#beimen

[thistransient]

For the past two years there's been a zodiac themed display of fun postcards designed by a variety of artists in the gift shop of the Museum of Contemporary Art. Looking forward to the Year of the Dragon, I'd been planning to go for a while and finally headed over. To my dismay it was not there! However, I was prepared to undertake one of my favourite activities, pestering an unsuspecting employee about it in Mandarin. Props to that man, who actually made a phone call to somebody about it, who called him back after investigating, whereupon he wrote down an address and phone number for me, because it turned out the whole thing was not organised by the museum but by a print shop. He suggested I call them first, but he was unaware that my least favourite activity is calling strangers on the phone in Mandarin, plus the location was only a ten minute walk away. The museum itself seemed plagued by an unusual amount of tourists and school children today, so I decided to skip the whole thing and go on this quest.

I was rewarded en route by a street full of seasonal decoration shops preparing all the shiny things for Chinese New Year (is this not also a kind of modern art??), and a wander down some alleys I would never have otherwise wandered down. Finally I found the place, Retro Jam 印刷, which to my good fortune had the sought-after postcards on obvious display. They seem to do all manner of screen and risograph printing, and also sell supplies and prints. I can't speak to the quality of services but I had a great time poking around in the latter. Across the street was a place called Risograph Museum, which as far as I can tell was unrelated to Retro Jam, and was not a museum but a small shop of prints and cute items where I also flipped through cards to my heart's content (apparently the main Risograph Museum with printing services is in Taichung).

Afterwards I had ambitions to go to IKEA and get a duvet cover for an IKEA duvet I'd come into the possession of recently (via a friend distributing loot household items before moving back overseas), so I walked to Beimen Station when hunger struck. I am not the kind of person who can simply walk into a strange restaurant. Usually it requires extensive investigation and two to three back-up schemes, which is not really something I care to do while sitting outside the metro by a noisy intersection. The primary way to streamline this procedure is to focus solely on curry. There was a place called Curry Lab. Tokyo (with the punctuation, yes) conveniently near IKEA, and it had a solid 5 stars, which induces suspicion because that generally means the place gives some discount or bribe for good reviews, but I chanced my luck.

It was dishearteningly dark within when I got there despite being 16:31 (with 16:30 opening hours listed) but the employees were present and the door was open, so I asked exactly when business commenced and they turned on the light and told me to sit down.

Lo and behold, I really would rate it as one of the top 5 Japanese style curries I've had. Something about the spices and the onions. I was impressed. I even indulged in a pudding afterwards, which was equally delightful.

Google Maps' estimation of the crowd level at IKEA had me a bit wary but it was pretty empty and I had a grand time feeling the fabrics, sniffing the scented candles, and restraining myself from purchasing an orb to ponder (I already have a lantern at home, one spherical glowing light fixture is enough unless I move into a bigger place). I even got the duvet cover I went there for and nothing else!

(imagine how immense my willpower must be in the face of these, for 499元 🙀)

When I finally got out it was rush hour and thus time to squish into the MRT like sardines. I have lived here long enough to have no qualms about moving people who will not move themselves. No more timid 不好意思 from this 外國人, it is time to 讓開! (Perhaps I give myself more credit than I'm due in terms of audacity, as more often than not the wave of humanity entering the train car behind me would propel me forward one way or another, I've simply learned to proactively embrace that inevitability.)

I've been feeling unexpectedly resilient regarding going out and doing things lately, although it may be because in going out I'm procrastinating on what I should be doing at home (although I am still thinking about it and making notes while walking around). In this way being outside feels more like a break instead of a torment 🤔 We'll see how long it lasts, but I might as well enjoy it.

