, and great as a snack. And costs only NT$35.

Whilst at the MRT station we read a flash news on the screen that Mao Kong "猫空"（貓空纜車）where we want to go this morning, is temporarily not available due to the strong wind. OMG. We then decide on skipping it and go straight to New Beitou 新北投， our next stop for the day. We will just have to leave 猫空 for another future trip.

 At the 北投 market we find some Taiwanese food stalls and shops + people selling vegies, fish, etc. Like our PASAR.

 北投图书馆

 An interesting sign in front of a urinal

北投温泉博物馆。 Beitou is famous for being a hot spring resort. There are many hot spring hotels here like the ones in Japan. There are more than 150 hot springs open for commercial undertakings in Taiwan. This culture of them is heavily influenced by the Japs.

They even have a museum for hot springs.

 Our next stop is to Tamsui. At the 淡水小白宫故宫. Tamsui is near to Keelung (Taipei sea port) in the northern area of Taiwan. It was used as an admin center during the late Ching Dynasty.

 

 樱花

台北 一

2/4/12 We have our breakfast at 帥客 and walk to the CKS Memorial Hall 中正纪念堂. It only takes us 15 minutes on foot. The entrance is FREE. As we find out in all our subsequent visits to Taiwan tourist sights ..... they are all free and are all manned by volunteers. This says something to us; that Taiwanese are proud to serve their country and community.

Chiang Kai Sek Memorial Hall Entrance from 大孝门

自由广場 entrance to CKS Memorial

Chiang's daily diary in his own hand writing

His bullet proof limo which he refused to use because he believed his fellow Taiwanese were not against him

 

 There are Chinese calligraphy exhibits going on at the CKS and I particularly like this poem .... it sounds so carefree "I am humming a song with no name of the yesteryear. With a tinge of sadness and weariness I peddle my bike making slow progress into a stream. It seems my little wheels are taking a slow walk"

 

This one is for my buddy Kee Mun

 We have lunch at 鼎泰豐; famous for its dumplings.

 

小尤包, just not as good as "Hutong" in Melbourne's Market Lane

素水饺

  油抄手

So many patrons queuing for seats at this 信義店 branch  restaurant at lunch time.We thought their quality was not as good as some other dumplings we have tried in other restaurants but it's 7/10. Not bad but not great.

I am lucky I do not die of hunger in this day and age. He likes to do what he likes and sells his skills and products which may not be wanted in this day and age

A typical water meter (under this cover) accessible to meter readers; outside homes - smart thinking

Councils provide dog poo disposal points at parks

SM likes this 豆花with 花生 dessert 

 We go to Ximenting 西门丁to shop and to see what's happening there. If one has been to Taipei, one must go and have a look at Ximenting

 

 I like the 苦瓜汁 at NT$60.

 

 老天禄滷味専賣豆干， 鴨舌，鴨翅， 鴨胗， 鴨頭，鴨腳，鴨心，雞肝，脆腸，滷蛋

 For the first time in my life I have 臭豆腐. I do not quite enjoy it and I think once is enough!

 Dinner is at 金峰滷肉 near our hotel because every time we walk past the restaurant we see many customers eating their meals there at all times of the day. We have , spinach, and 排骨苦瓜汤。 Well worth it and only at less than NT$150. This 鲁肉饭 is very "addictive".

"We seek for things in life, and when we have these things they bring us worries". True or false? That's up to you to decide.

Overall the day is fine and we get to move around quite easily ..... We find Taipei tourist spots easy to get to and it costs us nothing to get in. The shopping is great and the food is easily obtainable at an affordable price. The Taiwanese have done very well to make overseas visitors not to say "No" to coming to Taiwan for a visit.

Taiwan here we come 台湾 。。。吃喝玩乐记

游亁桂 说过 “我们入戏太深，演技不錯， 却老演别人， 忘了自己是谁了”。 我们这一次离澳三个月，希望我们不会忘记这警堤，继续充实自己； 好好利用时间， 快乐的度过日子。

1/4/12 We wake up at 5.45am, pack frantically and grab a cup of coffee at 7.00am at a nearby coffee shop. My cabbie, Wu, comes to pick us up for our flight at 7.30am. At 10 o'clock we take offfor Taipei.

We land at 2.40pm Taipei temp is 23 C. My impression of the Taipei Tao Yuan airport is that it is not the one that I used to know like 10 years ago and so I think this is a fairly new airport extension? Because we did not have our lunch we decide to head to the airport food court on level B2 from arrival hall level 1 before making our tracks to Taipei city. We are surprised there are quite a number of good local Taiwanese stalls selling delicious meals; other than the standard fast food stalls i.e. Mac Donald's and Starbucks. Their prices are pricey though, at NT$140 per meal.

鲁肉饭 - basically 猪油 mixed in with rice

客家板面 The lunch is quite costly by Taiwan standard at NT$140 each

We catch an airport bus to Taipei Main Station and then  transfer to our Hotel by cab. The process is painless and the transport staff are very very efficient. The bus fare costs only NT$125 per person (the journey takes 55 minutes but I slept through it!) and the cab fare is NT$95. All very very reasonable. 

Saual Keh is a boutique hotel and we like the hotel and its location. It is located in the Taipei Zhongzheng district 中正区 and is situated between two MRT stations - Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall 中正纪念堂站and Guting 古亭站 on the Tamsui (淡水）line. It only takes 5 minutes' walk for us to reach the CKS Memorial Hall station on foot from the hotel.