Taiwan Holiday - Day 6

Day 6 [Bei Tou - Dan Shui - Fishermans Wharf ]

After breakfast at the hotel, we took the MRT to XinBeiTou Station.

Elyssa sitting in the MRT
The MRT was quite empty that morning so Elyssa got to sit on her own seat.
Separate note : Even when the MRT was crowded, hubby or myself (whoever was carrying Elyssa) would get a seat. Every SINGLE time without fail! We didn't even have to ask. A few times it was just a short ride so I thought of just standing for a while. But then someone would actually tap on my shoulder and ask me to sit down. Yes, I was impressed! No such thing as "pretending to sleep" or "pretending cannot see" business that I unfortunately have witnessed in M'sian LRT.

At XinBeiTou, our first stop was the Ketagalan Cultural Centre - a 10 storey building dedicated to the aboriginal culture that once flourished in the Beitou area.


then the BeiTou Hotsprings Museum (housed in an ex-public hot spring bath built during the Japanese colonial era)


then the Plum Garden Mansion (used as a summer house for the famous chinese calligrapher Yu You-Ren)



As with most attractions in Taiwan, all 3 of the above places were free :)

After that, it was back to the main highlight of BeiTou - Hot Springs!

I was feeling adventurous that day and wanted to try out the guidebook recommended Bei Tou Public Hotspring / Millennium Hot Spring. (dirt cheap : RM4 each). The place is closed every few hours for cleaning so it is quite clean.

Hubby absolutely hated it though. Yes.... it was close to 12pm, it was hot and I was asking him get inside a pool of hot water outdoors! He he....and since it was a public hotspring, it wasn't exactly a fancy place. So he held on to Elyssa while I went for a quick dip :)

View of the Millennium Hot Spring
The place had 5 smooth-stoned pools that had varying degrees of temperature

Me in one of the pools
The water was frea-king HOT !!!!!!! Slightly milky colour and with sulphur smell. Supposed to be good for the skin though. An elderly Taiwanese lady kindly explained the proper way to bathe (start from which pool first, use plastic pail to pour water before going in, don't just immerse feet into water etc) and also the health benefits of the hot spring. She said that she would visit the place few times a week. Wow.

It was definitely an interesting experience!! I'm glad we went :)

After that, we walked over to the first nice hotel we saw - Royal Seasons Hotel Beitou, for a more luxurious experience. (originally planned to go to Spring City Resort but when we saw this, decided to just give it a try). Their spa package was RM150 - 90 minutes of indoor hot spa plus Japanese set lunch for two.

Unagi Set Lunch

Nice big bath tub
(water came out from the lion's mouth)

Shower area in the same room

Locittane Products in the room

Elyssa absolutely loved the tub! Ha hah......had to tell her that all 3 of us can only pom-pom (bathe) together in Taiwan, not at home!

Actually, not sure whether we were conned or we just didn't choose the right package - cos the water did not have any of sulphur smell like in the hotspring I went earlier! Nevertheless, we enjoyed soaking in the big tub. Ahhhhh........ so re-lax-ing :)

After the nice relaxing bath, we took the hotel shuttle bus back to the MRT station then went to the sea-side town of Danshui. From the Danshui MRT station, we took a 10 minute bus ride to the Fisherman's Wharf.

Lover Bridge @ Fisherman's Wharf

Another shot, taken about an hour+ later

We sat at the promenade while enjoying the nice breeze :) Also popped into 7-11 to get some refreshments. It was then that I discovered my absolute favourite dessert in Taiwan - Sweet Corner Egg Custard (RM2.80). The custard was silky smooth with a fragrant eggy flavour. I was in heaven !! I bought 4 more of this over the next 3 days ;)

Elyssa and hubby enjoying the view

What we were waiting for - Sunset

It was lovely!

My little aboriginal Elyssa :) Ha ha...... fooling around in a souvenier shop

After sunset, we took a boat to Danshui Old Street (a row of traditional food stalls and souvenier shops) Elyssa was absolutely THRILLED when I told her we were getting on a boat. But when the loud engine roared, her excited "I want to sit boat! I want to sit boat" turned into cries of "I DON'T want sit boat!' while she clung tightly to me. She stopped crying when I distracted her but didn't really enjoy the ride. Luckily the boat ride was less than 10 minutes. Phew.

Part of our dinner - HUGE crispy fried chicken

Enjoying our dinner with a view

After dinner, we walked over to the DanShui night market (just next to the MRT station). Somehow enjoyed this more compared to the Shilin and Raohe Night Market. Mebbe cos it wasn't so crowded. Interesting stuff too. Hubby was so pleased with his purchase of a medium sized hand painted dragon.


Back to the hotel after that to sleep.

- End of Day 6 -