Taiwan Day 6 - Maokong (貓空) and Ximending (西門町)

*Argh I had to retype this entire post because Blogger deleted it! *

With a good night's sleep, we were ready to take on Taipei again.

The lack of breakfast spots around our accommodation really stumped us. Where do people get their breakfast? Is there nothing else except for western coffee places and 7-11s? Where are the within-walking-distance- authentic-Taiwanese-breakfast ?!

We had to feed the guys soon before they turn into vegetables. Someone remembered that the Taipei Main Station had some restaurants so off we went. Here's the cool *or surreal, whichever way you want to see it* part. Most shops in Taipei Main Station (except for convenience stores) open simultaneously around 10.30am. Not simultaneously like someone comes out of the shop and pushes the grills open. No, its like a programmed event when all the shutters go up together in cacophony and the store greeter is in place.

We walked around and decided on a noodle restaurant. It is on the 2nd floor but we forgot to take a photo of the store. I only managed to get a photo of the food. If you see Starbucks, it's right across from it. The food was not as heavily seasoned like the food that we have been getting for the past few days so it was a good change, especially when this is the first meal of the day.

Alternatively I have heard many that choose the Breeze Food Court instead. We didn't try that place as we eat in food courts all the time in SG and MY.

Pictures of Dr. Sun Yat Sen decorated the hallways

View of Taipei 101 from the Memorial Hall

 To look around probably took us an hour. There is not much to explore as it functions partly like a government building so most areas are either off limits or halls.As the Hall is within the area of Chung Shan Park, we were looking forward to a stroll but the weather was sweltering even though it was late October.
While they were munching, and I must say, sausages made from the black pig does taste nice, I quickly identified the tea house that we were headed to. It is also one of the furthest tea houses away from the station. I had doubted we would make it to my hike to Elephant Mountain with numerous errands to buy pineapple tarts so this shall be my reconciliation! Anyway if we didn't walk that far down, we wouldn't have come across some interesting places. Oh, and take your toilet break before embarking on the hike, unless you want to have some farm hand yelling at you "fertilizing" the tea plants.

Follow this sign if you want to go to the tea house I went to

L-R : Walking down the road, vegetarian bun landmark, Tea Tea Promotion Centre

There are many quaint tea cafes/houses when you make your way down the narrow tar road. We were tempted to try the cuter ones, like the one which sold cat paraphernalia but we had to hold out until our goal. If you don't want to be as crazy as us, go to the cat tea house. No, like seriously... go to the cat tea house. It will save you 30 minutes of walking.

We stopped at the Tian'en Temple (天恩宮) to offer a few words of prayer to the Laughing Buddha for a peaceful walk. That is where we found awesome. handmade. FRESH. vegetarian buns! It's just next to the temple. The landmark is the fortune cat in the photo above. It's good for a midway snack after burning calories.

A couple of hundred metres later, we reached the Taipei Tea Promotion Center (茶推广中心). This is a great place to get a local sampling of the tea after the yummy vegetarian bun. Once you enter the centre, you will see a hot water dispenser like thing on your right. Except that it is not hot water. The dispenser is filled with freshly brewed locally grown Muzha Tieguanyin tea! Grab a clean glass cup and fill her up! Don't worry,  when you are done, just place your used cup at the little window and someone will pick it up to wash for the next batch of visitors. Conservation at its best.

The Center includes a display area, an ecological pond, a lecture hall and offices. The exhibits in the Center informs visitors on the process of how tea is manufactured, brewed and stored. It also shows the importance of land and water conservation. The Center isn't very big and one can expect to finish the place in less than 30 minutes. By the way, those bushes you see on the steps? Those are not common shrubbery. Those bushes are where the Muzha Tieguanyin comes from.

It took us another 20 minutes of walking before we reached the elusive teahouse. Yao Yue Teahouse (邀月茶坊) is one of the few 24 tea houses along this stretch of the road where you can literally drink tea surrounded by tea fields. Serene. Sort of sound like tea torture chamber... where tea watch you brew their buddies in a kettle before knocking back a few, with a contented look on your face.