[siodium]

asdklasjdlsks maximum late trip update post bc i completely forgot about it in my drafts. 💀 i was too occupied with grinding mapes events for cosmetic items aha.

better late than never i guess??

anyway, here's my long-awaited post about my short 5D4N trip in taiwan with luwi and shoron!! i decided to condense all five days into one post this time bc i didn't take a lot of good pics. :/

DAY 1: TAIPEI

nanjichang night market (南機場夜市) - highly recommended!!!

sumikko gurashi themed 7-ELEVEN (角落小夥伴主題商店)

first thing we did when we landed was to run to a 7-ELEVEN to grab a small bite. i got a strawberry cream sandwich with a mixed fruit/vegetable juice and the sandwich was so tasty... nothing special but so homely. we also picked up an easycard so that we could ride the mrt and omg the designs were all so cute?? why can't we have cute transport passes in sg too!!

after checking into our hostel, we went to nanjichang night market for dinner. i was told that this was the night market that locals would go to, and to avoid shilin night market bc it was more of a tourist attraction/trap?? no regrets tho. the food was great and so affordable. i got deep fried squid (coated with some kind of peppery and salty seasoning powder and spoilers: pretty sure all the fried stuff i ate in taiwan had the same seasoning LOL), shrimp dumplings, and a fermented vegetable baked pepper bun. waaa,, even though i ordered a shrimp dumpling, there was meat in it!! and i cannot handle the taste of meat in taiwan. it's too strong...

i also got an osmanthus tea from one of the bbt stalls there and it was the best bbt i had in taiwan?? unfortunately i didn't catch the name of the stall but there was a catto sitting on the counter!!

ended our day with a trip to the sumikko gurashi 7-ELEVEN. the decor was so cute!! i was hoping there'd be some exclusive merch being sold but there weren't any. idk why but i was determined to find some merch and i kept going into every 7-ELEVEN that was in my sights LMAO spoilers i didn't find any exclusive merch in the end. disappoint :-(

thoughts about the accommodation:

we stayed at the beimen wow poshtel for most of the days. it was reasonably close to the taipei main station and super affordable (~$20 per night) but idk it was giving me major School Camp flashbacks. we got the top bunks so every time we forgot something on the bed, we had to climb up the ladder to get it. it was inconvenient and i found out that i'm terrible at going down ladders bc i just jump off from the highest rung of the ladder and i gave myself quite a few bruises from that.

the rooms were also very tiny. we couldn't all have our luggages open at the same time so we'd go down to the communal area in the basement every day just to move things around. i wouldn't say that this was a massive con bc we got used to this arrangement rly fast. the real bAD THING is that we can't leave our things lying around in the room without locking them up in the lockers (also very smol). i have to clean and dry all my toiletries every day before i go to bed and before i leave. one time i accidentally left my clean clothes bag out and i woke up to find a single dirty sock inside. >:/

but other than that it felt pretty safe?? and i did enjoy our nightly hangouts at the communal area for supper or to plan our next-day activities.

would like to try out a capsule hotel next time tho. like one of those space pod thingies.

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DAY 2: SHIFEN AND JIUFEN

shifen old streets

shifen waterfall

jiufen old streets

zhang ji traditional fishballs

a gan yi taro ball - it's nice but nothing special?? if the queue is too long then don't bother with it

jioufen teahouse - the queue for the famous a-mei teahouse was insane so we decided to try another teahouse

we spent the second day at shifen and jiufen!! took a train to shifen in the morning. walked along the streets and got some street food for lunch. i got brown sugar mochi paw-shaped pancake pops from a stall and i personally wouldn't recommend that flavour bc it was so dry. we also ate some taiwanese-style takoyaki. i watched luwi and shoron make their sky lantern (i couldn't do it bc it's ghost month and my mum said no :/) and release it into the sky. luwi added some good wishes for chi. stay 白 uwu

after walking around for a bit, we ran out of things to do and still had plenty of time to spare so we decided to rent electric scooters to see the shifen waterfall. i was shooketh that they didn't require any license?? and the shop didn't provide any helmets or safety gear?? so sus... i didn't dare to ride one of my own so i pillion'ed behind luwi.

the waterfall was a distance away from the parking lot and so the rest of our journey had to be on foot. i was sweating so much and thought i was gonna hallucinate from the heat and strong sun rays. somehow we made it to the viewing deck. i was expecting to be a lot closer to the waterfall but eh the view was pretty nonetheless. got chi and cha out so they could take in the sights too!!

