Themed 7-11s

One post on this... we went looking for some 'themed' 7-11 outlets which are a thing in Taiwan.    Initially we couldn't find one even with a map.  Apparently it's common enough for a themed outlet to revert to a normal one so maybe that's what happened.  We were excited to find our first one.  Apparently this character is called 'Open Chan' - an alien dog with rainbow ears which is the official mascot for 7-11 in Taiwan.

Found one!

Take another pic with building-brick version

Themed outlets have deco with the mascot - eg walls and ceilings - and sell related merchandise.  We weren't crazy about any character but hunted and detoured to a few outlets.  

Found a Hello Kitty one. Very pink

See how PINK? We are not fans

We do like Sumkko Gurashi characters.  The soft toy merchandise were too big to be bringing home though.  Would have been good if they could sell more things including smaller items like keychains or stickers.  

Now these are cute

Cute characters and in nice colours

Most of these themed outlets were small hence didn't have the space to decorate very well.  

Aha found a Snoopy one

Anyway, just for fun!

Day 8 Taipei 101, Songshan and Huashan Cultural parks

We had one more day in Taipei, but had already gone to all the places on my list.  Had to scramble to find things to do.  We checked out from our hotel (listed as "UrbanAbode Dugu") which conveniently had a luggage storage area - no regrets staying there!  Took the train to the touristy Taipei 101.  I am not a fan of visiting high-rise buildings.  Charges to go up to the Observatory were high so we didn't bother.

We were there

Nah we didn't go up

Decided to check out Songshan Cultural park next.  I saw a well-patronised Hong Kong restaurant... but hubby who appreciated Chinese cuisine wasn't around.  I must say that hubby was very much on my mind this trip.  :(  We walked into a Japanese yakitori place which looked good - food was average only though.

Ok lah can eat lah

Songshan was a tobacco factory converted to an arty place.  Hmm I don't GET it.  It's not really an art place, many areas seemed to be more for students or other people who belonged there, there were things to see but not organised.   

Funny duck

Funny octopus-monkey stack

Cool things in the shop

Cool wall painting

We decided to move on to Huashan Creative park, which had a similar concept. This one had more visitors, had food outlets (unlike Songshan) and was overall more 'fun'. 

Giant Snoopy on a cream puff

Found some pixies

Pretty wooden things at Wooderful

Still, I don't get the concept of these cultural parks heh.  We wandered around till we were tired, then headed back for our luggage and then on to the airport for our flight home. 

Day 7 Yangmingshan National Park

Two things - first thing, getting there was TOUGH!  It was quite a wait for the 260 bus at the Taipei Main Station, then we had to stand for the 45-min journey.  Reached the Yangmingshan bus terminal where it was a longish wait for the 108 shuttle bus.  It came and, oh what a journey!  We hung on for dear life as the bus swayed all over the steep windy roads.  It was such a LONG ride too.  

Second thing, this place is GORGEOUS.  :)  Until I encountered problems selecting which photos to post here!  I decided on Xiaoyoukeng as our first stop with its volcanic fumaroles (from Google, these are openings in the earth surface which emit volcanic gases).  Well it was something special all right!  Erm, the smell of sulphur/rotten eggs does take getting used to.

Us with Hook, representative of hubby

Volcanic gas coming out behind us

Very hot, sign says don't even think of touching

The bigger stops have visitor centres and shops - not sure about smaller stops.  Bought some hot pastries at the Xiaoyoukeng (literally means 'Small Oil Pit') shop for lunch. 

Lunch first

The map of the trails in the area were not super-clear.  We went up this 'Bamboo trail' we spotted behind the shop.  The steps were steep and endless.  Lovely trail but no way our fitness level could cope. 

Err we go down soon

Went out to the front where there was a small lane beside the road.  Seems there are plenty of nice walks to be had.

This one better

Our goal was the trail we saw on the way in.  And so we climbed.  This one... was also quite steep.  After huffing and puffing for some time, this sign told us we had done 0.2km out of the 1.6km to the peak.  Hahha... ok so we also had to surrender for this trail!  

Shall we continue?

