Taiwan Holiday - Day 7

Day 7 didn't start off so well. The highlight of the day was supposed to be a scenic 4 km Maokong Gondola ride and then to enjoy tea at one of the many tea houses at the peak. Alas..... when we arrived at the MRT station, there was a sign that read "Gondola Closed for Maintenance". Arghhhhh!!!!!!!!! *Bummer*

So took the MRT to our next destination - Wu Pen Fu shopping district. It was still early and shops were not even opened yet. *Double Bummer*

Then we spotted the famous Formosa Chang shop so decided to stop there for a brunch.

Yummy braised pork rice, chicken rice and arrowroot soup. Very similar to our dinner at Shilin Night market on our first night there. I absolutely loved the soup.

Shops still not opened so hubby went for a foot massage
(ha ha... he was grimacing in pain half the time)

While waiting for daddy, Elyssa "studied" the map :)

Shops were still not opened so we decided to visit the Sun Yat Sen Memorial since it was only 2 MRT stops away.

Managed to catch the Changing of the Guards just in time. Pretty impressive!

Me with the giant statue of Sun Yat Sen and the stationary honour guard. (he didn't move a muscle)

Elyssa inside the memorial hall

View of Taipei 101 from the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

After that, we took a MRT back to the Wu Pen Fu shopping district. Stopped by a shop (called Dumpling King or something) to fill up our stomach and had...

The BEST Taiwanase beef noodle and dumpling of our trip. The yummy springy dumplings were to die for!!!

Then we were ready to start shopping. Turned out to be a bad idea though. Clothes were really cheap (blouses/pants starting from RM18) but more suitable if we were like......... 10 years younger or 10 kg lighter! ;) So, with all the waiting for the shops to open and then returning there after our visit to the Sun Yat Sen memorial, all I bought was ONE skirt. Adoi.

Next, we took the MRT to the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi shopping area at XinYi district. Nothing much either as we were not exactly in the mood for high street type of shopping.

For dinner, we decided to go back to the Taipei Main Station (our hotel was 5 minutes from there so the Taipei Main Station was considered "our" stop) to eat at the foodcourt there. We had a pleasant surprise indeed when arrived at the foodcourt. The main station itself was a little old but the foodcourt had a very modern feel plus it was just HUGE. Plenty of local and international foodstuff plus interesting looking snacks and desserts. There was even a Penang Village restaurant there! I have always loved looking at food....... so I had a good time going round the entire foodcourt while choosing a place for dinner :)

The modern looking foodcourt

In the end, we had these for dinner -

Beef and grilled squid combo
Only RM15! (definitely good value for money cos the squid was so big)

Braised claypot pork and fishpaste noodle soup combo. (approx RM18)

After dinner, we walked around the same floor and saw a Japanese knick-knacks store called "Hands Tailung". I was thrilled when I saw the bento kits. I never thought that I would buy these stuff (since Elyssa eats her food in whatever form) but I just couldn't resist the cute items. Ha haa........ hubby shook his head in disbelief as I grinned like a schoolgirl and piled them into the shopping basket :)

My loot!

Clockwise from top left : Pooh, Mickey and Car bread cutter (RM 15 each), simple sandwich maker (RM24), Hello Kitty sandwich maker (approx RM45), Pooh and Hello Kitty small vege cutter cum rice mould (RM 15 each), Hello Kitty medium rice mould (RM 14) and Hello Kitty pancake mould (Rm37 )

Also, bought some fresh almond powder and black sesame powder for our parents at the nearby MRT station.

Almond nuts

Into the machine and tadaaa........ Fresh almond powder

So, not a good start but Day 7 ended well :)

- End of Day 7 -