Beef Noodle Soup on Final Day in Taipei

 We are on our last day in Taipei.  Nothing is scheduled for today.  Shawn and Ella and the kids went shopping for luggage at one of the big malls in the neighborhood.  I volunteered to do laundry.

There are a few laundromats in the neighborhood.  The hotel staff pointed to one that is closest to the hotel, about a 10-minute walk away.  It was an interesting walk there.  First, I walked through some fairly modern buildings, then after a couple of blocks, I started going through an older neighborhood.  The laundromat was easy to locate.  

The laundromat is no different from any laundromat that I have used around the world.  I exchanged for coins in the hotel.  I managed to squeeze everything into one load.  The dryer took a little longer.  While waiting, I noticed a boba tea next door and treated myself to one.

Inside the laundromat

Boba Tea shop next door

A Big Menu

Boba Tea and Laundry - a nice combination

Later in the afternoon we had time to squeeze in a swim at the rooftop pool at the hotel.  It is a covered pool and has an excellent view of the surrounding areas.

Swimming at the rooftop pool at Hilton Hotel Sinban

We have to have another bowl of beef noodle soup before we leave Taiwan.  About a 10-minute walk from the hotel is a very small but popular beef noodle shop.  We had to wait for our tables but it was well worth it.  

Beef Noodle Shop

Doris enjoying hers

Ezra slurping his noodles

Esme enjoying hers

Everyone enjoying their beef noodles

In the meantime, the Wongs' are enjoying themselves at the Changi Crown Plaza Hotel in Singapore and shopping at the Jewel at Changi Airport.

Swimming at the Crown Hotel Pool

One last day before getting on the long flight

At the Jewel at Changi Airport, with the Rain Vortex 

Butterfly Garden at Changi Airport

Taylor learning about butterflies

It was a wonderful two weeks in Singapore and Taiwan.  We were busy the entire time but not rushed.  There was a balance of everything - sightseeing, lots of eating local food, spending time with friends and family, playing in the various pools, experiencing local culture, and just enjoying being together.  I am looking forward to our next trip!

Stinky Tofu at Hualien

The Wongs' have gone back to Singapore and will be traveling back to the US the following day.  Only Doris and I, and Shawn and Ella and the kids are left in Taiwan.  Ella decided to go see her grandmother in Hsinchu, about an hour from Taipei.  Doris and I were invited by our guide Yong, to visit them in Hualien, a small town on the east coast.  It was a perfect opportunity for Doris to visit some place outside of Taipei and also get to visit the popular Taroko National Park.  I was there about 5 years ago.

The day before we went to the Banqiao train station to buy tickets to Hualian.  These are regular trains run by the TRA or Taiwan Railway Administration.  The round-trip costs about US$30 each and each journey takes about 2 hours.

Train tickets to Hualien

Yong and his wife, Emily, picked us up at the Hualien train station.  They took us straight to Taroko National Park.  Both of them are registered tour guides and are very familiar with the area.  Emily was born and grew up in Hualien.  Her ancestry includes one of the indigenous groups who lives in the area.  We were very lucky for them to show us around.  It takes more than one day to experience the park.  Here are some of the pictures we took.

Yong and Emily on the left

We also visited several popular tourist spots in Hualien.  Our last stop was the night market.  We were a little early when we got there but soon the crowd started rolling in.  This is an established night market in a designated location.  The stalls are permanent stalls compared to some in Taipei.  There is an area reserved for the indigenous folks to sell their stuff. 

The food is similar to those sold in other night markets.  We settled for something that I have never tried but often smell:  stinky tofu.  This is a common dish that is eaten in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.  You can smell the tofu from a distance.  It has a very strong pungent smell.  However, the taste is not as bad.

Stall selling stinky tofu

Stinky Tofu

We were a little early for our train back to Taipei.  Nevertheless, we tried to get on an earlier train but everything was fully booked.  We waited at the very hot train station about an hour before we finally boarded our train.  It took about two hours.  It was a long day but well worth the trip.

Taipei 101 and Peking Duck

 Today is the last day that our entire group will be together.  The Wong's will flying back to Singapore the next day.  There are two more places we want to go:  Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) Memorial and Taipei 101.  CKS was the leader of China in the early twentieth century.  After his defeat by the communists, led by Mao Zedong, he and his government fled to Taiwan in 1949 and formed the Republic of China or ROC.  Communist China is usually known as the People's Republic of China or PRC.

CKS is a revered figure in Taiwan, and was president for 30 years.  A memorial was built in memory of him.  It is one of the most popular tourist attractions.  It is an outdoor facility.  To get there you have to walk across a park.  It was very hot that day and we decided that we'll skip the CKS Memorial and just go to Taipei 101.  Below is a picture of a statue of CKS at the Memorial from my visit in 2018

Statue of Chiang Kai-shek at the CKS Memorial

Taipei 101, when completed in 2004, was the tallest building in the world for 6 years.  It is now the 10th tallest building in the world.  It is a mix-use building for offices and shops.  It is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Taiwan.

We took the Blue Line MRT to the Taipei Main Station, then transfer to the Red Line to the Taipei 101 station, and then it was a short walk to the building.  We rode the elevator to the 5th floor where tickets are sold.  Tickets to the 85th floor Observation Deck are about US$20 per person.  Not very expensive, but not cheap either, considering what is offered on the observation deck.  There is a restaurant on the 85th floor and other random display of things.  The decor seems to appealed more to kids.  There is an outdoor observation deck on the 91st floor.

