Happy Around Taipei ~ Part 4

Hey guys,

This is Saturday nite again, and I'm all alone again in my room. Did I hear someone just whispered "pathetic"? Nah, believe me, I don't feel bad about this anyways. I remember when I just moved in this new house, I cleaned up everything already. Then I wanted to go out on my own, because my friend was still working in her office. So, I texted her, "Where do you think I should go?" Then she suggested me to go to Xi Men Ding. Ximen is located on the blue MRT line, one station right after the Taipei main station. Find Exit number 6, and you'll find the Pedestrian Area right in front of the Exit 6.

As I have mentioned in my previous post, Ximending is a shopping area. Many tourists and local youth come here to shop and socialize. There are KTVs, movie theatres, department store, Carrefour and pedestrian area with lots of restaurants, clothing and make-up stores. You can find almost everything here in Ximending. Since this is the area where young people gather and socialize, you can also find Taiwanese and foreign youth here with various fashion style. They might not look as stylish as the Japanese and Koreans though, but they are quite dandy and good-looking. Most of the Taiwanese young people are good-looking in my opinion, although somehow they are rather skinny.

The department stores and shopping malls in Taiwan are not as crowded as in Jakarta. Simply because shopping mall is our only place to shop, get entertainment and food. Indonesian young people also love brands and they go to malls and department stores to shop. Mango and Zara are hot among Indonesian people but not here in Taiwan. Mango stores are deserted, even in sale season like this. Unlike in Jakarta where people que to pay at the cashier for the good bargain Mango stuff. I haven't even seen any Zara stores here! Where are they? Zara doesn't even exist in Ximending? Unlike in the malls, the pedestrian area looks more lively and enjoyable! The shops have cuter stuff to display and more youthful ambiance.

It's almost always raining in Taipei

Sometimes on weekends, there are events or performances at Ximending. It can be singing performance, album launching or movie stars meet and greet. If you love Taiwan superstars, maybe it's good to drop by. Who knows you are lucky enough to meet your idol? There are also movie or music video shoots on weekdays here. Even greater chance to meet your pop idol when they are acting. 

Many restaurants and food stalls are available around Ximending. You can find snacks stalls: roasted corn or Tang Hu Lu (sugar coated berries on a stick); fast food restaurants: McD, KFC and of course local and international cuisine restaurants. My friends and I once had dinner at a hotpot resto at Ximending. They said this resto is quite popular and unique, because you are allowed to write or draw anything on the walls.

Focus on the gravity at the walls behind me!

The hotpot was quite delicious. The price range is around NT 100 and above. I think all below NT 200, so it is just a decent price for a hotpot set. The set includes veggies, chicken/pork/seafood, rice and tea.

The famous Modern Toilet Restaurant at Ximending

The restaurant's entrance (dining room is upstairs)

*this post was originally written on 5th February 2011*

Happy Around Taipei ~ Chinese New Year

Gong xi fa cai, xin nian kuai le!!
恭喜發財﹐新年快樂

This is my first time celebrating Chinese new year in Taiwan, even the very very first time being away from my family. I feel like something is missing, something is incomplete :"(

Anyway, let's not go into it again. I had dinner with my friend's lovely family last night anyway. They've been treating me so nice since the very first time. Then they invited me to their new year's eve dinner. What a superb set of menu they prepared! Here they are ;)

Don't ask me the name of each menu, I only knew that some of them were made of pork, chicken, fish (tuna, I guess?) and beef. The soup has veggies, of course. There were also three kinds of snacks: sunflower seed, peanut and pistachio.

People told me that so many food stalls and restaurants are closed during the Chinese new year. And apparently, indeed they are! *sigh* I was so desperate to find something to eat instead of the frozen food from 7-11. Even so many resto are already closed one day before new year. But today, I tried my luck and went to Ximen Ding, one of some famous shopping areas in Taipei. Actually before going there, my friend already told me that most shops are probably closed today. But I really needed something decent to fulfill my empty stomach and got my head off the laptop. So, I kept on going and look! There was such a big crowd at Ximen Ding Pedestrian area! Yoohoo!! Most of the restaurants and shops were also open and I found this Korean hotpot restaurant.

