Woke up to a beautiful and cooling day! We took a more leisurely approach today. Washed up and after a short discussion on today's itinerary, we set off to look for breakfast nearby. As we have yet had the chance to walk around our minsu during the day, we did just that this morning.
Came out of Minsu's lift lobby, took a left turn, pass by 三妈臭臭锅, walked all the way straight down. Nothing much interesting things to see. We saw this place that serves breakfast and we stopped by to eat..
The food store looks oldish, but clean. Similar breakfast items to those that we had at Fu Hang Dou Jiang :)
After breakfast, we made a quick trip to Guang Hua IT Mall. I wanted to see some electronic gadgets as well as buy an ipad cover.
Took a train to ZhongXiao Xinsheng, Exit 4. Once we come out from the station, walk straight ahead ( approx 50m) and make a right turn. Along this way, you wil pass by an elementary school. Once u make the right turn ( this is the 1st right turn after u come out from train station), you will be able to see a coffee outlet "Barista coffee". Walk towards Barista Coffee and soon you will hit a main road, and make a right turn from here. In about 3-5 mins' walk, you should be able to see Guang Hua IT mall on the opposite road ( on your left). It is a gray building and initially I mistaken it for a school and lost orientation :)
In the train station, saw this machine. Probably it is available at every train station, just that this one caught my attention as it is located at a very prominent location.
Once you spot the Guang Hua gray building on the opposite side of the road, cross the road and you will have to walk through a slip road ( photo below). Continue walking towards the end of this small road and you will reach the stairs leading to Guang Hua IT Mall. At the beginning of the slip road, there is a stall selling sweet potato, if that helps. But if the owner shifted his stall, then of course you won't see it anymore when you are there.. hahahaa!
Inside the mall, there is a total of 6 storeys, selling every gadget you can possibly think of. Many many many shops! There is also a "food street" at level 1 for the tired & hungry shoppers.
Spent less than 2 hours at the IT mall, bought 2 ipad covers and that's it, we are on our way for lunch at Du Xiao Yue.
Took a train to ZhongXiao Dunhua Station, Exit 3 to get to Du Xiao Yue.
Once you get out from the exit, just walk straight. In about 30-40
steps, you should see "Uniglo" Shop across a small little road. Cross
the little road towards "Uniglo", turn right immediately. Walk straight
on, you will pass by a guard post on your left and come to the 1st left
turn. Take this left turn. A more prominent sign will catch your
attention " YOGURT". If you see this shop, you know you've arrived. Du
Xiao Yue is just next door. It is harder to spot Du Xiao Yue from the
road as it is blocked by a tree.
See the "Yogurt" sign? Du Xiao Yue is right next door..
The whole atmosphere in the restaurant gives you the feeling that you are back at those good old days where hawkers carry their pots of food on bamboo poles across their shoulder, moving from place to place to do business. Serving crew are waited patiently for us to place our orders as I was so busy taking photos. :P
They were running full house that day, but food was served in no time.
The food quality is good, portion is small but reasonable. Again in the restaurant, there were at least 3 groups of Singaporeans dining there!
Took photos of every single page of the menu ! hahahaha! Old folks thought I was mad and kids kept giggling and ask me to be quick in case other diners think that we came from the mountain or village.
This is the order slip that we have to mark on to place our orders..
After a satisfying and full meal, we shopped around the area. Can see brand names like ZARA. Around this train station seem to be of higher class shopping. Not interested. Since my kids had wanted to go to Taipei 101 but because it has been raining since day 1 we arrived in Taipei, I have been postponing the trip to Taipei 101. This afternoon, though a little hazy, should still be ok for us to make a trip there. Likely to waste money, but still, the kids have their rights to do the things the love too..so off we go..to TAIPEI 101!
Took a train to City Hall Station, Exit 2. Once exit, turn right and exit from the station. You should be seeing a main road in front of you. Along this main road, there are at least 4 bus stops side by side. It can be confusing. We kept asking people which bus stop we should wait for the shuttle bus to Taipei 101. None could tell us exactly. In the end, one kind soul finally gave us the correct information. We should walked to the last and final bus stop and wait for the free shuttle. This bus stop is outside of a shopping centre and in front of the shopping centre you will see "Uniglo". Not exactly right behind the bus stop, but close enough for us to notice. Anyway, out from station, all bus stops are on your right. Just walk to the last one.
As an additional info, directly opposite the bus stop ( the other side of the road), you should see this following sign. This photo is taken standing directly at the bus stop.
This is how the free shuttle looks like. Make sure you read the sign displayed.
lll
Weather was kind of bad, hence this notice on the day we went..
After seeing the damper, walk around the 88th and 89th storey, that's about it. The 91st floor was closed due to bad weather. There is this one whole massive floor dedicated to selling jade, jeweleries etc..all commercial stuff. This shopping floor is a must to pass through before you can reach the lift to go right back to the Tower's base lobby.
End of our visit to Taipei 101.
Can't help but feel that the costs does not justify the experience. It's more like a business strategy to get you up there, pay a fee that contribute towards maintaining the building. ASK me three, four, five times all over again, I still would say that it is not worth it. Majority of those who went up were mainlanders. The security guards were also having a hard time controlling the crowds, queue problem etc etc. While queuing for our turn to go down the lift, that was nightmare! We were literally sandwiched in between a massive group! S.O.S!!
Finally, we were on the shuttle bus to the train station..
After Taipei 101, we went back to minsu to bathe, put down our bags and went to 金峰鲁肉饭for our dinner. This stall is famous for its lu rou fan and many locals prefer coming here than to Hu Xu Zhang. Having tried Hu Xu Zhang, we thought that was the best, but after we tried 金峰鲁肉饭, we changed our mind. This is the best of the best ! Yummy! Kids loved it soooo much that they took 2 bowls of rice. Old dad - hahaha he opted straight away for a large bowl of rice! Lovely fragrance, meat is of the just right mixture of lean and fats. melts in the mouth kind...woooohooooo!
Took a train to Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall station. Exit 2. Out from exit, walk straight down, about 60m ahead. you won't miss the big big sign.. :)
With a belly full, we took a train back to Ximen. Too full to go back to minsu, we walked along Ximentding...shopping and buuing some more food! Smelly Tou fu and Ah Chung mian xian. Mum went to look for Mister Donut !!
It was a nice evening stroll, light cool breeze. All of us feeling contented happy, we returned back to the minsu, watched cable TV, doink....zzzzzzz......zzzzzz.......
Weather : drizzle here and there, not too bad
Directions : all the the above post, just read! :)
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