九份 (jiu-fen)

There used to be only 9 families living in this little town. Whenever someone goes into the city to buy groceries or stuffs, they will buy 9 portions back for everyone. Soon after, they were known as 九份 (which means 9 portions in Chinese).

Later, they found Gold in this little town, and soon, everyone flock here to mine Gold. It became a prosperous place over night. Gradually, all the Gold were dug, and soon, everyone left, and it became a quiet little town again.

In the 80s, after the show "City of Sadness" 《悲情城市》 was shot in 九份, it became a tourist attraction. The little town found it's prosperity again.




Old school looking little town










Yummy Sausages. If you love sausages like me, you can eat your fill in Taiwan. It's everywhere!

野柳 - Food

The market at Yeliu, targeting mainly at tourists though.


Yummy Taiwan Sausage! Really nice and juicy!






Fried mushrooms. Yummy!











One of the many many tunnels we see and pass through everyday.

野柳 - Yeliu Geopark

Next up, 野柳. It's one of those must-visit places of interest in Taiwan. A place of beautiful scenery, rocks and water. A nice place to slow down, and enjoy life.

The parking area


Look at all the tourist coaches!



We're here!



From now on, it's lots and lots of pictures of beautiful rocks, sea, and the scenery!















What did you see?


The legendary "fairy's shoe"


Another Fairy Shoe. The story behind these shoes is, long ago, the fairies decided to come down to earth to play. They were discovered, and in their rush to return, 2 fairies dropped their shoes...:)




The famous Queen's head 女皇头. Due to harsh weather, the queen's head is in pretty bad shape now. They were saying in a few years time, probably the head will break and drop...

中正纪念堂, National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

中正纪念堂, National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, is built to commemorate the passing of Taiwan's ex-president Chiang Kai Shek 蒋中正 also known as 蒋介石.


自由廣場. It used to be called "大中至正", until Chen Shui Bian (陈水扁)'s government decides to change the name to 自由廣場in 7th December 2007. However, it's been reverted to 中正紀念堂 in 20th July 2009 though the signage is still unchanged. you can read about the news here (it's in chinese though).







Beautiful Flowers

Taipei Metro 台北捷运

Taipei Metro is a rather established network, and easily brings you around Taipei. It's our main mode of transport in Taipei since it's so convenient and cheap! It also allows us to experience up-close-and-personal, the lifestyle of the locals. We only take the Taxi, known as 小黄 by the locals as the cabs there are all yellow, when necessary.

Regardless if you want to go to Xi Men Ding (西门町, Wu Fen Pu （五分谱), or Dan Shui （淡水), you can get there by Taipei Metro. The frequency is quite good, so there's minimal waiting time, and no worries of traffic jams!


The bilingual signs telling you which way to go to take your train. This is taken at Taipei Main Station 台北总站, which is the main interchange to bring you around, similar to our City Hall MRT Station & Raffles Place MRT Station in Singapore.


the route and the price. The most expensive fare from Taipei Main Station 台北总站 is to Dan Shui （淡水), which is NT$50 (ard S$2.30). Quite cheap rite?


the DIY ticketing booth.


Up close and Personal.


some random notice.


Signs showing estimated arrival of the various trains. It's bilingual.


in the train, with signs showing the upcoming stations. It is bilingual too.

To find out more about Taipei Metro, you can visit their website at http://www.trtc.com.tw/

Taiwan High Speed Rail 台湾高铁

台湾高铁 have really allow the Taiwanese to go to the various cities easily. From what I heard, a trip from Taipei 台北 to the southern part Kao Shiung 台南高雄 used to take like a couple of hours by train (I think it's around 4 hours? correct me if I'm wrong). With the high speed rail, it only takes 45mins! WOW! Really saves alot of time, especially for those who wants to go home to spend the weekend, or wants to go home daily. But the rates is quite steep though. A trip from Taipei to Tainan costs around NT$1145 (ard S$52) for a standard ticket. Business class tickets is NT$1780 (ard $80). But well, as the old saying goes..time is money! :)


Ticketing Booths.


Or you can get it from the DIY machines! Just like Singapore's MRT. :)


the gantry! told you i take pics of everything and anything! it's the same tap-and-go kind!


the railway at Taoyuan （桃园)


self explanatory.


the platform, where everyone is waiting for the train. It's 8+ am! look at the queuing dividers! The Taiwanese have a really good culture of queuing up. This is something you cannot find in Singapore. I've more examples in the later entries. :)


here comes the train!


no smoking!


the board on the back of the sit in front (right in your face), showing the layout of the train, where's the toilets etc.


If you're keen to find out more about Taiwan High Speed Rail (台湾高铁), you can visit their website: http://www.thsrc.com.tw/en/

Day 2: Random Street Shots, Taoyuan Morning

Early morning in Taoyuan.



Another random street shot.


Cute snack I bought from 7-11 to snack in the bus. Doraemon sponge cake! NT 20 (around $0.90). so cute rite!


closer look. it's 3D! :)


Another packet with heart shaped sponge cake. It's super Q, and delicious, with butter flavored. yumz! This cost only NT12!


Look! heart shape butter sponge cake with smiley face!

We're on the bus ride to Tao Yuan High Speed Rail (台灣高速鐵路, commonly known there as 高鐵 ), similar to Japan's bullet train. Going to take the train down to Taipei (台北).

Here are some random street shots on the way there. You're going to see tons of random shots i took everywhere throughout this blog. I strongly believe that these shots is the best way for us to understand the city better, and the best way for us to remember the places. :)


One of the many wedding boutique. It's so huge! Sophia Wedding can also be found in Singapore. It's along the stretch in Tanjong Pagar (Tras street I think), that's full of wedding boutiques. compare the size of the shop if you're there! :)


One of the schools in Taoyuan. They even have student guards, who will salute when some big shots (probably their teacher, or principal) enters.


I can't remember if this is an apartment or office building. This is a common sight in big cities like Taoyuan, KaoShiung, Taipei etc. You don't get to see these in the more rural areas.


One of their second hand car-dealer. The grey car is only NT40,000 (around S$1818) and the green car is only NT100,000! (around S$4545)!


Another second-hand car dealer


Sad looking tree..I actually thought this is a beautiful shot. :)


Street markings




Road under construction. Please slow down.