[Travel] Taiwan - Taipei itinerary Day 4 (Jiufen)

1:46 PM Cindity 0 Comments

I know, days 2-3 are missing, but I reckoned that day 4 was more exciting and worthy of your time since I'm staying in another hostel and spending my time in the countryside area. Now, sit back and brace yourselves for the awesome photos that lies ahead!

Travelling to Jiufen
I know the sunglasses dominated my face.

Me and my mom checked out from the JVS hostel and travelled to Zhongxiao Fuxing metro station (忠孝復興站) and hopped on a van (mini coach van) which specializes in transporting people to and forth Keelung/Taipei. We got to know of it while waiting for the bus at the bus stop, there will be sales people asking you of your destination. To be honest, I'm pretty turned off by this behavior but the price they quoted (NT 200 / pax) was pretty reasonable and many other locals were also on the same van as us. We originally thought of taking a bus (which would have cost around NT150 / pax) but backed out due to our luggage and blazing sun. The journey to our hostel in Jiufen took about an hour.

The Adventure

Jiufen Old Street （九份老街）
After depositing our luggage, we set off to conquer the Jiufen Old Street



We'd merely started when Mom decided that she's hungry and just turned into this Fishball store for brunch. (you should see this if you enter the Old Street from the 7-eleven entrance) There are more of such similar stores to come as you continue your walk.
So, counting from the left, 1 fishball, 2 meatballs and 1 meatball in fishball. (NTD 50) Topped with leak and bottomed with some really chewy noodles according to Mom.
 I've given it a miss since I'm not a fan of more meat in fishballs.
But Jiufen apparently prouds this as one of their signature, so I guess tourists try everything.

 Mom was pretty neutral about this bowl of noodles, something that she can eat to satisfy herself but she wouldn't repurchase. LOL not as if she has the chance to in the next few years to come. They also have more choices on the menus from NTD45.

 There were a lot of souvenir and pastry shops around. The souvenirs aren't as overpriced as those in Singapore but still pretty pricey. We didn't shop as much as we did haul back souvenirs from our December trip. Another reason might be because of the absence of Dad's wallet.
Btw, the taro dessert was also a must try for tourist. I tried that the last trip but found it too sweet (I'm not picky, but see no point in eating something I don't really like). 


 We continued walking up and spotted this gallery. Pretty cool, but they sorta gave me creeps.
I've actually set aside 2 hours for the Old Street but Mom decided that's enough and we embarked on our next stop on our itinerary. She was partially right though, the food there was pretty repetitive and while the architecture is preserved, this place turned really touristy throughout the years. Other than food, its just souvenirs. Not a place to go if you seek to experience the aboriginal culture, but then again, tourists go everywhere, so. 
We took a bus down to Ruiefang train station and soon after this, our itineraries became screwed up. Real screwed, we were LOST!
Ruiefang / Pingxi line

 We bought round / unlimited tickets and I was ecstatic for my first ever train ride. Alternatively, you can also use your easy card to travel ( you get to enjoy 10% discount if I'm not wrong) but we weren't told that when we bought the tickets. Then again, I think those are more practical for one-ways.

 Overwhelmed by the cool train interior
 Mom having plans to alter the itinerary.


 The view, let me tell ya, is like something you'd see on those default desktop wallpapers!
It was when we realized that one stop took us about 30-40 mins when it was only supposed to be 5-10 mins (like MRT stops). We took the reverse train back.
Though I'd done some research prior to this trip, I did not read of anything about taking the right (or wrong) train! The trains take flight on the same platform! So, if you haven't already taken a train in TW and your command of Mandarin is also like mine, you'd better thank me!
Thank gawd for the awesome scenery that kept me preoccupied!
So we were already 2 hours behind our itinerary, there was no way for us to cover that much distance.
Oh wait! If you don't intend to alight, you can buy the cheapest tix and take any train you like, there will be no extra fees charged since you pay only when you alight:D just don't get lost.

We were on the right train when the friendly train captain talked to us and advised us on the right route to take. Damn cool! The train captains alight at every stop to the platform to safeguard passengers boarding. We decided to go to HouTong Cat Village 侯硐貓村 since there were these 2 ladies beside us on the train who were also heading there.

Houtong Cat Village (侯硐貓村)

Imagine the cats to be celebrities and all the tourists flocked here just to photograph them. There were a lot of places for them to sleep around. If you want to be a cat (or if you're a cat), this is one of the places you should go.



The cutest map EVER!
I apologize solely for the fact that I'm unable to fully comprehend you.

The designs of the train station walkway was too cool to be true.
Dad, here's to some inspirational work from you too!

 This was the 1st cat who greeted me. 

In case you're wondering, these cats are no twins.
or are they?

So if you haven't already guessed correctly, the next few hours of my life was overwhelmed by these cats. I'm not particularly a cat lover, especially when I kept my distance from cats since I've my dogs (since 11 years old). I call the action of me lifting up my arms to stroke them, "courage". But there after I became pretty used to their presence since they were EVERYWHERE.


 But innately, doggies still catered better to my liking. I immediately pulled out my camera when I saw these babies! (And again, They are non-superimposable mirror images)



The souvenir shop with too much flurry friends inside
I didn't take any photos inside as I think its prohibited worldwide. HAHAAH
Just, take a moment to appreciate these:

 Are you still breathing? You shouldn't. This is simply breath-taking!
(shh, don't criticize my puns, I'm still a beginner)

My mom ALWAYS have such candid shots of herself during our holidays.
Never fail.




