台湾春天之旅 2013- Keelung Night market, Raohe Night Market (基隆夜市，饶河夜市)

We reached Keelung bus terminal at 4pm..The ride from Yehliu took 45min. Not sure whether the night market is opened yet. But we decided to give it a try. Turns out it is really not fully open for business yet.

We went round the food section twice in hope to find something to eat in this cold weather but to no avail.

基隆庙口夜市

Still empty street

Disappointed, we ducked into a 7-11 to hide from the wind. Was walking around to look for something to eat and suddenly it strikes me, we haven try their 麻辣 关东煮 before and its perfect for this weather..hehe..

Sitting inside 7-11,njoying our 关东煮

关东煮 is like a hot pot where they will cook/boil fishballs, meatballs, pig skin, veggies and all sorts of yong tau foo in either clear or spicy broth.

To purchse, you can choose whatever you want and put it the paper bowl provided and then soup some broth to go with it and then paid for it at the cashier..


We choose fishball, tofu, tau pau and then half filled it with the brooth and set inside the shop to njoy while watching the crowd goes by outside..Sat here for nealy 30min before we decide to try our luck at the night market again.

Wat we ate

We were actually looking for the teppanyaki stall we ate at the last time we were here in Keelung but after walking around for some time, we couldnt find it. Since was craving for the teppanyaki, we decided to settle for a stall by a corner of a building.

The dinner crowd has yet to fill in and thus seats were plenty. Took our time to choose from the menu while the boss serves us tea (refillable) and corn soup. Mr Love ordered a double portion, with chicken and pork chops while I ordered a chicken chop. The taiwanese teppanyaki serves their chops with pasta hidden below, thus making this a very fulfilling dish to eat. But nevertheless, we were satisfied with our find here.

Chicken teppanyaki with pasta-NTD 90

We were too full oredi and decided to go bak to Taipei. From my memory, I know roughly how to navigate our way back to the train station which is a good 10min if not more walk. Weather is still rainy but cooling. We decided to drop by 饶河夜市 since it is still early and it is on the way back to Taipei. And thus, I brought the tickets back to 松山站 instead of Taipei station.

18:02 train to 松山

Not sure about Mr Love, but being here for the 3rd, I am pretty well versed with Taiwan train system oredi. Hehe. We took 区间车 which is the cheapest option and surprisingly, it is pretty empty. Need not stand for the 45min journey.

Tickets

We reached 松山at around 7pm. Was surprised to find a new shopping centre above the train station. Didnt check it out though, since our interest is in 饶河。 hehe

New shopping above 松山火车站

饶河夜市 is our favourite night market in Taiwan. Not sure how to explain but I find it neater, easier to navigate than the others. Perhaps its because of the small size, onli 2 lanes but then the food here are of much variety. It can get beri crowded on wkends and I am glad we made it on  fri night.

Our favourite-饶河夜市

We spotted Taiwanese sausage and got 1 stick to share. We did not eat as much sausage as compared to our last trip to Taiwan. Hehe Maybe is sick of it oredi *bleah*  This 1 we tried here, however is made of wild boar meat or so they claimed. Frankly, I couldnt tell the difference but still enjoy eating it.

The sauces you can choose to add on

1 at NTD 35, 3 for NTD 100

Taking the 1st bite

Moving on, we saw a stall selling grilled chicken thigh roll. The chicken thighs meat are miced and wrap in tau kee skin and grilled and then sprinkle with a specific powder of your choice (wasabi, curry, pepper etc).

We brought 1 out of curiousity and love it!! Its serve piping hot and when you bite into the chicken, you can literally feel the oil oozing out. Haha. Would love to get 3 but then decided not to be greedy as we move along to look at the other food stalls.

The stall name

Yummy yummy

Next, I found the grilled mushroom that I was will buy whenever I visit 九份..Didnt see it anywhere in Taipei and this time I finally saw!!Was so happie can..

The mushroom is grilled with teppanyaki sauce and then cut into smaller pieces to serve. Again, you can choose 1 flavour powder of your choice to sprinkle on top. I chose seaweed flavour :) Ordered a small portion as Mr Love was not interested. Nvm, I love it so much that I regretted didnt ordered the big portion.

Vendor preparing the mushroom

It is said to be from Taichung

Mushrooms, all mine!!!

We walked around more, checking out stalls that sell hp covers and realised it is no where cheaper than back home. Gave up the tot to buy though I adored the cartoon 1..Hur hur..

Then I saw an interesting thing, hehe. A stall looks like they are selling fresh chicken and the owner is chopping the chicken on the spot. Curious, we stopped infront of the stall to check it out.

Turns out its not fresh chicken, the chicken are cooked but chilled to make it more tender. You can choose to buy a part or a whole chicken. The owner will then proceed to chop it up into small picese, adding either sesame oil or chinese wine and 竹笋 ( Some sort of bamboo shoots)to it.

We were impressed by his "performance" and of cuz the 卖相 of the chicken and decided to buy 1 portion to try out, choose the sesame oil version.

It turns out to be a good choice, chilling the chicken makes the meat more tender and at the same time preserving its juiciness. The sesame oil gave fragance to the meat and eating it with the 笋 gives crunchiness to the overall taste...We totally dig this dish!!
 

