It is about a 20 minute MRT ride from the main station, and I will post the address in every zoo post so that you won’t have to search for it. But if you want specific details, from 臺北車站 (Taipei Main Station) get the train on the 南港 (Nán Gǎng) line to 忠孝復興 (Zhōng Xiào Fù Xīng). From there, change trains to 動物園 (Taipei Zoo) and it will be the very last stop on the line.

Opening hours: 09:00 – 17:00 (no entry after 16:00) every day of the year except Chinese New Year’s Eve, and I suggest getting there in the morning because the Zoo is huge.

Full price entry: $60NT
Discount entry (concession, students): $30NT

Address: 台北市文山區新光路二段30號
Taipei City, Wen Shan District, Xin Guang Road, Sec. 2, No. 30
Phone number: 02 2938 2300 # 630

Now as you can already see, the first set of photos are butterflies from the insect section of the zoo, and a spider I saw on a tree somewhere else in the zoo. All were taken with my Canon EOS 450D and EF 24-105mm f4.0 L IS USM. I’m still noob but I will practice more and get better~

But a bit about the zoo.. I got there at 09:30, paid my $30NT and entered. I didn’t bother getting a small map, but there are plenty of larges boards or posters around the place which show a map of the entire zoo. You probably should get a map and tick/cross off the animals as you see them just so it’s easier.

When you enter by the way, you get a ticket to go see the Panda. Sometimes there’s a line to enter the Panda area, sometimes there isn’t. Both times I went there was no line at all yet there is a sign telling you what you should do if the wait is a few hours so I’m assuming it can possibly become up to a five hour wait. But just give your ticket to one of the ticket collectors and you can go see the Panda.

It was pretty good but I will post more about that later, with photos.

This insect section is quite large and has quite a bit of information on different species. All of these photos are from a large room which you can enter where all the butterflies are flying around freely. There are two floors and plenty of space, just be careful not to hurt any of the butterflies! Most of them are the white ones you see here but there are also some pretty red and black ones, etc.

There are some more insects on display inside as well as a walk which takes you through some insect habitats (basically, a trail surrounded by trees and a small creek), both of which are worth checking out as well.

However, this was the section I visited last and by then I was exhausted from exploring the rest of the zoo. I probably should have spent some more time here and took more care with my photos (as well as to enjoy it more), but really, I couldn’t wait to go home and collapse.

After arriving at 09:30, I left six hours later with extremely sore feet and about 240 photos. Overall though, it was fun and very cheap! A good way to spend a day in Taipei (if you like this kind of thing, of course). And so, I will leave the rest of the photos without any description.. Til the next lot of zoo photos~

I already cut this up and had a bite before I took the photo so I probably need to say the meat was inside the ball and it actually tasted really nice.

The above was also really nice in my opinion and had some pieces of intestine and.. I forget what else she said was in it. Sorry, 奕穎. =(

More delicious things I tried! I asked 奕穎 what they were and she said I would find out when I tried them so I can’t really explain what’s in them. Haha. Just try them too!

Finally, something I can give you the name of! This store sold mainly 蔥油餅 (cōng yóu bǐng) which is literally a scallion/green onion oil dough-cake/pancake. The name sounds bad but 奕穎 said that almost everyone loves these, so if you only try one thing, try this!

This is just a random shot of an intersection in the night market. It’s always quite crowded so be patient and careful not to hit any little kids on the head with your DSLR. *ahem*

And here is stuff cooking at the 蔥油餅 stand! Lol.

This is one of the many places you can buy tea, including milk tea/奶茶 (nǎi chá) and fruit tea/果茶 (guǒ chá). The teas are all very customisable – you can change the amount of ice, flavour and sweetness to your liking. However, you will rarely find one with an English menu, so perhaps, study up? Although most employees can speak English, asking them to describe the menu is not a good idea if they’re very busy (not because they won’t want to help, they will want to help, it’s just that you’ll be getting in the way of other customers).

Just another street. I’ll take this as an opportunity to recommend another food, 章魚燒 (zhāng yú shāo) – an octopus ball. If you know what たこ焼き/蛸焼 (takoyaki) is, then you will know what this is as they are the same thing. Unfortunately, I do not have any photos of them.

More food stalls! 奕穎 asked me why I like taking photos of the products and not the pretty signs or whatever. I never noticed this before and I couldn’t answer her. Hmm..

And even more food stalls! This one is obviously fruit.. Did I really need to tell you that?

