“Travel more to see more to live more.”
It is great to travel during Spring where the temperature is just nice. Cool breeze, birds' chirpings, friends gathering in the parks, flowers blooming and trees regrowing... I even got the chance to see Sakura. Personally, I have visited Taipei numerous times, so this round I intend to "go slow" and visit some historical educational sites.
Taipei, Taiwan is an extraordinary place to visit, a city that never sleeps. I think the national leisure in Taiwan is eating, every corner, anywhere of the place, there are always F&B outlets waiting for you. Some even operate 24hrs, some serve only breakfast which is as early as 3am. I think we will bring home at least 5kg!
The city is easily accessed by the MRT or even by foot. The people here are very polite, friendly and helpful. There was once I asked a lady for direction, instead of pointing the way to me, she personally bought me to my destination! Another time, I was buying some snack from an old lady, I conversed in Hokkien with her, addressed her "Ah Ma" and she ended up gave me more than I bought! Taiwanese are amazing and I feel so welcome to visit. I will never stop to visit Taiwan!
I will be here for 10 days, if everything is under one blog it will be too long. Therefore, I intend to split my blogs into different districts of Taipei. We will kick off with this first blog on Zhong Zheng District. See below on what I have done and what I had eaten in Zhong Zheng District.
Zhong Zheng district is the home of most national government buildings of Taiwan, including the Presidential office, the High Court and various government ministries. It is also the base of most historical sites like 228 Peace Museum, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and etc.
The main reason why I choose to write on Zhong Zheng District first is because this is where my hotel is:
Ceasar Park Hotel
Just 4 minutes' walk from Taipei main station, this hotel is a good choice for people who always shuttle around as there is also, HSR, MRT and bus station within the same building. From the station underground, look out for exit M6 which is the gateway to the hotel.
Located in Zhongzheng neighborhood of 忠孝西路, it is surrounded with shopping malls, underground malls, night markets, F&B restaurants. And connect all the way to the famous and high end 忠孝东路, which is the Orchard Road of Singapore.
The Lobby
Spacious lobby with a stretch of lounges for guests, there is also a cafe where 30% discount is given for in housed guests. The staff are friendly and bilingual too, I noticed that there are many Japanese guests staying here too as there is a small Japanese food street at the basement of this building.
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi is located right next to the hotel. One of the entrances of the underground mall is right infront of it too.
The Room
Though this hotel is rather old but can tell that it went through an extensive renovation. Everything feel so new and modern, it feels very cosy too.
Room is big and I got a view facing the train station. The bed I got is hollywood twin which is bigger than a king bed.
The toilet is big too with all the necessary amenities like comb, toothbrushes, shower cap, cotton wool and buds. The toilet bowl is attached with a bidet which is "so Japan" feel.
I love the extra empty space in the corner that I can even dry my umbrella.
The only issue is the water, the hot & cold is a little of challenge where you need some time to adjust to your liking. Once you on the tap at the sink, the water in the shower area will become super-hot. I guessed it must be due to the old pipes system.
The Breakfast
The breakfast of Caesar Park, it serves in the form of buffet, very wide spread of international cuisine. They even serve few local breakfasts in the line.
This is Spring Roll pancake which is one of my favorite foods in Taiwan!
The Spa
Located at level 6 of this building. Boss requested for a massage on the 2nd day of arrival.
Though the price is higher than outside, but boss is too tired to source for ione outside and decided to go for the one nearest which is the one of Caesar Park. Since he is paying for it, why not I obliged?
hee hee
He chooses for the relaxing oil massage while I choose the one that helps to clear my lymphatic system and it really hurts like crazy. The masseur is really professional and know what she was doing. Feels so great after the 1hr torture.
Taipei Main Station
Taipei Main Station is the transport hub of Taipei. It is served by HSR (High Speed Rail), TRA (Taiwan Rail Administrations), Metro, Bus station and terminal station of TaoYuan Airport MRT.
Beside all modes of transport services, Taipei Main Station is well surrounded or connected by malls, underground malls, retail shops, office buildings and food food! Food! Food! This photo was taken when I was standing at the main entrance of Caesar Park Hotel.
