Cottage by the River

Dear Bloggie,

2008 Year End Trip

Day 4 (Taipei)

Woke up feeling totally recharged!! Anyway, something interesting about Taiwanese News. The small little box on the top right corner shows the New anchor reporting the news... The Header of the news is the Big Words you see at the bottom. But the news, is not about the Pandas.. But yet the Pandas for the entire screen to themself... And even the Red Words below the New anchor, is about the Pandas... Somehow, ermm... I got the feeling the News in Taiwan is abit 胡来的感觉。。

Me... In my new dress that I bought at Wu Fen Pu the day before.

And my eye starts to swell.. The swelling gets quite bad. Even my double eye lid disappear. My first stop is to the ATM.. Followed advice from Bestie, I withdrew out cash from the ATM.. With cash on hand, at least I felt better...

Took a train to Shih Lin and waited for a bus to the National Palace Museum. I felt rather proud of myself as I wonder along the streets in Taiwan alone... =)

The bus ride to the National Palace Museum...

And here I am... At the National Palace Museum... Its a very very cold day. The temperature is around 10oC I guess.. With plenty of wind and its drizzling the entire day...

Bought the tickets and got myself a audio kit... And here begins my Arty Farty journey... =)

I managed to tour the entire museum, and look through all their collection. I am really impressed with certain collection. Its really good.. And after that, its time for Lunch.

This is where I'll be having my Lunch... This is where they served 国宴, and when overseas diplomats come to Taiwan, this is one place where they'll dine... =)

The internal layout of the Silk Palace Restaurant. The whole set-up is ultra classy...

I ordered a Set Lunch for One...


This is the first dish... The 冷盘.. Looking at the serving, I told myself.. This is Fine Dining which equates expensive and small portion and not filling... =(

This is the entire set.. The food is so-so. Nothing fantastic to rave about, but yet the service and presentation is good. =)

This is 桂花糕. There is really 桂花 inside...

Me... in the toilet.

One last photo before I leave the Museum...

Got a little thirsty... The is Taiwan's version of Yakut. Its a bigger version of the one we have in Singapore...

And then.. I made my way to 新光三越. This very big shopping center is made up of 3 buildings, and they sell very up-market brands... They have a Balenciaga Boutique! My favorite brand... =) This is something they do not have in Singapore and Hongkong.

*sigh*... They sell 太阳饼 and 凤梨酥 in the Departmental Stores... -_-" If I had known this.. I will not walked that distant the day before to get it. =( So... I bought more. But my mum is telling me, the one that I got back from the 老字号 taste much better... So at least all my efforts are worth it...

I wasnt too full from that 'Fine-dining" Lunch... So I went for an early Dinner. A visit to Taiwan, a visit to 鼎泰丰 is a must... =) The queue is pretty long... But its definately worth it. =)

Ordered a 炸酱面... This is really good. =) The one in Singapore really cannot match up to this.


And... I had a basket of 小笼包。 Lucky it didnt come in a basket of 10... But nevertheless, I cannot finish 6... I ate 4, and the waiter still asked if I want to pack the remaining 2 home... -_-"

I was really thinking hard if I should make my way down to Shih Lin since its still early... Its about 7+pm... But the day is really cold, and its not helping that my feet are aching badly and I'm really tired. I decided to make my way back to the Hotel for a short rest and decide if I should go... So I made my way back to Ximending. And I saw a short queue for this 香香鸡. I decided to join the queue...

And oh my god... This is really good. =p

Somehow, I think they marinated the chicken in seseme seeds or something, that adds to the fragrant of the chicken bits... This is really very good.

And this being my last photo of the day, is more then enough to tell you that I did not go Shih Lin. This is also how I end my last night in Taipei. And yupz... I did not manage to go down to Shhhih Lin. This should be my only regret for the Taipei Trip. But its okie!! I'll be back... =)