Taipei - Day 2

We woke up refreshed from yesterday's madness. And surprise surprise! I didn't fall ill. 

As such, we made our way to breakfast. The spread is a combination of Japanese, Taiwanese and Continental. The view from the meal room was slowly warming us up to the day.

How he can deal with having sashimi for breakfast, only he will know.

The little pavilion as part of the park next to the Beitou Hot Springs Park (Qinshui Park) (北投溫泉親水公園).

After breakfast, we lazily made our way out of the comfy hotel and onto the streets with searing heat. We had decided to make our way up the hill a little.

Along the way, we saw this stately hotel. The Grand View Resort, designed by Lee Chu-yuan, i.e. designer of Taipei 101. 

Beside it was the Beitou Folk Museum.

Cabinets for our footwear.

Paid the entry fee and received thin socklings with friction dots. Black for the guys, and the icky skin colour for girls.

'Good Fren's socked up foot. Eeeee...

The real exhibit of this museum is the house housing the exhibits. A rich man's gallery opened to the public.

The rise of Beitou was all thanks to the Japanese who discovered the hot springs and began to carve a destination out of sleepy Beitou. Soon, it became a hot spring spot for Japanese to enjoy, with also the emergence of Japanese pottery kilns in the area. Hence, this area feels like Japan.

I love this large airy room that can hold many guests.

'Good Fren' pretending to be a guest, awaiting the commencement of performances on the stage.

More walking brought us to the infamous 地热谷, where one can experience the wrath of the Earth, heating up the spring water to 80-100 degC. 

And the smell of sulphur hits you unapologetically. The entire area is a sauna. I could feel my pores opening wide. It's quite a bizarre experience.

Puji Temple 普济寺 is also just a few minutes' walk away. Built with donations from Japanese rail workers in Japanese style back in 1905, this small temple sits quietly at the top of a slope.

If the view from our apartment was as such, I'd surely find the Zen Way too.

On our way down the hill, we met him. He's kind of freaky yet hilarious.

Back at the bottom of the hill and in Qinshui Park, a public bath.

The Beitou Hot Spring Museum 北投温泉博物馆 gives a great overview of the Xinbeitou Hot Springs area. Its Architecture is a mix of European and Japanese. Quaint and comfortable.

Top view from our hotel room.

A huge tatami hall on the second floor. We were standing on the stage when taking this pic.

Check out the European columns against the Japanese sliding doors.

Stained glass lending a touch of colour to the now-defunct public bath in the ground floor.

Opposite the museum is the Taipei Public Library (Beitou Branch). This eco-friendly structure is built with wood from managed forests (as opposed to primary/secondary forests), and is resource-saving (e.g. electricity).

Top view from hotel room. Can see the solar panels on the roof.

 A piece of stone art found at the entrance to the library.

When will we have a wooden public building in Singapore?

We dropped by a supermarket and saw Thai durian on sale. It's weird. Couldn't smell the durian very well.

We bought some fruits and drinks, then shared a pavilion with some local ah peks at Qinshui Park. Nourishing ourselves before we make our way to Danshui 淡水.

Pet supplies shops are everywhere.

We didn't notice this earlier. A Waiting Zone for female passengers at night on the MRT platform.

To keep female passengers safe... The zone is surveyed by cameras.

'Good Fren' checking the screens inside the Xinbeitou train again.

Waiting for the train... We are taking the train on the blue line to its end, i.e. Danshui 淡水.

Crossing the huge junction that separates Danshui MRT station and our destination, when in fact, it's connected to the MRT station. We are blur tourists.

This is where we were headed. 淡水老街 Danshui Old Street.

It's a long street parallel to the riverside walk, and is filled with odd snacks, curios, nooks and crannies to keep one occupied with for a good half a day.

'Good Fren' jumped into action almost immediately.

Sausage with glutinous rice. Warm and savoury.

I love these... My favourite are the ones made by Crystal Jade at Great World City. These are not bad either... It's just weird to add chilli sauce

We keep seeing people on scooters with a dog. Not kidding. Later in Ximending, we witnessed a pair of rather jolly-looking uncle and auntie on a tiny Vespa, with their huge furry adult golden retriever oozing out of the scooter in all directions. I guess that is democracy.

'Good Fren' insisted on trying this fried durian thing.

It's too weird for my liking.

I realised through this trip that 'Good Fren' likes cuttlefish.

But the powder made us sneeze and choke. LOL!

After all those snacks, it's time for a drink. Mother Hong's plum juice was all over Danshui Old Street. 

And it's goooooooood... I'm such an ajumma these days.

2 other must-tries along Danshui Old Street are:

(1) Ah Po 'Iron Egg' 阿婆铁蛋

We refused to try it coz its description sounded unpromising. I mean... Cooking the egg in some sauce till it shrinks to a fraction of its original size, doesn't sound appetising at all.

(2) Fishballs 鱼蛋

We didn't try coz we were too full by then, but would have... Maybe next time.

Now that our tummies were filled, time for some hardcore 'sight-seeing'.

There are many little alleys to be explored if you had the energy to.

At the top of a hill, was the Red Castle 红楼.

Apparently, there were 106 steps to the top.

These insects were EVERYWHERE, creating a deafening din.

Finally! The Red Castle!

Eh?! How come it's angmoh-looking? =))

Coz Danshui used to be colonised by the Spanish, then the Dutch, and later had a sizable live-in British population.

