Day 4:
First stop for Day 4 was Jin Feng (金峰) specialized in braised meat rice. Jin Feng was voted one of the best braised meat rice in Taipei.
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| 金峰魯肉飯 |
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| Menu |
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| Busy staff | |
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I ordered a medium portion of braised minced meat rice (魯肉飯) and crispy pork ribs (排骨酥). I was surprised how the crispy pork ribs (排骨酥) was served. It was actually a soup dish.
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| braised minced meat rice (魯肉飯) |
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| crispy pork ribs?? (排骨酥) that turned out to be a soup |
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| Very tasty!!! |
Braised minced meat rice (魯肉飯) - I feel this version is better than Formosa Chang. Maybe it is due to the addition of mushroom in the braised sauce. (Rating: 4.5/5)
Crispy pork ribs?? (literal translation of 排骨酥) - The soup is fantastic. It must be stew over long period of time. The wintermelon in the soup simply melt in your mouth. I think the reason why the dish was named "Crispy pork ribs" is that the pork ribs were deep fried before adding to the soup. I can taste the flour coating on the pork ribs. (Rating: 5/5)
The meal was a perfect start of Day 4. As it was still early, I decided to visit the Nan Men market which was located beside Jin Feng.
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| Nan Men Market |
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| Food stall |
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| All kinds of dried snacks |
After visiting Nan Men Market, my next destination was Long Shan Temple.
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| Long Shan Temple (龍山寺） |
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| Took me a while to capture the LED display |
Next stop - Xi Men Ting (西門町)
Xi Men Ting is a shopping area for teenagers. The area is full of shops for clothing, accessories, cosmetics etc.
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| Red house @ Xi Men Ting |
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| Shopping in Xi Men Ting |
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| Shopping in Xi Men Ting |
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| One Piece |
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| Cute sign |
I guessed I have walked too much over the past few days. After shopping for a while in Xi Men Ting, I desperately need a place to sit for a short rest. The only coffee joint I can find in the area was StarBucks. As I was walking towards StarBucks, I was struck by another idea. Diagonally opposite StarBucks is a cineplex. There was a movie Seeding Bale (賽德克。巴萊) about Taiwanese aboriginal that I wanted to watch. There is no better place to catch it than in Taiwan itself. Coincidentally, there was session available in half an hour time.
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| StarBucks building |
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| Cinema7 cineplex (絕色影城) |
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| My ticket - Seeding Bale Part 1 (賽德克。巴萊) |
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| Inside the cinema |
The price of a cinema ticket is NT$260. It is more costly to watch a movie in Taipei than in Singapore. However, one interesting thing is - you can add a popcorn and drink for merely NT$20 more. The overall package with popcorn and drink is cheaper than the price in Singapore.
The condition of the cinema was disappointing. But the movie was very good. It was a movie about the uprising of suppressed Taiwanese aboriginal against Japanese during the Japanese occupation. After watching Seeding Bale (賽德克。巴萊) part 1, I have a strong urge to catch part 2.
Due to time constraint, I could not fit the show into my schedule.
After the movie, I felt my stomach rumbling. It is 4pm in the afternoon and my last meal was at 10am. I observed that the KFC in Taipei seems to be doing very well. The KFC I came across in Taipei usually occupied the whole building. KFC will be my next place to conquer.
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| KFC |
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| Similar menu as SG |
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| Set meal - Huge burger, fries, drink and one piece chicken (all for NT$150 only) |
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| One piece chicken and fries |
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| Remind me of "old good days" Zinger |
Overall, the experience of KFC in Taipei is much better than SG. The food was fresh and the portion was huge. (wondered why Zinger in SG is shrinking by the day)
After Xi Men Ting, I visited Guang Hua Shu Wei Xin Tian Di (光华数位新天地). It is the Sim Lim square equivalent in Taipei.
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| Guang Hua Shu Wei Xin Tian Di (光华数位新天地) |
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| Very Sim Lim |
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| War games shop |
Next stop - Shi Da Night Market
After Guang Hua Shu Wei Xin Tian Di (光华数位新天地), I traveled back to my hotel to offload the things that I bought. At 7:30pm, I set off to Gu Ting which supposedly is the nearest MRT station to Shi Da Night Market (師大夜市). It was almost a 15 minutes walk from Gu Ting station to Shi Da Night Market (師大夜市).
It started drizzling when I was at Shi Da Night Market but the place was still crowded.
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| Very crowded |
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| First item on my list |
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| Ordered garlic-flavoured fried chicken |
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| Garlic-flavoured fried chicken |
First item to try on my Shi Da list is garlic-flavoured fried chicken (蒜味盐酥雞). The garlic taste is overwhelming. The flour coating was also too thick for my liking. The worst thing is that the chicken bone has not been removed which made it difficult to eat along the way. (Rating: 2/5)
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| Xu-Ji (許記） pan-fried bun |
Next item on my list is Xu-Ji (許記） pan-fried bun. There long queue just to make order. The people crowding around the stall were waiting for the queue number to be called. The taste of pan-fried buns I had during the past days is nothing spectacular. I decided to pass on this item.
It is getting late and the only food I had is the disappointing fried chicken. A lu weitoufu, Enokitake mushroom and beancurd skin. (Rating: 3/5)
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| lu wei (滷味） |
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| Huge variety to choose from |
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| Cooked in this pot of piping hot braised sauce |
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| Adding final condiments |
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| Beancurd skin |
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| Big intestine |
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| Enokitake mushroom |
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| Small intestine |
It is time to pack my luggage and get ready to return to Singapore next day.
Day 5:
I have arranged for airport transfer at 1pm. Seeding Bale (賽德克。巴萊) part2 was still on my mind. Yang Ming cinema (陽明戲院) is just opposite my hotel. I walked over to the cinema after breakfast, hoping that there will be a morning showtime. There was a 9:30am session for Seeding Bale (賽德克。巴萊) part2 and I immediately bought a ticket.
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| Yang Ming cinema (陽明戲院) - 62 years old cinema |
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| Morning show ticket (NT$190) |
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| Very very old cinema indeed |
After watching the show, there was still time to have a quick lunch before making my way to the airport.
I settled for Ji Ma Chen (吉馬陳蚵仔麵線大王) restaurant near the hotel which serves Oyster vermicelli. I ordered a set meal which included a bowl of Oyster vermicelli, Oyster omelette and a peanut cold dish.
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| Oyster vermicelli |
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| Peanut salad |
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| Oyster omelette |
Oyster vermicelli (蚵仔麵線) - Generous serving of oysters and pig intestine. The soup base is nice and the oysters are very fresh. (Rating: 4/5)
Oyster omelette (蚵仔煎) - A tasty omelette dish with gluey corn starch centre and fresh oysters. (Rating: 4/5)
Cold dish (peanuts) - The peanuts are too hard and tasteless. (Rating: 1/5)
After a satisfying meal, it is time to set off to TaoYuan Airport.
Home Sweet Home...................
