Taiwan Travelogue: Day 6 in Taipei at Dian Shui Lou with a pampering session and back to SG on Day 7!

The last of my entries for the Taipei trip! Gonna lump my last 2 days together because I don't really have much pictures to share haha oops.

Will do a post on where to buy makeup in Taipei, especially for those brands not available in Singapore ya!

So stay tuned for that :D

Moving on, I woke up feeling tons better the next morning after popping Panadol the night before.

Headed out at around 2pm for lunch to the 東區 area because the bf decided to bring me to 點水樓 for xiao long baos!

Couple selfie in the cab first! With tons of filters because I still look sick.

Touted as the best xiao long baos in Taiwan, 點水樓 is located at SOGO Fuxing Level 11. You can alight at Zhongxiao Fuxing station and exit towards the Fuxing building of SOGO.

By the time we arrived it had already changed its menu to the afternoon tea one so sadly, not much rice/noodles for us to pick D:

Ordered a few dim sum style dishes to fill up our hungry tummies!

Xiao long baos and dumplings

Siew mai

Truffle xiao long baos

I swear you have to give the truffle xiao long baos a try! The smell.... I thought truffle fries were my favourite form of 'truffle-food' but the xiao long baos just overtook the fries to become my number one truffle infused food item!

Soupy xiao long bao! Yum

THIS!!! MUST.ORDER!!

This was the worst thing to order D: Some custard bun thingy.

Tasted like really dry huat kueh FML

After that I went shopping for more makeup (HEHEHE!) before walking around to find a mani/pedi shop to do my nails. I originally wanted a store that is near to Breeze Center but they were fully booked :( Note to self: must make an appointment in future!

So walked around the SOGO area and found a really small store that was very free (probably not good one...)

And true enough, the nail polishes used were all brands that I'd never heard of before wtf.
Still went ahead with a mani/pedi session because I had no time to do my nails before my cousin's wedding as I would arrive in SG very late the next day.

The bf was really nice to accompany me throughout the 2 hour odd session and then we went to tabao food back for his brother and our dinner!

This store is directly opposite 東區粉圓 which is extremely famous for its.... 粉圓 la what else lol! The cold noodles from this store is very nice! Do try it if you happen to pass by here then afterwards just cross the road to have dessert lol. FYI they sell out very early so we were lucky that there were still noodles available that evening.

The address to Dong Qu Fen Yuan: No. 38, Lane 216, Section 4, Zhongxiao East Rd, Taiwan 106

The bf loves eating this so we tabao-ed 2 portions to go as well! No pics because the guys devoured it without pausing to let me take a picture wth.

Last minute shopping in Watsons hehehe!

Last day in Taipei was spent........... having lunch with the bf's family and then rushing to the airport lol!

Last couple selfie :(

China Airlines back to SG

In preparation for the upcoming concert then lol

I was so late at the airport - 1 hour before take-off - due to the late lunch and torrential rain on the way.

Please factor in about an hour before your check-in time to allow yourself to reach Taoyuan Airport in time.

Ran to the gate and promptly forgot to take back my SG simcard wtf.

Had to text the brother to get my mum to get a replacement simcard because I was landing only at 9pm in SG and the wedding I had to attend was early in the morning the following day.

Thankfully I was able to spot my dad at the arrival gates if not I dunno whether public payphones are still available in Singapore leh.

Anyway, that's the end of my 7D6N trip to Taiwan to visit the bf haha!

He'll be back in Singapore soon (I hope) before going off to the UK for studies ^^ Can't wait!

Taiwan Travelogue: Day 5 in Jiufen, Shifen Waterfall and how I fell sick

Wokays, as I'm sipping on my lovely Perrier water (ya, I'm that atas. But I only buy when they are on offer at NTUC or wherever lol #cheapo), here's Day 5 of my Taiwan trip.

Sorry but that's pretty much what you're gonna read so far because I am tied up at work really badly D:

Not that I am doing anything big but... just sian lor lol. Ok, no link, let's move on with this entry!