we went through another round of suffering to get back to the parking lot and i, after seeing shoron ride the scooter so breezily on the way there from the old streets, decided to try riding one for the funsies. despite having barely any bicycle experience. as you would expect, that was Not A Good Idea bc i didn't even move 3 metres when i lost control, panicked, revved the accelerator thinking it was the brake (both were on the handles so idk i'm not a driver), went up the curb and fell over. ok but i fell off on purpose bc i thought the scooter was moving on its own (and not bc i mixed up the brake and accelerator) and my only way of survival was to just get off the bike before i crash into something or something crashed into me. surprisingly the only injuries i sustained were some bruises on my upper thigh that i landed on, and pinpoint scratches on my hand that i got from breaking my fall. i was very lucky that nothing was broken or bleeding. well, that was An Experience...... that i wouldn't want to go through again. anyway i'm banned from driving after this~~~

↓ btw this photo was taken moments before the disaster. apparently a lot of foreigners who rented scooters there also crashed their bikes. now that i look at it, our scooter had a chunk of it broken off at the front. ummm,,, what is safety

our next stop was jiufen!! jiufen was sooo scenic and beautiful with all the lanterns and slopes but climbing up and down all those narrow and steep stairs just to get to the main street was just deaTH. 💀 i have no idea how the elderly can do it.

had an early dinner at the zhang ji traditional fishballs. got a mixed fishballs noodle soup and it was so tasty!! i actually like the handmade fishballs with meat inside. they were sweet.

when it got dark, we visited one of the teahouses there to have a tea experience. the staff taught us how to brew the tea and we did the rest ourselves after that. it was fun!! we also ordered an oolong tea cheesecake to share and it was definitely more cheesecake than oolong but i'm not complaining.

we stayed at the jiufen kite museum for a night and i was so glad to finally have a room to ourselves. it was a good thing we didn't bring our luggages with us bc there were no elevators there!! it was all just stairs.

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DAY 3: JIUFEN AND BACK TO TAIPEI

jioufen breakfast restaurant

D+AF女鞋 南西旗艦店 - super nice and trendy shoes!!

kura sushi

ximending

the nighttime view in jiufen was amazing with all the lanterns lit up but bc it was so crowded and you absolutely could not get a shot without someone blocking the view, we decided to come back the next day at 6 am just to take pics. and also to eat a traditional taiwanese breakfast!! i love the soy milk and youtiao combination. 💕

when we were back at the taipei main station, i chanced upon this bakery (semeur 聖娜) that was holding a kanahei's small animals collab?? if you spend a certain amount, you can buy merch at a cheaper price. so ofc i picked out four breads just so i could get a cute cooler bag with usagi and piske on it~ kinda regretted not getting the handheld fan too. it would've been so useful bc it was sO HOT. btw i ended up bringing one bread back to singapore (take note of this info for later) bc i couldn't finish all of them LMAO. the breads were all tasty but i particularly liked the melon bun.

day 3 was our Buy The Things We Have To Buy day. luwi went to check out a motorcycle gear shop by herself while shoron and i explored the zhongshan area. i got the $370 wall clock that my colleague rly wanted from a department store there. we also went to this shoe shop that shoron wanted to check out and like,, i wasn't planning on buying any shoes but man,,, they were all so nice. you can call them clown shoes for all you like but i just rly like the wide, squarish toe box designs. i only bought a pair in the end but aaa i would've liked to get more if i didn't have space/weight concerns.

bought osmanthus oolong tea from yi pin tea (一品茶苑) and it was mid. very strong tea flavour tho.

we had kura sushi for lunch and it was amazing. the gacha system was fun and the food was great and i got to eat my beloved taiyaki for dessert. it was cheaper than any sushi place in sg too.

my stomach was acting up when we went to ximending in the evening so i didn't get anything to eat or drink there but i did try a bit of the vermicelli noodles from ay-chung flour-rice noodle and it was pretty good. peppery and kinda tastes like shark fin soup. aside from food, we didn't rly check out any of the shops there. i did go to a stationary store on my own and it was a feast for the eyes!!

