Here’s the last part of my August Taiwan adventures!
August 13th: It was time to bring my friend to Jiufen, because as a first-time Japanese tourist to Taiwan, you must go to live out your Spirited Away dreams. She also wanted to go to Shifen to set off the lanterns, so I planned to stop by Shifen in the morning, and then save Jiufen for late afternoon to get all the pretty views.
Fu Hang Soy Milk was coincidentally right next to our hotel, and after explaining to my friend about the famous items and long line, she still wanted to try it out. Since the earlier you go the better, we strolled over at 7am to find a decently long line already. After we joined, it only got longer. Fortunately, the line that day moved pretty fast, and we made it to the order counter in less than an hour. We got a cold soy milk, a salty soy milk, a rice ball, and a thick bing with you tiao and egg.
Everything was yummy (as usual), and I usually don’t add eggs to my bings, but it actually added a nice textural and savory flavor contrast (the added protein is a nice bonus).
Although in March I took a private car tour with my family, this time we were taking public transportation to Shifen, and the Jiufen, which I think is a popular route for tourists with no car. We went to Taipei station to take the train to Ruifang at 9:49, and from Ruifang, we rode the local train to Shifen station, arriving at 11:30 (the train car was full of Japanese people, and the family across from us was discussing the exact plan to get to Jiufen later). We walked around for a bit, and then after a few people asked us, decided to set off our lantern (we got a 4-colored one) when the earlier rain had stopped for a bit.
Apparently if you go to Shifen, the two things to do are set off lanterns, and see Shifen Waterfall. We had plenty of time in the day and didn’t mind doing a bit of a hike, so we headed for the waterfall We took the scenic route on the way to the observatory, buying a Taiwanese sausage on the way. took pictures from all sorts of angles, and then took the easy route on the way back.
I was dying and thirsty, and coincidentally on our way back to Shifen station, I found a wintermelon tea stand, so I bought one. It was amazing, and fulfilled my wintermelon craving for this trip. My friend also bought a fried-rice stuffed chicken wing, which is supposedly a Shifen specialty.
We took the 1:40 train from Shifen station back to Ruifang station, and from there, there are numerous busses that take you to Jiufen Old Street. We had about 20 minutes before the next bus, so we stopped by a nearby 50Lan for some boba. I got a Jasmine tea, and my friend a boba milk tea. Read about my boba here!
The bus stop for the bus to Jiufen was crowded with tourists, but everyone just got on as busses kept coming. The ride was pretty smooth in a cushy bus, and a weekday doesn’t matter for tourists, because there was a decent crowd at Jiufen Old Street. We strolled up and down, took some pictures, and I bought Grandma Lai’s potato balls, because you have to eat that when you go to Jiufen. Plus, an icy treat beats the heat.
After checking out the premises, my friend wanted to go back to A-Mei Tea House to snag a terrace seat and watch the sunset while drinking tea. We arrived around 5pm, and there was quite a line crawling up the stairs, of mostly Japanese people. As expected of line-up culture. A family even started lining up behind us and didn’t know why they were lining up.
We got a seat relatively fast though, and got a pretty good one kind of near the balcony. We both ordered the cold tea set, which came with four kids of desserts, and unlimited tea refills. The tea was yummy, and I recognize the sweets are traditional, but none were my cup of tea (ba dum tsss). We stayed from when the view was a super pretty blue sky, to sunset, and when it was turning nighttime.
We weren’t done with aesthetic cafe pictures! My friend had apparently seen a Japanese influencer post a picture in Jiufen, and wanted to recreate it at the specific cafe (好望角), the specific table, sipping a Taiwan beer. Luckily this spot seemed to be more low-key (aka less popular, in a good way), and ran by a sweet old couple. She got a beer for her photo, and I got an apple black tea, which was super refreshing, not too sweet, and perfectly balanced. We took a bunch of photos, I became an Instagram boyfriend, and the view was super pretty.
At this point it was around 7:30pm, all the stores were beginning to shut down, and thus, everyone was trying to get out and back to Taipei by bus, because no one wants to pay for a taxi, so the bus stop was pretty crowded, with taxi people advertising their fast and guaranteed services. We waited out the line though, and managed to catch a bus back to Ruifang, and we were just in time to catch the next train to Songshan. The reason we stopped here and not at Taipei station is so that we could end the night off at Raohe Night Market!
We ended up getting a lot…including the famous Fuzhou Black Pepper Bun, fried sweet potato balls, seaweed black pepper grilled oyster mushroom, black pork giant Taiwanese sausage, salt and pepper skewed chicken thighs, a beer for my friend, and another wintermelon tea drink for me. My friend also bought a tanghulu, and the girl at the booth gave her an extra one for free! Sugar was melting quite fast though, and this one had tomatoes in it…
August 14th: It was our last full day in Taipei, and I decided to take it easy, chill, and take my friend around the Yongkang Street area. For breakfast, we went to the classic Yong He Soy Milk King (the one in Daan that seems to be the most famous for some reason), and we ordered a xiao long bao, a Taiwanese omelet with pork floss, and a no sugar soy milk. The crepe was a nice change of pace, and the xiao long bao was not bad, though a bit on the gingery side and thick-ish skin.
