Jewels that dance: Taiwan: 10-18 Oct'14 8D7N in the land of bubble tea land Day 8-9 Taipei

Down to the last 2 days of Taipei!

What else to do while waking up with a good hairday than to have a series of selfies?(:

Started the day with a series of camwhores with the papa on the way to Jiufen.

As advised by our hostel, we opted for the method to take the bus from Zhongxiao MRT to Jiufen.

In Taiwan, do it the Tai-mei style. Pass?

And we have a special guest appearance for this episode!(:

Follow the signs and keep towards Exit one.

Sorry we can't remember the exact directions as this is 6 months late. But follow the photos and you can't be wrong (:

Right beside the building stands a small bus stand listing the available bus services. It doesn't have a proper bus stop but you shouldn't miss it as they would be people usually in the queue.

Hop onto bus 1062 towards Jinguashi

Seats are pretty spacious and you would be assured a seat as the bus doesn't seem to allow people to stand along the journey.

In narrow winding streets atop the mountains, you know you have reached your destination, Jiufen!

A cultural snippet of Taiwan's past and now a tourist attract, Jiufen now retails many goodies and souvenirs for tourists to pack home, peanut candies, fruit jellies etc. If you are swinging by, remember to keep some cash for the food.

Natural volcanic rocks that we first got our pieces from via our previous trip in Korea, Dad was elated to be able to find similar rocks here. Don't belittle the perforated rocks, they work wonders and scrubs off the dead skin under our feet, at only 60NTD ~ 2.50SGD. And they work wayyy better than those exfoliators from Watsons.

Fully prepped for the colder weather up here from the altitude and rain, be properly geared up in your long sleeves. Oh boy, was I glad to have mine on(:

Decked in pieces from TDJ old collection

If you are a fan of quirky candies and souvenirs, don't miss this store here. Similar to the one at Ion B3, get your fix now at a cheaper price.

Traditional lunch over 卤肉饭，卤蛋 and 豆干。

We had desserts at 赖啊婆 , traditional glutinous balls, which we found sadly to be overated and nothing much to be raved about.

The boy suddenly disappeared into the crowed and reappeared with these green packets. Supposedly matcha/green bean glutinous kuey with 卤肉。The glutinous rice didn't have an overwhelming taste to my delight and its pretty interesting how this combination worked out. The taiwanese really does glutinous dishes pretty well!

To head to Shi Fen, turn right as you exit from the entrance of Jiufen, and walk upwards towards the

bus stop.

Hop onto bus 827 that brings you to the Ruifang station.

A snippet of the railway timing for your planning purposes(:

If you are in need of wifi, register as a guest at the Visitor information center with your passport details to get one hour complimentary!

Located opposite of Ruifang Station ( you will have to walk quite a distance) , is a local food street, which seems like a hawker centre. Situation within are many stores which you can feast upon before hopping onto the train. We were not hungry then and thus didn't manage to try anything here.

Should you not have tried Yonghe, there is one around the corner of Ruifang station, but we found it paling in comparison to the one at Ximending.

After we have reached Shifen to light the lanterns, it's time to pen your thoughts.

The boy exhibited his art talent by drawing the little aeroplane around the globe(:

And our scribbles which ahem had some chinese mistakes but the boy managed to salvage with his drawings (:

Apart from the lanterns, there doesn't seem to be much to do.

Stay alert for the announcements to note which platforms to hop onto

It turned out that the train fare costed more than what we have paid for, but fret not as you can just top up at the counter should you travel token fail to tap you out.

Showcasing my hello kitty tumblers from 7-11. I really do love the adorable promotions in Taiwan!

Another of my favourite apart from the milk tea from the local 7-11s is the Peanut candy. The nuts are the right size and with the correct level of brittleness, just the way I like it. And with it costing only approx SGD 1, do try it if you are a fan of peanuts!

Down to the final day of Taiwan which we have to return to Singapore on the same day, we tried the Duck noodles located just a stone's throw away from our hostel. However, it seems pretty average to us and nothing to rave about.

Completed lunch with some traditional beancurd.

With the help of our hostel who called up the Airport Transport bus to indicate 3 headcounts at the pick up point near the hostel, we saved ourselves a sum from taking the taxi (900NTD).

The down side is there's no bus stop or sign indicating where to stop, but it's generally along the mainroad as you turn to the right of the Junction from 明日Hotel. The bus ended up stopping right outside the Hi-Life logo.

The bus scoots off on the dot after picking the passengers so don't be late!

Do note that you might have to disembark halfway to change to the below pink and more spacious bus at a stopover, also the place you will be purchasing your tickets at 140 NTD per head.