Food trip at Taipei

Day 3
Dec 1, 2014
Taipei

It was December and suddenly, the weather became cold. It has been warm the past 2 days so it was surprising for the weather to quickly change on the 1st day of December. Finally, I got to use the jacket I recently bought.

Our first stop for the day was at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, erected to commemorate Republic of China's first president. The hall square is actually an excellent location to photograph Taipei 101.

After a brief train ride, we reached Daan Forest park, which is known to be Taipei's version of New York's central park. There was not much to do here, judging by number of people in the park - three - Rissa, Enoy, and myself. No one else was in the park so we quickly left to find a place to eat lunch.

We ate lunch at Yong-Kang Beef Noodle. Judging by the number of people eating inside and waiting in line outside, this looked like the place to be to eat Taipei's best beef noodle - and it really was. The beef was cooked to perfection and the soup tasted just right - not too tasty but not bland either. Not bad for a 200 TWD lunch.

Next on our list was Mengjia Longshan Temple, a famous place of worship built in the early 18th century.

Our next two stops were two famous themed restaurants in Taipei. Fist one was Hello Kitty Sweets. Everyone was required to order at least 300 TWD worth of pastries and drinks so I ordered cheesecake, which was just ok, and pudding bubble milk tea, which was really good.

The second one we went to was Modern Toilet restaurant. In direct contrast to Hello Kitty Sweets where everything is pretty and sweet, Modern Toilet may not be one's idea of a hearty and appetizing dinner. We were seated on toilet bowls, drank from a urinal-shaped glass, ate from a toilet-shaped bowl, and ate ice cream shaped like you know what. It was a fun experience even though the food was not exceptional. It was a good night to end our Taipei trip.

Estimated expenses:

   990 PHP - Air fare to Taipei

 1475 PHP - Air fare to Manila
   176 PHP - Bus fare to city center (125 TWD)
   176 PHP - Bus fare to aiport  (125 TWD)
 1044 PHP - Easymind Hostel (740 TWD /night/person)
 1410 PHP - H132 Hostel (500 TWD/night/person)
   705 PHP - Taipei 101 Observatory (500 TWD)
   353 PHP - National Palace museum  (250 TWD)
   113 PHP - Yehliu (80 TWD)
   282 PHP - bus fare to Yehliu (100 TWD/one way)
   423 PHP - Hello Kitty Sweets (300 TWD)
   423 PHP - Modern Toilet (300 TWD)
   423 PHP - MRT (100 TWD/day)
 1692 PHP - food ( 400 TWD/day)
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  9,685 PHP

Tour at Yehliu Geopark

Day 2
Nov 30, 2014
Taipei

On our second day at Taipei, we went to Yehliu Geopark - a 1700 meter-long cape of rock formations in the shapes of mushrooms, sea candles, a fairy shoe, and a queen's head, which actually commands quite a long queue for a picture-taking.

For lunch, we ate at one of the seafood restaurants found across the park.

It was already late in the afternoon when we got back to the city and it was time to visit Taipei 101, once the world's tallest structure at 508 meters.

Going up the observatory floors was quite costly at 500 TWD but they do offer quite a few attractions. There are multimedia gallery featuring different trivia about the structure, souvenir shop, art boutique, and one particular highlight - the world's largest and heaviest wind damper - the only one in the world that is displayed for public viewing. That was quite amazing - for something that was worth more than 100M TWD, it better be.

Around Taipei City

Day 1
Nov 29, 2014
Taipei

It has been over a year, September 2013 to be exact, when we booked our flight to Taipei. And yet, more than a year later, we still did not have any itinerary a day before our departure. Worse, we had not booked any hostel yet for our first night.

It was only a few hours before our flight that I finally was able to find a hostel - Easymind Guesthouse - that would allow us to check-in a few hours after midnight. We arrived in Taipei at 12 AM but we had to wait for two hours for the bus to arrive to bring us to the city. It took 50 minutes to get to the city and it was already 4 AM when we finally arrived at the hostel. We felt bad for the receptionist who we had to wake up to let us in but I felt worse for the guests that I awaken while preparing to sleep (damn squeaky bed!).

