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title:Taipei Day 1 - XimenDing and WuFenPu

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12:02 AM
Friday, March 23, 2012

Taipei Day 1 - XimenDing and WuFenPu

Hello everyone, I'm back from my Taipei Trip.
Here's a piece of advice for you if you plan to go Taiwan in the future - please brush up your Chinese before going because even the words found in the menu are in Chinese. Hence, if you don't even understand simple Chinese, you will find it pretty hard to communicate with the people over there. Alright, time for a short update on my first day in Taipei. I'm proud of ourselves because we don't belong to the head-scratching tourists for the few days in Taiwan. It was an awesome trip with my three babygirls.

Upon arriving at TaoYuan Airport, we headed straight to the passenger reception area to buy our tickets from one of the booths - Free Go Bus Service. For the following days, we would be staying over at SongShan Wonstar Hotel which was located right beside the entrance of WuFenPu. Therefore, we took this Free Go Bus to ZhongXiao Fuxing and we took the train over to HouShanPi; a walking distance to our Hotel and WuFenPu. As for the bus stop, it was merely a few minutes walking distance away from the Mrt station and thus, it was pretty convenient. If you intend to shop crazily at WuFenPu, do consider staying at WonStar hotel because it was located exactly beside it. Furthermore, the hotel staffs were pretty friendly and the rooms were clean and affordable. Besides that, the hotel staffs would take the initiative to ask if you would need the wifi there and it was totally free of charge. Unlike some other hotels, they might even charge you for the wifi service in the room. Make your reservation early and you may be entitled to attractive promotional prices. As for us, we have booked a 4d3n stay at the hotel more than one month in advance and it merely cost approximately SGD$409.75 for 2 rooms. However, this package did not come with breakfast as we would prefer trying other food rather than the hotel food. If you prefer having your breakfast in the hotel, you can also consider other affordable packages. Another good thing about this Hotel was that you could even find Razor, Toothpaste and other necessities in the washroom. Some hotels which I've previously stayed in, did not even provide us with toothpaste.

Free Go Bus Ticket - TWD140 per person & ride

This is how the Free Go Bus looks like, with a mirror outside

Here's how the street in Taipei look like

Unlike Singapore, the building looks kind of worn down

Taipei Cabs(:

Top up your EasyCard using this machine(:

You can't see this in Singapore Train but Taiwan Trains(:

WuFenPu is just like our well known Bugis Street and WuFenPu is like few times bigger than Bugis Street. The clothes, accessories and bags there were pretty cheap and you can even negotiate the prices with the salesperson. One thing I don't really like about this place was that the motorcyclists can drive past us without giving any signals. Upon hearing the horning sound, the most immediate reaction was to turn and look. Within seconds, they would drive past you and you don't even have much chance in dodging away from them. Hence, be careful of your own safety and be alert in looking out for these motorcycles. Another thing I did not like about this place was that the sales assistant could smoke in the shop. Hence, the air seemed kind of polluted over there. Nevertheless, it was one of the cheapest destinations to shop. Upon hearing the prices quoted by the salesperson, our mouths were so open in shock. I was pretty sure that our chins could nearly rest on the padding of our bras. Some of the prices were ridiculously cheap and even if I sounded exaggarating, we just couldn't help it. We were somehow smitten with all the cheap stuffs which were sold there. Trust me, you will be able to understand how we feel if you belong to the shopaholic family. Each Bikini set was sold approximately at SGD11 whereas the ones found in Bugis Street cost SGD32.90. See the difference now?

This is how the hotel room looks like (:

You can eat/drink them for free (:

Hotel Toilet(:

Next up, we travelled to XiMenDing (西门町) to shop and eat. Well, it was pretty convenient as you could alight at XiMen Mrt station and you could find your way through the crowd to get to XiMenDing. This street seemed like Far East Plaza and the prices were slightly higher as compared to WuFenPu. Nevertheless, don't be surprised to see a large crowd at night - we went on Sunday and thus, it seemed pretty crowded to us. Anyway, one of the shops where you can consider patronizing is the "A Sweet Place for Sweet Hearts". Stroll down to take a look at the candy & chocolate which are being sold there. Anyway, one year ago, babybaby bought the popping chocolate for me there as well. Hence, be prepared to spend a bomb there because your hands won't be able to stop picking up the boxes of chocolate from the shelves. Besides that, it's a must to try out the popular "阿宗面线" where you can see a long queue outside the stall. Furthermore, it's pretty common to see people crowding around the stall to finish up the mouth-watering mee sua.