[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 13 November 2016]
Day 2 – 16 June 2016, Thursday
This morning, I was woken up by one of my dorm mate’s alarm clock at 9:30am. I did not bother setting my own alarm because I was on holiday, wasn’t I? Nevertheless, I had a good night’s rest and I woke up feeling refreshed and ready to go. I left the hostel at about 10am and went in search of breakfast. I stumbled upon an eatery at one of the back lanes at Ximending and decided to give it a try. It was called Pomelo (柚子) and it looked like it catered to locals, not tourists, so I felt that the food should be quite decent.
I tried the Eastern-style breakfast this time, ordering a ham egg roll, carrot cake and bubble tea. The bill came up to NT$95 (S$4.10). The egg roll and carrot cake were served in the same sweet sauce and it was very nice, especially when served hot. The carrot cake was crispy and not too oily so it was great.
After breakfast, I walked over to the famous Red House near exit 1 of the Ximen train station. The Red House (西門紅樓) is a red-bricked octagon-shaped building built in 1908. It used to be a market but was later transformed into a space for cultural activities. It is Taiwan’s most well preserved Class III historical site. Its red brick façade is distinctive and anachronistic among the other taller and more modern buildings around it. It’s quite a beauty.
From Ximen, I then took the train to the seaside town of Tamsui (淡水, Dan Shui), which is at the end of the red Tamsui-Xinyi Line. The journey took about 45 minutes. Dan Shui is a popular destination not just for tourists, but for locals too. The Fisherman’s Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) is known for its beautiful sunsets and one of the best places to view it is at Lover’s Bridge (情人橋). The bridge opened on 14 February 2003, Valentine’s Day, and so, gave birth to its name.
Fisherman’s Wharf is located quite a distance from the train station, and you’ll need to take a bus (Red 26, 836 or 857) or ferry from Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街) [15 minute ride] to get there. It is not within walking distance. As I didn’t do any research about Dan Shui beforehand, I didn’t know that Lover’s Bridge was that far away, so I just walked around the area expecting to see it. But when I still did not see the bridge anywhere, I asked one of the shopkeepers and she told me that I would need to take a ferry there, and I decided not to go.
In any case, Tamsui Old Street is a delightful area and you can easily spend at least three hours there shopping and eating, or enjoying a stroll along the riverbank. My mission here was to try as much of the street food as possible. The first thing I saw was the super tall soft serve ice cream cone, which was at least 30cm tall. The stall was called “758”, which is a nice play on the Chinese words “巨無霸” or “Ju wu ba”, which loosely means something huge and mega, like a Big Mac burger.
There were six flavours – chocolate, vanilla, green tea macha, mango, strawberry and yam. I decided to be greedy and tried the macha and mango combo, thinking that I could have both flavours at the same time. As it turned out, the combination didn’t work very well. I think the chocolate/vanilla combo would have been better. Nevertheless, it was nice to have something cold on a sweltering hot day (it was 32 degrees Celcius). It cost only NT$30 (S$1.30) so it was good value for money.
Sweet craving satisfied, I went for something savoury next. I was attracted by the ostentatious display of huge sticks of cuttlefish and simply couldn’t resist trying it. Seems like Taiwan is not only famous for its XXL chicken, but also for its XXL cuttlefish too. There were two options – fried or BBQ. As unhealthy as it is, I love fried stuff so I ordered the fried version, and it cost NT$120 (S$5.20). Those cuttlefish sticks on display were only half fried, so the lady fried it once more before cutting it into smaller pieces, and adding some fried green vegetables as well. It was quite good, but some parts where quite tough and rubbery. I didn’t manage to finish it as I got tired of chewing halfway.
The shops and buildings at Tamsui Old Street reminded me of those in Hong Kong. Having been in Taipei for two days now, I think that it is a cross between Japan and Hong Kong. I see certain aspects of Japan in Taipei, like the efficient Metro train system, the buzz in the Ximending area and the friendliness of its people. I also see certain aspects of Hong Kong in Taipei, like the huge variety of delicious street food, the night markets, and the look and feel of the old buildings and shophouses in general.
But the best thing about Taipei is that the people here speak Mandarin so there is no communication barrier unlike in Japan or Hong Kong, because I don’t speak Japanese or Cantonese. I can ask for directions or strike up a conversation with the shopkeeper easily. And all the signboards are in Chinese too (albeit in traditional Chinese characters, which takes me a longer time to decipher), so I can navigate my way easily and understand all that is written.
Furthermore, the Taiwanese speak Mandarin in a precise way, with all the correct inflections yet not heavily accented, so it is very pleasant to the ears, unlike the mangled version that we Singaporeans speak. Indeed, when I conversed with the Taiwanese in Taipei, I made extra effort to pronounce my words correctly so that they can understand me, and not make a fool out of myself. I think my Mandarin improved after a few days in Taipei, both spoken and reading!