Still alive yet? Good, let's move on!

The museum was our last stop in Houtong as the sun seems to be setting soon. Its a pity that we couldn't stay for the sunset as the last train leaves at 5 PM.


This area started off as a coal-mining site. But according to the 2 ladies who were our tour guides that day, many places like this in TW suffered from an efflux of younger people moving out to the city for work. There was subsequently not enough manpower to sustain this labourous activity.

Thank you<3
These lovelies really made our day enjoyable. They were office ladies from Taipei and came here for a breather.
I think its Mommy who attracts nice people, how come I've never met such nice strangers before.

We bid our last goodbye and went back to Ruifang station for transiting to Keelung Temple Night Market (基隆庙口夜市）




This how the actual train we should have taken look like.
There were flocking compliments of how youthful my mom looked, many thought she was my sister.
In fact, my mom had given birth late (only at the ripe age of 32).
I bet she was overjoyed though she chose to deny it.

Temple Night Market (基隆庙口夜市）

This is by far the best night market I've been to, there were more abundant food choices (unlike the shilin one) and besides food, they also have fashion - clothing and accessories and some carnival stalls.
This is one of the Night Market we went to with the widest array of seafood stalls since they were near the sea. (Though seafood in general is still more expensive than other food.)
You should try the grilled squid (NTD70-80) at the very least! Just a pity that my mom barred me from eating too much seafood as I've occasional seafood allergies and she reckoned that this is the worst time for an anaphylactic shock to occur.


Sushi for NTD10
I tried the Ebiko (prawn roe), I can feel the popping of the roe in my mouth.
Quite a deal eh?
Their sushi was also made on spot.



Fried Fish.
NTD50 / 100
You can choose your topping, my Mom got herself the seaweed one.
Pretty fine, not too salty! :)
but avoid foods with sodium at night if you don't want to wake up to swollen eyes! Hahaa
We took the bus back to Jiufen! The bus drivers were very friendly, and again, you can use your easycard for the bus fares. A bus ride definitely have a different feel coupled to it, the closest word I can relate it to is probably "class" HAHA. So, if you happen to be in Taiwan, don't just cab around, take it as sparing some thoughts for your wallet!


Hostel / Minsu
I've actually liaised with a few hostels aka minsu before flying (by sending emails) to my knowledge, they require locals to prepay a 50% deposit to reserve a room however I guess they are more lenient with tourists. But I chose this 九份．輝明民宿 (Huiming minsu) due to its location and price. We called them again after arrival in Taiwan. 
We deposited our luggage at their 'lobby' (living room) as we were there earlier (before check in time - 3pm)


Yup, Mommy secretly took a selfie of herself too


More pictures on their site: http://taiwan.zizaike.com/h/4948

Hostel Review: 九份．輝明民宿

Facilities: This is the least hostel-like hostel I've stayed in, more of a hotel room. There was zero interaction with the other tourists (neither have I seen them but heard voices from the other rooms). Facilities were also the best among all the other hostels, there's aircon, wifi, television and our own toilet! This is the most value for money hostel we've stayed in Taiwan (NT1300 / double-bed room). I don't know about other services like laundry etc since I was only there for a night. Our room is on the third storey and there was no lift, luckily the host (I think he is HuiMing lol) helped us to carry some luggage up.

Staff: Mrs Yao was really hospitable and friendly, she recommended a lot of places to us like a overloaded machine gun, and helped us with our itinerary. They live there personally themselves if you are wondering what a "min su" is. Their family is rather huge and there's a few cute little children, they will gather in the living room for dinner. You can really tell if people are nice, it's very genuine; plus experiencing their local lifestyle is kinda priceless.

Cleanliness: Okay, I'll go straight to the point. There were jumping fleas or lices or whatever you call them on the bed. I was on the bed switching television channels when I spotted SOME (not just one) alive and jumping. We swept the bed surface gently before retiring for the night. (Caution: do not hit the bed like there's no tomorrow in fear of the awakening of more fleas beneath) We were probably one of the first residents of this room since the holidays (Hongkong & Singapore's) had just started. 
I'm sure Mrs Yao and her family would be more than happy to assist a change in the room / mattress if I had informed them but they had been really nice and it was already rather late and I didn't want to trouble them. 

Location: Their location is superb! Take a staircase up and you'll find yourself in the Jiufen Old Street in a jiffy! They weren't too hard to find as well, their house is near the bus stop. If you're taking a mini coach van or taxi that specialises in transporting tourists to Jiufen, they'd probably have heard of them. We were the first among the group on the mini van to alight on the trip to Jiufen. Otherwise, they also have their address listed on their website along with a detailed map.

One thing that I thought might be relevant is that, if you're staying in Jiufen for the night, you might have to return earlier (around 10pm). I'm not too sure about the schedule of the last public bus, but the bus/taxi drivers probably don't want to drive down the hill (or return to town) in the middle of the night. 
Mrs Yao and her family retire reasonably late, at around 11 pm.

Price paid: NTD1300/night /double bed room
Recommend? Yes! Definitely! 

See my original plan for the day: http://cindity.blogspot.sg/2013/07/taipei-itinerary-for-budget-traveller.html

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