Chickens on sale!

The sign board

By the time we finished eating the chilled chicken, our stomach were filled to the brim oredi.. So we continue to window shop as we made our way out of the night market. Hubs saw a stay selling fried chicken parts and couldnt resist but brought 1 to eat. The owner was abit puzzled as hubs onli brought 1 wing to eat. Whaha really too full le la..

Tasty fried chicken wings

We made our way back to Song Shan train station to take a train back to Taipei. Was comtemplating to take a cab as I was pretty tired but end up decided to take public transport instead. Decided not to give in to laziness as it could got better of me and I will end up taking beri frequently. Hehe.

松山车站

It marks the end of day 2 in Taipei, went back to hotel and rest to prepare for another full day tmr. Its 十分 revisit and a dinner date with 姗姗姐。。。

Waiting for the train to come

台湾春天之旅 2013- Yehliu Geopark (野柳地质公园）

Mr Love had previously visited 野柳 years ago during 1 of his co trip and thus we skipped this place during our last 2 trips. However, since this trip we have more time on hand and it is meant to be a sight seeing trip, I checked with him whether he wanted to revisit the place again since I heard he spoke fondly of this place when he came back the other time.

He gave the green light and I went ahead to check how to get to this place of interest. It is at the north tip of Taipei. Nearest train station is Kee Lung. However, I wasnt planning to take the train to Keelung as it would be 45min away from Taipei and I had to make a detour back to Taipei station from City hall which is ard 20mins away by MRT. And from Keelung, bus ride is 30min to Yehliu. Too time consuming.

Imagine my joy when I managed to find a bus going to Yehliu from City Hall bus terminal. Its just like god sent gift to us. Haha. Thus its arranged to be visited on the same day of Doraemon fair. Hehe..

We took 1815 (国光客运） from City Hall bus terminal that is bound for Jin Shan Youth Center （金山青年活动中心）. This bus starts its journey from Taipei Main station and makes a stop here along the way. We were lucky to get seats on the bus and while boarding, I informed the driver of our destination as I did not know where to get down.

Journey was very long, and at 1 point I tink we went over a hill or mountain. The bus stop we are suppose to get down didnt have any signs that we are at Yehliu Geopark already. Had it not been the driver who announced, I tink we would have missed the stop.

Not knowing our way, we decided to follow the couple infront of us. Hehe.

Yehliu Scenic area

Mr Love also cannot recall the way there as he took a tour bus in the last time. There is a signage pointing to the general direction of the Geopark and we decided to follow. Turns out its ard 15min in. Along the way, we can see fishing boats anchoring by the coast. Its a raining and gloomly day and I hope it wun rain heavily so that I can get to njoy the view.

Fishing boats

Lots of tour bus pasts us as we walked along the coast and how I wished I was inside 1 of them. The wind is blowing strongly and we are shivering under the drizzle..

Finally reached!

We were relieved that we finally reached our destination but were disappointed to see lots of tour buses carrying neighbouring country citizen. It would meant a crowded and rowdy park :(.

Pale after walking in the rain and strong wind

So many tour buses!!

Told Mr Love I would get the tickets as I tink he is no fight for the crowd gathered in front of the ticketing booth. Hehe I squeezed my way into the crowd among the indecisive and loud tourists and brought our tickets in 5min.

Prices are relatively cheap. NTD50 for adult to get into the park. And we quickly went in before the army of neighbour tourists decided to enter the park.

Tickets

Mr Love suggested to go straight to the Main attraction- Queen's head to take a photo 1st before exploring the Geopark and we went in search of the attraction. There are replicas in the garden near to the entrance as the original 1 is eroding.

1st view of the park

Signs in the park

Naturally formed

And more..

The geopark is by the coast line

And we spotted the Queen's head!!

There is a short queue by the Queen's head and we fell in line with the queue. The 1s infront are all from the neighbouring country and they sure took their time to take the photos. So much so that the park ranger was getting impatient and start chasing them away so that the queue can move on.

Just as it reached our turn, 1 beri rude couple came from the exit direction and started posing infront of the Queen's head. We were stunned lo.. But the park ranger was cool, he told them off and got them to join the queue. Telling them that we queued for 15min already. Haha..Actually was 5min only. But I find him beri cool, haha keep telling the army of neighbours off the ridiculous things they do..

Queen infront of the queen's head

Grey day

We moved around taking in the sights and taking random pictures of this natural wonder that nature created. Mr Love was enjoying himself as the last time he was here, he onli got to stay for an hr before moving on to the next sight. This is wat u get when you are in a tour.

Stone with holes

Eroded

We came to a long flight of stairs which states "bird watching" at the top. Mr Love decided to go up much to my horror. I had no choice but to follow him while complaining all the way up. Hehe. Just then, an old uncle (presumably frm the neighbouring country) overtook us while looking as if he is taking a leisure walk instead of climb up.

Mr Love luffed even harder when he saw me looking at the old uncle in disbelief. aggrrr...

At the foot of the stairs..Still can smile..

