In a Nutshell
Fujin Tree 353 Cafe (富锦树353咖啡)'s popular Castella and award-winning coffee to start the day off! Travelling to the outskirts of Taipei today! Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) – known as the Santorini of Taipei, you cannot miss out the two popular street snacks of Jiufen – peanut ice cream and taro balls! After which, stopping by Shifen Old Street (十分老街) to release a lantern (天灯) – a traditional act of writing your wishes on the lantern and releasing it into the sky. Ending the day off with dinner at Curry House Coco Ichibanya (COCO壹番屋咖喱专卖店).
Had 7-11’s Chicken Katsu Don this morning before I start off today’s journey. Pretty decent for its price (NTD70) and probably could match up with restaurant standards.
#1: How the Chicken Katsu Don looks like.
#2: Very awesome for 7-11 food standards, NTD70 = SGD3.18.
Next, I went to Fujin Tree 353 Cafe at Fujin Street. To get to Fujin Tree 353 Cafe (富锦树353咖啡), after you have exited from the metro station, cross over to the bus stop and take bus 617, 3 bus stops down to Minquan Park (民权公园). You may opt to walk from Songshan Airport (松山国际机场), it’s about a km away.
You can easily know that you have reached Fujin Street (富锦街) with its tree-lined streets. It was a pretty long journey to get here as compared to the other cafes visited, but their signature Castella and award winning coffee make it all worth well. Castella is a popular Japanese sponge cake and Fujin’s version is like a half-baked honey chiffon cake which was light, fluffy and sweet. Though I feel it’s a little too steep for a small cake like this priced at NTD170. Fujin Tree 353 Cafe has also won the 2016 World Barista Championship, thus needless to say their coffee is definitely good. Out of the many coffees that I have tried during this trip, Fujin’s coffee taste very close to my workplace’s coffee - Kith Cafe - who is known to offer good coffee in Singapore.
Fujin Street 富锦街
Fujin Street, Songshan District, Taipei City
台北市松山区富锦街
Subway: Songshan Airport Station Exit 3 (line 1 brown)
#3: Fujin Tree.
Fujin Tree 353 Café 富锦树353咖啡
No. 353, Fujin Street, Songshan District, Taipei City
台北市松山区富锦街353号
Opening hrs: 9am-9pm
Subway: Songshan Airport Station Exit 3 (line 1 brown)
Instagram: @fujintree353cafe
#4: Fujin Tree 353 Cafe.
#5: Castella, NTD170 = SGD7.73. Cappuccino, NTD140 = SGD6.36.
Moving on to Jiufen Old Street next and I am very excited! Jiufen Old Street is well known for its Japanese-influenced architecture and culture and has the nickname of ‘Santorini of Taiwan’. It is also lined with lots of delights and Taiwan’s traditional snacks. It takes about 1-2hrs to reach from Taipei.
Jiufen Old Street 九份老街
Ruifang District, New Taipei City
新台北市瑞芳区
The view up the mountain along the way was fantastic! It’s hazy up here and it started raining as soon as I reached, which makes it burdensome for photo-taking.
#6: View from the top of the hill!
#7: Passed by this cool liquid nitrogen ice cream store.
#8: Jiufen Old Street.
When you are here at Jiufen Old Street (九份老街), you cannot miss out A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll (阿珠雪在烧) and Ah Gan Yi Taro Balls (阿柑姨芋圆). The peanut roll consists of a thin popiah skin wrapped with peanut brittle shavings and two scoops of taro ice cream. It was a light and refreshing snack along with the fragrant peanut bits.
#9: A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll.
#10: Peanut Ice Cream Roll.
Following down the street and up the stairs, you will be able to find Ah Gan Yi Taro Balls. Look out for the signage! I went for the hot mixed soup with taro balls, which consists of a mix of red bean, green bean, pinto bean, taro balls, sweet potato balls and green bean balls. It was really nice to have this hot bowl of dessert in the cold, up in the mountain and escaping from the downpour.
#11: This way up to Ah Gan Yi.
#12: Ah Gan Yi Taro Balls.
#13: Taro Balls Mixed Soup, NTD45 = SGD2.05.
After you have visited Jiufen, you cannot miss out Shifen. To get to Shifen from Jiufen, walk about 100m uphill (on the left) from the main entrance of Jiufen Old Street. Take bus 788 to Ruifang Station 瑞芳火车站, towards Keelung (基隆) direction, it’s about a 20mins bus ride.
