Status Update • Flash Visit to Taipei 狀態更新 • 快閃台北

It’s been quite a long time since I published my last blog post, 318 days to be exact.

2019 has been a busy and wonderful year to me where I have the chance to explore and learn so many things that I have never dreamt before. I am so lucky to have fully recovered, much stronger than before my cardiac operation. In addition, I also have the luxury to setup and run my own small cafe.

Running a small cafe is really a tough job to me and that’s why I have remained silent in my blog. I will share with you those bits and pieces later on.

Just took a few days leave by myself and arrived in Taipei on Sunday evening, day after the 2020 Taiwan President Election.

It took me about an hour to leave the immigration and arrived at the hotel by 8 pm. Have a quick dinner in a nearby food shop as most of the restaurants were closing at that time.

已經很久沒有更新過我的網誌，細數一下也有318天，究竟發生了甚麽事呢？

對我來説剛過去的2019可算是豊盛的一年。身體康復得非常之快，狀態可算是比心臓手術前更佳。另一方面，亦有幸可以擁有我的小型食店。

對我來説，經營一間食店是一件極不輕易且勞心勞力的事，因此也沒有空閒的時間去更新這個網誌，希望我可以在未来的日子和大家分享經營食店的點點滴滴。

剛過去的一月中，我放了自己數天假期，在台北總统大選後的星期日傍晚，一個人飛扺台北閞展這個漫無目力之旅。

入境的時間比我预期稍長，差不多晚上八點多才到達酒店。由於時間不早，很多食店已經準備收市了，放低行李便速速在附近找個地方吃晚飯。

This shop mainly served Italian Pasta and hey looked at my Taiwan style “Italian Bacon Pesto Spaghetti”.

平平淡淡的店子原來主要做意大利麵，看看我這個地道台式”煙肉青醬意大利麵”。

What do you think?

At NTD 120, I could’nt ask for more.

覺得怎樣?

只需台幣120，你還想要甚麽呢!

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Day One  第一天

Early this morning, I visited my friend’s cafe in Da’an district. As it is close to my hotel and I just went there by YouBike.

Starting from Dec 2019, one must provide the local Identity Card number (Taiwan residents) or the Alien Resident Certificate (ARC for foreign residents) when registering the service with EasyCard. Visitors have to use their credit card for one-time rental. I was so lucky that I had previously registered for the service in late 2018 and I can still use the service with my EasyCard right now.

早上拜訪台北友人在大安區的咖啡店。離酒店不太遠，利用微笑單車(YouBike)是一個不錯的選擇。

有一點要留意，從2019年12月起，登記使用微笑單車服務是要提供台灣居民身份証或外僑居留証编號。遊客只能使用信用卡作單次使用，較不方便。還好的是我在2018年尾到台北時已利用悠遊卡作登記，今天仍可繼續使用。

My friend’s cafe is located near the Da’an Park. Excellent coffee and foods served in a cosy environment.

友人的咖啡店在大安森林公園附近，環境舒適温馨，咖啡和食品都極具水平。

Take a look at the wall decoration and you will know how the name of the cafe came from.

如果想知道店名的出處，店内壁畫可給你一點提示。

Other than typical Italian Coffee like Expresso and Cappuccino, Specialty Coffee is also served here.

Here, my friend is making a hand drip Ethiopia Yirgacheffe for me.

除了一般的意式咖啡外，亦可品嚐到友人自家烘焙的精品咖啡。

今天早餐我選了耶加雪菲。

A heart warming set of Bagel and coffee to start my day!

這杯咖啡及藍莓比高包就為我帶出完美的一天。

If you have time, my friend will definitely share with you all the interesting information on coffee.

友人對咖啡認識博大精深，有時間的話，他一定樂於與你分享咖啡上的資訊。

By the way, there is an eye-catching marketing motto at the entrance of the cafe, saying that “Getting a quality coffee is as difficult as finding a good man“. I highly believed that the motto is not for the customers but actually targeted to my friend’s wife.

店外有一頗吸睛的宣傳口號: “好喝的咖啡，跟好男人一樣難找。“，我好肯定這句説話不是给顧客看，而是他特別為太太而冩的！

Before having dinner with my old classmate, I went to Longquan Street and visit the famous coffee wholesale shop “好地方 咖啡”.  Although the shop is extremely small, it is packed with a large amount of coffee related equipment like kettles, filters and scales imported from Japan. Price is not really cheap but somehow you can get most of the things you need there. As photo taking is not allowed, I can only show you the storefront.

晚飯前去了龍泉街看看咖啡器材店”好地方”。店舖雖小，但擺滿了很多日本進口咖啡器材；咖啡壼、濾纸、電子秤等。價錢不算便宜但很齊全。由於他們禁止在店内拍攝，大家只好看看店舖外觀吧。

Longquan Street is a lively space populated with all kind of restaurants and food stalls. Definitely a great place for food lovers.