Mid way

We climbed to a point and stopped to take some pics..The skies were turning really dark and we decided to turn bak for fear it would rain. The climb up was really exhausting and we were so warmed that we took off our jackets in the cold weather. Was sweating can...

Mr Love checking out what is below

I do not really dare to look down from where we are as am afraid of heights. Mr Love, on the other hand, keep leaning out to take picutres of what we believe is a breakwater down there. There were no birds in sight lo, hahah I told him, birds were all hiding cuz of today's weather. We did spotted some pretty wild flowers along the climb though.

Breakwater I believe

Hot from the climb, took off jacket le

We walked around more after descending and was caught in the army of tourists.Was pretty put off by them, loud and noisy, blocking the path while taking photos, blocking plp's path while others are trying to take a photo.. Walk slowly in herds, you name it, they did it..

We realised the park rangers were pretty strict and unfriendly towards them. Can realli feel the difference. They smiled and greeted us as we walked around the park but was watching the amry like a hawk while they walked around.

At 1 point, some of the tourists went past the safety line along the coast to pose for pictures and got a stern warning from the rangers. I guess 1 cannot be too lenient with them too...

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Spot the chopper

The queue at Queen's head getting longer

Reminds me of a mushroom

The rain got heavier as we walked around, was all wet oredi and thus took out the umbrella, but it got in the way and we decided to ditch it and used my shawl to cover myself instead. Hehe

Hiding from the rain

Teaching you wat to do in case of emergency

We hung around for a while more before deciding to call it a day. Spent 2 hrs here and Mr Love was overjoyed to have more time here this time though the travelling was a little dreadful.

Panorama shot

As usual, I pulled Mr Love to the gift shop to find some to bring home as a memo.Brought a small photo frame (my favourite idea) and started the trekking out to the bus stop where we dropped earlier.

From here, there is a straight bus that goes to Kee Lung (基隆）  where we planned to visit 1 of our favourite night market in Taipei.

Photo frame from 野柳

李式笑话- Concert any 1?

Jay Chou is in town these 2 nights holding his concert and as far as I can see, many of Mr Love and my fwens went crazy posting pics of his concert in FB..

I was telling Mr Love that I haven been to a concert yet, and he was retorting that he thinks I will njoy Disney on Ice more than those singer's concert. True, haha.

Anyways he say, we can always go to Jim Lee's concert if I ever want to see a singer's concert.

Jim Lee who? I asked...

"Yours truly" lo..

"Huh?" Got me stoned for a minute.

Turns out to be the short form for Jimmy which his aunties keep calling him when he was young and wore the a shirt with "Jimmy" Haha

So...Jim Lee concert anyone?

心情不好

不晓得为什么就是开心不起来

我很努力的过日子,

可是,还是让坏心情打倒了。。

有时好想大哭一场,

让不愉快的事随着眼泪流走。。

可是为什么就是连哭也哭不出来呢?

I must be mad..

Had a dream this morning that feels so real yet I know it is not.

I dreamt that I've got a positive for the pregnancy kit when I did it in the morning when I woke up.

But when I woke up from the dream, I was still lying in my bed.

The dream seems so real, can still feel the happiness of it but then when I woke up, it strikes me that it is juz a dream.

Am I too anxious? Or this is a sign? I dunno. Afterall, we have been trying hard ever since our loss and there is no news yet.

At 1st, we are still taking it easy but as time passes, I began to worry slightly.

Doc did mentioned 6mths after miscarriage will be ideal to conceive again.

10mths had past oredi. I am worried that we have missed the golden period.

The 1 yr of my miscarriage is coming up, perhaps it makes me feel more for my lost child.

I dunno how long more can I stay sane.

This is so nerve wrecking.

台湾春天之旅 2013-Lunch at City Hall Mrt food court

We decided to walk to City Hall Mrt station (市政转运站) as it seems to be nearer than SYS station and also we will need to take bus from here to our next destination.

Nearing to City hall Mrt station

Decided to take lunch here too. At 11am, the food court is very empty. I am glad we are not caught in the lunch time crowd and we have all the time in the world to see what each stall has to offer :)

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 We decided to eat at GuGu kitchen. The name cracks me up and I had a hard time maintaining a straight face while ordering my meal. The prices here seems reasonable. A main course that comes with a drink (tea) is about NT150-170 and for NTD 45 you can add 1 side to your meal. I ordered my fav pasta-Vongole and added a soup along to the meal

Menu

Gugu kitchen Italian cuisine

I realised all of the stalls in taiwan who offer free drink along with the meal would throw in unlimited top up of the drink. Usually the free drink would be chilled tea. This is good news to me as I usually drink alot of water with my meal. Hehe

My vongole

Their serving is pretty big and thus Mr Love and I ordered 1 side each and shared. Taste is comparable with the 1 we ate in Singapore but then again, we didnt have high standards set for Italian food. Hehe..

The most important thing is, it is very filling. As we are going to have a busy afternoon, we need all the energy we can get.

Mr Love's baked rice and fries

Finished the food and proceed to the bus terminal where we are set to take the bus to our next destination, Yeliu National Park. By this time, the lunch time crowd is pouring in, I am glad we managed to have a relax and peaceful lunch :)