That is the name of the restaurant, you can easily find it when you exit the MRT exit number 6. It's on your right side. Only around one or two hundred meters away from the exit.

The price range is around NT 160-180 per-set. They only sell plum juice (a Chinese traditional drink) for NT 20/medium sized cup. 

                            

This is the stairway to the second floor, where the diner actually is. The walls are covered with popstar posters.

I was seated and waiting for my meal. Then I turned my head around, wondering when my meal was going to be delivered and how they'd deliver it. Cos the stairway was terribly narrow! Then I found this peculiar thing on the side of the room. i was bewildered and watched this thing while waiting for my meal.

                            

This thing had panel like an elevator

Aha!

                            

Here comes my meal. The set was served with seaweed soup and rice. It consists of beef teriyaki, half-fried egg, kimchi and slices of cucumber. Unlike my previous experience with Korean cuisine, I like this one! The kimchi was also yummy, not as sour nor cold as usual. This set cost me NT 160, a decent price for a full set like this. I won't get to eat something like this everyday anyway. So, for a resto at Ximen Ding area, this is an OK price, I can recommend you this resto if you come to Taipei.

Yumm!!

*this post was originally written on 3rd February 2011*

Happy Around Taipei ~ Part 3

Hey guys,

I'm so sorry that I totally forgot to put food pictures on my previous post :p
Anyway, to make up for my mistakes, here are the mouth-watering babies i found in Taipei. Enjoy!

This is my fave fried chicken steak with curry rice. I think all the main menu here is served together with the seaweed soup. The soup tastes so-so anyway. But the curry tastes pretty good. Love it!! =9

These are some pics of the restaurant.

The restaurant serves rice bowl menu and shaved ice for dessert

They have the menu with the photos on the board, so it'd be easy for you to pick, in case you don't understand any Chinese characters. The service is pretty good, compared to other rerstaurants nearby with the same price range. You just pick the food then pay at the cashier. The waitress will serve you afterwards. You don't need to clean your table after meal, so that's why I think the service here is pretty decent.

The price range is standard, around NT 100, nothing more than NT 200. They also have various kinds of shaved ice as dessert, which I think rather pricey.

The place is clean and pretty spacious. All in all, I'd rate this restaurant comfortable with yummy food!

                           

This is the name of the restaurant. It's located inside Shi-Da Nite Market. It is open from noon until night. Satisfied with my first meal at this restaurant, I came back again the next day and ordered spicy fried pork over egg-rice. In Japanese name, I think it should be some kinda "don" menu.

 

Again, I was satisfied with this and fell in love even deeper with this resto! Although it didn't taste as hot as I expected, I still like it!  Lucky I live near this resto! So I can possibly come as often as I want. 

*this post was originally written on 31st January 2011*

Happy Around Taipei ~ Part 2

Hi again!!

I think I'm going to spend this weekend with no friend.. OMG, i'm bored to death!! Not because I have already stepped my foot on every inch of Taipei, but I really am running out of money, so I think it'd be wise of me if I just stay at home tonight. Maybe blogging should be a good idea to kill sometime and later I'll be working on my Chinese lessons. Did I tell you that I'm taking a chinese class here? Well, yeah my main purpose of coming here is actually to learn Chinese language. I have learned Chinese in Jakarta since 10 years ago. But the progress is not very satisfying since I had no one, except my Chinese teacher, to practice with. So I decided to come straight to this place to really focus on improving my Chinese skills in all areas, listening, reading, writing and speaking. Well, I should say that Taipei is an ideal place to realize my plan. People here are very friendly, especially once they know you're a foreigner learning their language, they're really enthusiastic to speak to you.


