We all woke up at 7.30am, ate a very light breakfast and set off to find the famous Fu Hang Dou Jiang阜杭豆漿 @ Huashan Market. Getting there is simple. You will find directions guide at the end of this post.
Today, the sun was shining brightly and weather feelt kinda warm and cozy. This is a good sign of a fantastic day ahead. Kept fingers crossed that the weather will remain same throughout the day. I think it should, I have been totally dependent on the Weather Forecast Bureau ( I mentioned the link in my earlier posts). It has proven to be a very dependable source, to the extent of indicating the % chance that rain will fall.
When we arrived at Fu Hang Dou Jiang,
we thought there would be a long snake-queue. But luckily for us, we joined the queue just at the basement of the stairs leading to Fu Hang Dou Jiang, which is located on the 3rd floor. We heard from many local patrons in the queue that sometimes the queue will extend all the way around the building. WOW! We waited in the queue for about 20 minutes ( not bad compared to some reviews that say expect to queue for 45 - 60 mins). When we reached the doorstep of Fu Hang, our nostrils were filled with the fragrance of fresh soya bean as well as oil fried stuff like You-tiao, pancake etc. I personally don't enjoy oily breakfast, but since queue for so long, don't lose out, everything also order and try. As we queued and approaching the counter to place our orders, there was this large glass window on our left where we can see through and see how the dough and Shao-bing 烧饼 is being made. Partial manual with help of machineries. I taped a short video clip ( Further down in this post)...enjoy !
Later I found out out why this particular store is so well-known and famous! It has existed for tens of years, but in the last couple of years, it has caught the tax authority's attention and a big hooohaaaa over Fu Hang having to pay more taxes or something to that effect has caused the boss to be unhappy. But being the shrewd businessman he was, he refused to pay the additional tax and instead make a big case out of it..so much so that the media caught on and hey presto! while fighting the case, it also gain publicity, popularity and till this day, the effect is still evident in the relentless long queue! I have visited other some smaller, no reputation store and find their food taste and quality better than Fu Hang's. Well, just a personal opinion of course...feel free to try it and decide for yourself.
After breakfast, we head off to Longshan Temple. On a bright Sunday morning, many worshippers were already there. It was rather packed and we have to moved very slowly through massive human traffic! Strangely, no one seem to be walking in the middle of the temple. I am not sure if it's meant for offerings to be laid. So we also followed the crowd and walked along the sides of the temple.
Worshippers believed that if you are sincere enough in your prayers, it will be heard. I am not sure if it is a coincidence or to believe it, but my Dad did bought jossticks and prayed...guess what?! When he came back to Singapore, he strike 4D! Wooohoooo!
See this photo below? This is where my old folks and 2 kids stared for a long time. I was busy taking photos so did not realize anything unusual. Suddenly my son giggled. I looked...there was a man who obviously has lost his mind, praying in all directions, doing funny actions, sometimes holding the joss sticks in his hands, with his mouth, stamping his legs like in a trance and dancing around. I tried not too laugh and make an extra effort to stop my camera from capturing the scene. Let the poor man enjoy his day without any undue attention. We moved on...
The streets around Long Shan temple is bustling with life in the morning. May be worth spending an hour or two exploring these streets. You may be to pick up some good bargains and also taste authentic road-side push carts food stall.
The next 2 pictures showed some charity organizations distributing meal boxes to the poor and needy. At that moment, I feel that there is really nothing more in life than we can complain about...there are people out there who does not even know when their next meal will arrives. Sad....
After wandering enough on the streets, we head off to Taipei Main Station to shop around at the underground malls. It was a huge area and it is separated into a few zones. One can get lost quite easily..had our lunch there too.
Underground Malls..all lanes look alike to me and they sell things slightly more expensive here. So....just look see no buy.
Directions :
Fu Hang Dou Jiang
Take the train to Shandao Temple Station. Exit No 5. Once out from the Exit, walk straight and follow the building structure, may a right turn. You will see the staircase leading to the 3rd floor where Fu Hang Dou JIang is.
Once you alight at Shandao Station, look for this exit sign..
Once you are our from the station, (assuming you are coming up from the escalator, you will see the building exterior on your right. Walk straight down towards the corner of the building and follow the turn..
Taipei Main Station
Take a train to the station itself. Idiot proof :O)
Raohe Night Market
To get to Raohe, it is a little trickier. It depends if you are going there directly or would like to shop at Wufenpu before heading to Raohe Night Market. If you are going to Wufenpu first, then you will have to take the MRT train to Hou Shan Pi Station and take Exit 1.
I did not go to Wufenpu but went straight to Raohe Night Market, thus I took a MRT train to Taipei Main Station, and take a TRA train to Songshan Station. NOTE : MRT train is different from TRA ( just like railway train). At Taipei Main Station, you may have to ask the station control / officers to direct you to the platform to take the train to Songshan station It is only 5 mins away. To get to the Songshan platform, you will have to exit the MRT station and re-enter another station gantry ( tap MRT card) again and go the the platform. From the MRT station to the TRA platform, it takes about 3 mins walk. MAKE SURE YOU GO TO THE CORRECT PLATFORM OR YOU WILL BE HEADING TO A DIFFERENT TOWN !! Always ask and ask again just to double confirm. Some locals do not know but try to be helpful. We asked twice too...just to play safe. The train that we board was full..so we stand for the whole 5 mins journey. On board, you will see most travelers with big packs, boxes etc, they are the locals who are going back to their village or outskirts on the train..some even overnight to god knows where... haahahah!
Once you exit from the train station, there isn't much things around ( when we were there, contruction was going on). When you are coming up from the escalator, once you hit landing, turn right, down the few steps, turn right and walk towards the traffice light. From here, you should be able to see the bright lights of Ciyou temple and Raohe Market entry.
When you are done, walk back to the train station, go to Platform 1 for the train ride back to Taipei Main Station ( Do ask the control station again just to make sure! In case they do change platform boarding, dun shoot me ! )
Some photos to show the directions...from Taipei Main Station, look for the TRA/HSR sign..
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