Taipei Airbnb + Louis

Our Taipei Airbnb was wonderful. Although their heater wasn't very strong as we hoped it would be, everything else was fine. Its a very cosy apartment. Plus its so near Taipei Main Station. Staying around that area would be the best. Makes travelling around so much easier.

 On one of the mornings we decided to have breakfast at our rooftop. Louis went down to buy back food & we had dumplings! The weather that morning was cooling.

I've travelled with Louis twice so far. & It has been a great pleasure having him as a companion to travel with. He is so kind & patient it makes me wonder how come he has no girlfriend yet. Hahaha. His future girlfriend would be the luckiest girl in the world! 
He is such a gentleman. There was a night where i was coughing so bad that i got up to use the toilet. The thick phlegm in my throat just wouldn't come out. & It was itchy af. On top of that, i felt like vomitting. I switched on the tap and tried my very best not to cough so loudly as i didn't want to wake him. I was in the toilet for about 15mins coughing it out. Tears were rolling down my cheeks.

I opened the toilet door slowly & i got a shock when i looked up as he was standing right outside his room door looking at me. He was probably standing there for quite some time. I felt like such an idiot! I was so embarrassed! 

He looked at me & said "Are you okay? You want to drink hot water i make for you." 

See! So sweet & thoughtful right?! But the entire trip i felt so bad cause i am very sure my coughing kept him awake through the night as he & i are the same- We are light sleepers. I am beyond grateful for having him in my life. He is a true angel, really. Friends like these don't come by easy. & I will make sure i treasure em forever.

Taiwan- Taroko Gorge

On our last few days in Taiwan, we took a train to Xincheng to check out Taroko Gorge. All the places we went to we took a train/bus from Taipei Main Station. Thank goodness Louis chose a convenient AirBnB location! 

The train ride was about 3hours. We fell asleep in the train rides most of the time. Their express trains are relatively comfortable. They even have staff to push a food cart down the rows. Anyhoo, I was starting to feel so much better. My cough was still just as bad but at least i had no more fever so that's good enough. 

I enjoyed Taroko Gorge very much. There is a public bus that will bring you to Taroko Gorge. Initially we were gonna take the bus there but outside Xincheng Station on the left hand side, there are a row of shop houses. One of which is a Motorbike rental shop. Louis went in to check out the prices & rented one. 

The shop owner gave us a map on the directions to Taroko Gorge. It was just a 5mins ride as it is pretty near Xincheng Station. I was scared shitless when Louis was riding(he has never rode a bike before). He slowly got a hang of it along the way. I told him i want to go back home in one piece! Hahaha. To give him credit, his decision in renting a bike was the best decision ever! The view along the way was incredible. Especially when riding in cool weather, it's super shiok! We were free to roam anywhere we wanted with the motorbike. We rode all the way up & went other places that was within Taroko Park. 

Directions: 

Take an express train from Taipei Main Station to Xin Cheng station.

Train duration: 2.5-3hours

Fare: NTD450

Picked out a Dora The Explorer helmet! Hehe it's so cute! ^^

Taiwan- Shifen + Jiufen + Shilin Night Market

We met up with Louis's friends who happened to be in Taiwan too. We shared a car together & the driver drove us to Shifen & Jiufen. These 2 places are located outside of Taiwan thus, hiring a driver would be much easier. Also because we are a group of 5, it's cheaper when divided amongst all of us. It cost about SGD80/person for 1 whole day. I know to some it may seem bait too much. But i was told if there were lesser people it would have cost way more. 

The very first place we went to was a famous breakfast place. Sorry i can't remember the name of the road so i attached a photo below on the name of the cafe. 

 Our main purpose of visiting Shifen is to release the paper lanterns! Heh. I've been wanting to do this for the longest time! I can now strike it off my to-do list! (: My Chinese may not be that great, but it doesn't mean i can't write. Obviously i can read & write basic Chinese!

 Was told this chicken stuffed with rice is really yummy. We walked all the way to the back of Shifen just to try it. I liked it very much! But i couldn't eat an entire chicken wing. Sigh pieee. I wish i could but my cough wasn't getting any better and i didn't want to worsen it. So i only took 2 bites!

 Shifen water fall.

After roaming around Shifen we made our way to Jiufen. The car rides were pretty long so i fell asleep for abit. It started drizzling by the time we reached Jiufen. Also, it was extremely crowded!! So difficult to walk through the narrow alleys. 

 I've seen reviews about this shaved caramel almond ice cream wrapped in popiah skin. The nuts put me off but when i tried it i really loved it! I would have had another one if again, not for my damned cough! Pfft. 

 Before our Taiwan trip, Louis did mention to me about a famous restaurant called "Formosa Chang" that serves up the best Lu Rou Fan. As we have been on a Lu Rou Fan eating spree since we basically had it every night, we were beyond ecstatic when we came across the restaurant! Needless to say, we each ordered a bowl of Lu Rou Fan!

The verdict?

I LOVED IT! The meat was sooo tender. Though it would have been nicer if they'd give just a little bit more.. In general i loved it (:

 SHI LIN NIGHT MARKET

Shi Lin Night Market is said to be a touristy area. Well, it's true. But i felt that Shi Lin had more to offer as compared to Rao He. Food wise i felt it's not too bad either. Also, there were way more stores at Shi Lin than Rao He. More things to do too. I quite liked Shi Lin tbh. So did Louis. Initially we were planning to skip visiting Shi Lin due to the reviews. We only came here because Louis's friend was craving for Shi Lin fried chicken so the driver brought us there. 

We were there for only about 15mins and no longer. I only saw abit of Shi Lin & told Louis i'd like to come back to check out the rest of the market. And so we did. We came back another day to check it out. 

Hot Star chicken is so famous the queue was really long. I've tried it in Malaysia though. I didn't know they had an outlet in Taiwan. I didn't take much photos of Shi Lin as it was drizzling & i was just too lazy + exhausted. But i would recommend visiting Shi Lin. They have so much things to see, do & feast on!