台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 1: Ximending and Shi Da Ye Shi
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Day 1:
Taoyuan International Airport > Zhongxiao Fuxing Station
Zhongxiao Fuxing Station > Ximen Station
Ximen Station > Taipower Station
Breakfast: 永和豆漿 Yong he dou jiang
Tea-time: Dante Coffee (丹堤咖啡)
Groceries shopping: Carrefour (家樂福) 桂林店
Dinner: 阿宗麵線 (Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodle / Ah Zhong Mian Xian)
Supper: Shi Da Ye Shi (師大夜市)
We took Jetstar's midnight flight so we touched down at Taoyuan International Airport at about 6am in the morning.
Shin and I wanted to get Taiwan SIM cards from 台湾大哥大 but I guess it was too early so the booth wasn't opened yet.
Taoyuan International Airport have got staff decked in vests to help answer tourists queries. We knew that we could take Freego bus (飛狗巴士) from Taoyuan International Airport to Taipei but had no idea where we should take the bus so I asked one of the 伯伯 (pronounced as bei bei in Taiwanese instead of bo bo in Chinese) decked in the vest.
You can get Freego bus tickets from the bus counters. The bus pickup point for Taoyuan International Airport Terminal 1 is at B1 Arrivals.
We bought return tickets from Taoyuan International Airport to Ximending.
Price of Freego bus (飛狗巴士) tickets
1 way ticket: NTD 140
2 way/return tickets: NTD 260
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| Us with our Freego bus tickets |
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| My Freego bus ticket and baggage tag |
If you're worried about having to lug your luggage up the bus, you need not be because Freego bus have undercarriage luggage compartment along the side of the bus. The bus driver will help you to place your luggage into the undercarriage luggage compartment and tag your luggage with the baggage tag before passing you a copy of it for identification purposes.
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| Typical tourist shot with the exterior of Freego bus |
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| Interior of Freego bus |
As we were too early, there wasn't any smaller bus to take us to Ximending so we dropped at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station and took the Taipei Metro (MRT) to Ximen station which is 4 stations away.
We bought our Easycard (悠游卡) for NTD 500 including deposit.
If you pay using Easycard (悠游卡) at participating retailers, you get certain discounts. I remember buying sushi at one of the stations and we got some discount because we paid using Easycard (悠游卡). You can use Easycard (悠游卡) on the Taipei Metro, bus services in Taipei, Taiwan Railway, Taiwan High Speed Rail and Maokong Gondola. For a full list of how and where you can use Easycard (悠游卡), do check out Easycard's website, http://www.easycard.com.tw/english/use/index.asp.
Our hotel, ECFA Hotel is situated in Wan Nian Commercial Building which is about 6 minutes walk from Ximen Station.
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| Wan Nian Commercial Building |
We left our luggage in the hotel before leaving for breakfast. You know the saying goes, "When in Rome, do what the Romans do." Likewise, when in Taiwan, do what the Taiwanese do. With that, I meant trying traditional Taiwanese breakfast!
永和豆漿 Yong he dou jiang
No. 30 Hankou Street
Zhongzheng District, Taipei
Ximen Station – Exit 6
After much deliberation, all of us decided to try the egg crepe (蛋饼) because we saw that its a common choice with the locals apart from 状元团 (rice roll that is similar to that of Japanese sushi). The staff there recommended that we try their egg crepe (蛋饼) too!
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| 永和豆漿 Yong he dou jiang menu Click to enlarge! |
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| My bacon egg crepe and soya milk (培梗蛋饼和豆浆) |
After breakfast, it was also the start of my nightmare. My appendix started to hurt badly that I had to stop every now and then while walking. I think it could probably be due to the fact that I wasn't used to having oily food in the morning as well as cold drink.
We decided to take a break in Dante Coffee (丹堤咖啡). I guess we were all tired from the flight.
Dante Coffee Baoqing Store (FE21' opposite)
No.107, Yanping S. Rd.,
Zhongzheng Dist.,
Taipei City 100
Zhongzheng Dist.,
Taipei City 100
We noticed that it was mostly Tai-tais having tea and white-collar professionals having business discussions in Dante Coffee.
After that, we headed back to ECFA Hotel to check-in and wash up before we head out to Carrefour (家樂福) to get some drinks and snacks.
