Schedule of the day
忠烈祠 National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine > 十份老街 ShiFen Oldstreet > 九份 JiuFen
Three of us laze on bed surf our social network til late morning. After breakfast we went to 忠烈祠 National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine by taking bus 208 (you may also take bus 247, 267 and 287 ) from 圆山站Yuan Shan station. **special info: Remember to tell the bus captain that you want to alight at the Shrine. otherwise he will never stop you there**
Martyrs' Shrine was build on 1969. The shrine was built to honour about 390,000 Chinese soldiers who died during the War of Resistance against Japan, the Civil War between Nationalist and Communist China, and the First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises. Entry is free, open to all.
What makes a visit to The National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine most memorable is the changing of the honor guard every hour. The ceremonial changing of the guard attracts a large audience.The slow and solemn 30 minute ceremony is marked by incredible military precision.The military officers of the guard**young and good looking!** undergo extensive training. Once a shift is changed, the soldiers stand solemn and still before the shrine until they are replaced in the next hour. The ceremony instills in visitors a sense of honor for the monument and the guards who protect it.
Such a fruitful afternoon we had. Absorbed some knowledge about history and watching those good looking guy change of duty. **Worthy!**
Next, we went to 十份ShiFen to 放天灯! We took 台铁TRA train from Taipei Main Station to 瑞方RuiFang (2way tix NT121 = RM 10.70 SGD5.33) Reach RuiFang about in 1.15hour time. After that you have to take 平溪小火车 to 平溪火车站. It took us less than 30 minutes to reach.
Shifen Oldstreet is mainly filled by Sky Lantern, 台湾小食, souvenir shops on both sides of the railways. The old railway environment makes for a pleasant family stroll and romantic day trip! Basically, most of the tourist who goes to ShiFen only for the Sky Lantern. So do I. **Besides because of time limits we gotta rush to JiuFen. :( **
Most of the lantern shop have the same price.
NT150 for basic colour
NT200 for multi colour. So what you gonna do is just to choose the best location that you want, to take picture.
Write your wish on the lantern and ready to send your wishes to the sky! :) **Tips : Please think what you wanna write on the lantern before going to ShiFen. Save your time! You have to go so many place!**
Just nice after we release the Sky Lantern. The train towards RuiFang Station arriveddd! So we boost all of our energy to run towards the train! Because so many tourist is grabbing the seat already!!! XD
In order to save the time, we took cab from RuiFang station to 九份JiuFen. You may take 基隆客运Keelung bus to JiuFen too, it takes half an hour time!
There's a cute story behind JiuFen. There were only 9 families living in the area.There were no roads serving it, goods could only be delivered by ship. Due to the inefficiency of transport to the region, the families would reserve 9 portions of each household good to be delivered at one time. Hence, the name Jiufen,9 Portions, has been the name of the town ever since.
By the time we reached
JiuFen the sun was about to set. We quickly ran to
阿昌芋圆专卖店 which recommanded by one of my friend. We can watch the sunset there. But... I didn't see the sun but a beautiful view of dawn. Seems like somebody poke the egg yolks(sun) then the yolks spills all over in the sky.
I swear that they have the
BEST TARO BALLS I ever taste! Their taro balls is seriously amazing! So chewy and sweet!! Yummm. I'm craving for it again. Somebody please bring me back to Taiwan~~~ I wouldn't care if I gain 5kg or 10kg! :P
**This is the interior of 阿昌Taro balls. Sorry I only remember to enjoy the taro balls then forgot to take pictures of dawn. :( **
While exploring the
JiuFen Old Street we spotted a shop full of people with weird costume. So we decided to go into the shop and have a look on what's going on.
The shop is full of different background and scene which allow you to take picture. Costume and props provided. So you be the model and be your own photographer. Due to hygiene problem we didn't wear their costume they provided because all of them were kinda smelly. Mostly "kediak smell" Alamakkk.. No choice la they got so many customer plus no aircorn inside confirm kediak sweat one right?
JiuFen steamboat Ho Ho Jiak!
Got no idea why we pose like that but sis caption this :"
肉肉放过我的腰，有种冲我的胸来" hahha. **shyyy**
大胆奴婢!见到本宫还不下跪?!
Took TRA back to RuiFang. Tiring day but well spent. :) Hapiness level x100000.
**special info going to JiuFen & ShiFen : If you are a person who doesn't like to rush and squeeze in the public trasport. Kindly hire a driver to these two places. In order to save your time too. Weekend crowd is so scaryyy. So better choose to go on weekdays! Goodluck!