龍泉街兩傍有很多各式各樣的食店，喜歡吃喝的真不要錯過。

My dinner is at L’appétit la Cuisine Francaise, a small french restaurant also located in the Da’an District. My classmate took me there more than five years ago and basically nothing has been changed. Still with the quality dishes and services they served, and few tables of customers as before. L’appétit la Cuisine Francaise remained a nice place for friends gathering.

和老同學約了在拉佩堤餐坊吃晚飯，第一次和家人到台北時，他也是帶我們到這裡。不經不覺已五年多了，沒有多大的改變，食物、服務一如當年的美好。食客仍然不多，是一個和朋友共聚的好地方。

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Day 2  第二天

I have an early appointment today also in the Da’an District. As usual, I planned to get there on YouBike but unfortunately, finding an idle YouBike in the morning of a workday is terribly difficult. I searched through a number of YouBike Kiosks without any luck. Finally, I managed to find the last available YouBike in another Kiosk far from the MRT Station.

早上有一個約會在大安區，一如昨天，我打算騎微笑單車付會。很可惜，原來在上班日子的早上是很難找到空置的單車。幾經辛苦才在離㨗運站稍遠的租借站找到唯一一部的單車。

By the way, today is the farewell ceremony for the eight generals and officers of the Taiwan Air Force, died in the military Black Hawk helicopter accident occurred on 2 January 2020. Soldiers and citizens lined up along the pavement to pay their last respect.

今天原來是月初台灣黑鷹直升機意外殉職軍官及隨員的送別禮。軍人及市民肅立在車隊經過的道路傍作最後的致敬，場面感人，亦反影到台灣人民對國家的一份尊敬情懷。

I have my lunch in a Japanese Ramen restaurant. This is a small shop located in the busy commercial area. My veggie tempura Ramen costed NTD 200, not cheap but quite big in size.

又到午飯時間，今天選了在大安區內的一間日式拉麵店。由於這處是商業區，店面不大。我點了野菜天婦羅拉麵，200元台幣，不算便宜但份量頗大。

Having no coffee in the morning, I visited Dancing Goats again in the afternoon.

My friend offered me his secret off-the-menu coffee selection. A mysterious beans combination that came with great aroma as well as a balanced taste of acidity and sweetness.

從早上開始也沒有一杯咖啡到肚，又是到跳舞山羊的時候了。

友人今天安排了餐牌上沒有的神秘咖啡給我。他用上了三種優質豆子作烘焙，散發出濃郁豐富的氣味；口味上在酸與甜之間亦均衡有致。

Have my dinner in local Taiwanese chained store “Formosa Chang” near the hotel.

沒有老同學請客，今天就在酒店附近的”鬍鬚張“吃晚飯。

Their most famous dish is Taiwanese-style soy stewed meats served on rice. Mine is a mini version, tasty but definitely can’t fill my belly. For the soft boiled egg in the upper left corner of the following photo, I suspected that it was over-cooked.

鬍鬚張最受歡迎的是他的鲁肉飯。我點了一個迷你版本，味道一流，只可惜份量實在太少了。相片左上角的糖心蛋就有點失色，可能是烹煮過度。

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Day 3  第三天

This is my last day of stay in Taipei. Instead of visiting those tourist spots or landmarks, I planned to visit the Banqiao District in the nearby New Taipei City. My friend suggested Jiangzicui to me where I can get a feeling of what a typical residential area in Taipei looks like.

I checked out the hotel in the morning. This is the Hua Shan Din by Cosmos Creation that I have stayed for the past few days.

今天是旅程的最後一天，與其再參觀明勝旅遊點，我打算到板橋區走走。友人介紹了江子翠這地方，讓我看看一般住宅區的環境。

晨早退了房間，便往外走。離開前就讓我好好介紹這間已住了三天的天成文旅華山町。

Housed in a 68-year old historical building that originally used as warehouse of the First Commercial Bank, Hua Shan Din is built on a localised design concept that is adopted for the other modern “Cosmos Creation” sub-brand hotels. Despite most of the rooms don’t come with any windows, but with the high ceiling and modern design, the rooms look quite spacious. At slightly over NTD 400 including tax, possibly you can’t find any hotel better than this.

華山町原址為第一商業銀行的貨倉。設計團隊把這座具六十多年歷史的舊貨倉重新包裝，和其他天成文旅系列酒店一樣，加入不同的台灣本土設計元素。雖然大部份的房間都沒有窗口，但極高的樓底再加上現代化的裝修佈局，為客房帶來很寬躺的感覺。以其稍微高於 400 元台幣一天的房租，相信在台北市也很難找到一間酒店可與華山町相比。

While walking to the nearby MRT station, I found an old food store serving traditional Taiwanese breakfast. The delicious Taiwanese Omelette (or Egg pancake) that I had last eaten 7 or 8 years ago immediately come to my mind.

