Showing posts with label Accomodation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Accomodation. Show all posts

4 September 2014

Taipei Day 2 - National Palace Museum; Soka Center; Jay Chou Deja Vu Restaurant




Started off day 2 with the Taiwan National Palace Museum and Taiwan Soka Association headquarters building, Zhi Shan Culture Center.


Taiwan National Palace Museum

Take the MRT Danshui Line (red line) to the Shilin Station and change to bus R30 to the National Palace Museum. Other routes that will take you to and near the Museum plaza are buses 255, 304, 815, Minibus 18 and Minibus 19.











We took bus 255 because we wanted to visit the Taiwan Soka Association headquarters building nearby at the same time.
Bus 255 stops right outside Zhi Shan Cultural Center (opposite National Palace Museum), super convenient!



How the bus looks like:




Taiwan Soka Association (TSA)
TSA Zhi Shan Culture Center

No. 250, Zhi Shan Road, Section 2
Shihlin District, Taipei,
Taiwan 111

Tel: 
886-2-2888-1777

Fax: 
886-2-2888-1788





There was an calligraphy & painting exhibition by Lee Yih-Hong 李義弘 when we visited the cultural center.



Here's him:


You may refer to his works and bibliography here.

In the exhibition hall above, there was a collaboration project by the national palace museum and various museums of the world showing the history and evolution of arts, and raising awareness on the museums in the world.





Looking through a summary of the evolution of paintings.
As we walked 'through' the timeline, we can see that paintings get more colourful and at the same time, more complex. It's probably in-line with how the world has developed overall over the centuries.



Arts reference books for you to delve deeper.





Us in a photo in a photo :)



The TSA office which is a few steps away from Zhi Shan Cultural Center.
We went to make zaimu and bought souvenirs back for Singapore members & friends :)







Moving on, we crossed the road to the National Palace Museum!

National Palace Museum

No.221, Sec. 2, Zhishan Rd., Shilin Dist.
Taipei City 11143, Taiwan (R.O.C.) .

Opening hours:
Daily from 08:30 to 18:30 all year round.

Admission ticket price:
TWD250 per person
TWD150 for students with valid international student ID or Youth Travel Card

For more details on hours & ticket prices, click HERE.

Do note that photography is not allowed in the palace museum.
All photography equipments, coats and luggages will be requested to be deposited at the checkroom.







Familiar group? Haven't seen them in Singapore for quite some time.



A cute kitty store we passed by.
Full of kitty merchandises!





By the time we ended our tours at the soka center/national palace museum, it was way past noon!
Thus we decided to go for high tea at Jay Chou's Deja Vu Restaurant.


Jay Chou's Deja Vu Restaurant

No.1, Sec. 1, Bade Rd., Zhongzheng Dist., Taipei city 100
台北市八德路一段一號  華山1914文創園區  中四A館 

Phone:
02-2396-8296

Hours:
12 pm- 12 am

Website:
www.deja-vu.com.tw

Email:
service@deja-vu.com.tw

Nearest station: 
Zhongxiao Xinsheng station 忠孝新生站

The restaurant is hidden within Hua Shan Creative Park (文創園區). Take the Blue Line towards Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center and alight at Zhongxiao Xinsheng station. It's merely 2-3 stops away from Ximending/Taipei Main station area.
From Zhongxiao Xinsheng station, take a 10-15mins stroll towards Hua Shan Creative Park and you'll find Deja Vu Restaurant quite easily once you walk into the park.


The fine dining restaurant is a joint venture between 2 Taiwan celebrities Jay Chou 周杰伦 and Liu Qian 刘谦 and thus, ta-dah! You get a magic-theme restaurant.
Besides various items and props used by Liu Qian in his magic previously, Jay Chou fans will scream at the antique piano and the Batmobile which was featured in his 'Superman Can't Fly' and 'Super Sports Goddess' MVs.
I love the feel of this restaurant totally!













We had fresh orange juice (TWD160) and coffee latte (TWD80).



The tea sets are available at TWD580+ per tray, each tray serves two persons.
There was a selection of sweet and savoury treats respectively on the first and second tier, and fresh fruit platter on the bottom tier of the tray.




The tiramisu and cheesecakes were pretty good!
I had two servings of the cheesecake without feeling jerlat afterwards :)




Next up would be Wufenpu and Raohe Night market!


***

20 August 2014

Taipei Day 1 - Kuo Kuang Express Bus & InHouse Hotel

Lotsa blog entries snow balling again!
Gonna pen down my (not so) recent Taiwan trip before I forget the details! :D


MOBILE SERVICE IN TAIWAN

Got a 8-day unlimited data simcard at the airport for only TWD550 (SGD24)!
There are 3 telcos to choose from, with very competitive pricing. So, just choose the one with the shortest queue lol.
I bought mine from Far Eastone and the telco staff helped to place the simcard into my mobile phone and activated the data plan.



TAOYUAN AIRPORT TO XIMENDING 
(VIA KUO-KUANG BUS)

Cabbing from the airport to the city will cost around TWD1,300-1,500 (SGD57-65), hence we decided to try out the express bus service - Kuo-Kuang Bus (国光) #1819 that is available at only TWD125 (SGD5.50)! Tickets can be purchased from the booths right outside the airport.



Kuo-Kuang bus no. 1819 goes directly to Taipei Main station and from there, we can change to a free shuttle (complimentary of Kuo-Kuang) to get to Ximending. Cheap and good!
Journey takes about 50 mins so you can catch a nap on the comfy bus!



ACCOMODATION

For accomodation, we stayed at the popular boutique hotel, InHouse, located right at the heart of Ximending and a 5-minute drive from Taipei Railway Station.

InHouse Hotel

台北市西寧南路107號
No.107, Xining S. Rd., Wanhua Dist., Taipei City 108, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Tel: 
+886-2-23753388

http://inhousehotel.com/en/home.php


We made reservations through its site and received a confirmation email promptly.
Credit card details were requested as a guarantee and actual payment needs to be done only upon check-in.
Rates: TWD 3,400 per night

 The InHouse team has entered the hospitality industry with the introduction of InHouse Hotel in Ximending, offering stunning design, elegance and romance in each individually created room.
Our room came in sweet lilac, complemented by pleasing wooden furnitures.




View from the room!




One of the reasons why this boutique hotel is so popular - it comes with L'Occitane products refilled daily!



Separately, InHouse is one of the best nightclub in Xinyi District. Hence you can get a feel of this entertainment group through its lobby/lounge.




Full-length mirror calls for an OOTD shot :D



Rooms come with complimentary breakfast and coffees (two per day, at anytime) served at its Wakuwaku Cafe at Level 2.
Love the cute, pinkish wall decor along the stairway!











Side dishes to go with your taiwan porridge :)




And of cos, my must-have for brekkie :)



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