Taiwan Trip 2014 - Day 6 and Day 7

Rise and shine on our last full day in Taiwan! Unfortunately, we woke up terribly late and had our brunch at a stall next to our hostel. I will still prefer our brunch that we had yesterday.

Oh well, today we're going to spend it in the Taipei Zoo! As a tourist, even to those that visit Singapore, they were definitely visit our Zoological Gardens, like wise, for us, we can't wait to spend our day there! (:

It's very clear cut to go to Taipei Zoo because they have a MRT station named "Taipei Zoo". Very convenient right!

ootd shot with Taipei Zoo

Ticketing area.

I'm pretty amazed that they provide lockers for storage purpose!

Cute Drago made up of grass :)

Xinying was (still) afraid of insects so we did not enter into the bugs zone. Pretty much like a standard zoo, with animals enclosed in different sections.

Seems like the elephants here are on diet? They're so skinny! :(

Sleeping in this weather very shiok right?

This is like a Zodiac Clock, just that it's really a real clock (erm, what am I talking about...)

Tiger also very skinny!

Kwang Soo, ni hao mah? (:

Upon entering the zoo, we were given tickets to visit the pandas at an allocated time. There were so many people and we were squashed! It was very congested inside and we felt that the crowd control was poorly managed. We had to stay in line when we reached the display area, so the queue was jammed there because everyone wanted to take a shot of the pandas.

My only visible shot :(

My camera died on me right after we stepped out of the zoo. So for the rest of our day, I could only take pictures with my S4 camera. Apologies if it's blur alright!

We headed to have dinner at Hu Xu Zhang -  a place that sells delicious Lu Rou Fan (Braised Pork Rice). As I'm not allowed to have dark soy sauce at the moment, so I ordered their Chicken Rice instead.

I like the taste of their Chicken Rice. I can smell the aroma of sesame oil mixed with light soy sauce in the rice and the chicken is tender.

*Recommended*

Wanted to cleanse our stomach for the meal, so we ordered bean sprouts as sides.

Xinying ordered Lu Rou Fan. From what I know, she said that the taste is very different from the ones in SG. SG's tasted more salty.

After settling on our dinner, it's time to meet Gina after her work! (: Heading to Raohe Night Market and apparently, it's the last night market we're visiting already! Gina's really cute! Xinying kept teasing her, saying that she wasn't a Taiwanese at all because she's not familiar with the hot spots in Taiwan! Such a bully! But true enough, Gina even asked her friends for recommended food in Raohe when she only lived few streets away! :p

This was not in our list but it caught our attention anyway!

We ordered their Signature Condensed Milk Toast - NT20.

Tasted quite unique! It's like having bread and butter toast with drizzles of condensed milk in it.

*Recommended*

Egg and Cheese Pancake - NT25

Gina recommended this to us. I find it delicious when you eat it cold.

When it's cooled, you can taste a subtle sweetness from the egg and the cheese also helped to enhance the flavour by a little.

*Recommended*

Pork Ribs in Herbal Soup - NT 70

What's warmer than a bowl of soup on a chilly night in Raohe? (: This is definitely one of my favourites in Raohe! The soup has a very strong herbal aftertaste, but it's not bitter at all. Very sweet and refreshing! They're very generous with the ribs also! See! The bowl is fully filled with meat!

*Recommended*

Smelly Tofu

Quoted from Gina: "This is not the smelliest yet!"

Xinying was sitting at my right, holding her breathe and pinching her nose while we savour the smelliness into our mouth! 

Tasted not too bad, but agreed with Gina that it wasn't that fantastic too.

Chicken Roll

Doesn't look appealing but gosh, it's food in heaven! Saw the juicy meat? It really burst into my mouth when I bit on it! Top it off with Lemon Peppery powder and the delicacy is complete.

*Recommended*

Last but not least, Mango Ice to end off our night in Raohe!

Every single piece of the mango is sweeeeet dao!!

In Taiwan right, no matter where or when, Mango Ice is a must to try!

Don't try, you regret!

Bid goodbye with Gina and cabbed back to Watsons near our hostel to buy makeup remover. It's a very random buy but because I've run out of it, so no choice. Walked back and went over to 85 Degrees to buy cakes. Wanted to have that for supper that night, but we were busy packing our luggage, so we leave it for breakfast tomorrow.

Still remember about the unlock doors last night? The hostel's representative gave us a thorough explanation and offered to prepare car to send us to the Airport the next day. We didn't argue further and accepted their offer.

Last breakfast in Taipei.

Really love the Strawberry Crepe Cake! 

I guess that will be my favourite kind of cake at the moment!

We've already checked in our luggage and was waiting for time to pass in Mr. Brown Coffee. Ordered a cuppa Matcha Latte Frappe and reminiscing all the wonderful moments spent in Taiwan. Both of us were rather, quiet on the plane. Xinying slept throughout the ride (must be dead tired) and me, I was restless. The thought of lugging back my luggage with no new clothes/shoes and lots of food goodies for colleagues and friends kinda bring my mood down by a little. 

As soon as we touch down at Changi, Xinying's father came over and welcome us. He was very chatty and happy on that night, perhaps, he is able to see his beloved daughter after a week. Wondered if my parents felt the same too? After dinner, he drove us back and dropped me at my void deck. Bid goodbye and my brother helped to carry my luggage back to my room. Quickly headed to the showers and unpacked the luggage for the night. The unpacking part was fast because I didn't buy much stuff back at all! Took another day off to rest at home and recover from post Taiwan syndrome. Everything happened too quickly that I didn't even breathe a word of goodbye to Taiwan.

This trip is a rewarding one, teaching me to live independently and to bear with all the nonsense that the Mother Nature throw at us. Such experiences could only be gained when you get to travel out of your comfort zone. Live strong and bear it well, for the best is yet to come. (: