Taiwan Travelogue: Day 5 in Jiufen, Shifen Waterfall and how I fell sick
Wokays, as I'm sipping on my lovely Perrier water (ya, I'm that atas. But I only buy when they are on offer at NTUC or wherever lol #cheapo), here's Day 5 of my Taiwan trip.
Sorry but that's pretty much what you're gonna read so far because I am tied up at work really badly D:
Not that I am doing anything big but... just sian lor lol. Ok, no link, let's move on with this entry!
The bf had to go for his dental appointment the day before hence we pushed our trip to Jiu Fen to the next day (and also because his brother will be delivering goods to the area so... free ride?)
Woke up very early and left the house to head to his mother's office first. Stopped by a market to grab some pots and pans together with our breakfast!
I didn't enjoy the meal because of the oily food but that's just the beginning of a very bad day.
Somehow I was feeling really lethargic and nothing could perk me up. My head felt like it was pounding non-stop and I didn't even bother putting on makeup that morning.
Headed to Jiufen which is located on the outskirts of Taipei City - it's literally in Taipei County.
From my understanding, Jiufen became really famous because it was featured in a Taiwanese movie and somehow boom! Tourists everywhere xD
But yeah, it was literally crowded with tourists the ENTIRE way when I visited.
I love Jiufen for its rustic feel and old school food that you do not find quite easily around the cities.
Everytime I visit Jiufen, the 老招牌 stores remain but others simply appear. It's amazing how fast the turnover of a place can be haha but I suppose that is the norm in places of interest.
You can find a plethora of things at Jiufen - food, snacks, toys etc. I actually picked up some combs made from jade(?), the material used to make gua sha tools for my mum because she requested for them. So yeah, you want anything you'll probably be able to find them here save for clothes la. This is not Wu Fen Pu yo! LOL.
Stopped by a store that was selling very old school toys. The bf paid the NT10 for my try on this box-like thingy. Bascially you choose a square and poke your fingers through it.
And then whatever is inside the box will be your prize!
I got 6 mini pencils. IKEA gives them for free leh...
This snack is what I would call popiah ice cream and is unique to Jiufen actually.
Popiah skin sprinkled with some grated peanut and topped with 2 scoops of yummy ice cream (I think it's yam flavoured but not overwhelming the taste) then wrapped to look like a popiah.
I liked it but.... my nightmare had barely begun. By them I was feeling semi-nauseous, possibly due to the winding roads up to Jiufen so those who have motion sickness, please remember to take your meds!
I wasn't sure why I was feeling that way but yeah, could feel myself being really uncomfortable and queasy in the stomach.
Went to find Jace and her friend in one of the cafes.
Yup, sick also have tot take selfie yo!
We all made our way back to the car to head off to our next destination: Houtong Cat Village but alas, the weather was not on our side because it started raining heavily.
Decided to just go to Shifen Waterfall, hoping that the rain would ease up but still no hope.
When we reached there, I felt really guilty making the bf's brother drive up so treacherous roads so I told the girls to go down with me to the waterfall just so the trip would not be wasted lol.
And yes, despite the torrential rain, we all took our umbrellas, paid the bloody NT100 entrance fee into the waterfall area and promptly left after 10 mins of photo-taking lol.
Returned to the car and by then I was soaked to the core, which evolved into me feeling extremely sick from then onwards. The car went on to Kinmen round Yehliou and I kinda 'merlion-ed' at the restaurant that served really awesome duck. Oops. Went back to the car to rest with the bf because by then I was already burning, probably due to the rain :(
Felt really bad to be such a wet blanket but at our next stop, a restaurant for more food (LOL!) I only had a mini bowl of lu rou fan because my stomach still didn't feel good. But at least I wasn't puking anymore hahaha.
Gonna be an abrupt end to this post because.... I was sick from then on lol. So no more pictures!
I would highly recommend you taking a day trip out of Taipei City if you are unable to travel to other cities in Taiwan.
Hire a driver and plan an itinerary to the following places: Yehliou (to see the geographic rocks), Shifen (to let go of sky lanterns, see the waterfall although I don't recommend this portion cos it was... nothing much), Houtong (only if you love cats ya!), Keelung (to visit the Miaokou Night market).
If not, at least pay Danshui a visit! You can spend a good half a day there to just stroll around the harbour and old street, enjoy the famous tie dans and ah geis (fishballs) that originates from the area. I regret not visiting Danshui on this trip, in fact my last trip to this place was in 2008. I will go back when I can so... hoping that the next trip to Taipei will come soon!
LOL ok, bye~