I also noticed that there are some differences in the vocabulary between Taiwanese and Singaporean Mandarin. For instance, when referring to a taxi, they call it “打的” or “Da di” rather than “德士” or “De shi”. And rather than saying “对不起” or “Dui bu qi” when you bump into someone for example, they say “不好意思” or “Bu hao yi si”, which is actually more correct, the more I think about it.
The shops along the main Tamsui Old Street sold mostly foodstuff and souvenirs. It’s quite similar to the stuff you can get at the night markets. As it was a hot day, I quenched my thirst twice, first with a lychee vinegar drink (NT$25/S$1.10) that tasted a bit weird, and then with an almond ice blended drink (NT$35/S$1.50) that was great. I love almond.
At about 3:15pm, I left Tamsui and proceeded to the nearby Xinbeitou (新北投), seven stops away, with a change of trains at Beitou (北投) station. Besides its street food, Taiwan is also famous for its hot springs. The most easily-accessible ones are at the Beitou region since they can be reached in about half an hour from the city centre. Like Japan, some of the hot springs in Taipei are open to public while others are private and can only be used by guests staying in the resorts or hotels. In Beitou, there are several hot springs that are open to public and I decided to check them out.
From Xinbeitou train station, I walked along Guangming Road (光明路), which shortly led to Zhongshan Road. Most of the resorts are found along Guangming Road. Many people come to Beitou to visit the Outdoor Public Hot Spring, which is located along Zhongshan Road (中山路). Along the way, you’ll pass by the Taipei Public Library and the Beitou Hot Spring Museum, which are worth a visit if you have the time.
The Outdoor Public Hot Spring is a mixed bath so bathing suits are required. The admission fee is only NT$40 (S$1.70) so it is very affordable. However, I read that it can get quite crowded at times so I didn’t try it out.
I continued walking along Zhongshan Road and I reached Beitou Thermal Valley (北投地熱谷), which is a small lake with steam rising out from the pale green water surface. The source of the hot spring is from a natural erupting sulfur cauldron and the water is between 65 and 100 degrees Celcius. You are not allowed to go into the water because it is too hot. The smell of sulfur is very strong. There is a small viewing platform where you can take photos, but otherwise, there isn’t much to see here.
Just about opposite the Outdoor Public Hot Spring and along Guangming Road sits Long Nice Hot Springs (瀧乃湯浴室, Long Nai Tang), one of the oldest Japanese-style hot springs in Taiwan. In fact, I would call it a public bath rather than a hot spring because it feels more like a sento rather than an onsen. It is a very small, white-coloured building, and it is very easy to miss if you’re not looking out for it, as it is dwarfed by the tall buildings behind it. Upon stepping into the main building, you’ll find two separate entrances – one for men on the left and the other for ladies on the right. Pay the entrance fee of NT$100 (S$4.31) and you’re on your own. Photo taking is obviously not allowed inside so I’ll just describe it to you.
It is as old school as it gets, and absolutely no frills. Once past the doorway, you’re immediately in the bath area, which is all indoors. The place is dimly lit and grimy looking. There are two square shaped stone baths on the left and a row of open wooden cube shelves on your right to place your belongings. There are no lockers but it is not necessary as the wooden cube shelves are within sight. After you strip off your clothes (yes, you have to be fully naked), you will proceed to the far end to shower thoroughly before entering the baths. Once clean, you’re ready to dip and soak!
I don’t know the exact temperature of the two baths but they felt equally hot to me. Having visited the onsens in Japan, I know what to expect, but the water here was simply too hot for me, to the point that it felt scalding. I bravely lowered myself into the water but I could not immerse my whole body, and I had to come up after less than two minutes. The water was unbearably hot. I don’t know how the others could take it, and remain in the water for more than 10 minutes. Most of them were locals and presumably regulars, as they were happily chatting away with one another. After about 15 minutes, I gave up and left. If you’re looking for an authentic, old school and cheap experience, Long Nai Tang is for you. Just make sure you have a high tolerance for very hot water!
After that, I decided to visit another hot spring for a more conventional onsen experience. Based on the little research I had done, there were two more popular ones in the area, but they were not within walking distance from Beitou so I took a taxi to get there. The fare was NT$155 (S$6.70).
The first one I visited was Emperor Spa (皇池溫泉, Huang Chi), located at No. 42-1, Lane 402, Xingyi Road, Beitou District. There are separate baths for men and ladies and the No. 1 House (一館, Yi Guan) is for men only. The admission fee is NT$250 (S$10.80) for the public pool so it is still quite affordable. Children below 120cm get in for free. The walkway leading up to the main building entrance was decorated with Japanese bonsai trees and it was quite nicely done. The building itself was modelled after the Japanese Edo period so it gave quite an authentic feel.
