Day 7 & 8 of 8 in Taiwan: Leofoo Village Park & Addiction Aquatic Development

Finally we're on the last day of my Taiwan trip!

We had a relaxing itinerary on the 2nd last day - Leofoo Village park + Addiction Aquatic Development a.k.a. Taipei's fish market

The journey from Jingan station (yellow line) to Leofoo Village Park is about 1.5 to 2 hours. You may need sometime to navigate accurately to the designated bus stop! Please take E-Go bus route #5350. I vaguely remember that we have to alight at a station to purchase round-trip tickets... Don't worry, the driver/ staff will inform you about it. The round-trip ticket cost about... SGD8? I promise I'll update my travel post asap so as to avoid such situation again hahaha

Once you arrive the park, look to your right and you'll find Guest Service Center! We had to exchange our tickets bought from Kkday! 1 pax is less than SGD30.

For more details, please click here to buy your admission ticket with discounted rate: https://www.kkday.com/en-sg/product/6370

Frankly speaking, the park is extremely huge so it looks kind of empty. The friendly staff stationed at the entrance could even help us to take the photo above lol

 We sat on the pirate ship for at least 10 times! I LOVE IT!!!

 I chose to take the waterboat ride and got ourselves drenched lol

We could even play VR games! Ok la the concept is quite lame but I believe my nephew will enjoy this park very much!

Overall, the rides are pretty decent but not suitable for thrill-seekers. Leofoo village park is more catered towards kids/teenagers! 

However... remember Running Man had a punishment at 1 of the taiwan's amusement park? The U-shaped roller coaster ride! It is located right here but I couldn't bring myself to queue for that ride... 😰 that si JY act one brave and pull me there! So all we could do is to take a selfie at the entrance:

Hmm kinda regretted not taking that ride BUT I'M STILL DOING GOOD 😆

We managed to explore their zoo as well! 

Thanks JY for the unforgettable experience at Taipei! I truly enjoyed myself there and I look forward to more amusement park trips 💓

Next up, we headed over to the fish market. Simply alight at Xingtian Temple station (yellow line) and head towards Exit 3.

I've completed the research and you could either rent Youbike (similar to our oBike services here) near Exit 3 or walk to the fish market. 

The fish market is air-conditioned and the concept is scaled towards supermarket style. I was expecting it to be similar to Noryangjin fish market but it's not!

They even hire security guards at the cashier area...

After paying payment, you have to find your own seats - alfresco dining in a way...

There were too many flies outside and honestly my dining experience at the fish market wasn't a pleasant one. 

The quality of the food is mediocre and I would definitely NOT recommend this fish market to anybody, unless you wanna go for the experience. There are more atas restaurants located in the market but I can't bear to spend SGD50-80 just on a King Crab's leg.

To add on, JY had food poisoning the next morning and I had a terrible time trying to fix the situation 😭

Anyway, I'm glad that this is over and I will think twice when it comes to JY as he can't eat my favourite jap food - Unagi 😁

**********************************************************************

That concludes the end of my travel itinerary to Taichung & Taipei! I'll blog about my Osaka & Kyoto trip hopefully! 😄

Day 1 & 2 in Taichung click here

Day 3 & 4 in Taipei click here
Day 5 in Taipei click here
Day 6 in Taipei click here

Day 6 of 8 in Taiwan: Jiufen & Shifen, Shilin Night Market

I gotta complete my taiwan travelogue asap or else my Japan travelogue will be delayed as well... 😆

We spent our sixth day at Jiufen + Shifen + Shilin Night Market. Initial plan was to travel to Keelung Miao Kou night market near Jiufen (I heard they have lots of seafood there) but our plans got crashed...

Basically, we went to Jiufen > Shifen. This is absolutely wrong if you wish to make a trip down to Keelung Miao Kou night market after that. There is a bus which goes to this night market from Jiufen bus stop! 😐 and we weren't aware of this until we asked for directions at Ruifang station...

Anyway, you have to buy a train ticket from Taipei main station to Ruifang station as shown:

Do remember to seek help from the locals if you get lost. There are many platforms at Taipei Main station so don't board the wrong train! 