I ordered one with bacon and egg as fillings for NTD 40.

在往㨗運站的途中，看到一間地道台式早餐店，又勾起多年前吃過台式蛋餅的美味回憶。 二話不說，立即點了一個 40 元台幣的煙肉煎蛋蛋餅。

Wow, it is hot and the sauce is really tasty.

熱烘烘的蛋餅，配上惹味的醬汁，滋味難以形容。

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Jiangzicui is located in the northern part of the New Taipei City where the Tamsui River and Xindan River meet. It took about 20 minutes to reach the Jiangzicui Station from my hotel via the Bannan Line.

江子翠位於新北市北面，是淡水河和新店河滙合之處。經㨗運板南缐約二十分鐘車程便可到達台北市。

Just got out from the Jiangzicui MRT Station along the Wenhua Road, you will find quite a number of newly built high rise residential buildings erected among those 4 to 5 stories old buildings. Similar situation can be found in other Taiwan locations as part of city revitalisation.

㨗運江子翠站外的文化路傍有頗多新建高層大樓，與其他四、五層高的舊式住宅相影成趣。類似的舊區重建情況在台灣各地亦常見。

Before continuing my journey, a cup of coffee will definitely brighten up my day.

Just opposite to the MRT station exit, there is a Louisa Coffee store.

雖然己吃過蛋餅早餐，但相信一杯優質咖啡更能把快樂感覺提升。

剛巧在㨗運站對面有一間路易莎咖啡的分店。

To my understanding, Louisa Coffee is now the largest Coffee chain in Taiwan in terms of store locations, surpassing Starbuck Taiwan recently.

據我理解，如以分店數量作比較，路易莎是台灣現時最大的連鎖咖啡店，剛巧超越星巴克台灣。

I have not tried their Italian coffee so I can’t say how it compares with Starbuck. Instead, I have ordered their Yirgacheffe G1 Natural hand drip coffee (Oops, forgot to take a photograph!) for just NTD 95.

How did it taste? Well … , I think you should try it yourself.

我從沒有喝過路易莎的意式咖啡，很難把她和星巴克作比較。今天我特別點了一杯耶卡雪菲 G1日曬手沖咖啡，遺憾我忘記了拍照。

味道如何？ 我覺得 ⋯ 你應該自行一試。

Jiangzicui seems to be quite a good place for living. Well established transportation networks like the MRT Bannan Line & Provincial Highways,  wide varieties of stores, & supermarkets fulfilling all kinds of day to day needs.

感覺上江子翠應該是頗適合居住的地方，交通網絡完善。區內各式商店、超市林立，迎合日常生活需要。

My initial plan is to visit the Jiangzicui Scenic Riverside Park along the Tamsui River. However, as I have to arrive at the Taoyuan International Airport by 4 pm, I inevitably changed my plan and decided to ride back to the Hotel on YouBike instead.

I picked up the YouBike next to the Xinpu MRT Station and rode along the Jiangcuilijian Riverside Park, up on to the Huajiang Bridge and back to Taipei City.

原定計劃是去參觀淡水河畔的江子翠景觀河濱公園，但因為下午四點前要到達桃園國際機場，只好無奈地更改行程，騎微笑單車返回酒店取行李。

在新埔㨗運站取車，沿途溜覽江翠礫間水岸公園，再經華江橋回到台北市。

Before going back to the hotel to pick up my luggage, I made a brief stop at Dancing Goats Coffee to say goodbye to my friend.

時間尚算充裕，先去跳舞山羊和友人説聲珍重。

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Unlike all my previous trips in Taipei, my major means of transportation for this trip is on YouBike except for the MRT Airport Express to and from the Taoyuan International Airport. It only costed me NTD 5 for each of the short trips that took less than 30 minutes of ride. Despite the trip from Jiangzicui back to Hua Shan Din costed NTD 40 which nearly double the MRT fare, I have the luxury to enjoy the wonderful scenery along the riverside parks as well as to say goodbye to my friend.

和以往不同，除了往返機場外，今次交通主要是倚賴微笑單車。一般三十分鐘內的行程只需 5 元台幣，極之化算。雖然由江子翠回華山町要 40 元台幣，但既能欣賞沿途景致，又可和友人道別，絕對是物超所值。

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Finally arrived in Taoyuan International Airport on time. Have my last cup of Panama Geisha at the Wing Coffee to mark a graceful ending to my Taipei trip.

上機前再細味品嚐一杯巴拿馬藝妓，為我的旅程帶來一個美好的終結。

Written on 15 January 2020.

寫於 2020年1月15日。