And even MORE food! Oh my, what the hell was I focusing on here..

As it gets later and you walk further away, the streets get more empty. However, apparently 大安 (Dà ān) is one of the safest districts so if you stay until late, you don’t have to worry too much.

And that’s all from me on 師大夜市, a must visit night market. Til next time!

Another mini post! And look! OMG~ Sha learnt to do laundry. (Yeah, truth is I was really bored and needed something to post about that was easy and didn’t require me to leave the building. Haha.)

Well, my family back in Australia read this blog so a note to them: Look! This is where I do my laundry. I can do laundry and not ruin my clothes! Hahaha! (Oh, and below is the parking area on the same floor as the laundry.)

Another mini post from Sha! This time about the awesome bakery, Yamazaki! Below is the address and phone number for one of many Yamazaki stores in Taipei City.

Address: 臺北市中正區中山南路7號
Taipei City, Zhong Zheng District, Zhong Shan South Road, No. 7
Phone number: 02 2392 6160

I’m just going to show you photos of things I have gotten from Yamazaki and describe them. Need I say, everything I have had has been delicious?

So, we’ll start with something simple. Pictured above is what I’m calling Moo Moo Bread – it’s amazingly soft and has a nice, plain taste with chocolate patches not only on the outside, but on the inside as well.

Now these are Cheese Danish and I am completely addicted to them! It is $60NT for four and each one has extremely soft bread inside with a nice blend of cheese. There are never many left when I visit so it seems they are quite popular. Also, there are other types of Danish including Almond.

The above is a nice and soft bread stick covered in cheese. Like the danish, I think it is really nice and usually they will ask if you want it cut into three pieces or not. They’re quite large (and cheap) as well, around $20NT each.

This is something simple again, three slices of slightly toasted bread. Between one layer is a nice amount of cheese while between the other layer, you will find some egg and really thin slices of cucumber.

They don’t have the same type of filling in these every day, so often you will find other combinations such as peanut butter, etc. I would really recommend trying any of these.

And here we have another sausage dog! Both the ones from Yamazaki and Bread First are quite nice. I don’t know why I always get these. Maybe because there is meat and if it weren’t for noodles and pasta, I would be a carnivore?

Then we have the small, soft macha cake. It is really soft and has a stronger flavour than most cakes. Did I mention that it was really nice? Well, it is!

Finally, we have a small tart! It was really nice although it looks really yellow. Now I wish I had another one..

That’s all for now from me. Classes started last week so I won’t have as much time to update but I will do my best to update as often as possible.

*points above* I don’t know why, but I couldn’t resist buying these jelly hearts for my bathroom walls. I guess a small splash of colour here and there makes the bathroom a little happier and brighter? You get twice the amount shown in the photo, and they all aren’t bad quality.

Although, it didn’t have the cutest bins I’ve ever seen, DAISO still has some pretty cute bins. Below is my new bin, I got it because I thought it was quite cute but now I’m wishing I got an even cuter one. Oh well.

The same goes for stationery. If you want a wider range of stationery, visit a store that specialises in stationery. Otherwise, the things I found at DAISO were decent enough. The folders are good quality, as are the little books I got. However, if I must get more, I will go to a different store.

DAISO has most things you would need, including kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, storage crates, trays, boxes, and bags, personal health and beauty products, kitchenware, snacks, decorations, etc.

More things I have to mention are the kitchenware and decorations. I got a really cute little glass which was good for $39NT, so now I’m really tempted to get the tall glass and jar versions of the same thing. But no, I will resist! Anyway, below the next photo you will find my final list which totaled to $585NT, or $20AU.

Final list:

• 3 Dust cloths
• 1 Set of jelly heart stickers for the bathroom
• 1 Small drinking glass
• 1 A4 plastic container
• 1 Pencil case
• 1 Plastic sleeve folder
• 2 Notebooks
• 8 Coat hangers
• 1 Comb
• 1 Haircutting scissors
• 1 Laundry basket
• 1 Tote bag

I won’t talk too much about this one because I don’t have the actual address, phone number or price range. It’s near Taipei Main Station, but if I get the exact location and contact information I will edit this post and put them here.

So, about Bread First? It’s a Japanese bakery that sells quite a wide variety of different products including pork floss buns, egg tarts, cheese dogs, green tea cake rolls, etc. I can say the prices are pretty good, I got over 10 items for not much over $100NT.