And we've arrived at Ruifang station! :)

Here's the train map for your reference

As you can see, Ruifang is 11 stops away from Taipei station so I would suggest bringing some snacks on board or else you'll get hungry like us... 😅 FYI, Shifen is located along Pingxi Line.

As reiterated, it would be better for you to head to Shifen first, then Ruifang for Jiufen old street and followed by Keelung Miao Kou night market (1 station away from Ruifang only). It was such a waste that we could only explore Jiufen and Shifen that day as it would be expensive for just the 2 of us to hire a private driver to visit more interesting places such as Yehliu Geopark, Golden Waterfall and Gold Ecological Park. Moreover, we went the wrong way and did not make it to Keelung Miao Kou night market 😢

Just wanna share with those travellers who are having the same issue - you should try Tripool service with RoundTaiwanRound, a travel agency that introduces the service in Taiwan.

This service is perfect for travellers who enjoy the cost-benefit of carpool yet having the luxury to customize the itinerary for the scenic areas chosen - similar to a shared tour but even better, you get to select where you wanna go! 

Are you confused? Take the Jiufen Custom Shared tour for instance. You may select up to 6 awesome tour spots in Jiufen and I would definitely make full use of this shared tour the next time I visit Taiwan. They cover tour spots such as Keelung Miao Kou night market and Jinguashi leh... 😱 why did they only introduce Tripool after my taiwan trip??? Priced at only USD30/pax with mandarin-speaking driver (additional USD40 for english-speaking driver, perfect for non-Chinese travellers)

Simply quote "mshuiling" before you check out your cart to obtain 10%* off! One person only needs to pay USD27 after applying the discount code 😊

* Discount code ends on 31 December 2017. Fastest fingers first! Please also refer to the terms and conditions before confirming your shared tour. They have this pop-up chat located at the bottom right-hand corner to answer every queries you may have. 

#Tripool #SharedTour #WeRoamLikeThis #RoundTaiwanRound 

The signage shows the direction from Ruifang station to the bus heading towards Jiufen

You'll walk pass a beancurd store, please buy something to fill your tummy!

 You'll walk pass a police station. Yes look at the crowd ahead 😦

We're here!!!

Here's a glimpse of the bus directory. 

Depending on where you're heading to, you may alight at your own destination. For us, we alighted at Jiufen station but we couldn't find Jiufen Old street... Hence, it would be better to clarify with the bus driver if he is friendly enough. Otherwise, just look for the crowd as I believe there are quite of handful of people going to the old street..

If only Tripool service existed at that time...

On the way to Jiufen old street!

We alighted too early 😱 which is why we were walking against the crowd flow haha

 Tea leaf egg for you?

 Tried the famous Jiufen peanut ice-cream!!! Not sure if this is the authentic one but we enjoyed our ice-cream so much 💜

I got too excited and forgot to take a photo before munching on it haha

We took the same bus from Jiufen bus stop back to Ruifang then took the Pingxi Line to Shifen station.

Damn... we wanted to visit Shifen waterfall but I gave up as it was raining quite heavily and I guess we need to walk at least 20-30 minutes eh. 

That's the Pingxi train haha. We gotta move away whenever the train is approaching!

The friendly Tian Deng assistant will spam pictures like mad. I appreciate this service a lot because sometimes candid photos are more memorable right?

JY: Huh our money is flying away liao? NOOOOOOOO

Yes darling, our ~350NTD is gone (I can't remember the exact price)

There are different lanterns for you to choose. We chose the "assorted" at a higher price. Other lanterns have only 1 colour. In our case, pink represents love, red represents health, yellow represents wealth and blue represents career.

See, the assistant even offered to take photos like this. Got MTV feel anot 😜

Next up, Shilin market!!!

We took the Pingxi Line back to Ruifang, then travelled all the way to Taipei Main station. From there, we took the red line to Jiantan station (north-west side).

 If you're walking from the Jiantan station, you cannot miss this stall.

YUMMY!! Oh man I can't wait to visit Taiwan again...