Emperor Foods Hengyang (君悅排骨衡陽店)
Located about 15 minutes' walk away from Caesar Park.
This is our first stop after we checked in. As it was already after peak hours, the crowd is less. We got our table, place or order at the counter and really to satisfy our tummies.
Truly delicious local food that is not expensive while staff are polite and fast on their service.
Love their pork chop and fried chicken! Great taste, nicely fried tender meat. If you do not want to eat rice, you can choose noodles too,
虎記餃子重南店
We were walking back to our hotel after our dinner, and we chanced upon this dumpling / gyoza shop.There are customers at the door waiting for take-aways and also several food delivery personnels.
We decided to take-away a share of gyoza too.
Purchase is done over self-service kiosks and ticket number is printed on the receipt where they will call for your queue number once your order is ready.
Staff are friendly too and they are pleased to chat with.
There is a small condiments bar for self-service too. The wait for the food is a little long as they cook upon each order, so the wait is worthed.
By the time we reach the room, the gyoza are already cold from the Spring's evening.
To our surprise, it still tastes not bad! I hope next time I can dine at the shop, i think it will taste better.
Liberty Square Arch aka Freedom Square
The main entrance to Chiang Kai Shek (CKS) memorial hall.
Magnificent arches in elegant blue and white with traditional Chinese craft works which completed in 1970s.
The name of the square reminded us of the Taiwan's transition from one-party rule to modern democracy in the 1990.
Liberty Square
This is a big plaza where many public gatherings are hosted This place is also the red-carpet meeting place of foreign dignitaries who are greeted by the President of Taiwan.
More than 800 events are hosted every year as the square can really fill with really large, massive crowds. It is also the place where rallies and protest held over the years.
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| I am going to walk all the way into that white building with Chinese's roof which is the CKS hall. |
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| After walking in from the arch, i reached the points where the flowers are, I turned back and this is the view. |
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂)
The national monument was built in 1976 to honor Mr. Chiang Kai Shek who ruled Taiwan from 1949 until his death in 1975. He was fondly referred as "Old Chiang (老蒋)" by most older locals and the youngers locals referred him as "Uncle Chiang(蒋伯伯).
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| This is where I am on the top of CKS hall. |
Hourly Guard Changing Ceremony (0900-1800)
There is 2 guards standing by the statue of Mr Chiang K.S., they will stand still for one hour before the next shift replacement.
There is a museum at the basement on the life and career of the longest ruling leader of Taiwan.
There is also an exhibition about Taiwan's history too.
You may wish to wiki more about Mr. Chiang here : Chiang Kai-shek - Wikipedia
PoYa Departmental Store (寶雅)
This departmental is a must visit for me whenever I visited Taipei.
I used to partonise the outlet at XMD as it was very big and 2 levels, I always spents hours here, I discovered that the whole building is no longer there, a high rise buiding too over the spot.
However, it is easy to find PoYa all around the city and there is one located 3 minutes walk from Caesar Park
It is a very localised departmental store that sell everything!!
Here my little loots ;
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| Another outlet located in ShiLin District. |
Drip Cafe
This cafe is just 5 minutes walk from my hotel.
An ideal place to laze around after dropping my loots from shopping.
My man got himself an Americano.
This is Coffee Ball Au Lait that the ice is in the shape of a bear and gradually melts as warm milk is pour over.
The surrounding is spacious and cozy, the interior decor is modern, and it feels relaxing.
Taipei Station's Underground Shopping Street
Beside night markets, underground malls are also another great catch of Taiwan!
Just only Taipei's main station, there are several underground malls for you to roam around.
This is a good place to shop while sheltered from rain & sun.
It is also full of good bargains shopping too where things are selling at much lower price but please do not expect to find any well-known labels here except one store that is selling bags and luggages which I will go into it below.
The underground mall is intertwined into many lanes and sub-sections that always made me lose my way.
Not only underground shopping mall, selling clothes, fashion accessories, household products, enrichment classes, religion related shops, massages, manga shops and etc. (There is an underground mall in ZhongXiao area which is an underground exhibition mall too!)
