Taipei - Day 5

Today's excursion day. We were gonna make our way to Jiufen 九份. 

All decked up to beat the summer heat!!

But not before we sink our teeth in that coveted unagi rice in the neighbourhood!!

But DAMN!!! Look at the queue under the merciless noon sun!!

It's too much, even for a couple from the tropics... We decided that we could make it to Jiufen for lunch instead.

At the MRT station, we saw this poster, encouraging couples in Taipei to have babies. Taiwan has one of the world's lowest birthrate, i.e. a similar situation to ours.

According to this poster, the baby perks include:

• For each baby born in Taipei, a one-time cash of S$833 is given.
• Each kid under the age of 5 gets monthly care subsidy of S$104.
• Help for 5 year olds to get into schools
• Extension of afterschool care facilities hours up to 7pm and public kindergarten hours up to 6pm.
• Free pre-natal checks
• Encourage and promotion of development of childcare enterprises (not small-scale)
• Development of 'children-rearing-friendly parks' << from what I understand, these are 'zones' within the city where childcare-related facilities and services are concentrated.

I guess the financial help is not as generous as that in Singapore, but there are invaluable tips which Singaporean authorities can learn from.

I digress...

Back to our Jiufen excursion... We took the MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station 忠孝复兴站 and got out at Exit 1. To our surprise, Bus No. 1062 was boarding!!

"Papa!! That's our bus!! Faster!!!"

While we were in the queue, a taxi-driver came up to us. He already had a Korean couple in his taxi to Jiufen, he was trying to find another couple to make the trip worthwhile. But because the traveling times are similar, we declined.

Back on the bus, it is quite clear that if one could neither read nor speak Mandarin, one would encounter difficulties. As demonstrated by Korean and Japanese tourists onboard, the bus driver doesn't speak English at all.

Regardless, the bus trip was comfortable and within 50 minutes, we saw this beautiful view (click on the pic below).

Here is an intro video to Jiufen in Mandarin.


The bus driver will tell you when to get off (in Mandarin), and you will naturally know where you should be heading by following the crowd into the bendy old streets.

Almost immediately, we were seduced by this shop.

Yet another doggie with his Taiwanese 'parents'.

Clockwise from the top: Dry tang hoon (with fishball soup not in the pic), Fishball tang hoon soup, some kind of yong tau hoon-looking thing.

Absolutely enjoyable!

Just a few doors away, we stepped into this shop for its magnificent view...

... and chewy icy yam dessert.

Found yet another sleeping cat... He looked so much like my Tiger. Orrrrrhhhh...

Jiufen Old Street is basically made up of bendy little streets, flanked by rows and rows of stalls selling food, drinks, local specialties, trinklets, curios etc. 

This guy is shaving peanut candy off the huge block. The shavings are then wrapped and eaten as a snack.

There are also more modern shops selling more polished local products.

This shop sells masks.

We walked and walked... Up, then down...

Meanwhile, this kitty was hiding from the heat, by snoozing on an air-con condenser. 

It was a hot hot hot day and we soon found ourselves to be yearning for an air-conditioned shelter and icy cold drinks.

The ground floor was packed...

... so we made our way to the basement...

Mmmmm... My icy preserved prune and kumquat drink versus his piping hot coffee. DUH?!!

The amazing view from our seat in the cafe. (Click on the pic).

So the misty hilly scenery one sees in Chinese paintings is not a figment of someone's imagination.

A 'learned' Asian motif that keeps repeating in Taiwan. Tea and books.

Don't you just love this quiet second-hand bookstore found in an equally quiet side alley?

City of Sadness 悲情城市

This is the movie 悲情城市 (City of Sadness) made by Hou Hsiao-Hsien in the late 1980s that brought the sleepy former gold mining town of Jiufen back to life.


This shop... We bought so much stuff from this shop.

I love how friendly and accessible this shop is.

Coupled with a massively popular ice cream stall to help cope with the summer heat.

Jade conches on the grill...

The taste of the sea...

We loved this... And bought 3 large packets in different flavours.

As the sun lowered its wrath (though it's not obvious in this pic), we decided to make our way back to Taipei city. Here comes our trusty Bus No. 1062.

Conversation on the bus trip...

