Day 3 - Taipei

On Day 3, we asked the hotel reception to book buses to Taipei for us the night before. However, when we got to the reception counter, we were informed that the bus companies do not accept reservation of tickets by hotels. Fortunately Cy and I decided to wake up earlier to buy Sun cakes or 太阳饼 before we leave Taichung so after buying the sun cakes we still had time. We walked over to the bus companies which were situated near Taichung Railway Station to purchase the bus tickets.

After that, we went back to hotel. I woke the boyfriend up and then 4 of us trooped over to the bus terminal with our luggages. The bus departed at 11.30am and we reached Taipei Railway Station at about 2pm. We then took the MRT to Ximending which was one stop away. Reached hotel at 2.20pm, couldn't check in yet so we decided to walk around Ximending. First stop was 阿宗面线 which Cy had been looking forward to for ages. Me, I'm not a big fan of Ah Zong but still, gotta admit that after not eating it for 2 years, quite welcomed the taste, and with the big cooling breeze blowing through Ximending, the warm mee sua was quite comforting to the belly!

After eating and walking around a bit, we checked in at 3pm. Honestly, this was the first time I was staying at Rainbow Hotel and I've heard loads about it because of its prime location. BUT I told myself this was the first and last time I'm staying there. The room was small and dark, the bathroom was not ideal with the flush a little spoilt. The television was spoilt at our last night. There was no rest area in the lobby for guests to rest, gather, or just wait for each other. Apart from its location, I would say there was nothing fantastic about Rainbow Hotel. In fact, I stayed at Paradise Hotel the last 2 times I was in Taipei and it was definitely much better (though also a bit old).

We walked around Ximending then after that went to Shi Lin Night Market, the most famous night market in Taipei. This was my 5th time there so didn't take many photos of the place.

Though this was my 5th time at Shi Lin, I still found it really enjoyable. The shopping's great, there's also lots of variety when it comes to food, bubble tea, rice, steaks, chicken, smelly tofu, sausages and tonnes of other things. Lots of people say it has become much more commercialised, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that, as commercialization would only mean that it has become better and more improved for tourists don't you think? :)

After Shi Lin we didn't feel like calling it a night as yet, so we decided to go to the Partyworld opposite Ximending for karaoke. It was uber fun! We sang until about 3am, then walked back to our hotel.