The first day is practically just fly in to Taiwan and that's it. The flight was at 6pm from LCCT and the day was already at an end when we landed in Taipei. The flight is 4.5 hours and being on an AirAsia flight, the hours seemed even longer. Budget airlines have nothing for you on board that you don't need to pay for. The seats can't even recline! Movies need to be rented for RM30 and since I have seen most of the titles being offered (and also being a cheapskate) I passed on that.
After that it's off the bus for 'supper' or rather a very, very early breakfast (tehnically it was morning the next day). On the menu was porridge. Plain white porridge but with some dishes to go with it. It seemed more like a proper meal as we had 7 or 8 dishes to go with the porridge. We dug in as we were hungry. The nasi lemak served or rather bought, on the flight don't last you very long. Here's a shot of some of the dishes:
After that we had 'Portugese egg tarts' as dessert.
From the looks it was not so 'Portugese' but they were fresh out of the oven and thus tasted nice. With our belly full, we headed to the hotel and that marked the end of our first day in Taiwan.
A few hours later, we awoke and hauled our bags and ourselves up the bus once again. The tour has finally started. First stop for the day - Jiu Fen or 'Nine Portions' in english direct translation. It's a famous street bazaar in Taiwan located in the town of Jing Shan. What's unique about this bazaar is that the town is located on a face of a steep hill and the Jiu Fen tourist area is spread across a few levels of the hills. Small lanes and steep stairs weave their way across the face of the hills overlooking a harbour with shops selling all kinds or trinkets and curiosities dotting them. I'll let the pics do the talking:
Above: Entrance to the Jiu-Fen Old Street - the most fomous of the streets there.
A shot of a temple there. I find the Taiwanese temples to be quite elaborate no matter where they are. Basically the town is situated like what you see in the shot. One level after another - all built on the steep hillside.
Some shops selling souvenirs in Jui-Fen area. It's a highly commercialized tourist spot but still worth a visit.
Things for sale range from the usual trinkets to some more 'kinky' stuff (below).
A shot of the harbour in the background from one of the many vantage points as you explore the area. The weather is not so good as you can see and makes for a rather drabby shot.
Also dotting the landscape are numerous restaurants, the one in the pic below is one of the more elaborate ones.
You will find many a stairs like this one seen in the pic below, leading you to the different levels of the town.
Another shot of the habour and parts of the town from the end of the 'Old Street'
The end of the 'Old Street' as seen if you turn around from the vista above.
Shops line both sides of the Street and sells various kinds of food and other stuff.
You can have a sample before you buy. In the above shot, the open containers in the foreground are free samples that you can help yourself to. Almost 99% of shops selling food will have samples for you. If you take a sample from each and every shop selling food and/or drinks, you can literally fill your stomach and you won't have to pay a single cent!
Apart from food, you can also find clothes and stuff. As the street twist and turn, you can easily lose track of where you are, just like the kid in the shot below.
Sweets for my sweet, sugar for my honey...
Little cloth owls of various sizes. Perfect for souvenirs. The seller claims that all the owls have a different motif on them. I did not check to see if it was true.
Lots of drinks and tea - alcoholic or otherwise for sale also.
More fancy sweets.
You can find many restaurants with fancy themes like this one that has a fancy window display as shown in the following pics.
And a final shot of the crowd in Jiu-Fen. Many Taiwanese come here too.
That's all for our Jiu-Fen stop. Up next is the Geopark in Yehliu. Stay tuned!
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