Taipei (Day 3)

On day 3, we had brunch at that same 24 hour HK restaurant we went to on the night of arrival. Food did not dissapoint. The sour & spicy soup and dim sums ordered were simply relishing. There was also a wedding lunch going on at that place while we were there.

We did a li'll shopping at nearby retail boutiques before taking the Metro to Shemending, one of Taipei's main shopping district. Being a Saturday, people were abundant everywhere. (Check out the first photo above). All over the place, unlicensed food stalls were set up only to be chased away by local municipal officers. But they'll return after a bit once the officer is gone ... I guess both parties know how the system works here. :) At street corners, buskers can be seen showcasing their talents too. A very lively atmosphere all around really.

We managed to sample the famous Ay Chung flour noodles as well as Taiwan's KFC. The noodles were divine ... every spoonful sent our tastebuds into a mad satisfying frenzy but can't say the same for KFC though. Our's are still better. Malaysia BOLEH!!! Hahaha. We didn't shop much there, merely buying souveneirs and doing rounds of window shopping.

At the main 'concourse' area of the district, 'artists' were doing their thing. For example, from photo 3 above, these 5 individuals just stood there motionless. People soon crowded around them and took photos. Near the Metro station, a group of people are trying real hard to convince the crowd to gather there at 7:30pm and just clap their hands. Weird if you ask me but whatever float their boats I guess.

We also stumbled upon a li'll complex where handmade crafts were sold, from photo frames to individually designed t-shirts, cool neck ties to li'll potted plants ... but be warned, the products here ain't cheap. Just beside this complex, lies rows of li'll pubs. All serving only beverages ranging from virgin mocktails to deadly cocktails. The thing we noticed was that in front of every pub, stood muscular men trying to lure customers in. It didn't bother us much, so we walked and browsed through the pubs until we came to a store selling men's underwear only. Through the glass windows, we could see posters of men ermmm ... kissing lo. So that was when we knew that this is an exclusive-men-only area. As we made our way out, people were shooting hostile glares at the both of us. Haha.

Across the street, we shared a milk + cincau drink at this place called 3gupu. Gupu is a type of grass that apparently have heaps of medicinal properties and it was blended together with dairy milk. Add in thick slices of cincau and you're in for a healthy treat.

With our feet rested, we then made our way to the Jiantan Metro station. Upon exiting the station, we crossed the road to land ourselves in the famous Shilin night market. So many food stalls it made SY and I pening. Most of them are selling the same kinda food but the question is which are the good ones. So we patronize the stalls with the most people lo. The fried chicken is a must try. Next up, we had their O-chien (oysters fried with flour and egg). Cooled it all down with some lemon herbal drink, we went for teppenyaki afterwards. Final stop, we had some shaved ice fruitty dessert. We walked around more and came to the pets section of the night market. Sooooo many cute doggies, just made us wanna buy one and bring 'em home. Oh yea, we also tried some sort of strawberry juice ... not bad too. Did a li'll more shopping and we headed back to the hotel. A tiring but fullfilling day indeed.