Yao Yue (literally meaning 'inviting the moon') doesn't have the greatest night view but it does carry a good selection of tea-infused food and awesome desserts. Oh and you don't have to worry about mosquitos, the workers will light up a mosquito coil to place under your table. If you want to catch a good night view, try going to the tea houses just before the Tian'en Temple. 

Water boiling and the tea we chose

The system in this teahouse is that you go to the front counter to order the type of tea/food/snacks you want and they bring all the tea utensils, with a bag of your choice of tea, unopened and the waiter will explain the process. They also charge a per pax fee in addition to the pricey food and tea. The concept for this teahouse is to incorporate tea elements into most of their main meals. So you could possibly end up with tea leaves in your mouth.

C went to the teahouse's selection of manga and returned with a stack under his arm. The guys all grabbed a book and started poring. Me, of course, felt really left out as it was those sort of manga which involved some sort of sport. Give me bishies anyday! In the end, we all fell into a friendly silence, enjoying tea and yummy pastries, in a tea farm.

We decided to head back downhill around 6pm. Night was falling really fast as it was autumn and we understood why the locals would drive up all the way here in the middle of the night just to drink tea. The night lights were starting and seeing the city twinkling from below is really quite a sight. There is little light pollution among the tea farms so even the stars seem brighter.

It felt like 9pm at night when we reached the gondola terminal. There were a queue of people milling about and we thought that it was probably the human jam to get off the hill. To our horror, the gondola stopped temporarily due to high winds!! When I mean "temporarily", it had stopped working 45 minutes before we arrive.

The staff at the gondola are quick thinkers. Once the gondola shut down, they pulled out plastic chairs for visitors and played games to pass the time. We waited for 20 minutes and decided to take our chances with the minibus.

The minibus took us through tight turns and narrow roads. 45 minutes later we were deposited near the Metro station. Some of my friends looked a little green after the ride. If you are planning this mode of transport, make sure you take some motion sickness pill.

I guess nothing helps low feelings after the topsy-turvy ride other than yummy food. Off we went to Ximending (西門町)!

As every tourist to Taipei must do, is to try is Ah Chung Mee Sua (阿宗麵線). Heck, even the locals queued up. There is something about these bowls of slurpy goodness. Mee Sua is a type of noodle soup with oysters (or pig intestines, depending on your preference). The stewed soup is thick and always served piping hot. At Ah Chung, you get both. If you have a thing against innards tell them upfront that "我不想猪肠" (Wo bu yao zhu chang).



Each bowl costs around NTD40 a bowl. The drill is that you place your order, pay, collect your bowl, and top it up with condiments like garlic sauce, their signature chili sauce or thick soy sauce.If you like their chili, grab a bottle on sale.

Most of us just stood around slurping our noodles.  People from different countries, foreign and local, bonded over a bowl of noodles.

We made another pit stop at Ya Rou Bian(鴨肉扁). It literally translate 'flattened duck'  but the shop uses wild goose. 



Tian'en Temple (天恩宮)
Address: No.32-7, Ln. 38, Sec.3, Zhinan Rd, Wenshan District, Taipei City 116
Tel: +886 2 23982888
Opening Hours: 7am - 6pm

Taipei Tea Promotion Center (茶推广中心)
Address: 8-2, Lane 40, Zhinan Road, Sec. 3,  Wenshan District, Taipei City 116
Tel: +886 2 22340568/ 22340569
Opening Hours: 9am - 4.30pm (Tues - Sun)

Yaoyue Tea House
Address: No. 6, Lane 60, Section 3 Zhinan Road, Wunshan District, Taipei
Tel: +886 2 29392025
Opening Hours: 24 hours

Ah Chung Mee Sua (阿宗麵線)
Address: Address: No.8-1, Emei St., Wanhua District, Taipei City (Ximending branch)
Tel: +886 2 23888808
Opening Hours: 11:00 to 22:30 (Mon – Thu); 11:00 to 23:00 (Fri – Sun)
Getting there: 5 minutes walk from Ximen Metro station, Exit 6

Ya Rou Bian(鴨肉扁)
Address: No.98-2 Yi Section,Zhonghua Road
Getting there: Ximen Metro station, Exit 6

Rubber stamp place: Sun-Yat Sen Memorial Hall, Gondola to Maokong and Taipei Tea Promotion Center