Exploring our Taipei Neighbourhood is fun, there are many stalls and shops which are off the radars of Google. We stayed 3 nights at a HomeAway apartment next to 南京復興站 Nanjing Fuxing MRT Station.
We will share more about our HomeAway apartment and its neighbourhood in this blog post.
..you know something is good, delicious, cool when you see a queue. And there are many such “treats” (pun intended) in the streets of Taipei (Taiwan too!)
Below Instagram (link) depicted our friendly Taiwanese friends. Through word of mouth recommendations, we string up an impromptu neighbourhood itinerary .
Another famous Taiwanese trait is the folks’ friendliness 台湾人热情好客 !
A reliable host is hard to come by, and HomeAway’s Lydia is exceptional!
(Link to our HomeAway link). Our family got many requests, and she exceeded our expectations. More photos and details here and here.
Lydia will give you super detailed instructions to her apartment, and is very accommodating too. She was positive to our requests to drop our heavy luggage enroute to Keelung Ruifang, and also extended luggage storage after we checked out.
Beautifully decorated, we got a feeling of home away from away staying 3 nights here. Thank you Lydia, you made our Taipei stay so much more memorable 🙂
Video (YouTube link) : Christmassy feeling from our Taipei HomeAway apartment
We would gladly recommend Lydia’s apartment to our friends. Do use promo code “HomeAwaySKBabies” and enjoy 8% off your booking (Valid until 31 Mar 2018)
~~ back to our Taipei Neighbourhood recommendations ~~
#01 遼寧夜市 Liao Ning Night Market
(GPS 25.049110, 121.542156)
This is a niche Night Market, 8 minutes walk from our apartment. Plenty of seafood and hawkers are super enthusiastic to secure our business.
Dessert stalls are very popular in Taiwan, ideal when the temperature drops.
We saw this stall which advertised Champion 滷肉飯 Lu Rou Fan. We would recommend #冇冇有麵攤 (rated 3.75/5) 古早 old-school menu too.
(GPS 25.049000, 121.542150)
We also ordered beef noodles from next door. Most of the eateries (neighbourhood, not restaurants) would allow you to bring food to another stall.
The boss and staff are very friendly and recommended a massage centre 3 stalls away to sooth our tired legs.
#02 – 足將軍養生館 ( GPS 25.048488, 121.542120)
We went for a 60 minutes massage for NTD 900 each.
A good massage experience always depend on the 師父 shifu’s (therapist) skills. Ours were chatty and really know where to press to release the tired knots.
Before they press the pain point, the female therapist would make Mrs laugh so the soreness (pain) is more bearable haha.
There are a few branches and depending on demand, the shifu sometimes need to cover a few area. Me and Mrs had an enjoyable massage and I would rate 足將軍 (4/5). The kids were happy indulging in mobile games in their room.
#03 – 王記府城肉粽 is a 老字号 (traditional) Bak Chang 肉粽 outlet in Taipei.
(GPS 25.048026, 121.546059)
The 肉粽 Bak Chang was recommended by our massage therapist. If you mention traditional 肉粽, many folks would direct you to the famous stall.
Some will recommend the carrot soup and “面线 mee shua” too. We had extra servings of the delicious 肉粽 (salted egg and walnut fragrance) (rated 3.75/5)
#04- Haritts donut 甜甜圈
(GPS 25.051219, 121.545522)
Recommended by Google, their donuts received good reviews. Donuts are tasty but the cover charge per child and drinks were expensive (overshadowing the donuts). (average NTD 200 to 250 per pax)
We love our Mocha and hot Chocolate beverages. We would rate the donuts experience (3.75/5)
Many Instagrammable corners in this donut shop.
Hunting for more stalls, Taipei neighbourhood never fail to surprise us.
Boon Yee’s favourite egg snack, 鸡蛋糕.
#05 – 金車快餐便當 (GPS 25.050188, 121.544807)
Kids enjoy their economical rice. Cheap and yet delicious, the meat balls and chicken cutlets were fulfilling.
We first noticed the long queues, both white and blue collar workers. If in doubt, trust your instinct and follow the queues 🙂
(rated 4/5)
The MRT is just downstairs of our apartment if we needed to venture further. Infact, we even transited from Nanjing Fuxing to Taipei Main enroute to Taoyuan airport terminal.
