Taipei, The Place Where We Experienced Surplus

Day 3
Today is a lazy day. For the past 2 days we travelled outside Taipei City and avoided the torrential rain. Keep our finger cross and let's stay in the city for just 1 day.

While walking to the nearest bus-stop, our hope to eat the delicious 葱抓饼 (NT$30) is shattered again. Since Day 1, we couldn't forget the taste of a simple egg bacon prata fried by the road side prata lady. This prata lady only works 5-day. This prata doesn't come with any curry but a little bit of home-made sauce. It is so good.... There are many hawkers in Taipei. You can find them anywhere. I think any hawker food is delicious!

MRT network

Bitan
From Jingan, we took a ride to Xindian to see the famous supension bridge.

Tired. Need a rest at Mr Brown Coffee.

After taking a long break, we took MRT to Zhongxiao Fuxing station and WALKED to Taipei 101. So far, ticket to the observatory deck is the most expensive item I find in Taipei (NT$400). I pass.... but I am more willing to buy a fridge magnet (NT$150). I also find many resemblance between Taipei & Tokyo.

I have long heard about Din Tai Fung being much better than Singapore branches. So I tried to burst/ prove the myth. The restaurant was very busy. Waitresses walked in and out non-stop attending to customers. My cup is always filled. Although we got a queue number, we were served within 5-10 min and that's amazing.

Shopped at SOGO. Can't find anything affordable. 1 dress costs NT$6000. So crazy. Then roamed to Taipei City Mall (equivalent to Sg City Link Mall). This place is quite crappy yet I got my NT$299 shirt and NT$150 pants. Pants cheaper than shirt! Cannot believe it!

Day 4
Today is the last day in Taipei. We extended our check out time to 3pm so we had the whole morning to visit the famous National Palace Museum (NT$160). It is very accessible by public transport. The nearest MRT is Shilin. This museum is so far the best museum I have ever visited. During my visit, I saw some bronze artifacts, pottery, jades, calligraphy & painting. The collection very huge. Even though the musuem is rotating it's display every 3 months, one can take 12 years to see everything.

The most amazing art pieces are

and many many more. No photography is allowed in the museum.

After walking for 3 hours in a museum, we felt asleep at MOS Burger at Yongan Market. After that, we had Din Tai Fung again at SOGO.

In the evening, we use of hotel gym facilities before leaving for Taoyuan Airport.... for bathing only lah. After a 40 minute taxi ride (NT$1100), we reached airport. There is absolutely nothing to eat. Eateries such as BK or Mr Brown closes at 9pm. The only way to spend our last NT$ is to buy more biscuit. We somehow concluded Taoyuan Airport is the most disasterous among the 4 Asian Tigers (or Asian Dragons). It's undergoing a ~50M$ renovation. Hopefully it will be transformed after that.

DMM ranking,
1st - Hong Kong (HKG)
2nd - Incheon (ICN)
3rd - Changi (SIN)
4th - Taipei (TPE)

The flight was almost full. On average 1 passenger carry 2 bags on board. By the time the plane is half load, overhead compartment is almost fully packed. So much for a so-called "strict hand carry luggage policy". That's all BS. A 4-hour flight without much leg room and absolutely no entertainment is somehow horrendous. But for the love of globe trekking, I'll probably do it again.