Taiwan Day 3 (Part 2) - Danshuei & Shilin

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We continue northwards to the last station on the Red Line. Our destination was the Lover's Bridge and Fisherman's Wharf to catch the sunset. Seeing that the sun sets almost 2 hours earlier due to it being late autumn, we were in a dreadful rush.

There are many permutations to the town's name - Danshuei, Tamsui but I'm going to stick with how it is pronounced. Damshuei is located on the western coast of Taipei where it still functions as a fishing port. It's also a point where tourists could hop onto a boat and it will take you around Taiwan's northeast coast.

Our stomachs were signalling that we really needed food after the soak in the hotspring. To quell the rumbling tummies, we all had a small piece of bread and held it out until we reached Danshui's MRT station. I would say that this MRT route is really scenic as you start to see the coast and gulls as you pass on the tracks. The OST of Long Vacation started playing in my mind.

Danshuei's MRT is like a bus interchange. I even saw buses going up to Keelung! But then again, these buses would probably use the coastal roads to reach their destinations. Danshui Lao Jie or Old Street is located north of the MRT and filled with eats. Urgh... stomach wants to go there but time is running away from us!

We boarded bus R26 and took a 20 minutes ride right to Fisherman's Wharf  (淡水漁人碼頭).The bus ride took us through Damshui suburbia, Fort St. Domingo and we saw this!

Yup its a huge porker on a leash. There was another clone at the other end of the building.

 The bus ride went through some pretty quiet roads and I would probably be freaked out if I was the only one on the bus. Suddenly, the road comes to an open space and the bus deposits you a couple of minutes away from the Wharf. Winds were really strong and a sudden cold draft made us shiver.

I think we were all getting super hungry as we started smelling Maggi Mee Curry. Hunger was turning us on our heads We headed into a shopping mall/hotel like building to find sustenance.

Ah Ji Mei Shi (literally Ah Ji's Good Food) 
Ah Ji Mei Shi (阿基美食) is located at the food court of this building and it definitely had some good beef noodle soup. Maybe we were just famished and cold. It was served with a half boiled duck egg, chucks of beef brisket and loin and bak choy. Beware, this bowl of noodles set us back around RM13 but it was big enough to share between 2! The waitress was pretty nice to us and was pretty informative about the area. Again, 'tis the Taiwanese hospitality.

We hurried out after finishing the noodles to see that the sun was starting to set.
Lover's Bridge, a slanted pedestrian bridge designed to look like a ships's mast and sail
View from the shopping mall. That's Bali, another recreational town. No it is not in Indonesia.
The setting sun from Fisherman's Wharf
We made our way down the wharf and saw many couples sitting and enjoying the evening draft. It was not a breeze. It was freezing! Even the dogs were decked out in their winter wear.

Near the end of the Wharf, we got onto the Lover's Bridge (情人桥) and took out time to walk over it while admiring the view. At the end of the bridge there was a busker with a pretty darn good voice and 2 guard dogs. Whenever someone put money into the busker's box, the dogs will follow the donor for a good distance before returning to the busker. If someone wandered near without putting in money, the dogs ignored the person.
Couples everywhere! *forever alone* over here
At 7pm the bridge lit up. The bridge changed colours every few minutes. It was really a nice sight to enjoy. Unfortunately it really got cold at that point and me being in shorts did not help.
 Instead of taking the bus back to Damshuei, we decided to take the ferry instead. A trip to Danshuei Old Street costs NT$100 pax (RM10). It was a fast ride (around 20 minutes) and it was a good chance to take a power nap.
Walking to the pier
Danshuei Lao Jie (淡水老街) is known for a couple of items, especially the tall soft yogurt ice cream, Ah Poh's Iron Eggs (阿婆鐵蛋) and Ah Gei (阿給). Of course we saw and ate many other yummy things as well. It was also in Danshuei that MY and I got our Hot Star Large Fried Chicken (豪大大雞排) and  first bubble tea. Well... it wasn't really tea. It was freshly squeezed passionfruit and orange juice. You can't get any fresher since we saw the lady putting the entire fruit into the juicer for us. 

Tall soft yogurt ice cream (NT$25)
 We heard about how interesting the tall ice-cream and decided to buy one to try because we were freezing by 7pm. I would say it is a novelty. There was hardly any taste in it although we bought a choco-vanilla mix. I wouldn't recommend buying one.

Instead the deep fried crustaceans interested me more. A little bit down from the Tall Soft Ice-Cream place, you will come across a stall selling this item. There is baby prawns, squid balls, baby crabs etc. When you order, the owner will toss it in the fryer with a dose of white pepper and give it a quick stir. He will asks whether you want chili on it. If you passed on the chili  you will be be getting the version with spring onion. IMO, I like the crunchiness of the crabs with the tangy spring onion.

We came across the famous Hot-Star Fried Chicken (豪大大雞排) and bought 1 piece (est. NT$50) to share between 5 of us. It took us a very long time to finish the chicken and we had 3 guys with us. We ate and ate but it didn't seem to get smaller. The cold breeze was quite strong and the chicken soon became a cold, oily piece of meat. Sigh.

