Brand new day in Taipei! =) Learnt our lesson and decided to venture outside for breakfast. These were taken from the overhead bridge on our way to Ximending. Interesting to see Chinese characters splashed on the roads. =)

Taipei is such a well-organised city that everything is labelled and categorised properly. I actually like it. Some things need to be explicitly spelt out to maintain order.

It was already hot early in the morning. Thank God for my mummy who brought umbrella and hat for Baby Jayne. =)

Love this photo that I took of Baby Jayne walking past a shop that had not opened for the day yet. =)

We settled down for breakfast at a small eatery in Ximending. The moment we walked in, we were welcomed by a ‘stench that resembled urine left overnight’. It was horrible, trust me. I nearly turned back and walked out. But the shopowner saw our expressions and immediately explained to us that it was the smell of braised bamboo shoots and that there was no toilet in the shop. =P I realised during my stay in Taipei that such a smell was very common as bamboo shoots is part of every Taiwanese daily diet. Not very impressed. =X

My mum went to another shop and bought back this stick of thing and ate really happily. They were chicken heart. =X She likes weird stuffs.

The boss was a very kind and friendly guy, and he genuinely looked happy running his business. =) The Taiwanese’ hospitality always amazes me.

I had 面线羹 (mian xian soup) for breakfast. Not super yummy but 500 times better than the hotel complimentary breakfast.

Our plan for the day was to go to 新北头 （Xinbeitou）for their hot springs! Since it’s pretty far away, we decided to take the MRT there. It was also our first time taking the MRT since we arrived in Taipei.

Taipei’s MRT ticket comes in the form of blue tokens. =)

The line that we were going to travel on. =) Beitou is located at the far end from where we started from.

The Taiwanese are very orderly people. Everyone was queueing at the designated wait area, and nobody would enter the trains until those who needed to alight had exited.

The most amazing thing about the Taiwanese was that the moment we entered the MRT, 4 to 5 people stood up from their seats to give up their seats to my mum who was carrying Baby Jayne and my dad (who’s not exactly that old actually). I observed them during my journey and found that those who had seats were practically watching the doors at every station to see if anyone who needed seats had entered the MRT, all eager to give up their seats! What a complete contrast from Singapore, sad to say.

We alighted at the Taipei Main Station & changed train to the Danshui line.

At the Beitou station, we had to change MRT again to Xinbeitou. To provide a complete ‘hot spring’ experience, the platform where we waited for the MRT bound for Xinbeitou was decorated and the MRT that we boarded had a special hot spring theme. It’s similar to the concept for Disneyland! =)

See the brown bucket look-a-like? It’s supposed to resemble a bath bucket, but it actually contained a map of Xinbeitou’s hot spring hotels. Hee..

We reached Xinbeitou! =D

I like the place because it’s not crowded like most parts of Taipei. It felt like a very tranquil and relaxing place. =)

Interesting panel I saw at the traffic light junction. Hmmm.. An attempt to blend in with the ‘resort’ feel of the place?

Look at Baby Jayne. Haha!

We embarked on our walk in Xinbeitou as we looked around for a hot spring place to settle down. Really nice place!

Funny Baby Jayne insisted on sitting there and refused to move on.

There was a public community hot spring pool nearby that cost only 20NT per person, but we were not game for it. God knows how hygienic it would be. =X

Saw this lovely hut look-a-like, and I thought it was some hot spring hotel.

It turned out to be the National Library! So nice to be able to have a nice quiet read ‘in the woods’!

My very adorable mummy and daughter. =D

Then we passed by a hot spring place that looked really traditional. The price looked reasonable as well, so we thought of trying it out.

Looked really traditional, isn’t it??!

Too bad the owner of the place was pretty unfriendly. The moment he saw Baby Jayne, he said he could not accommodate us as his pools were all community pools, and he did not have any private rooms to offer us. Oh well, it was for the better, cos we left the place and stumbled upon this hot spring hotel which we settled at. It turned out to be a perfect place for us! =D

For the cost of approximately $70, we got to use this private room for two hours. The room came equipped with attached bathroom,TV, coffee/tea and attached hot spring tub. The price was for a room with a better view, where we could look out to the scenery while enjoying the hot spring bath. It was a very cosy Japanese-style room. So awesome! Baby Jayne took off her socks & shoes immediately, can you see??!

Changed Baby Jayne into her swimsuit though she won’t get into the tub. It was too hot for her, but she enjoyed dipping her hands and feet into the tub. =) Right in front of the tub was a washing area with basin, shampoo and bath gel. The idea is to take a 10-minute dip in the hot spring bath, then come out for a icy cold shower, then go back in for another dip. Alternating hot and cold baths would help improve blood circulation and avoid feeling giddy. Baby Jayne spent all her time splashing cold water on herself. She had so much fun!!

The red knob would release the hot spring water (which looked a little cloudy and smelled of faint sulphur), and the blue knob would release cold water to make the hot water more endurable. =)

It was my 1st hot spring experience and it was AWESOME!!!!! The hot water made my entire body relax. It was also such a great time of bonding with my family as we soaked together in that small tub! Haha…

After the bath, we rested and watched TV together, while sipping coffee and tea. Two hours was not enough!!!! =D The only down side about it was they didn’t serve food. Otherwise we could have a feast inside the room!

We trotted back to the area near to the MRT station and decided to have lunch at Yoshinoya. The Yoshinoya at Taipei had a lot more choices than Singapore, with bigger portions as well.

It was a great meal because Baby Jayne had fallen asleep by then, so I left her sleeping on the sofa seats next to us as we ate. =)

Before we headed back to Ximending, we decided to explore 淡水 (Danshui), which was another 6 MRT stations away. It was the last stop on the line, and I had fond memories of that places when I last visited it three years ago. Sadly, it was way too crowded as it was Sunday, and there were throngs of people there. It was supposed to be a scenic and peaceful place for sunset watching!! Seeing so many people, I really had no mood to walk into the super crowded 老街 (Old street), so my brother and mum went to take a quick walk while I waited with my dad near the beach area.

While we waited, I got Baby Jayne a very tall chocolate ice-cream. It was yummy but Baby Jayne couldnt eat it if she held it. I had to hold it for her to eat. Haha…

We were all very exhausted that we fell asleep in the cab on our way back to Ximending. =P Spent the night chilling in the hotel room. Ahh… bliss. =)