Taiwan - Day 3 (Beitou

It's so thoughtful of Ben to purposely buy this milk tea for us the night before. He said we must try this milk tea as it's one of his favourite. So before we left the house in the morning, we had this milk tea. Thanks Ben :)

Milk tea

We visited Beitou and Tamsui on our 3rd day in Taiwan. Beitou is a hot spring area located in Taipei. We took MRT from National Taiwan Sport University Station to Taipei Main Station (Cost: NT 60) and from Taipei Main Station to Xinbeitou Station (Cost NT 28) by taking the Tamsui - Xinyi Line.

Underground MRT

MRT to Xinbeitou

Xinbeitou MRT

Xinbeitou Station

We had our lunch at this Ramen shop just 4 minutes walking distance from Xinbeitou Station. We ordered fried pork chop noodles in pork stock, BBQ pork loin noodles served with pork miso stock and deep fried bean curd. Customers who ordered deep fried bean curd get to play a game. If you managed to ring a bell with one swing, you get 50% off your bill for the fried bean curd. It's an easy game and most customers who ordered the fried bean curd get 50% off including us. Overall food was okay. I kinda like their deep fried bean curd. It's slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Best eaten with their sauce.

Ramen shop

Fried pork chop noodles in pork stock

Fried pork chop

BBQ pork loin noodles served with pork miso stock

Deep fried bean curd

Address:

Ramen shop

No. 1-8, Zhongshan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

Just one minute walk from the Ramen shop is Ketagalan Culture Center. This center introduce the culture of Taiwanese indigenous peoples and admission is free.

Ketagalan Culture Center

Opening hours

Ketagalan Culture Center

Address:

Ketagalan Culture Center

No. 3-1, Zhongshan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

We just walked past Taipei public library Beitou branch which is 2 minutes walking distance from Ketagalan Culture Center. Just beside the library is Beitou Hot Spring Museum. The museum is closed for construction until 26th Oct 2018. There's a children's amusement park opposite the museum.

Taipei public library Beitou branch

Address:

Taipei Public Library Beitou branch

No. 251, Guangming Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taipei 112

Beitou Children's Amusement Park

Beitou Hot Spring Museum

Address:

Beitou Hot Spring Museum

No. 2, Zhongshan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

There's a public hot spring (mixed gender) in Beitou and it's the cheapest way to soak in the hot spring without having to pay for a fancy resort spa.

Below are the rules and regulations when entering the public hot spring pool:
1) Beach pants, casual pants, sweat pants, jeans, underwear, underpants or pants with pockets are not allowed in the hot spring pool
2) Only swimwear is allowed in the hot spring pool
3) Please do not enter the hot spring pool if you have skin diseases, infectious diseases or after consuming alcohol
4) Please shower before entering the hot spring pool
5) Children under 12 years may enter with parental or adult supervision
6) Recommended duration for using the hot spring is 15 minutes

Millennium Hot Spring (public hot spring)

Address:

Millennium Hot Spring

No. 6, Zhongshan Road,

Beitou District

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

If you are interested in calligraphy check out Plum Garden, just 1 minute walking distance from Millennium hot spring. You have to take off your shoes and put at the designated place before entering the house. Admission is free.

Plum Garden

Address:

Plum Garden

No. 6, Zhongshan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

Beitou Thermal Valley is one of the famous tourist attraction at Beitou. The area is covered with mists and have a sulfuric smell of rotten egg. The smell is still bearable compared to other natural hot spring that I've been to. Admission is free.

Beitou Thermal Valley

Address:

Beitou Thermal Valley

Wenquan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

We took a break, sat down and had a glass of bubble black milk tea at this milk tea shop not far away from Beitou Thermal Valley. The milk tea is good. Not too sweet and the tapioca balls are slightly soft on the outside and chewy all the way through to the center.

Milk tea shop

Bubble black milk tea - NT 45

Puji temple is 2 minutes walking distance from Beitou Thermal Valley. The temple is dedicated to the Goddess of Kuan Yin. We almost missed the junction and luckily we bumped into a nun and she pointed us in the right direction. You must climb a short path of stone stairs up the hill before reaching the temple.

Puji Temple

Address:

Puji Temple

No. 112, Wenquan Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

Beitou Museum is 16 minutes walking distance from Puji Temple. We were quite exhausted when we reached Beitou Museum. Road leading to the Museum was quite sloppy. There'a admission charges and before entering the Museum you need to take off your shoes and wear a disposable socks provided by them. During the period of Japanese domination, this classic Japanese building was called "Kazan Hotel". Both of us were quite impressed with their smart toilet seat which include advanced features such as heated seats, warm air dryers and automatic cover & seat opening.

Admission fee:
a) Adult - NT 120
b) Group - NT 80 (over 20 person)
c) Concession - NT 50 (students and senior citizens)
d) Free admission for visitors with disabilities and one of the attendants

Beitou Museum

Address:

Beitou Museum

No. 32, Youya Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112
Opening hours: Tue to Sun - 10am to 6pm. Closed on Mondays except public holidays

We walked back to Spring City Resort, 6 minutes walking distance from Beitou Museum and took up a hot spring spa package. We took the 1 hour private hot spring spa and our package include free shuttle bus service from Spring City Resort to Beitou Station. Since it's a private hot spring spa, you can bath nude and enjoy some quiet soaking time. There's three water taps and be cautious of the hot spring water. It's hot enough to leave burns. You need to mixed it with cold tap water. If you don't feel like soaking in a hot spring water, you can always turn on the hot tap water.

Spring City Resort

Hot spring spa

Health tea

Address:

Spring City Resort

No. 18, Youya Road,

Beitou District,

Taipei City,

Taiwan 112

The free shuttle bus from Spring City Resort dropped us at Beitou Station and we took MRT from Beitou Station to Tamsui Station (Cost: NT 24) It's still drizzling when we reached Tamsui and majority of the stalls were closed. Maybe it's weekday the whole area looks a bit dead. I had my favourite fried quail egg. You can spread some sweet or spicy sauce on it. Best eaten when it's hot.

Tamsui

Quail egg and hot dog stall

Quail eggs - NT 20 and hot dog - NT 35

Fuyou Temple

We had our dinner at this Special Flavor Hot Pot restaurant. I ordered seafood plates comes with either clam, shrimp, oyster, talapa fillet or dory fish (out of 5 choices of seafood you need to choose 3), rice, vegetables, egg and free flow of drinks and ice cream. You can choose either rice, instant noodle, green bean noodle, udon noodle or braised pork rice. My partner on the other hand ordered beef set. Staff will prepare the hot pot right in front of you. Somehow, I really enjoy my dinner that night. Love the flavour of the hot pot soup and ice cream taste good too. A hot dish is one of the best thing you can eat on a cold rainy day.

Note: NT$ 1 = RM 0.1460