Taipei City itself is not that big, but its comprehensive!

As it was the last moment to see Taipei 101 before it turns to world’s second tallest, after Dubai.  Alex and I are just in time to catch it.

We took MRT to Taipei City Hall.  In fact, there were free shuttle bus that could bring us to the tower. But the sign was not obvious and it was dark, so we just walk all the way heading to the tower.

Taiwan Up 2010 was this new year’s theme.

You won’t feel the distance, along the way, you walk across the parks, building and shopping malls. Pass along the popular streets and malls, 新光三越 Singkong Mitsukoshi.

Taipei 101 getting nearer, and we took this chance to shoot more photos.

Finally we reached Taipei 101. 台北101

As I said, it was the tallest by the moment I reached there. But just a few minutes later it was taken over by Burj Khalifa in Dubai on 4th Jan 2010.

This is the entrance to the mall. The shopping heaven where you will be showered with lots of branded goodies.

Although this is a shopping heaven, but for us, is just for Window Shopping. Can see cannot buy. But at least I know their 7-11 (convenient store) is much more high class than the other places. We grab a cup of coffee from the City Cafe. Just nice, comparable to Starbucks.

We went back to Ximending as our Final stop.  Alex and I would plan to settle our dinner here, and a movie after that.

We went hunting for food, too much choices but we ended up choosing Alex’s favourite Korean Food. Very nice!

We watched AVATAR 3D version.  Ticket consider expensive but inclusive of Popcorn and drinks for TWD330.  The cinema experience was great, sound system are good, chairs are comfortable, aircond not too cold and most important thing, there’s no one ringing their mobile phones in the cinema!

It was really an enjoyment to hangout with my dear exploring around the City of Taipei. But its time to say Goodbye again.

5th Jan 2010. Departing from Tao Yuan International Airport to LCCT.

This is really the thing that I hate most, BIG LUGGAGE.  We’ve tried the best to cut down the luggage size, but due to unpredictable weather, we brings lots of thick jacket. But since there’s only 2 of us, we choose to transit to Airport via Bus. It’s a long walk path from Taipei Station to the bus terminal. But its definitely cheaper compare to Taxi fares.

We had our lunch at the airport, shopping and getting on board.  If compare this airport to KLIA, I would they actually looks more comfortable to me. At least there’s a lot of things to see, eat, and buy. Most important thing, the price are reasonable!

Good bye Taiwan, we will be back again, for sure!!
We love Taiwan!!

Wedding photoshoot was done in Ping Dong, and we still have 2 days in Taipei before we fly back to KL.  Initially we plan to visit Jiu Fen 九份, but we overslept and miss the schedule, hence we have to reschedule for our day tour.

One hand on map, one hand on itinerary.
Next destination :  Yang Ming Shan National Park 陽明山國家公園.

Traveling around Taipei its easy, as long as you go to the tourist information counter, and get a map, most of their info were updated. The best part is, most of the tourist attractions can be accessible through public transport.

As we stayed at Future Star Hotel 明日饭店 in Ximending 西門町, so we will transit to Jiantan MRT station, and catch a bus to Yang Ming Shan. Do mark this station, as it is very convenient for any bus transfer. Most of the bus would be passing this route and it could save you lots of time and cost efficient.

Future Star Hotel 明日饭店 is highly recommended for budget travelers. We paid for RM120 per night, for its location that save you time and just 2 steps to shopping heaven. But please do not expect for a 5 stars hotel,  at least its clean and neat.

Before we proceed to Yang Ming Shan, we did explore around Shih Lin, the big cities seems quiet during day time. Not much shop open for business. Most probably they operate at night and from what I heard their culture start business in the afternoon.

Camwhoring ^.^ while waiting for bus.

The bus journey to Yang Ming Shan will take around 45minutes to an hour from Jiantan Station. You just have to catch the local bus where you would pass by lots of residential area.  We took bus number R5 (red) to Yang Ming Shan. All the way up to the hilly road, you could see universities and research center.

When you reach the final station, you can hop on to the Mini Bus which travels you around Yang Ming Shan by using bus number 108. The climate is getting cooler roughly around 12′c. Even the vegetables sold here looks greener.  And I still challenge myself  by just wearing one thin long sleeves and scarf.

Look at this map, it shows the hot spot at Yang Ming Shan and the bus route. We do not have that much of time to go to each of the spot, as some are just for sight seeing only. Hence we chosen a few popular hot spot by tourists.

Yang Ming Shan is popular for the cherry blossoms in Spring, but since it is Winter, you could just go up the mountain and see the beauty nature scenery.

1st stop: Erzihping Trail (二子坪步道)

Basically, this stop attracts more people for mount hiking.  There’s proper trail that allow you to walk up to the peak. We weren’t prepare for that, with our attire its totally not match.

We asked some other tourist, what’s up there, they replied us, “oh, its just a piece of land which the scenery is just so – so”. Worth to go ?  He chuckled.

We gave up after walking for 15 minutes. And stop halfway to have photoshoot. Scenery are absolutely nice and simply breathtaking.

2nd stop: Xiaoyukeng (小油坑)
The fog is getting thicker, weather is getting cooler up here.
Smells of rotten eggs are every where. Haha, do you dare to challenge the sulfur? You could see some small volcano spot left over but its not dangerous.

The pictures are getting blur here, hardly focus.
Anyway, it was a great experience exploring Yang Ming Shan.

I heart this kind of weather so much. I bought a cup of instant noodle, with hot soup from the cafeteria. Its so enjoying to have it in such a weather!

We choose to go back to City centre for our dinner. For those who opt to go for Hot Spring bath, you would see a few outlets on the way down. Some offers free admission, some you might have to pay. You should try it once in a lifetime.

Overall the trip to Yang Ming Shan consider as a very relaxing trip. You skip away from the busy and hectic city. Avoided jams and air pollutions.  Yang Ming Shan is also a good place for the elderly too!