On our way down the steps... the view must have been even more amazing back in the 1600s.

We noticed that someone had attempted to graft this plant onto various parts of a huge old tree, and promptly sprang into a conversation about how mankind wields control over other living things. Whether this is a perversion etc.

That conversation helped us make our way down to the street level again.

Back on the street, I crossed the road and left 'Good Fren' behind. Because we are seldom separated, this is a pic of my view of him from afar. It's cute.

I waved at him from across the street. "Papa?! Papa!!"

Oh... Blinky is looking so cute in the shop window.

I thought this gentleman was Chinese, until I read the plague.

Dr Mackay is a Canadian medical doctor and missionary. He came to Danshui in 1872 and founded many medical and educational facilities, including the Oxford College.

BM: Eh Papa! Oxford leh! Wanna go see?
GF: Erm... No.

Some buildings which Dr Mackay helped to create.

Moving on... to more tiny alleys...

We finally found our Guan Gong 关公! 

This particular creation is coolly named 横扫千军, which in modern day is translated as Total Annihilation largely because of a war strategy game.

I would have bought this Guan Yin too, but it's simply too heavy. Made of solid stone.

[Sidenote: After we got back to Singapore, we went to our favourite hair salon for a haircut, and saw a cute cartoon Buddha figurine (which we also saw in Taipei) on its shelf. 


Jonathan (our only hairstylist) and I were having this conversation about how it's cool and acceptable to have figurines of Buddha in his funky salon, but it's not cool at all to include a fearsome Guan Gong coz that's too cheena.

Sigh... Even Buddha has been yuppified... WTF?!!]

OK, by then, it's time for 'Good Fren's dose of coffee caffeine. If not, I'd be travelling with a grouch.

You can't help but to stop and smell the grinding coffee beans.

In very Taiwanese tradition, upon stepping into the shop, one hears the cute-sy 欢迎光~~~临! (Welcome!) from a couple of smooth skinned 妹妹s.

During coffee, I asked 'Good Fren' a trick question.

BM: Papa! Would you consider having a Taiwanese girlfriend? They are so deh, speak Mandarin, and values should be quite similar. Quite cute, right?

GF: *took a look at the 妹妹s behind the counter* Yah... Why not?

BM: ROOOOOOAAAAAARRRR!!! YOU NEVER DIE BEFORE ISSIT?!!!

GF: Uh oh! Wrong answer! *lifted his cup* Coffee here is so-so only la!

['Good Fren' now attempts to deny that this conversation ever took place.] =))

With the caffeine recharge, we made our way to the riverside. 

Click on the pics to enlarge.

The view is refreshing.

It's so weird to be able to see a mountain.

And of course... the 妹妹s were everywhere. They are very very cute la!

And out of the blue, by walking through the kitchen of some deep-fried snack shop, we found ourselves in a Cat Cafe?!

It's a double-storey shop house with the cafe on the ground floor and majority of the cats on the 2nd.

This kitty was allowed on the ground floor. His name was 金毛狮王. He was very curious about our Guan Gong package.

This sleep Mister Cat was absolutely bochup about us. Meeting him brought us some comfort. Blinky is not that fat. =))

Welcome to Cat Madness!!!

 There were cats and old furniture EVERYWHERE!!

I'd ever thought about operating a Cat Cafe in Singapore. This is definitely a negative example to follow. And it's not clear whether AVA will issue a licence for a pet cafe.

Soon, we had to make our way back to Kagaya coz we were running late for dinner!!

This time, we boarded another version of the Xinbeitou train. With framed screens showing graphics of Beitou's history during the short 5-minute ride.

We were late for dinner. =P

But of course, 真琴 was all smiles and suggested for us to take our time to freshen up, while she got the kitchen to start up the long dinner.

Here we go again!!

The menu for the 2nd night... Again... A 13-course dinner.

Food aesthetics that explodes in your mouth

The little piece of paper held one of the appetisers. 'Good Fren's limited Japanese couldn't help us to shed any light on the writings.

Oh... Don't remind me of this, please! It's heavenly!

This was absolutely unforgettable. Perfect for summer.

Again... Tea came in the most exquisite chawan. 

Take a breather...

 ... And we will start again...

This time with sashimi...

Did I mention that the wasabi was the real thing?

Yeah... It wasn't from a plastic tube. It's freshly grated. I love it. The real thing does not shoot up your nose, regardless how much you ingest, and is not of the luminous green colour. =)

Veges in sesame sauce.

When the fish arrived, I was like 'OMG! It's too much!'

But I finished EVERYTHING. Even the deep friend lotus root. Mmmmm...

Ohh... Beef... Mmmmm....

Meanwhile, on TV, there was a report of radioactive beef from Japan... It's kind of an awkward moment for 真琴 who happened to be serving this dish. =))

Oyster! The last time I had such a huge oyster was in San Francisco Chinatown. I prefer oysters from New Zealand or Australia.

WHAT? Rice?!! NOOOOOOO!!!! I cannot!!

But it was sooooooo good... Especially when it's paired with the sweet fish head miso soup?!!

Ahhhh... Finally... Fresh fruits and red bean soup with chewy muahchee... Mmmmm...

With so much happiness in the tummy, food coma set in once again... =)))

After an hour, hot spring soak!! Then hide under the sheets while watching cable tv... Aaaaaahhhhh!!!

행복해요! !