 Hot Star has branches in KL and Singapore now so you don't have to hop on a plane, brave freezing weather to get a piece of this sinful monster.
Custard egg (NT$15) from the local bakery. Yes they used the real egg shell.
We went shopping among the streets of Danshuei Lao Jie while waiting for the crowds at Ah Ge to thin out as it was dinner time.  Ah Poh's Iron Eggs (阿婆鐵蛋) was a must for our group as it is one of Danshuei's food attraction. Iron eggs are actually quail or chicken eggs braised in soya sauce and dried. So it looks like a black ball. I know, it may look disgusting but it makes a great snack. First time buyers of iron eggs should go for the quail eggs. They are easier to eat as you pop them in your mouth like a M & Ms.
Ah Poh Iron Eggs (pic courtesy of Google map)
While waiting for seats at Ah Ge, we wandered the alley a little ways down. There is a shop that sells Taiwanese famous delicacies and we found our beloved pork crackers! Pork crackers are not like fish crackers. Instead, it is extremely thinly sliced piece of dried meat. When you bite into it, it's like crunching on a biscuit wafer. This shop also sells good quality Alishan tea. It was worth it for the money we paid when we compared to the other tea places we went to. This shop faces another tea shop that sells flower scented teas.  The odd thing was that although it boasts to be a franchise that sells Taiwan food products, we never did see another franchise like this in Taipei. I checked with my other friends and they also said they bought their pork crackers from this particular shop in Danshuei. Strange...

Chiken was really interested in finding out how Ah Gei taste so he hurried us over as soon as we were done buying snacks and tea. 

We went to the original Ah Gei (阿給) shop. Ah Gei is a dish unique to Damshuei. It is a fried beancurd stuffed with tang hoon or glass noodles, a little of fish paste accompanied by pink, sweet and hot sauce. Ah Gei is derived from the Japanese word "Aburage" which is actually  the thin deep-fried tofu pouches that is used for inari sushi. I personally did not like Ah Gei as I felt the sauce was really mysterious pink sauce was starchy and too sweet. The feeling of having too much of a good/strange thing is not the best to have, especially after taking a few mouthfuls as the sauce was really stuck in there. I would think that if the shop cut back on the sauce then it would be much nicer. 

 Another famed dish to be tried at Ah Gei is the Ah Gei Fishball. People raved about it, I tried it and honestly IMO I prefer the Fu Zhou fishball taste with its smoother texture . Ah Gei's fishball are just bigger and not as smooth.
We found the steamed version of the 福州世祖胡椒饼 (literal translation is Fu Zhou Ancestral Pepper Bun ) here. At Rouhe Night Market on Day 1, we had the baked version. Even in the steamed version with Ah Gei's mysterious pink sauce, the pepper was over-powering and we could hardly taste the meat. It was all about the pepper.  

Everything is self-service at Ah Gei. when you are seated, an order sheet is passed to customer to fill out the orders. Pass order sheet to grumpy waitress and wait for your number to be called out. Once called, go collect your food. 
From top left: Ah Ge fishballs, dry noodles, Steamed Fu Zhou Pepper Buns, Ah Ge
The mysterious sauce of Ah Ge made all of us feel queasy after awhile so it was a sign to head back. On the way back, we realized that we would pass Shilin Night Market! Should we head there or head home? Will we get a chance to go there considering we had trouble keeping to our allocated timing?

 When the train pulled up at Jiantan Station, we decided on the spot to hit the market as it was 9.30pm. We had 1 1/2 hours before the stalls start packing up. The funny thing is that Shilin Market is not at Shilin MRT station so don't make the mistake of heading there. Shilin Market is located at Jiantan Station Exit 1. 
All we needed to do was to exit and head towards the bight lights. You will find yourself right smack in the crowded, famed Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). 

 Among the night markets, Shilin has many varieties that you won't get at another night market. Such like Fried Milk :) It is literally cube milk, deep fried.
L-R: Fried Milk stall, Milk on skewer waiting to be fried, Chili Fish Ball, Taiwanese Black Pig sausage
Shilin Market is divided into 2 areas, one where you shop and get snacks along the way and the other is a huge underground food court. Since we got there late, many clothes shop were not open and all that is available are the pop-up carts and accessories. It's quite difficult to try on anything with the jostling crowd and the worry someone will pick your pocket or bag or wherever you stash your dough.

As for the ones which were still open, the prices are not that much cheaper than what you get in a night market in Kuala Lumpur. There wasn't a huge push factor to shop at the remaining stores.

We did eat alot of snacks as we worked our way through Shilin. One could come on an empty stomach and it will be full by the time you leave. I wish we could have more time to explore, especially the day so that we could have went window shopping and perhaps leave with bags? :)

Danshuei
Getting there: Taipei Main Station ►Tamsui (last station on the Red Line)

 Hot-Star Fried Chicken (豪大大雞排) 
Getting there: Huge corner shop along the walkway. Next to a flight of stairs.

 Ah Poh Iron Eggs (阿婆铁蛋)
Address: 135-1 Zhongzheng Road, Tamsui district 
Tel: (02) 26251625, 26211432, (02) 26292838, 26211563
Getting there: Tamsui MRT station ► Tamsui Old Street (Gongming Street 公明街), walk about 10 mins until the intersection of Zhongzheng Road (中正路), make a left turn and continue walking for another 5 mins. The shop will be on your left. 

Ah Gei (阿給)
Getting there: Corner shop a little distance away from the ferry landing, facing waterfront.

Shilin Night Market:
Getting there: Taipei Main Train Station ► Jiantan (Exit 1)

 Places to get your Taiwan stamp collection:

  • Shilin Visitor Centre

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