Day 4: Yilan --> Taipei

Breakfast was whipped up by 黄大哥 and his mum. It wasn't as yummy as what we had at Rose Garden 民宿. But nonetheless, still palatable.

Our train was at 10:08 am. In less than 2 hours, we arrived at Taipei Railway Station, back to the same place we were 3 days ago. It was a little difficult to get across the road with our luggages. We had to find escalators. Luckily there were escalators. I didn't want the nightmares in Korea to start all over again!

We checked into the Taipei Key Mall Traveler Hostel on the 22nd Floor of K-Mall. As the word already described, it was really a HOSTEL. My cousins were saying our accommodations got worse as each day passed. There weren't many pictures of the rooms online, so I have to post some pictures to help people who are considering to stay here.

The last two pictures show a triple room. Looks better.

Some positive comments about the hostel:

1. Friendly staff, who helped us changed rooms when it was a miscommunication.

2. Took photos of us for remembrance and emailed them to me when I got back to SG.

3. Two computers with internet access, wi-fi at the breakfast area.

Some negative comments about the hostel:

1. The 6-persons room was a bit cram and the attached-toilet was small.

2. No towels provided. No foot mat to dry your feet after bathe.

3. The building is eerie and dangerous. Quiet, high-up and dark. You may get robbed at night. Don't have a secured feeling.

4. The drinking water ran out, and refill was not done in-time.

5. Breakfast area was on different levels with our rooms.

6. Rooms were office-converted. Different rooms look a bit different.

7. Furniture was not sufficient and impractical.

8. Cost is comparable to the hotels we found a street away.

9. Blanket is a bit dirty. We didn't use the blankets. We wore our jackets that night.

10. Mattresses also varied. The one I slept on was thin, and I felt the wood underneath. Woke up with backaches. There were thick ones. Depends on your luck!

Haha. Anyway, we left our things in the room and went out for lunch at 九豐記牛肉麵 which was just a few streets down the road. The restaurant was crowded with the lunch-time crowd. But the beef noodles were really tasty, but left us all thirsty much later cos' of the amount of MSG. Click here for the food link.

We headed to Taipei 101 after lunch, cos' the weather was quite good. We didn't want to risk going there if it should rain. So we re-arranged our itinerary. Bought the observatory tickets and queued for about half and hour just to get into the lift. It was a Saturday.

Then we headed to the 五分埔, the largest clothing market in Taipei. It was another night market. Very very squeezy and stuffy there. Most of the clothes are long-sleeved, so it was inappropriate to buy back to our SUNNY island. The clothing market leads to 饶河夜市. Less food here, but JH said the okonomiyaki was good there.

So tired, we took a cab back to the hostel. Amber and Cheryl fell asleep in the cab. Cab there is pretty cheap too. But can't remember how much was the fare. 4 adults and 2 kids in a cab. ^^

After Chiew Yee jie jie suggested to look for another hotel nearby to shift cos' she couldn't really tahan the run-down place, Peichun, Jiale and I went out to source for one. After asking a few, this Keyman’s Hotel 怀宁旅店, just down the road, seemed and was good! The price was also good. My mum was saying, the extra amount of money we paid was for security. So we paid for two nights' of accommodation. Jiale and her mum paid for another two extra days for their extended days. Yeah, we're moving to a better place tomorrow night. Just bear with it tonight!