A great thing about this store is that the bread is really nice, it’s always soft and full of flavour. So, yes, I recommended visiting it and trying a couple of different types of bread, buns and pastries.

Basically, you get a room with a fridge, bookshelf, desk with two drawers, chair, shoe rack, tall two door cupboard, bed frame, sink, toilet, shower, towel rack, and a mirror. What does that mean? It means that you have to buy your own mattress and bed covers. The dorm can provide them for the prices shown below, you can venture to the nearby 7-11, or wander around the nearby shops where you can find a few bedding stores.

Set items: 2 pillowcases, 1 pillow, 1 quilt, 1 quilt cover, 1 cushion cover, 1 cushion
Price: $3,100NT
Separate items & Price: Mattress ($1,000NT), Pillow ($350NT), Quilt ($2,000NT), Bed sheet ($350NT)

They also let you borrow cleaning items for cleaning your room, and have garbage collection points for you to throw away your trash and recyclables. I haven’t seen the stuff they let you borrow but I think I’m going to buy my own stuff anyway.

What else can I say? The rooms are pretty nice, a clean and simple style, and not too small either. You get a gas heater for you water and an electricity card to slot in neat the entrance ($500NT card with electricity at $3.7NT/kilowatt).

Also, on the ground floor of my building (A), there is a small gym, lounge, kitchen and dining area, and two more areas with tables and seats. Of course, there’s also a reception desk with someone there 24/7, and mailboxes (although if you get sent a parcel, it’ll probably be held by reception).

Brand: Sony Ericsson
Model: T707
Colours: Mysterious Black, Spring Rose, Lucid Blue
Size: 93.0 x 50.0 x 14.1 mm / 3.7 x 2.0 x 0.6 inches
Weight: 95.0 g / 3.4 oz

Networks: GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS/HSDPA 2100
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Google Maps, Modem, Synchronisation PC, USB mass storage, USB support
Memory: Phone memory 100MB, Memory Stick Micro (M2) support up to 16GB
Screen: 262,144 colour TFT, 240×320 pixel, and a 128×36 pixel external screen
Camera: 3.2 mega pixel, up to 3.2x digital zoom, Geo-tagging, Send to web, Video light and recording

Website: Sony Ericsson T707
Price: $7,200-8,500NT

I bought this phone after a while in Taiwan to hold out until the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is released at the end of March / beginning of April. I was surprised that after only a day I actually began to really like this phone. It is quite simple in design and features, but I would recommend it for anyone who wants a really nice looking phone for simple tasks such as making calls and messaging.

If you plan to use it for all of its features thoroughly, then you need to be warned that there can be some lag even if it’s only a week old, and the photo quality isn’t that great. All the connectivity items work perfectly however, the battery life isn’t great either. Be prepared to charge it every second day or so if you are going to make use of it every day, right from the beginning.

Address: 台北市信義區市府路3號B1樓
Taipei City, Xin Yi District, Shi Fu Road, No. 45, Floor B1
Phone number: 02 8101 8361
Price: Approximately $3,000+NT

A well known American brand in a well known Taiwanese shopping mall situated at the base of the world’s second tallest tower. Nine West is one of the cheaper stores you’ll find inside, but not as cheap as Giordano, Adidas, Nike, or Esprit. However, it being so close to Versace, Gucci, Prada, and Armani justifies my calling it a ‘cheaper store’. But I guess that’s completely beside the point.

The staff are nice and very helpful, of course, and can speak Mandarin and some English. Like a lot of places, they don’t actually have all the shoes in the store, so be sure you really want to try on a certain size before you send one of the girls running off to fetch them for you.

Nevertheless, the shoe sizes range up to at least a US9, however the larger sizes are obviously going to be more scarce. During a sale, you can also get the shoes for half price or something similar. Pictured above are my new boots, a US size 8 which I’m finding to be a little bit too big for me, but nothing too troublesome. They were originally $4,800NT but I got them for around $1,600NT. Pretty good.

Chinese Title: 呂建中 – 第三回合
English Title: Tank – The Third Roud
Package contents: 1 Album CD, 1 Album DVD, 1 Booklets
Approximate price: $360NT

01. 繃帶俱樂部 *recommended*
02. 生還者 *recommended*
03. 全世界都停電
04. 阿門
05. 真心話太冒險
06. 如果我變成回憶
07. 會長大的幸福
08. 陽光美眉
09. 再做一個夢
10. 是誰