Anyways, here are more pics around Taipei and of course, yummy local cuisines!! :9

Taipei 101 in cloudy winter

Taipei 101 Office Building & Shopping Mall

This is Taipei 101, the tallest building in taipei and the second tallest in the world, i guess? It's located in a business area, something like Jl. Thamrin in jakarta? This area is surrounded by high class shopping malls and office buildings and banks. Inside Taipei 101 is also a shopping mall, besides the shopping mall, there are also office, restaurants and tourist spot. I went inside the shopping mall and also went around the outer building. Too bad I didn't go to the top of the building, but people say that going to the penthouse should better be done at night, so you can see the beauty of the city lights. I think there is some kinda fancy restaurant up there, so you can have dinner while enjoying the night view. 

Some Companies at Taipei 101 (Where's J&J?)

The famous Taiwan Beer

The beautiful ornaments on the pavement side

These are how the outer area of Taipei 101 look like. The pedestrian walk area is huge! Unlike when I walked around the malls in Jakarta, I don't really bother to buy anything in the malls here. Simply because the stuff in the night markets look more tempting than those in the malls, at least that's what I think at the moment.. Besides, I still think that malls in Jakarta have more exciting entertainment and better interior design. Jakarta's shopping malls are the BEST!

Happy Around Taipei ~ Part 1

Hi again :)
In this post, I'm going to share some pictures around the city with a bit detail about the places. I've been taking trips around the city by trains and buses. I have been to nite markets, malls in the downtown area and tried some local food. I must say that I love most things here, from the transportations, food, markets, especially the variety of clothing and cosmetic brand here. Awwww they're all driving me crazyy!! But here is the good news: you can find PLENTY of good Japanese and Korean cosmetic brands here with cheap prices!! Unlike in Jakarta, you can buy Etude, Skin Food, and The Face Shop here in the night markets (yeayy not in the fancy malls!) with a half or two-thirds price in Jakarta!

What a great news to begin with, now let me give you a glance of Taipei ;)

MRT station in Taipei

Those are the views of an MRT station in Taipei. Some stations (interchange stations) are often crowded and some others are only crowded in certan times. I don't think they could be as crowded as in Singapore and Hongkong though. So, I still think that Taipei is more convenient than those two cities.
Taiwanese youth mostly do not bother to sit on the trains, beacuse there is a rule that gives privilege to old people, pregnant women, kids and disabled people. So it is common to see empty seats in the trains while there are many passengers choose to stand up.

This was the first rice box restaurant I visited in Taipei. It was near the NTU campus. I stopped by to have lunch there. I had fried pork with some other vegetables. I think it cost me around NT 90. You could take soup and drinking water as much as you want in some rice box resto. Some restos don't even provide drinking water. It's a bit weird actually, but my friend said that the Taiwanese take soup as similar to drinking water.

You can find rice box restaurants all around Taipei, even more at the nite markets and around university area. They provide pork, chicken, fish, seafood and some even have ducks. The set includes rice and vegetables and soup. The price is various from NT 60 to around NT 100.

There are still plenty I want to spill out here, but it's getting late and I need to get some beauty sleep now. LoLz!! Hope you enjoy the pictures and wait for the upcoming articles. Bye for now!! ;)

*this post was originally written on 29th January 2011*

My New Life in Taipei

Welcome to Taipei!!!
These are the first words I should be greeting you with ;)

I've been enjoying my new adventure in Taipei.. A city that I've never been before. And i've come here all alone, without my parents nor any relatives here. But I'm quite lucky to have been introduced to a friend before my arrival here. This person is actually an Indonesian, but she's been here for more than 12 years and her family has also been Taiwan citizen. So, she helped me so much with the room rent search and dealing. I think I owe her and her family so much.

So, this is Taipei. This is exactly the place where you can experience both Chinese culture and modern lifestyle. Thank God I love this place!! I love the city, I love the shopping places and stuff, and I also love the people here. They have been treating me well so far so I don't think there is anything I could complain about my new life here so far. I just hope I could make new friends here, with the locals and also with other foreigners.

In the upcoming posts, I will be sharing some experiences I encounter during my first few weeks here. I hope this help you who are considering about coming or even moving here. 

*this post was originally written on 28th January 2011*