No no, we sit and then go down

I had mistakenly thought 108 was a shuttle bus which conveniently drops people off at various points of interest.  Oh no no, it only runs every 30mins.  We waited longer than that to get to Qiantiangang, another spot in Yangmingshan.  Having to depend on this bus really means we cannot visit many spots in a day!  Anyway, it finally arrived.  Our destination was the 'Qiantiangang Circular trail'.

This way looks good

Now this trail, was jussttt right.  The weather was sunny yet cool, perfect.  This trail was mostly flat with some steps along the way.

Beautiful day eh?

Beautiful day beautiful surroundings

Everywhere, just WOW

We-fie with Captain Hook representing our Papa

We walked along and chatted.  We agreed hubby would have difficulty navigating this trail at his recent level of mobility.  He had holidayed in Taiwan before with his friends when the girls were still too young to travel - I wondered if he had visited this national park.  The scenery was varied.  We ate our snacks at this fortress.

Fortress here

Such a peaceful place.  It was large enough that we didn't encounter many people deeper into the trail.

Eating my snack in peace

The trail is apparently a 45-min one, but we took our time and only reached the starting point again in 1.5 hours.  After thinking we had missed the last bus back to Taipei, luckily another bus 260 arrived.  Phew, saved.  SE chose this place called 'Joyful' at the Main Station for dinner.  My katsu choice really hit the spot for me and I kept telling the girls I was very joyful hehe.

My super-joyful mummy

Definitely an excellent day!

Day 6 Beitou Tamsui

My strategy was if rainy, stay near Taipei, if sunny, head out. :)  Off we went on a day trip to Beitou/Tamsui since the weather forecast was good.  

 At Beitou station

We tried out Fuxing Hot Foot Bath.  It was free and well-patronised, mostly by older people.  The water temperature was no joke... people had an obvious red line on their thighs from where they stood in the bath.  Kind locals advised us the bath with less-hot water.  I had to pressure the girls to go in. :)  

Hot, hot!

Hah, by the time I was ready to leave, the girls had acclimatised and I had to WAIT for them to get out.

Actually this is not so bad

Then we looked for lunch.  It was a Saturday and food outlets were pretty busy.  Went to Ootoya for Japanese food but the queue was long and slow.  Ended up settling on Sukiya for simple Japanese food.

Japanese curry, gyudon/beef rice

Tuna patty for me

Walked past the Beitou Public Library - beautiful architecture.  

This here is the Beitou Public Library

Our destination was the Hot Spring museum which had good internet reviews.  It was a real public bathhouse so we could get a good idea how things were.  Found the place not quite deserving of its high rating heh.  Still, it was free so cannot complain.

Take a photo for my followers...

Messed around with some signs - erm no, couldn't read them.

This cow is... erm bathing

Buy this soap!  It's erm.. good

We walked on to the Thermal Valley.  This was a lake of hot water surrounded by trees and a walkway.  Nice, something special. :)

Steaming hot water below

Good weather too

I started getting anxious we might not have enough time for Tamsui, so we headed off.  I needn't have worried... Tamsui was basically a huge seaside walk with plenty of shops alongside, which open till late.  Well at least we had enough daylight to turn off at this '3D Art Ladder' to see painted murals.  There weren't many and most of the paint was flaking off on the walls and stairs.

The brightest and best mural

Walked on to 'Love Lane' which was an old street with supposedly more murals.  It was atmospheric I suppose, just pretty small.  Sometimes... cannot trust the internet.  There was another group visiting there who obviously got conned as well haha.

Take picture since we are here

OK we leaving now

Of course we had to try 'Ah Gei' which can only be found in Tamsui.  This invention is cellophane noodles stuffed into a fried taufu and served in a starchy sauce.  It was ok, nothing great but easy enough to eat.  We walked around and tried some other snacks.

Having some 'Ah Gei'

This pastry has red bean filling

That night, realised there was an Ootoya outlet right at the doorstep of our hotel!  Dinner was delicious, another one of our top meals!  The waiter was so kind too... brought us an English menu when he noticed this bunch of people didn't read Chinese, later offered to take pictures for us when he noticed me taking pictures of the girls.

Best meal ever!

We were happily stuffed but somehow JE found another stomach for boba tea.  *roll eyes

This brand is good

Yep, overall a good rating for this day!