Step one candid lah

I LOVE THEIR CHICKEN STICK, CHICKEN WINGS AND EVERYTHING!!!

Found this shop and they sell really nice cake!

Day 1 & 2 in Taichung click here

Day 3 & 4 in Taipei click here
Day 5 in Taipei click here

Day 5 of 8 in Taiwan: Fisherman's wharf, Daan Park (Youbike), Zhe Yi Guo, Shi-da Night market

One of my favourite destinations in Taiwan will definitely be Fisherman's wharf as they have the iconic Lover's bridge (see image above) and wonderful sunlight to spam pictures!

Simply take the red line train to Tamsui station (terminating station) and catch a ferry to Fisherman's wharf. The pier is along Daan Park located right behind the train station. A round-trip cost about 100NTD? I couldn't remember the exact amount though 😅

And we're here after the 5-minute ferry ride!

I feel that this is similar to a mini island situated right at the corner of Tamsui area. It is possible to reach here by foot or bus! However, I would strongly suggest to take their ferry just for the experience and taiwan's sea breeze :)

HAHAHA the breeze was insane. Try to avoid wearing skirt if you're making a trip there or else good luck...

I love all the pictures we took @ the lover's bridge - no filter required and all thanks to the selfie stick 😆

Woo enjoying my chocolate ice cream whilst waiting for JY

I could still remember vividly how much we spent on the claw machine @ Rao He yesterday... It is the same Snorlax plush toy! I think we spent about 200NTD there :(

This time round we bought it from one of the stores at Fisherman's wharf for only 150NTD - equivalent to 7SGD only. Thank you JY for the plush toy 😍

I felt kind of cheated as there isn't any seafood fish market @ Fisherman's wharf as there's only a restaurant at the second level... Nothing much here so I guess you'll only need about an hour here before you head back to Daan Park.

Tamsui Old street is around the corner too so do remember to find it! We rented Youbike @ Daan Park for free (first 30 minutes only I think)! You can't miss the youbike station for sure as there are too many yellow bikes around. However, you have to create an account with them onsite first then use your Easycard to release the bike. Do visit their website for more information!

I always make it a point to visit an extravagant restaurant everytime we travel to other countries. We visited Yung Kee back at Hongkong and regretted so much because 3 dishes already cost us 120SGD accompanied with free flow chinese tea. I did some research online and came across a restaurant called "Zhe Yi Guo" near Xingtian Temple station.

Here's the address: 
No. 190, Jilin Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, 104

Head towards the Exit 1 and walk straight!

It would be quite impossible for you to miss it...

Entrance to the atas restaurant - they would ask you to leave after 1.5hours due to the free flow soup lololol

We chose the 2 pax menu for 1200NTD (they have a la carte menu as well)

Their dumplings, chicken and fish balls are of highest quality but I am not a huge fan of steamboat...

Complimentary drink and it has a weird aftermath taste... I wouldn't recommend this at all

2 pax value meal consists of their dessert as shown above and I guess I don't know how to appreciate taiwan's dessert...??? It was too awful for me as it is the same as Chinese Almond dessert. I HATE ALMOND!

They have bobby pins, pads, cotton buds, comb, mouthwash etc in their washroom! 😲 Although we spend ~60SGD for 2 pax and left the restaurant with our unsatisfied stomach, their top-notch service and awesome washroom is worth it lah... I mean if we were to compare with Hongkong's Yungkee, I think Zhe Yi Guo is way better... 

I wouldn't make a trip here again as I would definitely prefer taiwan's street food. 

Next up, we went to Shi-da night market by alighting at Taipower Building station.

Grabbed the above map from google.

Credits to the respective owner 🙏

This is the only picture I took at the night market. I didn't have much recollection of it so I guess it would be ok for you to give this a miss. However, there are tons of street food around so please don't indulge in other unnecessary food before visiting any night market in Taiwan!

I bought my Khaki green skirt here for 450NTD and I'm loving the material. Oh man I miss those carefree days 😞

Day 1 & 2 in Taichung click here

Day 3 & 4 in Taipei click here