Catherine Stefanie Jordan

Taiwan Taoyuan Day 06

day started early due to our packed itinerary. found our breakfast around the neighbourhood, about 5 mins walk from the apartment.

took a train to taipei main station (2 stops) where we switched to 台铁 towards 瑞芳. bought our 平溪线一日周游券 (1 day unlimited pass for pingxi line) before making our way to 九份. it was drizzling as we walked to the bus stop (head left after coming out from the ticketing booth for pingxi line) near the police post. we were supposed to take 788 according to directions at visitor centre. waited for about 10 mins before a bus arrived and upon checking, the bus does go to our destination. we reached 九份旧道 5-10 mins after hopping onto the bus.

on the train to 瑞芳

平溪线一日周游券

followed the small lane and tried to stay dry as much as possible. however, the rain got heavier and must have dampened my spirits (or it might have just been me and my mood swing *bleah*). we took shelter at 赖阿婆芋圆. the balls were pretty much tasteless except for sesame flavoured ones (black) and the soup managed to give us some warmth in this cold and wet weather.

we ventured up a flight of steps and realised that there was not much for us to continue to explore. decided to move on to our next stop. on our way out of the old street, we bought these in preparation for more pre-wedding shoots in singapore. my 1st encounter with this outlet was at hong kong airport early last year and was attracted by their out-of-box ideas. the purchase sort of lifted my spirits a little but not for long.

contents to be revealed at the end of this post

it was another 1 min uphill walk after exiting the old street to reach the bus stop. by now, our surroundings were covered by low clouds or mist and visibility was low. thank god we did not have to stand in the cold for long as the bus arrived shortly.

by the time we made it to pingxi line platform, we had missed the train and the next one was scheduled to arrive half an hour later. i was really upset and annoyed by the unnecessary loss of time (eg. recce for breakfast, long wait for train) and began sulking. this half an hour must have been the longest one for me during this trip. canon camera died on me after snapping this shot.

cannot remember how long the train ride took, but it seemed forever and i was really glad when we reached the last stop of the line which was our 1st - 菁桐.

chanced upon this interesting flavoured egg at the 1st stall to the left of the train platform. tasted both types of eggs and cannot resist the temptation to purchase a big packet consisting both - 三味香 (茶叶蛋, 皮蛋, 咸蛋) and 土鸡皮蛋.

the eggs are on the right of the picture

considerate uncle who put up directions and next train timing at his stall

as we walked further away from the station, i was attracted by a flower shaped ice-cream and bought a 茶叶蛋 to curb the hunger under the stall owner's strong recommendation. ice-cream was not too bad but 茶叶蛋 was way under expectation.

情人桥 lover bridge

wonder what sparked off the grouchiness again and it was pretty bad that dear had a hard time. well, at least this did not last for long too.

got on the train which brought us to our next stop - 平溪.

was browsing at platform's gift store and dear came to me with this! *beams*

guess the rest wanted to cheer me up and decided to 放天灯 at this station instead of the more popular 十分. this store was packed with people as compared to the one directly opposite (other side of the track) and there is definitely a reason to that - professional service. takes at least 4 different shots for you capturing the 4 different sides and burn sufficient incense paper to keep the lantern going. i was in charge of putting down our wishes in words and dear was in charge of the artistic portion. had fun throughout the whole process and this definitely cheered me up.

highly recommended


left - description of each colour representation

our wishes

moved on to our final stop along this line - 十分. this station has a lot more crowd than the other 2 and much more 放天灯 stores. might have been due to the over-crowding that many of the lanterns did not make it to the gods and fairies.

we had an hour before the next scheduled train and we settled our dinner at 楼仔厝 - the biggest mistake of all. food was lousy and price was on the high side. worst of all, we missed the train and had to wait for another hour.

style and decoration are appealing

but the most important aspect - food quality fail

dear and his favourite patrick

while deciding how to kill the hour, i heard familiar music - 流动面包车! (dear thought it was the rubbish truck *laughs*) uncle recommended the same fried yam pastry/biscuit and i decided to give it a try. bought another chocolate rice cream bun to go along. as i was happily munching, loud bangs came from outside the station. dear told me there are people setting off fireworks and we decided to hunt for the source.

saw a stall selling my secondary school days favourite dessert - fried ice-cream! serena and i had 1 each while the 2 boys shared 1. it was half the size of what i remember it to be with a different wrap but tasted just as nice.

found our fireworks 2 shops down. there were 3 different types (cannot remember the difference) and we went for the NT$300 box.

though i have seen many fireworks during different occasions, this is the 1st time setting it off. it was a fun experience and was not as loud as i expected it to be despite the near distance.

after a long and eventful day, i was glad to be finally on the train back to taipei. wanted to drop by night market to make up for the lousy dinner we had but joshua was too tired to continue. decided to buy 顶呱呱 for supper since it is the most convenient (at the ground floor of our apartment building).