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DAY 4:

wei chuan pushin ranch - there were capybaras and alpacas!! first time seeing them in person

mazesoba restaurant (東京油組總本店 台北華山組)

1789 café pâtisserie

zhongxiao dunhua shopping district (Air Space, Le Gusta, The Ladywore)

kanahei's small animals themed 7-ELEVEN (卡娜赫拉主題商店)

li yuan dumpling restaurant

braved the scorching heat for the alpacas and sheep and capybaras!! i touched an alpaca and a capybara for the first time and i can confirm that the former was floofy like a cloud while the latter felt like bristles of a broom.

the pig race and sheep race were being held when we were there so we got to watch. the ones that i bet on didn't win.

bc the ranch was located in a more rural part of taipei and buses were infrequent, we only had two?? hours to look around. so we rented some kind of a buggy. shoron was the designated driver for this bUT i felt like i could drive it too cuz it was kinda slow yknow.

for lunch we had mazesoba!! super good but could do with less salt.

afterwards we went on a hunt for a cafe to chill at bc it was raining so hard. had to give matcha one a miss bc we didn't have a reservation and there were no tables for us (except the VIP rooms which were $$$). eventually we found this cafe called 1789 café pâtisserie that was relatively empty and hid there until the rain subsided. we shared two eclairs (salted caramel and mango passionfruit) and a raspberry rose st. honore (crispy mille feuille pastry topped with whipped cream and raspberry jam??). they gave us two macarons on the house, and one of them was wasabi-flavoured. the taste was... interesting.

when the rain stopped, we went to shop for clothes around the zhongxiao dunhua shopping district. there were a lot of blogshop-like clothing stores in that area. i got clothes from le gusta and the ladywore~

our last dinner was at a xiaolongbao restaurant. i was glad that they had prawn xiaolongbaos!! that didn't have surprise meat in them. they were not bad. also got a custard panda bun for dessert~

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DAY 5:

luwi and shoron went out to dabao breakfast at yong he soy milk (永和豆漿) in ximending while i continued to laze around in bed~~~ they brought soy milk and youtiao back for me!! i miss the combination. the youtiao from yong he was so light and airy on the inside and so crisp on the outside aaaa the doughy and oily ones in sg can't compare.

after breakfast we packed up and left for the airport. i wanted to try the oden at 7-ELEVEN before i leave but we couldn't find one at the departure hall. maximum sadge. in the end, we settled for a fast-food chicken place after we checked in and i got a yoghurt green tea (which tasted like yakult btw) and sweet potato fries.

i wanted to be productive on the flight back home (and i wasn't rly that sleepy anyway) so i played 999 on my 3ds and watched a 2-hour movie. finally watched maquia and it made me cry lmao. tearjerkers are the best kinds of movies for a flight imo!!

oh oh i sat next to an elderly couple on the plane and they were so nice and friendly. the lady kept checking to see if i needed to use the toilet bc i got the window seat. 🥺 we also chatted a bit while waiting to get off the plane.

we were planning to have dinner at mos burg after we landed in sg but there was a luggage delay and by the time we all got our luggages, it was almost time for mos burg to close. aha but fortunately i still had one bread left. so that was my dinner, along with the milo and oreos that the staffs were handing out to apologise for the delay.

[design-and-life]

Gooooood morning 🙌🏻 轉眼快到二月底，大家OK嗎？😊歡迎來大稻埕放鬆一下，逛逛店、喝喝咖啡 #迪化街商圈愈來愈精彩了 #designyourlife * 官網：www.designandlife.com 蝦皮：shopee.tw/designandlife PINKOI：www.pinkoi.com/store/adesignandlife * 大稻埕本店：台北市南京西路279號 279, Nanjing West Road, Taipei, Taiwan 近捷運北門站三號出口 Few mins walk away from MRT Beimen Station Exit No.3 * #designandlife #adesignandlifeproject #homedecor #hardware #stationery #furniture #vintage #sharingaworldofshops #life #design #travel #handmade #hope #shopsmall #home #homestore #love #decor #explore #bags #branding #generalstore #taipei #taiwan #大稻埕 #迪化街（在 A Design&Life Project） https://www.instagram.com/p/Co_N7eSPZ3q/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[happyblaire]

