We didn't go to many places that day because the coach picked us at 11.20am to the airport. However, we made an effort to wake up extra early so we could walk around nearby. We stumbled upon a fruit stall at a nearby market (I love fruit!), and I am thrilled to find passion fruits because I don't think our local stalls have them.

Some shops we found nearby the streets.

Ditto.

So we didn't get to see many places because the time to leave Taipei has finally arrived! The hubs managed to shoot this pic when we were in the coach on our way to the airport. And I love seeing the clouds - so beautiful that they made me think of cotton candy.

Taipei Taoyuan International Airport. Time to check in our luggage and so forth. (Yeah, that's me holding onto my daughter with her Doraemon bag.)

Looking out of the window from the plane.

More cotton candy... Oops, I mean clouds.

So that's it, folks. My brief summary of our Taipei trip is done. I hope you have enjoyed reading them.

(Note: While typing this, I'm still thinking of their wonderful Mango Ice... ahh...Bliss.)

This is an outside view of Dalongdong Baoan Temple (大龍峒保安宫). Notice we didn't shoot any pictures inside any temple due to respect to the Buddhas.

So after having our lunch at Danshui Station, we took this bus to our next destination - Fisherman's Wharf. We have heard good remarks about this place, and that it's beautiful at night but of course we couldn't wait until evening because the distance from here back to our hotel isn't nearby.

There it is - Fisherman's Wharf (渔人码头). If the daytime view is considered pretty, I can't imagine about the evening view.

The bridge is also known as the 'Lovers' Bridge'. I heard this is one of the hotspots for the dating couples, hehe.

Look at these boats! Can you count how many of them? I couldn't as there were too many! I was glad the weather wasn't too hot then, although the sky did look a little gloomy.

I like this particular boat with the Fisherman's Wharf logo on it.

A capture from the bridge looking down.

We found this interesting tree during our walk to the wharf. We gather the tree must be quite old by looking at its roots.

So after visited the Fisherman's Wharf, we took the bus back to Danshui Station. We saw this dessert shop before we went to Fisherman's Wharf but of course we saved the best for the last. LOL. If the mango ice we took on the previous day was good, this one was even greater! Just one look at the toppings (chunks of mangoes, strawberries & kiwis plus a scoop of mango ice cream) is enough to have you drooling... Originally I wanted to order a bowl of Strawberries Ice, but the staff told us that it will only be sold during winter season. Oh! What a pity! (Although I didn't ask further, but don't you find it strange that they could serve bits of strawberries here?)

After having the yummy-licious dessert, we stopped at Jiantan Station to visit Shilin Night Market. I find the interior of the station interesting.

This is the Shilin Market (士林夜市). You can find many eating stalls over here. We only tried the fried chicken cutlet because there was a queue and we thought it should be good. And indeed it was!

Inside Shilin Market. I found several stalls that are selling desserts. (I think I will grow fat if I keep on having their desserts here, hehe.)

We mingled with the crowd and did some more 'exploring' before we returned to the hotel to have a good rest because we were be leaving the next day. Ahhh....

End of Day 4 - To be continued...

So we visited Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (国立国父纪念馆). And here is the statue of Sun Yat-sen.

An outside view of the Memorial Hall. My husband shot this angle to show a comparison between the traditional and the modern architectural (Taipei 101).

Front view of the Memorial Hall.

So after lunch, we took the MRT to City Hall Station and from there, we took a free shuttle bus to Taipei 101 (台北101). As you have guessed, there are 101 stories in this building. What a spectacular view!

Besides that, there is also a mall in this building. How cool is that?! Of course I had to shop around! And on top of that, I found a bookstore! I bought two books there - School's Out and Broken For You.

(Note: Wendy, thanks for your great review! Because of this, I bought the latter :D)

Interesting ceiling we saw inside the mall. What does it makes you think of?

We saw these interesting 'pyramids' located outside the building. When I stepped closer to have a good look, I could see some shops beneath.

So after visited Taipei 101 (we spent almost the whole afternoon here), we took the MRT to Ximending to have our dinner. (Seems like we couldn't get enough of Ximending. There are so many things to see there!) Anyway, I found this shop where they are selling desserts and just couldn't resist this. Chunks of mangoes on top of grated ice. This is yummy!!! Reminds me of our good ole Ice Kachang.

We happened to see a full moon at Ximending. And then it dawned on me that it was Mid-Autumn Festival that day. No wonder the moon looked so big and round.

So that's the end of our third day in Taipei. To be continued...

This was the bus we took for the city tour. (My daughter and I were both wearing pink that day, hehe.)

This is the front entrance of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

The Memorial Hall. Such a majestic view!

Our next stop - Jiufen (九份). We actually have to hop onto another smaller bus to get to this place because it is a mountain town and the routes are narrow and there are slopes. This is the view we took from the top.

You will be suprised to see there are lots of shops in this little town. It is one of the tourist attractions but it was too bad that we were only given an hour to shop at this place. I bought a few souvenirs and some local products (i.e. mango jelly & some local pastries).

After lunch, our next stop was Martyrs Shrine (忠烈祠) where we learnt more about its history, and the heroes who sacrificed their lives to the revolution before the establishment of the Republic of China and who fell during the Sino-Japanese war and the Chinese Civil war are worshipped here. As a respect, hats and/or sandals are not allowed to be worn here.

I was impressed with these military police officers. A few of them could be seen guarding the gate and they were like expressionless statues. They were 'oblivious' to their surroundings and no matter how the tourists teased them, they remained stonelike.

Our next stop was the National Palace Museum (国立故宫博物院). Over here we got to see collections of Chinese artifacts and artworks.

An overview of the National Palace Museum.

Rows of banners with Chinese characters are hung from the glass ceilings. I view them as another form of art. ;-) After this visit, it was our free time. We visited Ximending again and had our dinner before we returned to the hotel.

End of Day 2. To be continued...

This was taken in the coach on a highway to our hotel. The tall building is Taipei 101.

Rows of shophouses and buildings as we bypassed the street. Motorbikes can be seen almost everywhere. Just look at the signs on their buildings... what an interesting sight!

This is the front entrance of the Longshan Temple (龙山寺). It was walking distance (about 15 mins walk) from our hotel to get here. Even at this hour (it was around 7pm) there were still people visiting the temple to offer their prayers; most of our local temples close around 6pm.

This is the token for travelling with Metro Taipei (just like our MRT system except we use value cards instead of tokens).

Waiting for the train at the station.

This is Ximending (西门町) - one of their busiest shopping areas. There are lots of things to see here, and most of the crowd are youngsters/teenagers.

Ditto. We didn't shop much as it was getting late. Moreover, we had made plans to visit this place another day.

End of Day 1. To be continued...