There are coin operated lockers here for you to keep your belongings and they cost NT$20 (S$0.90) per usage. There are also open wooden shelves where you can leave your stuff if you don’t feel like using the lockers. Like the Japanese onsens, you are required to be fully naked here. You can bring along your own towel if you wish to protect your modesty, but the towel should not touch the water in the hot springs at all times. Similarly, you are required to wash yourself thoroughly before entering the hot springs so as not to contaminate the water.
The hot springs here are all outdoor and there are four main hot pools and one cold pool. There is also one small cold tub and a shallow pool for lying down and relaxing. In addition, there is a sauna and a steam cabin where you can sweat it out. The water in the pools contain different minerals – green sulfur (青磺泉), white sulfur (白皇池), and a spa pool (水療池). Apparently, green sulfur spring water is very rare and can only be found here in Beitou and in Akita, Japan. If I didn’t remember wrongly, the water in the hot pools was about 42 degrees Celcius or thereabout. Maybe because it was outdoor, the water didn’t feel as hot and it was more bearable and comfortable than that at Long Nai Tang earlier.
After a good soak, it was evening time and I was hungry. I decided to pop over to the other hot spring located just next door, Chuan Tang Hot Spring (川湯溫泉, also known as Kawayu Spa), located at No. 10, 300 Lane, Xingyi Road. If you spend NT$400 on food at the restaurant there, you get free entry to the hot spring. It sounded like a good deal to me, so I decided to have my dinner there. I ordered a plate of fried rice and a side dish of sugar cane shoots with meat and mushroom, and the bill came up to NT$410 (S$17.70). The portions were huge and could have easily fed two persons. You also get complimentary green bean soup for dessert.
After a hearty dinner, I let the food digest for a while before going for a soak in the hot spring. Like Emperor, there are separate baths for men and ladies. There are also coin-operated lockers (NT$20) for you to store your belongings. It is smaller than Emperor and there are only two hot pools (one large outdoor, one small indoor with jet spray) and one cold pool. The sauna wasn’t working at the time of my visit. It was nice to soak in the hot water and relax, and look up at the night sky.
By the time I left, it was about 8pm, and I took a taxi to the nearest MRT station, Shipai (石牌). The fare for the 15-minute ride was NT$160 (S$6.90). Taxis are quite cheap in Taipei. Along the way, I had a good chat with the taxi driver and he told me about how there were much fewer tourists in Taipei now, as relations with China were not that great at the moment. The bulk of tourists to Taiwan are from China. As such, their livelihoods were being affected. From these past two days, I realised that there were indeed not many China tourists around. He also told me about how the weather has changed over the years and it is now much warmer compared to the past. I think it is true because it felt hotter in Taipei than in Singapore.
From Shipai, I took the train to Jiantan (劍潭) station, just four stops away. Do note that Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) is nearer to Jiantan station, and not Shilin station. From Jiantan, it is just a short 5-minute walk away. It was a Thursday night and it seemed like the whole of Taipei was out at Shilin. It was so crowded! It was much bigger than Ningxia Night Market and there were so many more shops and stalls here. It’s like a larger version of Ximending and a more organised Chatuchak Market (Bangkok) rolled into one.
Food and fashion dominate the shops here. Even though I was quite full from dinner, I wanted to try as much of the street food as possible. The first thing I had was a shaved peanut ice cream popiah, which cost NT$40 (S$1.70). From a large cubic block of hard peanut candy, the uncle used a wooden slab with a shaving blade to run across the face of the peanut candy a few times. He then transferred the fine peanut shavings onto a round popiah skin, before adding two scoops of ice cream and wrapping it up. It was cold and sweet, and oh so good! I enjoyed it tremendously. Anything with peanut rocks.
The next thing I had was my favourite drink, papaya milk shake (NT$40), which was just as good as the one I had yesterday. I was really quite full by then so I chose my last food item carefully. I saw a stall selling taiko ice cream, which was a combination of a fish-shaped cake with ice cream. I assume it was inspired by the Japanese “taiyaki”, a fish-shaped cake snack, rather than “taiko”, which means a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments, most commonly referring to the big drum.
However, it wasn’t a direct copy of the Japanese taiyaki, which is typically filled with red bean paste. For this Taipei version, they filled it with bubble tea pearls, which I felt was quite ingenious because nothing screams Taiwan more than bubble tea. For the fish head, they created an opening at the mouth so it could hold the ice cream. They then stuck a stick of waffle on one side and a cute marshmallow head on the other side. To borrow a Japanese term, it was super kawaii (cute)! It cost NT$65 (S$2.80) and it was worth it. This was the only stall I encountered selling this, so it was quite unique. To round off the night, I had a cup of orange & lime juice (NT$35/S$1.50), before heading back to the hostel.
Next time I visit Shilin Night Market, I will be sure to go on an empty stomach. So much more interesting food to try!