One of the view from the 85th floor

Kids enjoying the play area

The 728-ton damper to provide stability to the building

Posing with a background picture of Taipei 101

Esme sleeping on the "moon"

Other than the views from the top, Taipei 101 is a boring place.  It offers no entertainment, no history, no information about Taiwan or Taipei, and very little food and refreshments.  After about an hour or so the older folks in our group left to go to Taipei Main Station.  

Taipei Main Station is more than a train station.  It houses 3 railway lines:  Taipei Metro, Taiwan High-Speed Rail and the Taiwan Railways Administration.  Each of this railway lines serves a different purpose. Taipei Metro is the Taipei City subway system.  It covers most of Taipei and some of the outlying areas.  Taiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed railway line running on the west coast, connecting Taipei in the north to Kaohsiung in the south.  The technology is based on Japan's high-speed trains, known as Shinkansen.  Taiwan Railways Administration is a government agency running the country railway network.  The Banqiao train station, near the hotel where we were staying, also has all 3 train networks at the same station.  

Taipei Main Station is more than just a train station.  It is really a train station with several shopping malls within or connected to it.  You can spend days shopping around in the station.  There are also restaurants and food courts scattered around the station.  The four of us elderly adults looked around for a food court.  After aimlessly navigating the building and asking people, we found a food court.  As usual it sells a variety of food.  We all settled for Taiwan's national and most famous dish - beef noodle soup.  This dish is as near and dear to Taiwanese as hamburger is to Americans or  Phở is to Vietnamese.  They sell them almost at every restaurant.  It is Taiwan's comfort food.

Beef Noodle Soup

That evening we have reservations at a famous duck restaurant called Tao Luan Ting Roast Peking Duck Palace.  It was highly recommended by one of Cynthia's good friends.  It is located at 2F, 86 Fuxing North Road, Songshan District, Taipei, 104.  We took the Taipei Metro there and walked about 5-10 minutes to the restaurant, which is located on the 2nd floor.  This is Taiwan's version of Peking Duck, slightly different from the Peking Duck that you get in Beijing or the dish that you get in some Chinese restaurants in the US.  The basics are the same:  you apply some sauce to a rice skin (that looks like a mini tortilla), put some duck skin and scallions, and wrap it.  The flavor in different places are different because it depends on what spices you put on the duck and how your cook it.  Nevertheless, it was a wonderful meal for all of us.

A group picture before starting the dinner

A group picture below the sign for the restaurant

Carving the Duck

The duck beautiful arranged

On the way back to the MRT station we came across a stand that sells boba tea and other local drinks.  Well, I guess we have to stop there.  That's our dessert!

A Gang of Happy People with their favorite desserts

These type of stores are everywhere in Taipei

Taylor enjoying her own drink

Pizza at Maokong

Today we plan to take the Maokong Gondola to Maokong, a tea-growing area southeast of Taipei.  Together with the Taipei Zoo, this is a very popular activity for locals and foreigners.  Here is a short article on how to spend a day in the area. 

We had our usual excellent buffet breakfast at the Taipei Hilton Hotel Sinban.  There is such a wide selection of local Taiwanese, Asian and western breakfast that we can try different things on different mornings.  We have our favorites - sticky rice 糯米飯, noodle soup, Taiwanese porridge, fried crullers 油條, soba noodles, local fruits, etc.  The kids love the variety.  We always have a hearty breakfast before we head out.

First, we have to take the MRT to the Taipei Zoo.  We started at the Banqiao station on the Blue Line to Zhongxiao Fuxing station, then transferred to the Brown Line to the Taipei Zoo station at the end of the line.  After we get off the station, we walked about 100m to the Maokong Gondola.  There is no shade or shelter between the two so some of us had to break out our umbrellas.

A short sunny walk from the Taipei Zoo to the Maokong Gondola

It was not as crowded as we were expecting at the Maokong Gondola station, even though it was a Sunday.  It took us about 15 minutes to get on the Gondola.  For the kids this was the first time they have been on a gondola.  They love the feeling and the views.

Loving the gondola feeling

Ezra marveling at the view

This is so cool!

Some cotton candy before we get on the gondola

Are we at the State Fair?

All Aboard!

After about a 30-minute ride we are at the top of the mountain.  Historically, this has been an area covered with tea plantations.  There are still some small tea farms but this is becoming more of a tourist destination.  We were hoping to go to the Taipei Tea Promotion Center, where we can do some tea tasting.  Instead we took the wrong road that lead us deeper into the mountains.  We were hungry by then so we stopped at a restaurant that was able to accommodate us and has air-conditioning.  It was hot and humid by then.  The restaurant serves a mostly western menu.  What did we order?  Pizza!

Pizza at Maokong

We did not follow directions to go to the Tea Tasting Center

We settled for some pictures among the tea plants and tried to buy tea from a local farmer.  But, eventually the kids were tempted by an ice cream shop.

A Group Picture in front of the tea plants

Are these really tea?

Ice cream tastes better than tea

A Group Picture in front of the Maokong Station

Riding the Gondola is better than climbing up the mountain

Gondola cables and support

A Local Temple below the path of the Gondola

A beautiful ride back to the hotel on the MRT

Swimming at the rooftop hotel pool

We found a white bear between the MRT and Gondola stations

Something is funny between these two little ones

You have to stand when the train is crowded

Eddy and Mai-lon enjoying Mango Shaved Ice after a long day

After a long day it was a night off for everyone.  Everyone looked for their own dinners.  The Banqiao area has several big shopping malls.  Each has at least one food court and many restaurants.  Even the Banqiao station has many places to eat.  Walk a few blocks out you find older neighborhoods that has traditional Taiwanese cuisine.

Doris and I went to one of the big malls and found a variety of food.  We settled for some Japanese food.  We were ready to call it a day after dinner.