Taipei Eats - Zhongxiao East Road area Part III (忠孝東路)

The night hubby and I arrived into Taipei, we checked into our room at ALoft Hotel Taipei Zhongshan and then ventured out for dinner. We both had been craving for Kiki's since leaving Taipei near the year end in 2012, so of course our first dinner in Taipei after 4 years of longing must be at Kiki's. Hell, we're still craving Kiki's right now T.T

We picked Kiki's Fuxing branch, a 10 minutes walk from MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing Station (忠孝復興站). It was the night of September 15, 2016, right smack on Mid Autumn Festival. The whole city was quieter than usual and many shops were closed for business. So we were counting our blessings that Kiki's was open that night. There was a long line even, and we waited for about 30 minutes to be seated.

U-Bike Taipei

Very last post on Taipei! 

I walked by this U-Bike Station everyday on Heping East Road and was always curious how it works. It's located right in the intersection of Heping East Road and Shida Road, making it super convenient for tourists and college students alike with the Shida Night Market right down the street as well as the university next door. We also found another rental station at the corner of Zhongxiao East Road and Guangfu South Road (光復南路), I suppose so people can ride their bikes down to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the Xinyi shopping district where Taipei 101 is.

Hubby and I had imagined a whole day of biking around town on these, but between school and visitors, the next thing we knew Thanksgiving was already around the corner. And then the rain came. God, it rained, and rained, and rained. And it wasn't until right before we left Taipei did the sun came out for, like, a day. 

Taipei Eats - Zhongxiao East Road area Part II (忠孝東路, Picture heavy!)

More food ^.^

Hotpot is a must-try in Taipei, especially spicy hotpot (麻辣火鍋). That said, surprisingly hubby and I weren't too thrilled. I like it enough and hubby does too, but for some reason the spice really bothers his stomach and so we didn't eat it as much. When my sister visited though, we did take her along with J., her old friend from high school, to a hotpot restaurant, Artisan Hotpot (火鍋世家). 

The place is a chain, and it's nothing fancy or "famous," but it's unique in serving "individual" hotpot, as in everyone gets their own hotpot and no sharing is required. If you ask me, it really defeats the purpose of hotpot but whatever, we weren't too picky and the place was packed, so we figured it couldn't have been that bad.

Tea Atop Maokong, Taipei (貓空, Picture heavy!)

Hubby was dying to go up Maokong (貓空) to take a peek, so off we went on a misty afternoon before it started raining non-stop, for how long, almost 2 weeks now? Sigh...

Of course we had to go on the Maokong Gondola. It would be a crime not too! There are 2 separate lines, a super crowded one for a standard cabin, and less crowded one for the "crystal cabin," with a fiber glass bottom so you can see beneath your feet ^.^ The line for "crystal cabin" isn't less crowded because no one wants to ride in it. You have to buy a ticket for either lines, but with the "crystal cabin" line you have to get assigned to a time block in addition to the general ticket. Hubby and I didn't know this as there was not a sign or any instructions, perhaps on purpose because otherwise everyone would line up for it?. We and a bunch of other folks wasted time standing around until we all realized they were announcing time blocks for the crystal cars! 

We got cabin fever! (Picture heavy!)

A few weekends ago hubby and I got a bit of cabin fever and so we went out for an afternoon stroll through town ^.^

It was about 2PM, and having only snacked a bit for brunch we wanted to find a place to sit down for another snack. We got off at MRT Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station and walked around. Unfortunately, the place we wanted to try was closed (Kiki's, many restaurants are closed between 2-5:30PM to rest) and so we went across the street to this Fifteen Pizzeria Napoletana. 

Fifteen Pizzeria Napoletana

Hubby was thrilled for a slice of pizza as he was starting to get homesick and, well, sick of Chinese food LOL!

Taipei Eats - Zhongxiao East Road area (忠孝東路, Picture heavy!)

Hubby and I haven't explored the area around Zhongxiao Road (忠孝東-西路) much. We've only been there a few times to shop for knick knacks for the apartment or to meet up with friends. It really helps to have friends wherever you go, because thank goodness for their recommendations that you are never bored.

That said, I have to admit our first visit to the area was a complete failure. We exited MRT Zhongxiao Dunhua Station (忠孝敦化站) and after wandering around aimlessly for about an hour we randomly picked this Sichuan restaurant. I was iffy about it the moment we entered the place, because it was too, umm, poshy. I was right. It was alright, not terrible but not good either, and expensive as hell. A bad choice all around, so I didn't bother to take a picture of the place because I'd never come back.

Pickled cucumbers and plum juice.

Spicy diced chicken with bone in and "Sichuan style" beef noodles that was actually regular but meh beef noodles at 3x the price. 

Dessert was on the house - coconut jello. It was okay.