Taipei is the city of Taiwan and you can expect many similarities. Lets start with their MRT… the stand on the right applies in taipei when you take the escalator. Strangely, the folks in Taipei really follow rules on MRT. Like, queuing up to board the train… they really queue up! They will also wait for passengers to alight before boarding!! They do not rush for the seats!!! They do not chat loudly like us on the train!!!!
They have a cabin where the woman folks (including the young girls) can safely be on the train at night!!!!! Talk about being more privileged. It does make some sense if they can change this to "Safety for the scary cats" because I do see alot of people wearing face masks!!!!! Sneezing is a plague and is frowned upon when you do that!!!!!
Let’s talk about food. As you know, Taipei is famous for food. What have I eaten? On the first night, I ate Ah-Chung Rice Noodles - the famous store in Taipei Ximen Ding. It’s basically pork intestines (yucks i pick them out), shun (the baby bamboo, sliced) and rice noodles in sticky soup. It costs NT$50 (approx S$2.50) for the big bowl and NT$40 for the small bowl. I still prefer the Singapore version near Kembagan MRT - it is sooooo delicious and spicy… S$3 per bowl.
Next is the dumplings! The shop I went to is 8way at Ximen Ding. Here is their website http://www.8way.com.tw/. I love dumplings esp the vegetarian ones. I really do dislike the smell of pork and its pork stench everywhere in Taipei… they really love them. Each dumpling costs NT$5 to NT$7… so cheap!!! They have 2 types of soya milk… white and black… I couldn’t tell the difference. If you like the hot and spicy soup, i must say… it is mild only. I still prefer the one at Choa Chu Kang Lot 1 food court - it is so hot and spicy till you perspire and mucus runs out. Hahaha
I love to compare fast food between Singapore and elsewhere… so here it is. KFC in Taipei. The price for meals are the same when you convert the currency. One delicious offering is the Portugese Egg Tart in KFC… doesn’t make sense right? This egg tart is soooooo deliciously sweet and hot… i love it.
I skipped breakfast the next day because i felt bloated. I ate lunch at McDonald’s. Hahaha strange right? The prices for meals are the same as Sg. They have ice coffee, extra spicy McChicken and Ebi Rice Cake which we don’t have. Not bad for all.
I went to this 5 star hot-spring spa at Bei-tou - Pacific Wellness Spa & Club. It costs NT$1099 for 2 in private room. Hehehe… It includes high-tea for free. I have to recommend this high-tea that cost NT$280 + 10% service charge normally. It has soup, main course (salad, nachos, beef wrap or ham sandwich), muchi for deserts, your choice drink and a plate of fruits. So delicious and service is so good!
I went to Shilin Night Market and continued to eat! Hahaha… Taipei has many old shophouses just like Singapore. However, they do not preserve them and thus many lost their nice heritage facade. There are lots of junk food at Shilin and many cheap gifts. One thing for sure, their clothes are expensive… when i say expensive i meant S$30 and above… hahah yah-lah-yah-lah i am cheapskate. If you go to a departmental store in Taipei, do not expect t-shirt to cost less than NT$2000 (approx S$100)!
I tried their famous XXXL Fried Chicken. I did not expect bones but… they fried wholesale… everything… gasp. I had a hard time picking the bones out. That costs NT$45. There is this bun made of dumpling type of dough with vegetables in it… delicious… NT$10 only! You can also find strange combis like those sticks of funny things that they grill… yucks… I lost count on what I ate here… oh oh and… thinking that I did not have a complete meal… i went to Yoshinoya (poor man’s jap food) to complete the night of feasting! Hahaha terrible terrible. Even package NT$30 worth of smelly tou-fu back to hotel. Nice. A place to people watch.
The next morning, its hunting for food. I do not want a normal congee for breakfast so going really local is the way! If you are not afraid of road-side food, then go for this one! Simply delicious. Its glutonous rice ball with giam chai (salty veg), crispy crushed you-tiao (long fried flour) and small sambal-like prawns. The hot freshly brewed soya milk is heavenly too… it goes well with the rice ball. Total cost is NT$40.
I found this really nice garlic bun at a confectionary at most MRT station. This one in particular at Bei-Tou MRT is extremely delicious. The fragrant freshly baked garlic bun is so addictive. I swallowed one immediately. This shop sells sushi too.
I went back to Shilin Night Market for second round of food. I ordered a plate of oysters omelet, fried fish paste and a bowl of weird combi sotong/squid etc. Spent about NT$120.
Next up in the same building is this Da Bing Bao Xiao Bing (the Chinese characters). It is basically a piece of deep fried cracker crashed in wrapped in taco. Not nice. Moreover, if you were to look at how they make it… its simply eeeew. The oil is most likely recycled, the stove is covered with soot, they use bare hands to smash the cracker and roll it… who knows how many salivas there are on the crackers placed along the corridor.
After that i headed for this korean food in the middle of all things taiwan…. rather expensive for this korean nian gao (sticky dough). It is bowled in chili syrup and added tou pi (bean curd skin) for some variety. Spicy.
Crossing the street is so dangerous even if you are walking on the zebra crossing… the vehicles here simply do not care. I have to walk across the road to the famous Mister Donut. I know why they are so popular here… because of the packaging… simply Kawaii~ (cute in Jap). The cashiers are soooo cute… they speak in the cutesy tone that is simply adorable… hahaha… nice creamy donuts!
On the last day, i must have their famous Ma-la (Ultra Spicy) steamboat. I added the jap curry flavour and qing tang (veg flavour) to it. Costs NT$300 per head. I love the Meiji ice-cream that comes free-flow…. simply creamy!
On the plane… ate some pastry bought at the airport. Nice. This coco pyramid shaped tiramisu has blackcurrents in it. 
This egg tart is cheezy. 
Simply delicious cheeze-cake with sweeten cherries as topping. Yummy flight back to Singapore.
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