DAY 4 TAIWAN TRIP PART 2

The Bus No. 230 took us to the Beitou MRT Station.  From here, you take the train to Xinbeitou MRT station.  Even though this is only a short distance yet it takes about more then 5 minutes - the train was moving along very slowly.!

Xinbeitou MRT Station - beginning of a thermal adventure..
Xinbeitour  is a small town.  We crossed over the other side and walked towards the park where everyone seems to be going.

By the roadside, aboriginal museum.

It is like a big garden smack in the centre of the town itself.  There are 3 main attractions here - the Beitou Museum, Beitou Library and the Thermal Valley.

There is a hot spring river alongside the road. Can just go down for a dip and relax.


Quirky innovative sign- "Find me"

Another shell- there were more along  the way leading to a public hot spring bath house.
We visited the Beitou Museum first.  We were not allowed to wear shoes into the main building. Instead you leave your shoes at the shoe counter and just wear the slippers provided instead.

The grounds of the museum.

Red brick building with wooden floors

Inside the main hall

 The old hot spring bath inside the museum - the museum was built on   the actual location of a hot spring.

This  tree is as old as the  musuem

Before we proceed on, its tea-time.  Went to one of the nearby cafe for some light refreshments and coffee.  We were informed by the owner that autumn, winter and spring are the busy months here.

Jeremy and May took this as their lunch- white corn.   The Taiwanese seems to have a penchant for white foods indeed.  Its chewy but not sweet.

French Toast with peanut butter- yummy

Definitely a very good "pick me up" coffee.

From this cafe, it is a short walk towards the Thermal Valley or Hell Valley as it was also known.

This view is definitely no "hell view" (ugly or horrible?) or is it what people interpret as what the Bible refers "lake of fire" (the steam rising up from the very hot thermal lake).

 There is no overpowering sulphur smell here.

 Mystical and enchanting view

The Beitou Library peeking out from the trees.

It looks like a very long ship to me.  This library has very eco-friendly features- all woods and glass.
However, I find that it too noisy for a library -as people (like me) are walking up and down to view the library!

By the time we finished sight-seeing the main attractions, it time to find a place to indulge in  a hot spring bath. There are numerous hotels- big and small  offering hot spring baths, so you must remember to bring along your swimsuits.  Jeremy and Sarah managed to find one hotel off the beaten track and they had the pool to themselves.  Some of the hot spring baths here are uni-sex and also you have to go naked too as informed by Sarah's friend!

May and myself took the MRt to Longshan Temple.

Longshan Temple is one of the largest and oldest temple in Taiwan.  See the very ornate and elaborate craftmanships on the pillars and  roofs.

Huge crowds of worshippers and tourists

Ornate golden embellishments at the altar.

We took the Ximen MRT to Ximenting - the Ginza of Taiwan- this is the sight as you exit  the MRt station- lots of shops and young boys and girls.

We are here to view th Red Door Theatre.  It is an octogon shape building- formerly a cinema.

Now it has been renovated into a arts centre- just like our Central Market.

We managed to get some cute and very original souvenirs here.

Wandering along the road we came across this coffee shop.

This coffee shop sell roasted Taiwan coffee too.

We wanted to buy some Taiwan coffee but were told that we have to pre-order so that they can roast it for us.  

The shop also sell these traditional biscuits- I bought 2 pieces of the Walnut biscuits- very crispy.

We did not try the coffee as it was dinner time.

Across the street, we noticed this big sign- King of Oyster Thin Noodles.

This is what we have been searching for!!.

This shop space is small.  There is a service counter on one side  and the other side is a long seating along the wall. But the foods are being cooked upstairs. 

The Red Wine Mee Sua with fresh oysters and roasted pig intestines! Scrumptious, slurppy and utterly soul warming food.  There are at least 5-6 fresh big oysters and the roasted pig intestines are soft and aromatic in soya sauce. The noddles are soft and and soup is thickened so you can more or less slurp it down.

Of course, I also ordered a Taiwan sausage too to end my meal. 

Truly satiated now, we made our way back to the hotel.