Taipei Day 4 - Taipei, Taoyuen

(Please read this post from the bottom up.)

Thank you for a wonderful dinner!

Live performance started at 7:30

Baked chicken in ceramic can

Sticky rice with fish--the fish was very tasty and oily.

delicious pork meat 松阪豬肉

lemon steamed fish

Chicken soup with peppercorn

rabbit stew

Hearts of bamboo plant

野菜

Appetizer--wild boar skin.

We were there before 5, before they were open, so the place was pretty empty.

MOR's uncle and aunt came to pick us up to have dinner at a restaurant that features aboriginal food.

The decor and atmosphere were quite interesting.

hallway

Hotel lobby

A nice hotel room at he Novotel Airport Hotel. Room 863 on the eighth floor but unfortunately we couldn't see the runway from our room.

I guess he enjoyed his lunch.

Soup with the pork chop rice.

Both came with these appetizers--five-spice peanuts, sour cabbage, and tea egg.

...and beef noodle for MOR.

By the time we got to Taoyuen High Speed Train Station it was still too early to check in to the Novotel Hotel, so we enjoyed a simple lunch at the China Airlines Restaurant there. Pork chop rice for me...

It was time to check out of the hotel and head over to Taoyuen. Again we took the high speed train. The problem was we got on the wrong platform at the Taipei Station. We were told by the nice lady who works on the train to just take that wrong train, get off at the next station and wait for the right train that will come in about six minutes later. That way we didn't have to haul all of our luggage and go up and down the stairs to get to the other platform because both trains will stop at the same platform in Banchiao. Here we arrived at the next station--Banchiao板橋waiting for the right train to come in.

TGIFriday's!

The President's office總統府

228 Memorial Park二二八記念公園

Always ready for demonstration.

格蘭大道?--where the anti-corruption demonstration took place about six years ago, that's why it's called the Anti-corruption Democracy Square. It is still a common place for all kinds of demonstrations.

I believe the building behind used to belong to KMT國民黨but now sold to Chang Rong Fa 張榮發, the owner of EVA Air and Evergreen.

Across from National Taiwan University Hospital, there are memorials dedicated too Taiwan writers along the sidewalks. Kind of like the walk of fame or the stars along Hollywood Boulevard.

After breakfast we decided to walk back to the hotel but taking a detour using the other route so we could see some more of the city.

We passed by this church--where Rev. Kou寇世遠ministered.

The line stayed long all morning, at least 20 people continuously.

The best 燒餅油條, and I am not kidding. MOR ordered a sweet soy milk for me so I don't know how the savory soy milk tasted like. I would have loved to try that though.

Here it is--Huashan Market--2nd floor food court. The market downstairs was not even open.

If we were to take the MRT, we would get off here, exit 5 of the Shandao Temple Station. The building is just right outside of this exit.

Our last day in Taipei. We woke up early because we were told that if we want a good breakfast we need to get there early before they are sold out. We were to walk along Chung Shao Road West (忠孝西路) from Taipei Station to the next station--Shandao Temple (善導寺站) to get to this place. We could have taken the MRT but we thought it would be a nice walk early in the morning, and it was.

Taipei Day 3--Shilin and Tamsui

(Please read this post from the bottom up.)

And the rice balls. After this we checked out a couple more snack places and then decided it was time to head back. Actually Old Street kind of quiets down by now and it was only 8:30pm.

Yap, this was what we walked all the way for.

From the Fisherman's Wharf we got smart and took the bus (I believe it was R26 that goes between Fisherman's Wharf and MRT station) back to the MRT station. But we were not ready to leave yet. We walked back to Old Street and looked for some more food that was on our list. First, MOR's won ton which was actually right across from the Mackay statue that we passed by earlier.

It has a very nice hotel and a modern high-end mall with no customers. Hopefully it's busier on the weekends. Oh, the restrooms here are one of the cleanest and most beautiful restrooms in Taiwan.

I suppose this is an ideal place for lovers. It was awfully quiet and we think the place will shut soon with no business coming through.

It's called the Lovers Tower.

After dinner, we continued walking towards the Fisherman's Wharf. No, not the Space Needle.

The Dark Palace is inside this alley behind this Family Mart (全家). This picture was taken from the main street and there is no way that you could see the restaurant from here. It was good that we asked.

A big bowl of pork chop rice ($100 NTD), and a small order of da lu soup ($50NTD).

Their pork chop rice was REALLY good!

Finally, we found this restaurant called Dark Palace黑殿, whereas the guidebook said 黑店. It was not on the main street but off to an alley that you can't see from the street.

We must have walked about 3 miles from the MRT station, but things got interesting--a man was walking a wild boar in front of us and then he leashed the boar by the roadside.

By now, we were lost and didn't know how far we still had to go. "Ask and you shall find." We asked a gentleman sitting along this walk and he gave us the perfect direction to the pork chop restaurant. Without his direction we would have never found the place. He even told us not to order two regular bowls, but order one big order for $100 and share.

I wonder what's inside? American Ice Cream Culture?

This looks kind of like Mexico.

We kept walking and saw the Art Museum, an interesting building indeed.

Mosaic picture on the ground outside the courtyard.

We also visited the first Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. This area has a very European feel to it. Rev. Wang's son used to be the pastor here but now the pastor is Rev. Lee, we were told.

past Dr. Mackay's statue in the town squre (Mackay was the first Christian missionary to Taiwan.) See the building in the background? It has pictures of McKay painting all over it. It reminded me a lot like Barcelona.

So we walked...

We followed the map and walked passed Old Street...continuing on to look for a place that was in the guide book for good pork chop rice. We did not realize that it was almost impossible to find that restaurant without proper directions. The guide book only shows this restaurant and Fisherman's Wharf with an arrow pointing outside of the map.

This was around 4:30 PM and the place was packed with tourists. The street was lined with many interesting stalls selling food items and anything you can think of.

Our afternoon activity was to visit Tamsui 淡水. Taking the MRT to the end of that route was very easy.

We just followed the signs and walked from the station to Old Street淡水老街.

Then we went back to the hotel and met Rev. Gih for lunch at the YMCA near by.

The fountain right outside to the left of the residence.

Entry to the park is free but you need a ticket to go pass this gate to the residence.

We were told we couldn't show any part of the inside so we had to move to the side of the entrance to get this picture.

The former residence of President and Mrs. Chiang Kai Shek. We could only take pictures of the outside. Nothing inside can be in any pictures, not even the entry way. This is a very special place, it preserved many important facts of the lives of President and Mrs. Chiang, especially reflective of their spiritual lives and faith to God. It costs $100 NTD to get in but well worth it.

A big old cadillac that once belonged to Madame Chiang.

After breakfast we took the MRT to Shihlin Station and then walked about 300 meters to the President Chiang and Madame Chiang's Residence which is now open to the public.

Of course, MOR wanted a Chinese breakfast of porridge. This is the only restaurant out of four that offers a Chinese breakfast.

Today we are on our own. For breakfast, there are four restaurants where we can redeem our breakfast coupons at near the hotel. We tried the Dante yesterday, which is right next to the hotel entrance. Today we want to try the Base, which is at the basement of the hotel. My freshly made smoked-chicken sandwich was wonderful. The place was quiet and unique.