We walked to Wooyo Tea a bit down the block because it was already pretty hot in the morning, and this Yong He happened to be nearby one of my to-try boba places. Apparently they won an award for their oolong milk tea, so I got that, and my friend got their recommended red milk tea. The people there were super nice, and they have an English menu if you ask for it. Read about my boba here!
We bussed over to Yongkang street to hang out around the area, and we popped into a few stores, when all of a sudden it started pouring, as was the pattern every day this trip. Pro-tip: Yongkang street is very fun, but most of the cute fun shops actually open around noon, so don’t expect to get some money spending done if you go around 11. The rain let up after a bit though, and we carried on with souvenir window shopping. After a while, we were in the mood for a savory lunch, so when you’re in Yongkang, you have to go to Yongkang Beef Noodle Soup. Surprisingly, there was no line at all.
We ordered a small braised beef noodle soup, and got a side of cucumbers from the side dish area. My friend absolutely loved everything, and this was definitely leagues above the beef noodle soup from the first night.
My friend had tried a bit of the chili oil that was lying around as an extra condiment, and that lit her mouth on fire, so we went to the famous Smoothie House for some mango shaved ice (as an aside, it looks like they’r either building another location down the street or planning on moving there sometime in the future). There also was not much of a line that day, and right after we ordered, we snagged a seat!
After borrowing the Starbucks bathroom, we got a plain green onion pancake from my favorite Tian Jin Green Onion Pancake, and then went to go get Taiwanese Donuts (脆皮鮮奶甜甜圈 台北店) at my cousin’s suggestion. I went here last March, but my friend wanted to try, so we lined up in the mini line, and got one donut. Apparently this location is moving to near the Sogo Department store intersection as of October 1.
With no other solid plans, we went to go chill at Huashan Creative Park and check out the shops there. For any anime fans, there was an Oshi no Ko pop-up booth (paid, sadly), along with various other pop-up shops (Ultraman, Snoopy, Tom&Jerry, PomPomPurin, this weird pink bear dude?) while we were there.
Towards the later half of the afternoon, we headed to the Sogo department store intersection to do some more window shopping and steal some air conditioning. For a quick and small dinner, we headed down the street to Zi Lin Steamed Dumplings so I could introduce my friend to Chinese-style pot stickers! We also got some braised beef shank slices, and a side of pig ear and cold tofu noodles.
We went back to our hotel early to get some sleep for the early wake-up the next day, but not before doing a last minute 7/11 raid for snacks, instant noodles, and ice cream! my friend got a yakult bar, and I got a brown sugar boba monaka. Read about my ice cream here!
August 15th: It was finally time to go home, particularly sad because our flight was quite early in the morning. The night before at 7/11, I bought an apple milk to have something light in my stomach for the morning, and it was an interesting experience. Unlike apple-flavored calpis drinks I’ve had, this one was like drinking a creamy version of apple juice.
In order to have ample time for our 8:35am flight, we arrived at the airport around 6:20am. With about an hour before boarding, we walked around the terminal, bought some last minute souvenirs, and got in line for some boba (yes, I did my research, and they open at 6am) at Chun Sui Tang. It was quite a story, but all of the employees were super nice. Read about my boba here!
Our flight was pretty smooth with nothing of note, and this flight also had the Pikachu disposal bags, so it must have been a China Airlines thing (speaking of, as we were leaving our gate, I saw a China Airlines Pikachu plane!). About an hour or so after take-off, they started food service, with supposedly a choice between curry chicken (again?), and a garlic beef burger pasta. Turns out they ran out of the curry after my friend ordered it, which again, is a bit rude to take an order and then take it back.
They said beef, but it came in the form of a patty, which is less appealing to me, and had a sprinkle of some kind of herb on it. The pasta was a penne, which was fine, and went nice with the sauce. The mayo salad?thing? was pretty weird, and very fibery, and that combined with my lack of appetite from a giant cup of boba, I only ate the ham (good) from it. Bread was decent (I did take it with me and ate it later though). It also came with this strawberry tea pastry, but I also did not eat it right away. We were both very happy we could have one last slice of guava as we were leaving Taiwan. The pastry turned out to be a China Airlines and WooTEA collaboration strawberry honey black tea dacquoise. The consistency was maaron-like, with a delicate cookie shell outside and a bit of cream filling. The shell had a light berry flavor, and the cream had a light tea flavor. It was pretty yummy.
Immigrations was smooth (huzzah residence card!), surprisingly our luggage came out quickly, and with that, we parted at the airport. I took my train to Sapporo station, and with no real agenda, I headed over to Akarenga Terrace to the bus stop. Along the way, I was a bit hungry, so I stopped by Arinko for an onigiri. Specifically, this eel one which is supposedly seasonal. It have to say I really liked the eel, but it had a lot of shiso leaf in it too, which I don’t like, so I have mixed feelings about it.
There was a festival at the Akarenga Terrace area, this time a Sweets festival. It’s marketed as one, and there indeed were a variety of interesting sweets, but there were also a good amount of normal savory foods, including skewers, tacos, and a handheld pizza. I understand for balance but then don’t call it just a sweets festival…
I ended up trip by taking the bus at 4 to go home.
And that’s it! When’s the next time I’m going to Taiwan…Part 1 and Part 2 are here.
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