 A few hours later, it was time to to check-out and move to our next hostel. I thought Easymind hostel was already cheap at 740 TWD per night but our next hostel - H132 Hostel - was even cheaper at 500 TWD. What made it even better was that the rate included a simple breakfast - bread, jams, fruits, and coffees. H132 hostel is definitely highly-recommended.

It was already afternoon when we finally started sightseeing. One thing that is great about Taipei is its very efficient train system - it is very easy to get from one tourist attraction to another. The people are also very disciplined - they fall in line while waiting for the train. They also stay on the right side of escalators to give way to rushing passengers.

The first place that we went to was Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, built in the memory of the former president of Republic of China. The Memorial Hall square is used for mass gathering while the National Theater and National Concert Hall are popular venues for events.

We then went to the National Palace museum where we spent a few hours checking out the different galleries that describe Taiwan and China's rich history and culture. There were paintings and calligraphy, centuries-old ceramics, wonderfully-crafted furniture and some exquisite treasures such as the Ivory Ball from Qing dynasty.

 The last stop for the day was at Shilin night market where we bought a few souvenirs - some shirts, oolong tea, and pineapple cakes.

We ate at Double Content which is found in Shilin market. I was surprised to see the big servings  - my order was actually good for 2 people and yet I only paid 150 TWD. It was cheap but the food, especially the hotpot, were really good.

Ancestral homes of Bacolod

Day 3
Jun 14, 2014
Bacolod

On our third and last full day at Bacolod, we went to Silay to visit some ancestral homes. To get there, we went to the north bound terminal and rode a bus (15 PHP) headed to Victorias.We get off at Silay and rode a tricycle (8 PHP) to get to Balay Negrense which was home to the family of a sugar baron during the 19th century. It was nice to see antique appliances and furniture, which, according to our tour guide, were mostly donated by the townsfolk. 

A few blocks away was Hofileña museum. While Balay Negrense seems to be the most famous among ancestral homes, I enjoyed touring Hofileña museum the most. Unlike the other ancestral homes, the owner of the house, Ramon Hofileña, a Silay icon, still lives there and there was a time when he was the who would welcome and tour the visitors.

During our visit, it was his assistant Edwin who guided us around the mansion. It was a lively tour - Edwin had a lot of gimmicks and jokes during his presentation of the 2-floor ancestral home and everything in it - century-old furniture, Ming dynasty jars, mementos and unique toys from Ramon's travels, and a collection of paintings by local and national artists in the second floor. There were paintings and sketches by Jose Rizal and Juan Luna, as well as one particular portrait of Ramon Hofileña which would explain why cameras were off-limits in the second floor.

There were also collections of movie and photography books, cassette tapes, DVDs of classic movies - some of  those books and DVDs I also own. I actually share the same interests as Ramon. I even found an old music disc of 'Sound of Music' which I have watched a dozen times. I can actually live in this mansion.

We then rode a tricycle to bring us to Bernardino Jalandoni house, which is also known as the Pink house.

Before leaving Silay, we went to buy pasalubong at El Ideal. We also tried Guapple pie (45 PHP) which is not to be missed.

From Silay, we rode a bus to Talisay and rented a tricycle (250 PHP for the 3 of us)  to bring us to the Ruins, a picturesque place that is now being used as a venue for weddings and other events. We were fortunate to catch the famous tour guide Ramon who provided a funny tour of the Ruins.

Back in Bacolod, we went back to Lacson street for dinner at Nenarose (another Chicken Inasal) and dessert at Calea (for the 3rd time).

Estimated expenses:

   632 PHP - Air fare to Bacolod

   786 PHP - Air fare to Manila
   150 PHP - Taxi fare to hotel (450 PHP/3 persons)
   150 PHP - Taxi fare to aiport (450 PHP/3 persons)
  1985 PHP - O Hotel (1985 PHP/night good for 3 persons)
     50 PHP - Entrace fee to Mambukal
   150 PHP - Entrance fee to Ancestral houses (50 PHP/ancestral house)
     80 PHP - Entrance fee to the Ruins
     80 PHP - Tricycle to the Ruins (250 PHP/3 persons/round trip)
   200 PHP - Jeepney and bus fares
   900 PHP - food ( 300 PHP/day)
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  5,163 PHP