The bf had to go for his dental appointment the day before hence we pushed our trip to Jiu Fen to the next day (and also because his brother will be delivering goods to the area so... free ride?)

Taiwanese style breakfast

Woke up very early and left the house to head to his mother's office first. Stopped by a market to grab some pots and pans together with our breakfast!

I didn't enjoy the meal because of the oily food but that's just the beginning of a very bad day.

Somehow I was feeling really lethargic and nothing could perk me up. My head felt like it was pounding non-stop and I didn't even bother putting on makeup that morning.

Headed to Jiufen which is located on the outskirts of Taipei City - it's literally in Taipei County.

From my understanding, Jiufen became really famous because it was featured in a Taiwanese movie and somehow boom! Tourists everywhere xD

But yeah, it was literally crowded with tourists the ENTIRE way when I visited.

I love Jiufen for its rustic feel and old school food that you do not find quite easily around the cities.

Everytime I visit Jiufen, the 老招牌 stores remain but others simply appear. It's amazing how fast the turnover of a place can be haha but I suppose that is the norm in places of interest.

You can find a plethora of things at Jiufen - food, snacks, toys etc. I actually picked up some combs made from jade(?), the material used to make gua sha tools for my mum because she requested for them. So yeah, you want anything you'll probably be able to find them here save for clothes la. This is not Wu Fen Pu yo! LOL.

Stopped by a store that was selling very old school toys. The bf paid the NT10 for my try on this box-like thingy. Bascially you choose a square and poke your fingers through it.

And then whatever is inside the box will be your prize! 

I got 6 mini pencils. IKEA gives them for free leh...

This snack is what I would call popiah ice cream and is unique to Jiufen actually.

Popiah skin sprinkled with some grated peanut and topped with 2 scoops of yummy ice cream (I think it's yam flavoured but not overwhelming the taste) then wrapped to look like a popiah.

I liked it but.... my nightmare had barely begun. By them I was feeling semi-nauseous, possibly due to the winding roads up to Jiufen so those who have motion sickness, please remember to take your meds!

I wasn't sure why I was feeling that way but yeah, could feel myself being really uncomfortable and queasy in the stomach.

Went to find Jace and her friend in one of the cafes.

Yup, sick also have tot take selfie yo!

We all made our way back to the car to head off to our next destination: Houtong Cat Village but alas, the weather was not on our side because it started raining heavily.

Decided to just go to Shifen Waterfall, hoping that the rain would ease up but still no hope.

When we reached there, I felt really guilty making the bf's brother drive up so treacherous roads so I told the girls to go down with me to the waterfall just so the trip would not be wasted lol.

And yes, despite the torrential rain, we all took our umbrellas, paid the bloody NT100 entrance fee into the waterfall area and promptly left after 10 mins of photo-taking lol.

Returned to the car and by then I was soaked to the core, which evolved into me feeling extremely sick from then onwards. The car went on to Kinmen round Yehliou and I kinda 'merlion-ed' at the restaurant that served really awesome duck. Oops. Went back to the car to rest with the bf because by then I was already burning, probably due to the rain :(

Felt really bad to be such a wet blanket but at our next stop, a restaurant for more food (LOL!) I only had a mini bowl of lu rou fan because my stomach still didn't feel good. But at least I wasn't puking anymore hahaha.

Gonna be an abrupt end to this post because.... I was sick from then on lol. So no more pictures!

I would highly recommend you taking a day trip out of Taipei City if you are unable to travel to other cities in Taiwan.

Hire a driver and plan an itinerary to the following places: Yehliou (to see the geographic rocks), Shifen (to let go of sky lanterns, see the waterfall although I don't recommend this portion cos it was... nothing much), Houtong (only if you love cats ya!), Keelung (to visit the Miaokou Night market).

If not, at least pay Danshui a visit! You can spend a good half a day there to just stroll around the harbour and old street, enjoy the famous tie dans and ah geis (fishballs) that originates from the area. I regret not visiting Danshui on this trip, in fact my last trip to this place was in 2008. I will go back when I can so... hoping that the next trip to Taipei will come soon! 

LOL ok, bye~