At Ruifang Railway Station (瑞芳火车站), EasyCard will not work. Get a ticket at the counter if you don’t have one of those tap cards for trains. It cost NTD19 to get to Shifen Railway Station (十分火车站) and trains come at around an hour intervals, so you may want to check the schedule first before making plans so you wouldn’t have to wait too long.
#14: Ruifang Railway Station.
I wanted to take the 4:04pm train, so I left Jiufen at about 3:15pm and arrived at Ruifang Station at about 3:40pm. After getting the ticket at the counter, I headed to the respective platform and my train came 10mins ahead of scheduled time at about 3:55pm, and left punctually at 4:04pm.
It takes about 30mins to reach Shifen Railway Station (十分火车站) from Ruifang. You will know you have reached the station as majority of the people alights here and people are releasing lanterns (天灯) along the tracks. This is a great place to take some nostalgic photos and those Instagram-worthy railway track photos. Trains arrive at about an hour intervals, so you don’t have to worry getting bang if you stand there for 10mins to get a good shot.
Shifen Old Street 十分老街
Pingxi District, New Taipei City
新台北市平溪区
#15: Shifen Railway Station.
#16: Shifen Old Street.
The lanterns come in many colours, each with its representative meaning. You may opt for a 4-colour lantern that costs NTD50 more. The writing tool was calligraphy brush, which makes writing a little more difficult and less neat. While, I tried my best to do it more readable… I waited till the sun sets before I release the lantern as I want it to look bright orange against the dark sky.
#17: Different colour lanterns represent different meanings. But I don;t care and just get the white one because I want it to look nice. NTD150 = SGD6.82.
#18: Wishes on 1st side.
#19: Wishes on 2nd side.
#20: Wishes on 3rd side.
#21: Wishes on last side. More like doodling... I don't know what to write already.
To get back to Taipei, first get a ticket back to Ruifang Railway Station and it will cost you NTD19. At Ruifang, alight and get your ticket to Taipei Railway Station (台北火车站), and change to Platform 2A (you will be alighting at Platform 3). This will cost you NTD49, and it takes slightly more than an hour to reach Taipei Station.
It’s so devastating when you have ran out of cash, so I had to choose somewhere that allows card payment to dine at. After much walking around, I decided to try Curry House Coco Ichibanya (COCO壹番屋咖喱专卖店) from Japan, selling mainly Japanese Curry Rice and it was good! I mean Japanese Curry ALWAYS taste good… I had a Curry Chicken Katsu Omelette Rice to dine in and take-away a Minced Beef Omelette Rice for tomorrow’s breakfast before I leave for airport. I also dropped by 台湾美味 to get more Taiwan Pineapple Cakes and other Taiwanese snacks as souvenirs.
Curry House Coco Ichibanya
COCO壹番屋咖喱专卖店
2F, No, 49, Hanzhong Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City
台北市万华区汉中街49号2楼
Opening hrs: 11am-9:30pm
Subway: Cimen Station Exit 6 (line 3 green, line 5 blue)
#22: Curry Chicken Cutlet Omelette Rice, NTD210 = SGD9.55.
Am so tired now (11pm) and I have to wake up at 5am to get ready, pack my baggage and set off to the airport. It has been really fun and tiring at the same time, exploring so many places and munching all the awesome food, be it local or Western food!
Expenses for the Day
7-11 Chicken Katsu Don: NTD70
EasyCard Top-up: NTD100
Fujin Tree 353 Cafe, Castella: NTD170
Cappuccino: NTD140
A-Zhu Peanut Ice Cream Roll: NTD40
Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan: NTD45
Ruifang to Shifen: NTD19
Lantern: NTD150
Shifen to Ruifang: NTD19
Meatball Noodles: NTD55
Ruifang to Taipei: NTD49
Coco Curry House, Curry Chicken Cutlet Omelet Rice: NTD210
Minced Beef Omelette Rice (tomorrow’s breakfast): NTD220
Lychee Jelly (souvenir): NTD100
Mango Jelly (souvenir): NTD100
Taiwan Pineapple Cake (souvenir): NTD100
Taiwan Butter Pineapple Cake (souvenir): NTD250
White Sesame Nougat (souvenir): NTD200
Bus 1819 to Airport (for tomorrow): NTD125
Total Expenses for Day 8: NTD2,162 = SGD98.27
Previous Total Expenses: SGD1,693.15 Current Total Expense: SGD1,791.42