Wanderer

[ezatravel]

MAY ROOMS | Taipei We add extra day in Taipei and book another room nearby This hostel feels fresh than the previous hostel Probably because the scenery and view of The North Gate 😍 Just 5 minutes walk to Beimen Station and add 5 minutes more to Taipei Main Station At night we just chill next to the window hearing Maria playing the guitar 🌃 Don't forget to use my Booking.com code [ wan46146 ] to get 10% discount 😉 #EzaTravel #BPTaipei #BPTaiwan #Taipei #Taiwan🇹🇼 #TaipeiHostel #HostelReview #Beimen #TaipeiMainStation #MayRoomsTaipei #TravelGirl #Travelstagram #TravelTaiwan #Backpackers #Hostel #Bookingdotcom (at Taipei, Taiwan) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xZ3l0pxnA/?igshid=e90fnv8v905y

[angelaavie]

在北門下唱歌的9m88

[linyijen]

大家都在看（拍）北門，我只好⋯#beimen #taipei #lantern #lanternfestival #lunarnewyear #lunarmoon #feb15 #15feb #2019 #crowd #people #lightshow #beimenpostoffice #postoffice #night #nightlights #nightlight #nightlife #nightphotography #urban #urbanphotography #urbanlife #urbannight #snap #snapshot #street #streetphoto #streetphotography #streetshot #iphone #iphonephotography #iphonephotographer #iphoneography https://www.instagram.com/p/BudkShyHzJf/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=r0vj2qt5zeiw

[hizokucycles]

Reposted from @asimochang 每一次的njs taiwan聚會社團都是抱持著誠摯熱情的態度來發想活動，不會收費也不會有任何商業營利行為，聚會最大的目的就是希望吸引喜愛njs的車友可以越來越多，讓每一次的聚會越來越多車友願意排除萬難前來參加，所以要考慮到大家不同的需求與聲音，找一個適當的地點、適當的日期、盡量提前的規劃能讓各位提早安排前來參加，如果你錯過前兩次的聚會那真的很可惜，千萬別再錯過第三次的聚會，因為這次聚會再錯過絕對要等到2022年之後才有機會了。 NJS TAIWAN邀請大家一同聚會。 NJS TAIWAN 第三次車友聚會 日期：2020/03/08（週日） 時間：下午1:00~4:00 合照時間：下午3點（njs車系限定） 地點：台北北門 (地址：台北市中正區中華路一段3號正對面） 附近停車場地點：應安168停車場（台北市中華路一段15號） 捷運（綠線）北門站1號出口 #建議自行攜帶駐車架，以防倒車！ #非njs車友歡迎來賞車聊天 NJS TAIWAN-The third time gathering Time: Sunday, March 08, 2020 1:00 PM ~ 4:00 PM Group Photo 3:00 PM Venue: Taipei The North Gate (Cheng-En Gate) No. 3, Section 1, Zhonghua Road, Taipei City, 10043 Transportation: Beimen Station Exit 1 (MRT Green Line) Nearby parking: Ying-an 168 parking lot (Zhonghua Beimen) No. 15, Section 1, Zhonghua Road, Taipei City Promotion Sponsor: cafe – wwater, faith gear fixie, pineconeworks, drift, Stingers, ZiWu workshop, BROZ Cycling Club, nabiishop, Fixed Style Welcome to join the event. #3rensho #三連勝 #3renshokatana #3renshopista #3renshonjs #sanmrco #cinelli2a #shimano #duraace7600 #Campagnoloshamal #nitto #Hatta #MKS #whiteindustries #DID #CKC #njs #NNR #NeverNotRiding #fixedgear #固齒 #taiwan #Asimo #Hizokucycles Hizokucycles.com https://www.instagram.com/p/B9b9tWjHwhI/?igshid=o8wt2mcy2vl0

[words814]

JACKMAN  “Henley Neck T-Shirt ~ 18/1 Beimen Tenjiku”

[onesteptofieldon-blog]

古意 . It's rare to see spiral stairs in a temple. . #Taiwan #Tainan #Beimen #temple #culture #loculture #spiral #stairs #travel #mytravelgram #instatravel #instagrammable #ancient #art #architecture #onesteptofieldon #followme #ㄧ步就出走 #三寮灣 #東隆宮 #台灣 #台南 #建築 #藝術 #螺旋樓梯（在 Tainan, Taiwan）

[eyeontw]

The Eye on Taiwan news staff

The 2018 Taipei Lantern Festival kicked off in the bustling Ximending area in downtown Taipei, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je lighting up the main lantern during an opening ceremony held Saturday evening.