Carrefour (家樂福) 桂林店
108 台北市 萬華區 桂林路1號
Directions:
5 minute walk from Ximen MRT station, exit 6
1. Head south on 漢中街 toward 漢口街二段 120 m
2. Turn right onto 武昌街二段 110 m
3. Turn left onto 西寧南路 72 m
4. Turn right onto 西寧南路50巷 33 m
5. Turn left toward 峨眉街 59 m
6. Turn right onto 峨眉街 83 m
7. Turn left onto 昆明街 650 m
8. Turn right onto 桂林路 280 m
Although it says on Google maps that its a 5 minute walk from Ximen station, I think it took us about 15-20 minutes to get there. You will need to turn at certain junctions or streets and one wrong turn will end up taking the longer way.
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| Our buys from Carrefour (家樂福) |
We bought the must-try beef instant noodles (its only NTD30!). Its really tasty though spicy and it has got real beef pieces in it! No wonder its a must-try when one is in Taiwan!
We also got 2 bottles of mineral water that are 5 litres each which we took turns to lug it back to the hotel.
It was rather funny actually because upon reaching the hotel, we realised that there's water dispenser with both hot and cold water at the left side of the reception. -.- Our room was on the right and it didn't occur to us that they would have a water dispenser and a coffee machine. We thought that it would be more convenient to get mineral water rather than boil water from the kettle because by the time we reach the hotel, we should be worn out by then. Plus, the 2 bottles of 500ml water that the hotel provide on a daily basis won't be enough for us all.
After resting for a while, we headed to Ximending for dinner at Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle (阿宗麵線).
After resting for a while, we headed to Ximending for dinner at Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle (阿宗麵線).
阿宗麵線 (Ay Chung Flour Rice Noodle / Ah Zhong Mian Xian)
西門町總店 台北市峨嵋街8號之1
No.8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City
Opening Hours: 11:00 to 22:30
(Mon – Thu); 11:00 to 23:00 (Fri – Sun)
Tel: 02-2388-8808
Small bowl: NTD 45, Large bowl: NTD 60
Small bowl: NTD 45, Large bowl: NTD 60
Instead of the usual oyster mee sua that you find in Singapore, Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle (阿宗麵線) use large intestines instead of oysters.
Although my last trip to Taiwan prior to this was back in the 2004 when I just finished my O levels, I was surprised that I could still remember the exact locations of the more famous eateries and fast food chains. Is it fantastic memory or the fact that I have been reading too many travel blogs and watching Taiwan dramas? I think its the latter though.
After dinner, we took the train to Taipower building station.
Saw this poster which I thought was really thoughtful.
Although my last trip to Taiwan prior to this was back in the 2004 when I just finished my O levels, I was surprised that I could still remember the exact locations of the more famous eateries and fast food chains. Is it fantastic memory or the fact that I have been reading too many travel blogs and watching Taiwan dramas? I think its the latter though.
After dinner, we took the train to Taipower building station.
Saw this poster which I thought was really thoughtful.
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| 國立臺灣師範大學 National Taiwan Normal University, commonly known as NTNU or 師大 ) |
Directions:
Taipower Station, Exit 3
Turn right when coming out the station, and then a quick right again to reach Shi-da Road
Walk down Shi-da Rd and you will see the night market on the right side.
We came across this crepe shop in Shi Da Night Market (師大夜市) that sells mega huge crepes and Ande wanted to get one because she hadn't had dinner. She doesn't like mian xian you see. But somehow, Chuan, Shin and I couldn't resist it and we got ourselves one to share too.
阿諾可麗(li)餅 包鹹包甜包好吃的可麗餅
師大路39巷20號
Opening hours: 11:00 - 凌晨01:00
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| Ande's ham and cheese crepe |
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| Strawberry crepe (NTD 90) that Chuan, Shin and I shared |
Check out how huge the crepe is!
We shopped around Shi Da Ye Shi (師大夜市) and got ourselves some tops before heading back to our hotel to recharge for the next day.
Stay tuned for my other posts on our day trip to Taichung (Feng Jia Night Market), Hello Kitty Cafe Taipei, Dan Shui Old Street, Agnes b cafe, Raohe Night Market, Shilin Night Market and more!
Stay tuned for my other posts on our day trip to Taichung (Feng Jia Night Market), Hello Kitty Cafe Taipei, Dan Shui Old Street, Agnes b cafe, Raohe Night Market, Shilin Night Market and more!
You might want to check out these posts:
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市
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✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 3: Sogo, Hello Kitty Sweets Cafe and Miramar Entertainment Park
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 4: Danshui Old Street, Taipei Main Station and Ximending
✰ 台湾吃喝玩乐 Taiwan Trip May 2012 Day 5: Taichung Sitou Monster Village 台中溪头妖怪村 and Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市
To be notified of the latest beauty news, launches or events, follow me on
or like SweetestSins on 
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