Day 8 - 4th June 2012 - Taipei

Today is our Free and Easy day, being the last full day in Taipei. We decided to split ways with Brian's family and headed out for our Fu Hang Dou Jiang breakfast again which we had taken on Day 3. So we took the MRT train to ShaoDao temple station and climbed up the long flights of steps again at exit 5. I noticed that Taipei (or maybe Taiwan as a whole) doesn't have a lot of escalators or lifts in their MRT stations. At most exit points, the passengers have to walk this long flight of steps to get outside. Just imagine, if one has to climb this everyday for work.. I now understand the reason why I don't see alot of working ladies in heels. And on this topic, most ladies dressed pretty casually in taipei city for work, they are usually in leggings and long tunic tops or girlish tops and ballerinas.

When we reached Huashan building, we were told by the locals there that the Fu Hang Dou Jiang is closed every Monday! So we thought it was a wasted trip there. Thankfully one granny pointed us to another Dou Jiang shop which is located opposite to the building (on the right side facing the main road) and asked us to try their xiao long baos...

To our surprise, this shop turned out to be the other famous Dou Jiang stall in Taipei - Yong He Dou Jiang (I think this is a franchise stall).

The You Tiao and Dan Bing is just as nice (personally I prefer Fu Hang's Dan Bing)

This soy bean milk is light and nice

 Highlight of our breakfast - Xiao Long Baos. Only NTD 100 for 8 pieces.. Very nice, must try! Caden love these and gobbled about 5 pieces..

After our fulfilling breakfast, we took a cab to Taipei 101. This day, it continued to rain since morning. Ah lou reminded me about the bag that I wanted to buy in TW cos we both watched a Taiwan entertainment program some time back and the host mentioned that you must get MM bag in Taiwan because it is priced about 15% cheaper than the price in SG. To me, I can do away from a 2nd MM bag but the temptation was really great when we stepped into The Shop in Taipei 101..

So I parted my money and indulged on a second MM bag, given the fact that I really like the functionality of the design and the design fits my personality - it's like, I'll look weird in a Chanel bag but not with a MM bag. Come to think of it, this is the first labeled bag that I have bought for myself (rest were sponsored). So why did my sponsor shy away from the cashier this time round???!!

Taipei 101 has a Zara store as well. But this store did not stock up the dress that I was eyeing. Zara in TW are also priced abt 15-20% cheaper than SG. We managed to buy those higher end tea leaves as a souvenir for my FIL in the supermarket at 101, I had a few samples of the tea and really love them (but didn't buy for myself cos I don't have the patience to brew it).

We decided to have lunch at the food court in 101. Ah lou tried their beef noodles and said they are good..

 I know Ru Rou Fan (stewed pork rice) is one of the common food in TW and it took me alot of courage to buy a set for myself since I don't eat pork.  I was thinking, this is already the last day in TW and I may not come back again, so I had to really try their Ru Rou Fan to know what's its like. We both find it difficult to order in TW as the menu are all in complex chinese characters in most places. Typically I will second guess the words or rely on pictures to make my choice.

So I ended up with this set.. the vegetables were very well done. Given that I don't eat pork, I quite like this set because of the sauce used on the pork and egg (Ethan liked this too and co-share with me).

The same Ru Rou Fan stall also sells dou hua (again!) and its really nice - the cold version..

 A few memento pictures before we leave Taipei 101

Standchart poster is damn big here..

We next moved on to Zhongxiao Fuxing (bring ah lou on to this street since he didn't cover it with me on Sat) and Sogo. Ethan was so tired after all the walking and fell asleep on his father's shoulders on our way to Sogo. Caden happily rested with the company of our phone, while I continue to cover some counters in Sogo.

Ah lou asked to go back to Ximenting to try the Shabu Shabu and we went there to satisfy his craving. The shabu shabu in XMT came quite close to the one that we used to have in Tokyo in terms of the sauce. Selection wise, it's not too bad too - they have prawns so I had my fair share of my fav.

Ice-cream time - the boys were looking forward to this...

We shopped around Ximenting till 830pm and decided to end our final night.. back in hotel, after shower, the boys fell asleep easily as they were extremely tired..

While both of us had to pack the luggages before we could sleep since we had a morning flight to catch!

It has been a good day for me since the places we covered were all in city (no more smelly toilets) and given the fact that we had the most satisfying meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner!