Saturday, July 16, 2011

taiwan escape part IV: on our own for 2 days

This is my last post on my Taiwan trip. I had to condense my 8 days journey into 4 posts. Not to mentioned having to choose around 20 photos for each post. It was a challenge, really, since I took close to 1000 photos whilst I was in Taiwan.

On our last 2 days in Taiwan, it was free and easy. For our own convenience, we decided to purchase the MRT one day pass, that allows you to ride buses and trains for one whole day by just simply using this pass. Taipei is a good place to travel on your own as the waiting time for trains are brief and even at bus stops, they will notify you how long you will have to wait before the bus arrives. Really, public transportation in Taipei is heaps better than in KL.

For this day, we each chose a place we wanted to go to in Taipei. At Ximending MRT station, we picked up a guide which introduces places of interest in Taipei and even teaches you how to reach there by MRT. That guide practically became our bible in Taipei.

The first place we went to is the place I chose - #Taipei Story House. I absolutely love looking at buildings and the wonderful European feel of this mansion prompt me to pay a visit here. However to visit the house, we have to pay admission fees. Since we did not have much time, we did not go inside. To reach here, we took MRT to Yuanshan station, which coincidentally is also the venue for the International Flora Expo, that was held in Taipei in April. 

After that, we took an extremely long MRT ride to the last station - Danshui to visit Clara's choice, #Fisherman's Wharf, a small fishing town overlooking the sea. It was extremely windy that day, as evident by my horrendous hair in every photo of me :(

We had lunch at McD's opposite Danshui station because we wanted to try their pork burger but they didn't serve any that day. Sad. After lunch, it was shopping time as we visited #Wufenpu, the wholesale market. I could not find anything inexpensive to buy. On day 6, I was extremely broke already. After that, it was off to Sogo to buy Clara's and her sister's sports shoes. Finally, we ended up having dinner nearby Shihlin Night Market as I wanted to get some souvenirs for my mom and aunt. I managed to get a pair of earrings for mom and bag for aunt. For myself, of course, I bought another dress =)

-day 6-















-day 7-

On our last day, we had some time to visit one more place before our transport will arrive to bring us to the airport for our flight back to KL. We decided to go to #National Taiwan University, Suzane's choice.

But before that, I insisted we visit #Red House, an old theater house which is just opposite from Ximending MRT station (since we stayed at Ximending, anyway). The whole vintage architecture was awesome :)

Since we did not have our one-day MRT pass anymore, we had to learn to buy MRT tickets like everyone else. Except here, it is in tokens form. 

When we reach #NTU, we were a bit concerned if they will allowed us in as we knew universities can have strict regulations about visitors. But luckily, that day was their convocation day and NTU was opened to the general public. Yay!

The first thing that caught my eye was the amount of bicycles inside. OMG, there were never-ending rows and rows of bicycles parked almost everywhere within the university compound. I can understand why. Because of the large area, walking from one place to another is so tiring, students have to cycle instead. It was fun watching all the students in their black robes lined with coloured sashes and their huge bouquet of flowers. I guess the 3 of us can't wait for our own convocation too.












Well, I guess that is all to blogged about my Taiwan trip. I had to make it brief because anytime now, I will be send for my posting and blogging has always been on my mind. So I want to finish all my trip posts before I start working.

For unedited and more photos, all are on Facebook =)

Next up, Sabah!

*all pics taken using Iphone 4 (some using Leme Leme app) 
and edited using Photoscape*

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