!Warning: This is a photo heavy post

Day 1: Mommy, Grandma and Da Yi came to the airport to send us off that day.

Though it wasn't the first time we were travelling, but still it felt good to see Mommy fussing over our trip... =)

(Farewell at Changi Airport)

Arriving at TPE airport, we bought a 台湾大哥大 prepaid card each so it would be more convenient to contact each other and a lot more cheaper for me to call/sms Darling as well. =)

Tip: The booth selling prepaid card is located on the right end of the airport after we collect our baggage and pass through the Exit. Personally i feel the staff there are extremely friendly and helpful in explaining how to install the SIM card/ making international and local calls.

Next, we lugged our bulky baggage all the way across to the extreme left end where the booths selling coach tickets are located at.

I can't remember how much the tickets cost exactly but it was really cost-saving for us since we definitely have to split into 2 cabs considering the size of our luggages. =)

Tip: Look out for the 飛狗巴士 booth. They offer cheap 2-way tickets that drops off/pick up at your hotel doorstep. Very convenient and reliable!


Our chosen accomodation for the 7 days was: Future Star Hotel (明日大饭店)http://www.futurestarhotel.com.tw/

Kudos to Sis and Ivy for doing the research and booking of our rooms. It was not a very convenient task as this motel only accepts phone bookings and allow us to book up to a max of 1 month in advance. This small and family-style motel provides clean rooms which gave us a very pleasant and comfortable feeling. The Aunties at the reception were also very friendly and helpful, making our stay there very much enjoyable.

(A bunch of tired looking people: Daniel, Ivy, Me & Sis!)

We finally managed to have a proper meal at the nearby -Grill House- after checking into our hotel.. Yummy baked pasta! Actually.. cheesy baked stuff has never been the kind of food i'll order off menus as i do not like cheese. But alas, everything on the menu was cheese-baked (what a misleading cafe name!).

Was it my hunger or was the food really nice? I actually gobbled it all down and thought i did like it!


We had a quick shop around Ximending area after that and i bought a top, a pair of tights and gladiator heels.. (only to regret it during the later days after shopping at places like WuFenPu/Shilin and realized we had been 'chopped'. Kwa kwa kwa...)


Day 2: Shopping at WuFenPu / Raohe Night Market / 彩虹桥

A hungry me.. walking around impatiently under the hot summer sun, trying to find a decent cafe to settle lunch. It was already noon time then but apparently, the shops at Ximending do not open so early.

As you can see from the pictures, the food looks awfully plain. Not only that, it tasted horrible too. I chose this cafe with the crave for some Japanese food. But sadly, i was served with Chinese-fake-Japanese dishes.. My chawanmushi tasted like the chinese plain steam egg.. and best of all, my udon was like "Yong Tau Fu" noodles soup.. ! No joke! Boo.. I cant help but sulked at my food. * Do remember the name of this place and don't ever attempt to order any Japanese cuisine here.*

After lunch, we took our time to head down to Wufenpu by train since it was still early.
Well, while some people may say: Early bird gets to eat the worm, I'll say : Early bird in Wufenpu gets to sniff in the Dust!!
It's true ok! Shops were only starting to open when we reached around 1.30pm - lifting of shutter doors and shop owners throwing out bags after bags of clothes for display sent whirls of dust that made us choke and sputter.

Conclusion and lesson learnt from this experience is: Being an early bird at this Wufenpu garment wholesale market only means sniffing in clouds of dust and hard to bargain for price..

After 5hrs of wandering through the 'wholesale maze', we finally got out of it and met up with Ivy & Daniel's friends residing in TPE. They brought us to the nearby Rao He Night Market bustling with stalls selling mouth-watering street snacks!

"Pretty women.. walking down the street.."

Our "Mr Nice Guy"s . .

Eat Away . .

After eating, we took a walk to 彩虹桥. It was a very romantic place with dim lightings and many couples were sitting by the river hugging each other tightly as the wind blowing was soooo cold. How i wished Darling was with me right there and then..instead, i could only make a call to him while standing on top of the bridge, to describe the place and tell him how much i missed him! Sweet of me eh? =p

A bunch of tired people with nothing to do... coming up with something...

.

.

Gals: Hey Look at that!

Girls: The bridge looks so romantic..

Girls: Take a picture for us leh..
Guys: Hmm.. what can we do leh?

Guys: Aha.. watch us!

Guys: We are cycling under a romantic bridge.. haha!*****************************End of our nonsense****************************

Lastly, a picture of me and sis on the Rainbow bridge to end the post.