7. 台北夜市 & 九份，念念不忘

7. Taipei Nightmarkets & Jiufen, unforgettable

Back at Taipei, I wasn't sure if I was feeling more relieved and proud of myself that the solo traveling had more or less came to an end... or I was getting a little upset that my holiday was coming to an end very soon. But one thing for sure, I was looking forward to hooking up with 2 of my Singaporean babes whom freshly arrived for their short holiday!

After settling in at Cat's Pajamas, I made a trip down to Taipei Main Station for an easy night of shopping. Cat's Pajamas is a really nice cosy place, the beds are thoughtfully designed with what travellers would need! I wasn't sure about the bathroom though because it always seemed to be flooded. The location is great and feels very safe, even walking back at 1am! As the babes are staying near the Taipei Main Station, I rang them but to my disappointment, they were out. After much hoo-ha, we finally caught up that evening and went to Shilin nightmarket for some Oyster Omelette and Mango 绵绵 ice. It wasn't like the Matcha shaved ice I had, they seemed to have added condensed milk or some sort to sweeten the ice.

We did some quick shopping at Shilin too. I didn't get much as I had already bought a few things back at the main station underground and Shilin's stuff didn't really appeal to me. Bought the stuff friends back home had requested, normally I don't enjoy running errands during my holiday, but since I came across them, I guess I would just do them the favour. I just wished I had a bigger luggage then, and not a backpack :P

After that, it was back to the hostel and a good night of sleep. The next morning before I went out, I briefly chatted with this Finnish guy who was travelling alone. He had just arrived, and so I thought I would give him some suggestions where to go. Then I roamed around on my own at Taipei City Hall area, I went to get a recyclable bag from Daiso after I realised 7-11 never give us bags for our loots. It was also the first and only time I was near 101 building, so I used the chance to snap some photos before meeting the girls for lunch at Mr J restaurant.

Mr J restaurants are Jay Chou themed dining places with french-italian cuisine. The one we visited has a very classic design, the place is beautifully decorated with framed posters of Jay. It was extremely hard to locate, all my friends whom been there had the same problem, I hope they will put up prominent signages on the alleys! I got lost in that area for 10 minutes and was starving when I finally found it! The set lunch was very affordable, it came up to less than NT200 after excess charges if you didn't order anything extra. Food was good. I had soup, smoked duck salad and bubble milk tea, they didn't last long in my stomach though.

After lunch, next on the itinerary was to visit Jiufen, which is approximately an hour away by train and bus. I got myself another bento lunch box from the Ruifang station, but it wasn't as good as the one I had from the train (TRA's). When we finally arrived some time after 3pm, I was thrilled. It's situated at the north-east coast where you get a view of the Pacific Ocean. We caught a beautiful view when we alighted from the bus.

The must-do in Jiufen is probably walking down the old street (the entrance is below the 7-11 logo sign in the picture), there you walk down the cobbled pathway to lots of local food, eateries, souvenir shopping, leather shops... alongside a massive crowd of tourists :) Then you would come to an intersection where you could walk up or down the stairway lined up with teahouses. There by the 阿妹茶楼， it was indeed the one of the most beautiful parts of Jiufen to witness sunset! We tried the popular Taro balls at 賴阿婆芋圓 and then settled for a tea-making experience in 九份茶坊 which was quite a pricey experience, considering a NT1000 bill for 3 of us. Still we enjoyed it, well we were tourists... so I guess we ought to act like one. Some friends had recommended me to do Pingxi as a detour back to Taipei, however we were really in a rush, so I really hope to do that the next time! It was past 7pm when we caught the bus back to the train station, I had a feeling we missed the last train back. I was right, so we topped up some money to take another train back to Taipei. Then it was Miramar ferris wheel time! I really hate dislike the inconvenience of Miramar, so out of the way.

The ride was alright, there wasn't any sight nearby, we could almost see the lit up 101 from where we were. It was at Miramar we chanced upon Havaianas and they seemed much cheaper than Singapore, but it was almost closing time and we didn't have time to shop. I decided to hunt it down the following day! Then we bought ourselves dinner at Mos Burger, it was like way past 10pm!! The girls headed back while I decided to continue to Shi-da Nightmarket near my hostel.

I got to Shi-da near midnight, but there was still a crowd. Shi-da is a more funky nightmarket than Shilin, there were more exclusive boutiques selling better quality stuff. Shilin shopping gives me a more "thailand goods" impression, where goods' quality are relatively poor. I also realised on my photos (when I am back) that I missed out the Havaianas stores there! I didn't eat or buy anything, as nothing caught my fancy... guess being fussy sometimes helps ;) But I enjoyed the smaller nightmarket, with a cool younger crowd and better quality clothings. I headed back, and didn't sort myself out till about 2ish in the wee hours. I was still awake near 3am when I saw the Finnish guy came back. He climbed back on his bed (we were on the upper bunks) without a shower (eeewww) and then tried to make a conversation on seeing that I wasn't asleep. His breathe reeked of alcohol. I told him I was doing research for tomorrow, and he went to bed.

The most horrific thing I realised next was that he jumped onto my bed... the rest you can read on my earlier entry. Such a monster! It ruined my whole night, my sleep and my energy for the following day :(