Bitching In Taipei - Day 1, 2012

We arrived Taoyuan airport today via Jetstar at 6am feeling freshed! The sleep in the plane has been good for all of us. As soon as we stepped outside the airport we were surprised how warm the weather was! And found out later it was 27 degrees!
With the pre-arranged transport (1300NT for a car) we were on the way to CityInn Plus in no time! 
I highly recommend CityInn Plus for travellers who do not need a 5 star hotel. It is value for money and the location is awesome! Take note that it must be booked 3mths in advance or else you'll be disappointed! Room rate costs 2900NT/3300NT (weekday/weekend) for a room of 4 and the room is very nice! 

After we settled in the hotel, we decided to head out for breakfast since we have slept during our red-eye flight....

And we found this at XMD area...If you know where is the lane in XMD which sells food, walk to the end of this lane, turn left and you'll see 永和豆浆...

 I love the soya milk...it's very delicious....

肉松蛋饼 - pork floss egg roll

carrot cake!!

油条单饼 - you chay kwey egg roll...

After breakfast, it's back to the hotel for a nap before we head out to lunch at 2pm!!

And lunch is of course, the famous beef noodle at Boai Road (博爱路). This is just opposite XMD, behind Cashboxparty KTV (钱柜). Just ask the people there where is 博爱路 and they should be able to direct you there. 

Try not to go to this noodle shop during peak hours because the queue can be long.

the frontage of the shop

猪脚  - pig trotters

粉蒸排骨 - steam pork ribs

牛肉面 （辣）-  spicy beef noodle

                                                  牛肉面 （无辣）-  non-spicy beef noodle

After lunch, we decided to walk to my favourite stationery shop which is near Taipei Station. But on the way, passed by Yus Tofu (于记杏仁豆腐) and so the ladies decided to eat again!

If you like almond jelly, this is a good place to go. Their dessert has no artificial flavouring and they have insisted on freshness since day one. Because of their consistency, their business has expanded and they now have 7 branches in Taipei. The brand has also been wide reported in many countries's TV stations including Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.  

After dessert, we continue our journey and we saw a 7-11 which means, time to collect our A-mei's concert tickets!

The friendly 7-11 store assistant helping us to process tickets for the tickets from the automated machine. We have to pay 40NT for admin fees to 7-11..

We continue our journey and head to Taipei Station Underground Shopping Street for cheap shoe shopping...its an ideal place to get fashionable (which you will only wear for a season or two the max) shoes or flats....only $8 a pair and lasts 1 year at least!

It was time for Shilin night market after we finished shoe shopping...To head to Shilin night market, take Danshui line to JianTan station. 

Head to the main exit and you'll see a huge Nike sign at your 11o'clock direction, head that way, go straight and you'll see the entrance to the night market after about 5mins walk....

The new main entrance of Shilin Market

Surprisingly the queue is not long....but I find the standard has dropped....

Bitching kakis happy with their chicken cutlet....

The interior...the food is in the basement, it's less stuffy than the old Shilin market

 Prawn Omelette

 Lu Rou Fan

Smelly Tofu

 Cuttlefish Soup

 Bitching kaki 1 & 3 enjoying the chicken cutlet !!

Tian Bu La 

Prawn Roll

After filling our stomach, we went to the shopping street for some retail therapy for about two hours and we finally cannot feel our legs anymore and decided to head home.

BUT our plan changed again when the taxi driver we hailed suggested us to go Yang Ming Shan for hot spring! Being spontaneous people, we said yes! Even though we have tons of shopping bags with us!

We ended in Samao Valley Hot Spring 纱帽谷 in Yang Ming Shang area. Samao has food, open air spa (no clothing allowed) and restaurants.

If you spend 400NT per person (restaurant or ktv), you can get to go to the public hot spring (unlimited time) or the private hot spring (for 2 pax) for free! If you just want to go there for hotspring, the public bath is 250NT per pax (unlimited time) or 250NT per pax for private hot spring (maximum 2 pax per room and for 30mins only).

For VIP room hot spring (private) the cost is 800NT for 50mins for 2 pax.

ONLY CASH IS ACCEPTED. 

The taxi will drop us at the car park and we'll take the dimly lighted stair to the hot spring

You'll pass by the restaurant first..

Make the payment for the hotspring at the restaurant counter, then walk out of the restaurant and head to the hot spring area

We chose the public bath 

Bitching Kakis very happy after the bath :)

We were asked to buy towels since we didn't prepare any. The small towel costs 80NT while the set (with big towel) cost 200NT.  

There were a few hot springs in the public area. The hottest being 42 degrees while the coolest is 17 degrees. We spent about 30mins in the hot spring area and felt super fresh after the soak. What a wonderful day to end our day 1 in Taipei!!!

Bitching In Taipei Day 1 → Bitching In Taipei Day 2 → Bitching In Taipei Day 3 → Bitching In Taipei Day 4