The main lantern, “Magical Dogs,” consists of three light displays of Taiwanese dogs standing in a circle, representing Taiwan’s spirit and the cultural heritage passed down from generations, according to its designer Mori Chen.

Various shapes of lanterns are on display along the section of Zhonghua Road between Ximen and Beimen stations of the Taipei Metro, while music and light shows are to be staged every day between 6:30 and 9:30 pm during the nine-day event, which will end with a closing ceremony on March 4.

    The 2018 Taipei Lantern Festival kicked off in the bustling Ximending area in downtown Taipei, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je lighting up the main lantern during an opening ceremony held Saturday evening. The Eye on Taiwan news staff The 2018 Taipei Lantern Festival kicked off in the bustling Ximending area in downtown Taipei, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je lighting up the main lantern during an opening ceremony held Saturday evening.

[design-and-life]

Dear friends，今天我們依依不捨的撤離美麗的 @rongjin167 榕錦園區，這算是我們開店以來第一次的POP UP，感謝幾個月來 @goodchos_tw 好丘的照顧，也感謝來園區逛逛的大家🙌🏻❤️ 接下來就是農曆年了，歡迎大家除夕之前來大稻埕辦年貨，也來本店逛逛、喝 @twatutia 咖啡！也請大家期待年後我們的新計劃😉 農曆年期間，我們從除夕開始放假到初三，初四正式開工！🧧🏮🎉 * Design your life. * 官網：www.designandlife.com 蝦皮：shopee.tw/designandlife PINKOI：www.pinkoi.com/store/adesignandlife * 大稻埕本店：台北市南京西路279號 279, Nanjing West Road, Taipei, Taiwan 近捷運北門站三號出口 Few mins walk away from MRT Beimen Station Exit No.3 * #designandlife #adesignandlifeproject #homedecor #hardware #stationery #furniture #vintage #sharingaworldofshops #life #design #travel #handmade #hope #shopsmall #home #homestore #love #decor #explore #bags #branding #generalstore #taipei #taiwan #大稻埕 #迪化街 （在 榕錦時光生活園區-原臺北刑務所官舍） https://www.instagram.com/p/CnOTsriPqhC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[paradiseprowling]

Sunset at the salt fields. . #saltfields #jingzaijiaotilepavedsaltfield #beimen #tainan #tainancity #tainanlife #paradiseprowling #taiwaninstagram #exploretaiwan #taiwan #taiwan_dream #ig_taiwan #ilovetaiwan #bestoftheday #greatshots #ig_global_life #sonyimages #a7s #zeiss #35mm #eatdrinkdiscovertheworld with @katiesusie (at 夕遊-井仔腳瓦盤鹽田)

[ahao823]

. 日落台北城。 #北門 #北門廣場 #古蹟 #黃昏 #夕陽 #傍晚 #日落 #晚霞 #台北城 #魔幻時刻 #sunset #sky #clouds #taipei #beimen #Historicsite #goodnight（在 北門﹣承恩門）

[janicethegalaigorota]

#streetphotography #camerastreettaipei #beimen #beimen street# camera accessories #camera things #photography #

[joshellisphotography]

The Beimen City Gate lit up for Taipei's Lantern Festival #Taiwan #Taipei #Beimen #LanternFestival #longexposure #iseetaiwan #igerstaiwan #amazingtaiwan #bpintaiwan #taiwagram #discovertaiwan #travel #traveller #travelgram #travelphotography #travelblog #台灣 #台北 #北門 #燈會 #台北燈節 (at 北門﹣承恩門)