But first, we had to fill our empty stomachs. Like yesterday, we gave the pathetic hotel's buffet breakfast a miss and headed to Mcdonald's, which was only 2 minutes walk from our hotel.
Unlike Singapore, the Mcdonald's in Taipei offer 2 choices of Happy meals that children can choose from - the usual hotcakes or muffin with egg and ham.
After breakfast, we took a cab and headed to Taipei Lee Ji to buy our favourite Taipei's specialty pineapple tarts. The taxi ride was about 20 minutes from Ximending. Apart from the pineapple tarts, we also bought green bean paste tarts (with and without salted yoke). There were also pineapple tarts that come with or without cranberries.
Website: http://www.taipeileechi.com.tw.
And we ended up with 2 cartons of it!
In total,we bought 18 boxes and it cost around S$450.
We headed back to our hotel in a taxi as it was impossible to shop with the 2 cartons.
Then we walked to Ximen Metro Station from our hotel, that is about 5 minutes walk.
Before we entered the Metro station, we took some photos at the famous Ximen Red House.
Right across the Ximen Red House is the heart of Ximending.
Our next stop is the National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, located at No.505, Sec.4, Ren-ai Rd., Taipei (Zip code 110), You can visit the official website for more information: http://www.yatsen.gov.tw/en/. The opening hours: Monday-Sunday 9:00-18:00 (Except the eve and the first day of Lunar New Year)
We took the MRT fom Ximen Metro Station on the Bannan Line (aka "Blue line") to National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memoral Hall Station.
At the National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memoral Hall Station, take Exit 4 and walk straight for about 90 meters, and you will reach. There are very clear signs at the train station (in English and Chinese) that will show you which Exit to take to get to the Memorial Hall. Just follow the signs.
At the concourse.
Before entering the memoral hall.
The main highlight at this place is to witness the honor guards exchange ceremony, which happens every hour from 9am to 5pm daily.
Then we walk through the museum for some history lessons.
And then our tummies rumbled and growled....
No worries if you get hungry here... there is a buffet restaurant located at Basement 1 of the memorial hall. You can eat-all-you-can for just S$30 for adult and S$15 for child. The spread include a salad bar, fresh prawns and mussels, rice and Chinese dishes, vegetables, bread, croissant and cookies, ice-cream, fruits, coffee and tea (English breakfast to Oolong Black Tea to Rose buds tea, and more). It doesn't offer exquisite dishes but to me, it is decent enough for a good buffet lunch.
After lunch, it was time for mommy to shop, SHOP, SHOP!!
We were heading for Wufenpu, a wholesale garment market, that sells really cheap clothings, shoes, etc. And I have to say that after returning to Singapore, I still really, really miss this place. And I will surely go back there for more shopping real soon!
To get to Wufenpu by Metro Taipei from National Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall Station, take the Ban-nan(阪南) line and get off at the Houshanpi(後山埤) MRT station.
Use Exit 1 to Wufenpu Commercial Zone and walk north along Zhongpo N. Road(中坡北路) to the intersection of Zhongpo N. Road and Yongji Road(永吉路). That will be the start of your shopping!
Once you step out of the metro station, you will see a self-service kiosk for rental of bicycles. This is one of those things the Taiwanese are much like the Japanese.
Daddy and kiddos having a break while mommy continues her shopping.
While eating their Taiwanese sausages, Daddy reminded David to hold on to his stick tightly so it doesn't drop. Just when he finished speaking, David dropped his sausage on the floor and was about to burst out crying. At that instant, Deborah offered her sausage to her brother voluntarily and without any hesitation. We were so touched by Deborah's spontaneous kindness and our sweetie girl truly made our day!
By then, the children were quite tired as we were out since 9am that morning. On our way to the metro station, we stopped by Spizza Café for dinner. The kiddos had their usual favourite pasta - carbonara while mommy, an avid tea-lover, settled for her English breakfast tea. I had to take this picture, because I seriously think that the tea served in Taiwan tastes especially fragrant compared to those in Singapore, even though it is still Lipton tea bag. I already know of people who put their hands up in agreement to that! Haha....
We had initially planned to go to Raohe Night Market but the kids were already too tired to walk further so we dropped our plan. This is something mommy planned to do in our next trip to Taipei.
The Raohe Street Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in Songshan District, Taipei. It is located on Raohe Street, near Songshan Station, and is about 600 meters long.
It is not far to get from Wufenpu to Raohe Night Market. Walk towards the Songshan railway station(松山火車站) and you will see the night market after crossing Ba-de Road Section 4(八德路四段).
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