SOGO and parks around our HomeAway department. Although we stayed here for 3 nights, we did not have enough time to explore everything.
Besides finding new attractions, the amount of steps helped with my Marathon recovery too. I had just completed my Marathon a week before our Taiwan trip.
#06 – 八方雲集鍋貼水餃 Dumplings and 煮炒
(GPS 25.052445, 121.546859)
八方dumplings are delicious and cheap. I was hunting for snack and saw students lining up. Google revealed many 八方 branches in Taipei.
Hint : If you see students queuing up, it means the food is good and affordable (example Bubble tea)
We also packaged some fried rice and seafood soup from the 煮炒 (Zhi Char) stall next door. If you love to experience good local eats, most of the Zhi Char stalls would not disappoint. We would rate both stalls (3.5/5)
#07-Some other findings around our Taipei Neighbourhood
-Bikes (YouBike) are almost always neatly parked at allocated slots. When we walk on the streets, bike lanes are clearly demarcated and road users keep to their own lanes, minimising the chance of collision. Unlike Singapore, walking in Taipei is very safe, you need not worry about another speeding reckless escooter.
-(Below, Right picture). We witnessed a road work, and the forklift simply moved the cars away swiftly and efficiently. I am puzzled why the alarms were not triggered, this is a rare sight in Singapore.
Civic-mindfulness of Taiwanese 🙂
–佳德鳳梨酥 Chia Te outlet is about 1.8km away from Nanjing Fuxing MRT station. We still prefer Chia Te’s crispy Sun cake (NTD 360 for 12 pieces).
太陽餅 and 鳳梨酥 anyone? (GPS 25.051316, 121.561493, nearest MRT is Nanjing Sanmin)
-1km south from our apartment, 路地 氷の怪物 cute ice creams await (GPS 25.044674, 121.544192 )
–林東芳牛肉麵 Lin Dong Fang beef noodles (GPS 25.046850, 121.541353)
–慶城海南雞飯 Ching Cheng Hainan Chicken Rice is highly recommended by our host (GPS 25.052921, 121.545550) , but we wanted to try something which is less common in Singapore :p
– No worries about fast food, Mcdonald’s and KFC are around the corner
-Shopping Mall Urban One is just opposite and a very popular bakery downstairs (Brothers Hotel). We always miss this bakery due to its early closing time (first come first serve), and there is always a constant stream of customers!
Wherever you stay in Taipei, we hope your family would have Fun exploring Taipei Neighbourhood too.
Photo albums :
–Day 1 Aowanda, Cing Jing
–Day 2 Cing Jing
–Day 3 Xitou Nature Education Area, Monster Village, Sun Moon Lake
–Day 4 Taichung (Zhongshe flower, ShengXin station, Cycling, Fengjia)
–Day 5 Taichung (Animation Lane, Rainbow, Miyahara)
–Day 6 Keelung 基隆
-Day 7 Ruifang, Jiufen and Shifen
–Day x Taipei HomeAway and Neighbourhood
–Day 8 永康, Xi Men Ding, 象山, 饒河 Raohe
–Day 9 and 10 北投 Beitou, Toyshop, 士林 Shilin
Blog posts :
** Taiwan Itinerary for families
–Day 1 Google Sheet, Aowanda, Cing Jing
–Day 2 Cing Jing Farm
–HomeAway Recommendations for Taiwan
–Day 3a Xitou Nature Education area (溪頭)
–Day 3b Monster village 妖怪村 and Sun Moon Lake
–Day 4 Cycling Taichung 台中
–Day 4a 台中 Taichung attractions
–Day 5a 台中 Taichung food Ice cream and Bubble Tea
–Day 5b 台中 Taichung Fengjia night market
-Day 6 基隆 Keelung
–Day 7a Jiufen attractions
–Day 7b Shifen attractions
–Taipei Neighbourhood around our HomeAway Vacation Home
–Day 8a Yong Kang Street and Xi Men Ding
–Day 8b Raohe Night Market, Wu Fen Pu and 象山 Elephant Mountain
Instagram #sengkangBabiesTaiwan
