Taiwan Trip －Day 6

17/05(Thu)
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National Palace Museum/Yang Min Shan/ PartyWorld

• Went to National Palace Museum.


National Palace Museum 国立故宫博物院
台北市士林区至善路二段211 号
www.npm.gov.tw
Opening Hours: 9.00am - 5.00pm
NT160

• Really an eye-opener, as there was a lot of national treasures there. A lot of vases, pots, etc. The most famous one was a piece of green jade, but the sculptor turned it into a cabbage! There were even 2 insects on the cabbage. The other one was a piece of 五花肉 ／ fatty meat. It really looked like a piece of meat which can be eaten. Looked so oily too! There were a lot of souvenirs on the cabbage, and it sort of became a mascot for the museum. But there were a lot of tourists and school kids at the museum, making it really really crowded.

• After that, we took the bus outside the souvenir shop that took us to Jian Tan station. Then we took the metro to SYS memorial hall. The SYS memorial hall （国父纪念馆） was already closed, so we just took pictures of the building outside. There were a couple of old folks sitting there chatting, and one guy was flying a kite. The kite flew so high that it went beyond the SYS building! What a good place to fly kites!

• After that, we headed off to Taipei 101 building. It’s easily seen from the SYS memorial hall. We’ve arranged to meet my Taiwanese friend YJ there. It will take NT350 to go up to Taipei 101. As we’ve already taken the Ferris wheel and there was nothing much to see, we decided not to go up 101. Downstairs was a shopping centre with all the branded goods shops. Very expensive. We just waited outside an entrance for my friend to come.

• YJ was really hospitable and friendly. He brought us to this 快抄 place/Quick Stir, where only locals would go there.


放牛班
台北市市民大道四段183 号
www.isfun.com.tw
Opening Hours: 17.30 – 3.00


• The food there is really delicious! Celebrities like SHE, Lin Zhi Ling have also been there. The waiters and waitress were all dressed in school uniforms, and that’s the theme of the restaurant. We really like the salted fried oysters there. Very very yummy!

• After that, he drove us up to YangMingShan. There was a university all the way up the hill! We could see the Taipei night lights from the hill top and it’s really really lovely! It beats the Ferris wheel hands-down. There were a few cafes on the top of the mountain, and people could chat over coffee while admiring the night skyline.

• We headed off to Partyworld at XMD after that.
Partyworld
www.cashboxparty.com

• Partyworld is big business in Taipei. It is a 10 storey building on its own! We got a room after waiting for 20 minutes. There were a lot of people there, so that’s where all the Taiwanese go at night. It’s really first class karaoke there. There were a total of 4 points of control where you can increase/decrease the volume, stop the songs. There was even an attached toilet in the room. The sound system was really really good. Superb! We paid about S20/pax for 4 hours of singing, after which the system automatically stops (like the PartyWorld in Singapore). We sang till about 3-4am that night.

I really appreciate YJ for taking his time off and accompany us. He has to report to work the next day! Thanks YJ, when you come back to Singapore, I’d treat you to a nice meal! =)