GF: How come I don't see any 槟榔 (betel nut) stalls?
BM: Got lah... You were asleep when we passed by a couple on the way to Jiufen. 
GF: Issit? Got 槟榔西施 (infamously sexy betel nut salesgirls)?
BM: Got...
GF: Aiyah... I didn't see...
BM: ROAAAAAAR!!! Why must see?
GF: It's part of the Taiwanese culture mah!
BM: WHATEVER?!!

*A few kilometres later*

BM: Oi!! Papa!! Quick!! Look!!! 槟榔摊 (Betel nut stall)!!
GF: Where? Where?!!

GF: WTF?!! How come the 槟榔西施 (infamously sexy betel nut salesgirls) is a fat boy?!!

BM: Hee Hee Hee!! 

Back in Taipei city, we were determined to get our hands on that elusive unagi rice once and for all! ROOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!

So we were back at Alley 121... If you have been keeping count, this is our 3rd attempt!! ROOOAAAARRRRRRR!!!

Eh?!! No queue? Is this good or bad?!!! *jitters*

Who says no queue?!! Check out the craziness?!!

A very hungry 'Good Fren' joins the end of the queue... Very hungry oredi!!!

After 30 minutes, we found ourselves at the door.

FWAH!! It's so packed!!

She looks Japanese...

We had to share a tiny table for 2 with 2 other people. But we are not choosers!

First up... Juicy juicy sashimi... Mmmmm...

Stir-fried beef... Mmmmm...

Stir-fried cabbage and beansprouts... Mmmmm...

Oh... Yakitori... Pork... Mmmmm...

And the star of the day!!! Best Unagi Rice EVER!!!

Unlike the usual unagi you get super overloaded with that sweet sauce to mask its lack of freshness, this proudly fresh unagi is confident. And as such, it is seasoned lightly and grilled to a perfect crisp. Aaaahhhh... Heaven...

As the food coma was pushing its way through our systems, I thought I'd begun to hallucinate when I thought I saw an ex-boyfriend on the streets of Taipei.

Wait a minute! I'm NOT hallucinating! It's really my ex boyfriend with his wife?!

So there I was, excitedly shouting his Chinese name. He must have had the shock of his life. =P

I digress...

To digest all that unagi, we decided to go to Ximending 西门町, i.e. Taipei's youth shopping district.

(Click on the pic to enlarge)

It's alright. I'm not too excited by it. It's like Dongdaemun in Seoul.

However, the South Square, behind the Red House Theatre 红楼剧场 is where it's really happening.

This is the Red House Theatre 红楼剧场.

An installation in North Square in front of the Red House Theatre.

At first glance, South Square looked like any other buzzy alfresco chillout area. A bit like Cuppage Terrace.

 But take a closer look and you'd realise that the crowd is largely gay. Happening!

 A young girl was busking at Ximending. Playing the drums.

'Good Fren' wanted to try karaoke at the 10-storey Party World at Ximending. Yeah... You read correctly. This Party World occupies an entire building, complete with a lobby area that looks like that of a hotel.

Kids waiting for happy hour, i.e. from late night for 6 straight hours.

Bringing us to our karaoke room on the 9th floor.

Since we were in Taiwan, 'Good Fren' decided to sing a Wu Bai 伍佰 song, i.e. 世界第一等.

In fact, we sang 2 Wu Bai 伍佰 songs. My favourite is 你是我的花朵. Complete with hand/dance actions, of course!

喔～ 你是我的花朵 我要擁有你 插在我心窩
喔～ 你是我的花朵 我要保護你 一路都暢通
喔～ 你是我的花朵 就算你身邊 很多小石頭
喔～ 你是我的花朵 我要愛著你 不眠也不休

What an apt finale to our last night in Taipei!
We walked to the MRT, hand-in-hand, and humming hokkien songs.

We eat Taiwanese food, consume Taiwanese culture, speak Taiwanese, sing Taiwanese... We could well be Taiwanese, you know...

醉了... 醉了... 梅花香... 魅不可挡  =))

《世界第一等》～伍佰

人生的风景　亲像大海的风涌
有时猛有时平　亲爱朋友你着小心
人生的环境　乞食嘛会出头天
莫怨天莫尤人　命顺命歹拢是一生
一杯酒两角银　三不五时嘛来凑阵
若要讲博感情　我是世界第一等
是缘份是注定　好汉剖腹来叁见
呒惊风呒惊涌　有情有义好兄弟
短短仔的光阴　迫逍着趁少年时
求名利无了时　千金难买好人生