Day 1: Xin Beitou

TRANSPORT

Arriving at Beitou MRT station, we had to cross over to the next platform to take another train to Xin Beitou. What's unique about this ride is that the trains from this route are all so colourful. The ride was slow (Maybe its a new track) but it's a short ride and we arrived at Xin Beitou in no time. People visit this place for the hot springs and also, for mountain trekking.

We reached Xin Beitou at about 8am. No one told me that there was literally nothing to do in Taiwan at such an ungodly hour. No shops were opened, not even the private hot springs.

FOOD

We walked along a number of streets before we finally found a Taiwan eatery in a building along Zhong He Street. I'm quite sure my wife and I were among the first few customers as the shop owners were barely ready. Decked with yellow paper listing dishes that they have to offer, most of which costs NT$30 (Less than S$2).

After a tiring red-eye flight, all my wife and I wanted was warm food. So we ordered a bowl of mian xian, and porridge. The mianxian tasted much better than the porridge. As my wife is not a very big eater, I polished off the porridge before devouring part of her mainxian. :)

HOT SPRINGS

Once our stomachs have been warmed, off we went in search of the hot springs. Since it was our first day, we wanted to try the hot springs in private. At 8.30am, we got none as most of the establishments were not opened. The hotels do have private hotsprings, but we were asked to pay more than NT1400 for 4 hours of soak and relaxation. Not worth it, we felt. So we gave that up as we were staying at Jiaoxi later in our trip and we'll get our soak-in when we get there. So we took the time to explore the place.

PLACES OF INTEREST

The entire stretch of Zhongshan Road runs parallel with Beitou Park. There, you can soak in the serene environment - elderly people exercising, toddlers dipping their fingers in the water. There's even a public hot spring if you'll like to take a dip.

Located within the park is also the Public Library. Uniquely designed, this structure brings out the best in ecological building design. Largely made out of wood, it really blends into the environment.

Artists were doing their weekend painting. When you have all these - water, exercise, park, painting all rolled into one, you know that you'll get an entirely lovely experience.

Just nearby is the Beitou Hot Spring Museum. A building that was built in 1913, it was used as the public bathhouse and was considered the largest bathhouse in East Asia.. Did not step into the mesuem as they opened at 9am and I was there at...well yes, too early.

Overall, it was a good stroll.