21 August 2010
The Grand Hotel 圆山大饭店
The Grand Hotel reminds me of the Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite. Huge, grand, old, built to accommodate VIPs.
One of the reasons I wanted to visit this hotel was that it was featured in one of my favourite K-dramas, "On Air".
(Here's a synopsis with the individual episode ratings which speaks for the popularity of the drama itself.) :)
We had lunch at the Cantonese restaurant in the hotel. Overall, food was ok. The view of the city from the restaurant was great. It was a clear day and we could see the Taipei 101 building from the table where we were sitting.
If you plan to eat there, I would recommend their fried rice. It's amazing how a simple dish can taste so delicious! ^^
Final thoughts... I liked the exterior of the hotel more than the interiors. There's nothing much you can do there, except to enjoy a meal, after all it's just a hotel. If you are short of time, the Grand Hotel would be a place that you can admire it's beauty from afar.
Danshui Old Street 淡水老街
After lunch, we had nothing to do. Since the Yuanshan subway station was on the same line as the Danshui station, we decided to take a train ride to Danshui.
Danshui is a river-town. The main purpose for visiting Danshui was to get the famous fish crackers. I checked with taxi-drivers, hotel staff and salesgirls in the local speciaties food shop, none of them knew of another place that sold them. The fish crackers were only available in Danshui.
This shop that sold fish crackers and fish-related products at Danshui was packed with customers. Everyone was buying the crackers in five or ten packet bags. The girls at the shop were young, pretty and down-to-earth. They were full of smiles and would happily chat with you even though their hands were busy packing your purchases.
It was a hot summer afternoon, so we stopped by one of the 创冰 (translate: shaved-ice) shops to enjoy a cool dessert. The brown syrup on top is called 黑糖 (translate: brown sugar). So, this dessert is called "黑糖创冰" (translate: shaved ice with brown sugar syrup).
In typical shaved-ice shops like this, you'll get to choose your favourite 'side dishes' to go with your shaved ice. We chose red beans, glutinous rice balls (white and pink), grass jelly (black), koniyaku jelly (transparent).
Kids get to enjoy different types of traditional games in the main attraction street.
There are many shops selling all kinds of snacks and knick-knacks in Danshui. This shop sells live insects as well as insect specimen.
"Wow, the chicken spicemen in this are so life-like!" exclaimed Vincent.
Well... erm... of course, cos they are live chickens! Hahaha... :D
Leaving Danshui with my prized fish crackers (^ ^)v
Shilin Night Market 士林夜市
Shilin Night market is a must-go for everyone visiting Taipei.
The main attraction here is the FOOD so the pictures will do the talking. :)
Deep fried stinky tofu with pickled cabbage (rest assured, no stinky smell at all)
Fried oyster pancakes (tastewise, very different from the Singapore version)
Gigantic Taiwanese sausages
Hot's Fried Chicken (豪大炸鸡) the stall with the longest queue in Shilin Night Market
Taiwanese jelly with lime drink (柠檬爱玉冰)
Biscuit-pancake-wrap (大饼包小饼)
Sliced-almond brittle candy (杏仁酥)
Fresh and yummilicious, great souvenir to take home with.
A young mother selling shoes in the night market. She has two very cute helpers. The little boy in green waves his hand at the display of shoes, shouting "两百,两百,全部两百" (translate: NT200, NT200, everything here is selling for NT200).
At the other side of the night market, kids were playing pinballs, with their parents watching over them.