Taiwan Expedition Day 7 - Guest-Blogged By 浪迹天涯小狗

Me and Bomby, in case anyone gets sick of jus seeing me alone.

28th April 2006

ITS ONSEN DAY!!

Finally a day where we din hear any splattering rain off the roof opposite when we open our eyes. Somehow we tu-ded until 11+ before dragging ourselves off the comfortable bed and out of the hotel.

Took MRT to 剑潭 again to visit 忠烈祠 as we couldnt make it in time for the shift-changing the day b4.


忠烈祠 (Martyr's Shrine)


The other side of the "gate"


The interior, or rather parade grounds (bcos its so huge!).


The guards changing shift. Its a long march from the front gate to the stairs. Took ard 7 minutes.


They climb the stairs fairly fast thou.


"Asking permission from the Martyr 1st." Obviously not! Paying respects I think. The fella was actually adjusting the creases of the guard's pants lor


No hats, no smoke, no speech.


WANTED!!
The 菜鸟 who almost dropped his gun during the "performance"

We contemplated visiting 圆山大饭店, but the slope btwn the main gate and the lobby is turning us away. So we satisfied ourselves by taking a picture of it from Taiwan Radio, which is next to 忠烈祠. It looks more like a old time palace than a hotel actually.


圆山大饭店

We anyhow took a dunno wat bus dat jus needs to bring us to any MRT station (圆山MRT Station). While we walked to the station, we passed by this dunno wat name stadium.


Some stadium near 圆山MRT Station which had a China feel to it.


But the inside looks like it wasnt maintained at all. Like some abandoned place.

Onsen Onsen Onsen!


北投MRT Station. Looks like Dover.


Even the MRT station looks so nice in Taiwan (新北投 MRT Station)


Onsen museum at 新北投


Onsen vouchers. We took a package from Pacific Wellness Spa & Club which consists of a private onsen room for 2 pax (doggies dat hang on bags r not chargable) for 90 min with high tea for NT1099. Dats abt SGD$55. Divide by 2 = $27.50. Dats rather cheap for private onsen with high tea somemore.


More vouchers. With complimentary return vouchers but we're leaving the next day!!


The onsen tub. Very misty inside the room due to the heat of the onsen water which is ard 40 to 42 degrees. The milky colored onsen water comes from somewhere out there thru a pipeline into the rooms. To adjust the temperature of the water, we had to control the taps that adds hot or cold water into the tub.


I was caught red-handed for escaping out of the scorching water.


Me in a personalised tub. Aint dat cool!~


Onsen tub on the right, suana/shower on the left


High tea (included in the package) after onsen experience. This barley soup-like mixture is actually salty instead of sweet as wat normal barley desserts would be. RR said it tasted like some minestrone thing.


The main course. Beef and chicken wraps. It looks damn healthy lor. Other than the nachos dat is. So green..


Cold and warm muah chees. Nice!


Fruits! The orange is not that sweet thou.

We went 通化街 for the usual evening walkabout. Frankly speaking, it did not give me any impression and I'm having difficulties remembering wat was there. (Other than the rain.)


临江观光夜市


Its the TP101 yet again! Ok jus strain ur eyes to find the blue lights.

Being the last nite in Taiwan, we decided to treat ourselves to a filling dinner rather than feeding our stomaches with bits and pieces of night market food. So we took the MRT to 大安 and walked like the stretch of Eu Tong Sen St (It really looks like it with all the constructions on the road), all the while opening n closing our umbrellas when walking under the shelter of the shophouses.

Finally we reached 永康街 where RR claims there's a lot of restaurants. We settled on a shabu-shabu/sukiyaki shop called 平甲屋 (i think dats wat its called. Doggy brain very small only, and made of stuffings somemore).


The seafood and beef shabu shabu that mistress ordered for NT360. Mistress obviously wasnt expecting such a spread for SGD$18. The food jus keep coming. Jus the seafood plate alone consists of a large piece of fish, another piece of fish (i think its fish jaw/chin/watever dat part on the head of a fish is called), 2 big prawns, some sotong strips, 5 mussels and A LOT OF ORRHHSS (like no need money like dat). The food was nice, the orrhhs r fresh and without sand(thankfully), and the mistress stuffed her stomach until she had difficulties getting up.

We walked quite a distance to 忠孝新生 MRT in an attempt to digest off the food. Too much. Too much.

Last day. Last report!