BackBager
One of the "atas" shop here as this place sell well-recognised labels at good price. This is a wholesale shop that actually distributes to those departmental stores around Taiwan.
ELLE is a brand for many Singaporean girls during their teenage years during the 80s & 90s.
I am so lucky to run into this old school shop that is selling this old schooled international brand as well as few old well-known brands of Taiwan's products. This shop is located at the Z zone of the underground mall.
Zheng Pork Knuckle 鄭記豬腳飯
This humble family-owned eatery, has been feeding people for more than 60 years! Located near to the vicinity of the North Gate, the building itself is a relic too. The shop offer indoor & outdoor seatings too. The interior of the eatery is simple, limited seatings but airy. Traditional Hokkien braised foods that serve only 3 dishes: Pork trotter rice set, pork bellies rice set and milkfish rice set which come with free flow of soup.
And we ordered all 3 ! Pork bellies is soft, pig trotters are boneless, milkfish is boneless too.
Each rice set come with the selected main that attached along pickled vegetables and egg., you may add some chili too! Simple and satisfying!
Taipei North Gate A.K.A Cheng En Gate (臺北府城 A.K.A. 承恩門)
Known as Taipei City Gate to most tourists, this ancient gate named as North Gate to the locals was constructed in 1884 after the Qing Dynasty established Taipei Prefecture in 1875. Subsequently, gates were constructed in the South, East and West. During the Japanese's colony, The South, East and West Gates were demolished for urbanization plannings.
When Japan lost the WW2, Taiwan was handover to the R.O.C in 1945. The new government rebuilt the demolished gates of the South, East & West. Whereas the North Gate, it still remained back its original look of a traditional Chinese woods and engravements.
Comebuy Bubble Tea 南陽店
Located right behind of Caesar Park.
Staff are patient on my order on less sugar, she even highlighted to me the differences of the sugar levels here.
I ordered Rose + Pu-er tea, it is very fragrance, and it is not sweet at all. Heard that most locals drank 3 cups of bubble tea per week.
銀座杏子日式豬排-台北凱撒店
Remember I mentioned earlier that there is a small Japanese Food street at the basement of Caesar Park Hotel?This is one of them, we just had massage and felt very relaxed that we did not want to go far for food, so we decided here. This Japanese food street is connected all the way to MRT station, HSR, underground malls too.
As I am a Japanese Pork chop lover, I choose this for dinner. The environment is clean, packed with diners, and the staff are friendly and helpful too.
The serving is in good size, pork chops are juicy, and prices are reasonable! The taste is comparable like those I had in Japan!
I love that they gave us free collagen powder to go with the soup!
小朱碳烤
Visited this place twice.
It is located right next to PoYa Departmental stall.
Each order is prepared upon payment, so food is freshly cooked and serves hot.
Bought the Floss pancake for my first visit and carrot cake on my second visit.
精食巧 海苔飯捲
Located at the back of Caesar Park.
Walked past a few times and saw it is always crowded with customers so I decided to buy this for lunch.
One of my favourite local food in Taiwan.
As for this store, the taste is average only, as the rice is merely warm.
You can easily get a better taste elsewhere.
鸿炉发蜜汁烧烤
It looks good and smells delicious. I was attracted to the store by the smell, it is always crowded with customers, but the service is fast.
The counter is managed by the lady, the man works as the runner between kitchen and counter doing top ups and the elder man is behind the griller.
Here are my orders for my afternoon snacks, the chicken is good!
皮鞋街
Strolled around the area in the evening and chanced upon this beautifully lit street that is located in YuanLing Street, so this place is also called as "YuanLing Shopping Street". Heard that this is a great place to find good deals on leather shoes.
We have come to the end of this blog on Zhong Zheng, coming up next will be on Wan Hua which is where Xi Men Ding is. While the blogs on ShiLin, Da An, DaTong, TamSui will be on their queues for publishments.
We visited Europe recently like The Netherlands & Belgium recently: Amsterdam, The Hague , Rotterdam , Kinderdijk , Naarden ,Muiden , Haarlem , Nijmegan, Brussel, Bruges and Antwerp
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Lastly, thanks for dropping by.
Wish you good luck.
Cheers
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