Day 10 in Taiwan - Day 1 in Taipei (Ximending)
From Taichung, I took the high speed train to Taipei. If you have a lot of time to spare, you can also take a cheaper alternative; railway train to Taipei. The journey is almost 2 times of the HSR but the price is half of HSR. Hence, the mode of transport depends if you have the luxury of time or money.
I took some time to figure the way to Homey Hostel Taipei and I finally reached my hostel at dusk. You have to exit from Dong Zhang, walk across the mall, walk until KFC turn left, continue straight and you will be able to spot Homey Hostel.
I stayed in a 8 female dorm and my bed is exactly the same as the photo shown above. They provide basic amenities such as shared toilets, shared showers and common living room. If you are on budget and like to mingle with people from different nationalities, you can stay here. If you a member of Youth Travel in Taiwan, there will be a deduction of US$1 per night! Since most of my time is spent exploring Taipei, Homey is good for me. However, if you are quiet people and don't really like sharing your personal space, it is wiser to spend slightly more than average and stay in a better and quieter place. (It can be quite noisy at night as many people will be sitting in the living room mingling with one another - majority of the tourists whom I met were from Korea and China. There are travellers from European /America countries and Japan. Free wifi is available in both the bedroom and living room. The password can be obtained when you check-in at the counter. Do prepare many 10NT coins for washing machines and dryers. Washing machine costs about 50NT coins and dryer costs 60NT. You can also try to change with the counter if you don't have enough coins with you. FYI, do bring/buy hangers to hang around your sleeping area as hangers are not provided.
After putting down my luggage, I went to Ximending for my dinner. =) Tada ~~ the famous Ah Zhong Mian Xian. I ordered the Large size as I was famished. Ah Zhong Mian Xian is different from Shi Lin Mee Sua as Ah Zhong Mian Xian replaces Oysters with pig's small intestines. The Large bowl costs 50NT while the small bowl costs 35NT if I remember correctly. haha. The only bad point about the shop is there is only a few chairs placed in front of the shop and some chairs are pasted with stickers stating 'for elderly'. If you can't find any chair, you will have to do standing style eating but actually standing while eating is common around anywhere you travel. After filling up my stomach, I went to shop around Ximending and got my family and close friends a couple of stuff. (FYI - I save all my money to shop overseas - I seldom or never shop in Singapore). I went back to hostel to rest after shopping at Ximending.
阿宗麵線 - 台北市峨嵋街8號之1
Walking Directions: 5 mins walk from Ximen MRT station, Exit 6
