After settling at our house in Taipei, day 1 was considered a pretty chill day for Ana and I since we arrived in the afternoon. But of course, no day should go to waste and we used up the beginning of our Taiwan adventure and visited one of the most popular tourist spots that you can easily find in the city - Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall! :)
Visiting Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is easy, because it's within Taipei city and you can spot it on the green line of the MRT: G10 Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station. :) We came from the red line station and only took us around 10 minutes to get here and the moment you step out of the station, you'll already spot CKS Memorial Hall. It's that convenient! :)
The G10 station can also be used to transfer to the red line if needed. :)
Going back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall brings back so many childhood memories! Been here so many times and the only thing that's changed is the renovations they're doing around the main hall. Other than that, it's still the same old place I love going to, but seeing it in a different light now that there is Instagram! ^_^
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was made in memory of the former president of China and the whole place is called the Liberty Square. Aside from the memorial hall, it also has the National Concert on the right and National Theater on the left (based on my photo). :)
The place is FREE, so you can roam around here for hours and take countless of photos. :) Personally, I think an hour or two is enough to explore and photo taking.
Chiang Kai-shek played a very important role in the Kuomintang 1918, where he helped battle communism within China and aggression of the Japanese. There are two sets of white stairs that has 89 steps each and this represents his age when he died.
When Ana and I finished with CKS Memorial Hall, we decided head to Taipei 101 Station /red line, which is only 5 stations away, to go around and where we were also going to meet my Mom for dinner. :) Just like CKS, the moment you step out of Taipei 101 Station, you will already see the famous 101 building.
If you're into shopping for luxury stuff, you will definitely find a lot of those stores inside Taipei 101. But if you are like me and this isn't really your cup of tea when traveling, I'm happy to report that there is another place you can go to when in Taipei 101 Station or No. 12 Songshou Road. :)
The ATT 4 FUN Mall...
This mall is right across Taipei 101 mall and it's a department store filled with so many entertaining stuff to enjoy and hip brands, like Zara, Gap, Guess, GU and more. When I was younger, it was called 'New York! New York!' But I guess they had to revamp it and now it's ATT 4 Fun! :)
Before I even traveled to Taiwan, my Mom was already sending me photos of the new things that she knew I would love in ATT 4 Fun. So as soon as I arrived, I knew I wanted to see them! :)
QUIRKY RESTOS/CAFÉS
Fell down the rabbit hole and saw all these cute themed restaurants and cafés inside. :) If only I had the time to dine in all of them, I surely would! Haha!
Being the pastel girl that I am, one really stood out for me, this cute bathroom themed juice bar! Luckily for me, Ana indulged my quirky pastel heart!♥ Haha! Plus, we couldn't eat anything heavy during this time cos we were waiting for my Mom to have dinner. So, juice it is!
The place is called 'SAY JUICE' and they serve yummy shakes and other cute juice variants. As to why it's bathroom themed, based on their Instagram Bio: "Drink juice is as comfortable as a bath" haha! I don't really know their translation for that, but maybe hanging out with your friends while drinking juice is as relaxing as a bath? Ah wow! May sariling interpretation na baon! >_< LOL!
Too cute!! We spent a good hour here and mostly it was cos of photo-taking haha!
TOTORO
After our cute juice break, we headed to the basement and saw this cute Totoro/Ghibli store a.k.a. Donguri Republic! If ever you missed out on Studio Ghibli in Japan, maybe this can make up for it! Best part, you can freely take photos! ;)
Reenacting Chihiro in Spirited Away! Can I get gold nuggets? haha!=P
If you're a fan of Totoro or Spirited Away, you can grab a lot of cute merchandise here or if you simply want to go around and take photos, that's cool too! ^_^
Finally, ended the night with a delicious dinner at one of my mom's favorite restaurant in ATT 4 FUN called Bite 2 Eat! :) This is one the same floor as the quirky restos! Best mushroom pizza!♥
Hi Mei! Ximending is one of the best places to stay in Taipei. Most know how to speak english and personally, i think it won't be difficult for you to get around. Just have google maps at all times. :)
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Hi Mei! Ximending is one of the best places to stay in Taipei. Most know how to speak english and personally, i think it won't be difficult for you to get around. Just have google maps at all times. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for reading my blog and for leaving lovely comments. Will also try my best to drop by your blogs!:) xo