First thing that we need to buy is the MRT Pass.There are many kinds of MRT Pass, but I suggest you to buy the Easy Card.Why? Because Easy Card can be use for MRT, Bus, Bicycle, and so on.The Easy Card can be bought at the nearest MRT Station. (Another info that I got it is also can be bought at 7-eleven or other convenience store)The price is NT 200, which are 100 as your deposit and 100 usable balance.The card is refundable, so it will give you NT 100 plus the rest of your balance minus NT 20 for the handling fee. I also grab some tourist information and also the MRT map so I won’t get lost ;) The first place that we visited the Chiang Kai Sek Memorial Hall. The place is very huge and so beautiful. You can go downstairs inside the Hall and take a look at the museum and learn about the history.
After look around and take some rest, we go to the Red House at Xi Men Ding.To get here : MRT Xi MenAt the afternoon, Xi Men Ding is not that crowded, and it is better to visit the Red House at the afternoon so you can take a beautiful picture infornt of the Red House :)Red House is basically like a little museum for the artists. It got a lot of unique stuff like an old radio, old telephone, CDs, and so on.You should visit it when you have some time.
We decided to go to the Taipei 101 observatory deck which is located inside the mall.Taipei 101 mall is a mall full of high class branded stuffs. Yeah, everything here is branded ! Unfortunately, because it was 31 December the observatory deck was just too full and the queue was too long.Then, we decided to move our observatory deck plan to the next day and decided to look around the mall, get something to eat and buy some snacks before the fireworks begin. It was 11 p.m, we go outside the mall and go to our hot place to watch the firework.When I go outside, there are already bunch of people around, it was getting a little bit crazy!The street was so crowded. They were all waiting for the New Year's Eve. It is all worth our time !!!! One of the best firework I ever see in my life! Additional information for you, the height of Taipei101 is 500 meter high, and from what I’ve heard, it is the highest Observation Tower in the world, even The Bund at Shanghai - which is also beautiful as Taipei101, believe me - is lower than Taipei101On the 89 floor, you can look how gorgeous Taipei is through the window. When I look through the window for the first time, I felt a little bit dizzy because it is so incredibly high !
Our next destination for today is Maokong Gondola. To get here : MRT Taipei Zoo, about 10 minutes walk. The queue is very very long, it’s about 2km long!But don’t worry, Maokong provide lots of Gondola so we only need to wait for about 1 hour to get inside the Gondola.
While waiting at the queue, if you’re lucky enough - like me, haha - , you can watch the Dancing Water show just beside the Maokong Gondola. It is very beautiful, especially at the Twilight here are two cabin types on Maokong. The first one is the ordinary cabin, and the other one is the crystal cabin.The cost of the two cabin is just the same, and the difference is that on crystal cabin, your foot will step on a see-through window ! We choose the ordinary cabin since I am 100% sure that I can’t sit calmly for 20 minutes with a see through window underneath my foot ! I just can’t imagine how scary it is ! The view from Maokong Gondola is just beautiful. Even Taipei101 can be seen from the Gondola.
From the bus stop, you need to walk about 15 minutes until you can find the Yeliou Geo park. Yeliou is located near the sea, and you can look around and enjoy the street view while walking to the Geo Park. No need to be bored ! Before entering the Yeliou Geopark, you need to pay for the entrance fee, only for NT 50 per person.Let me tell you a bit about Yeliou Geopark.
Yeliou is basically an amazing stone Park where you can find Princess Head, and so on in the area. You’ll find lots of interesting things here. Plus, it is located near the sea, so the place is really beautiful. You can hear the waves flow through your ears ! It is formed by the sea eruption, you can easily feel it by touching the stone.
In Jiufen, you can enjoy their local markets and also beautiful old China HousesNote : I can’t find the location of the old China Houses, but I ever browse for it and from what I’ve heard, it is so beautiful. If you have a chance, you should search the exact location of it.We enjoyed lots of Jiufen local foods - they are all delicious! - My favourite ones are their mochi (a cold ones) and shrimp snacks !
To get here : MRT Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. SYS Memorial hall is a very beautiful place. You even can look at the Taipei101 directly. Not only that, it has a lovely garden full of colourful flowers :)Inside the memorial hall, you can find the Honorable Sun Yat Sen statue and you can take a picture there !
To get to Tamsui :Board the MRT that has a green sign to Tamsui Or else, you can board the MRT with red sign to Beitou, alight at Qiyan, then wait for another MRT that goes to Tamsui(Because on the redline, there are two destinations, which are Tamsui and Beitou) Then, we continue our journey to Fisherman Wharf, or many people say the Love Bridge To get here :
After we look around and enjoy the view, we got back to our boat and back to Tamsui old street. Then we go to our next destination which is the Modern Toilet Restaurant! :) To get here :MRT Xi Men, it's located near the Kunming street. Some people are having trouble while finding the Modern Toilet Restaurant .Just make sure that you brought a picture of the food (it helps) because Taipei people don't have any idea if you ask them where is the modern toilet restaurant. Modern Toilet Restaurant is a very famous restaurant on the internet.The price of the food is about NT 240, which you already get a main course, beverage, and a dessert.Many tourists come to Taipei to try to eat at this restaurant. The decoration is full about toilets! Very interesting, isn’t it?
It's called a swallow grotto because it's used to be the swallow's nest. That is why there are lots of holes (you can see it in my picture). These holes are used as a nest by the swallow bird. Unfortunately, because of the climate, the swallow bird have moved away from their nest.It's really an amazing place !
Walk along the Tamsui old street near the river, and you’ll find a ticket stall that sell a return ticket to Fisherman Wharf by using a boat. In Tamsui old street, you can find a unique person that is look alike with a statue (the gesture, everything).It is so interesting to see. Not only that, Tamsui is famous for the very long ice cream cone. The taste is so-so, but you can take a nice picture with it! It’s very cheap though, only NT 25. Again, there’s a lot of food stall along the Tamsui old street that you need to try ! Not only that, there’s also bag and fashion store along the way, and the price is worth it. If you walk along the river, you will feel that you’re not in Taipei anymore. I don’t know if it’s only me or not, but the atmosphere is really calm here in Tamsui.
