Day 6 in Taipei 2013 - Jiufen (九份)

Today is Day 1 in Jiufen (九份). My girls and I intend to SHOP to our hearts' content. :)
Although we arrived in Jiufen yesterday at 5pm, with the settling down in the minsu, we didn't venture out until it was 6+pm. By then, most, if not all of the shops along Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街) were closed. Only restaurants and tea houses along Shuqi Road (豎崎路) remain opened until late at night.
In the morning, I tried to catch the sunrise but failed miserably. By 5am, the sun was already out! In Singapore, the sun only rises at 6+am. I could only take what photos I could of the sea bay from our balcony.

Taken at 5:12am, the sky is already pretty lighted up

Taken at 5:18am, see the mist/ fog coming in

Taken at 5:41am, the fog/ mist has obscured the view of the bay

Taken at 6:13am, the fog/ mist is clearing up

Taken at 7:54am

Taken at 8:08am

Taken at 8:22am

Just after 9am, we went to have our breakfast at Shui Ying Lan Tian's (水映藍天民宿) dining room on the first floor. Although the breakfast seemed simple, it was substantial - egg and ham sandwich, potato salad, and fruits (cherry tomatoes and guava) and hot coffee/ iced milk tea/ orange juice. The sandwich and the potato salad were really delicious. :)

Waiting for breakfast :)

The delicious and balanced breakfast :)

The dining/ lounge area

Finished yummy breakfast in no time! :)

After breakfast, we rested for a while before venturing out. My mother, having been to Jiufen several times, decided to stay at the minsu to relax. I secretly suspected that she wanted to catch up on her TV programmes that she missed the previous night lol.

Walkway to the stairs to the second floor where the guest rooms are

A shelf to keep one's shoes in exchange for the slippers that one has to wear indoors

My girls and I set out for Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) just after 10.30am. Thank goodness, we had a full breakfast because we had to tackle the long flight of steep steps at Shuqi Road. By the time we reached three-quarters of Shuqi Road where it intersects with Jiufen Old Street, we were huffing and puffing! Juliane thought her heart was going to stop. Well, I think we all thought and felt the same haha. :P I totally admire those people in the olden days who used to carry heavy loads up and down those same steps everyday.
Most of the shops in Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) are opened by 10.30am with a handful opening later at 11am or 12 noon. We love weaving in and out of the craft/ souvenir shops, browsing and looking. I had to remind the girls not to spend all their money at the first shop they go into because there are plenty of shops selling similar souvenirs. Sometimes, there is a difference in prices, depending on the direction: further in the Old Street where there is less visitors and tourists, prices are cheaper; nearer to the entrance of the Old Street, prices are more expensive. But I must say the girls were quite good with their money and manged to pick up some really nice souvenirs. :)

The long road up Shuqi Road (豎崎路)to Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) or Jishan Road (基山街)

Shenping Theatre (昇平戲院)

The Amei Teahouse

The girls walking along Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街)

One of many interesting craft/ souvenir shops

The girls at Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街)

One of many interesting craft/ souvenir shops

One of many Minsus in Jiufen

Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街)

Candy shop, the girls' favourite shop

One of many teahouses in Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街)

One of many teahouses and cultural centres in Jiufen Old Street (九份老街 or 基山街)

Art and Cultural museum/ Shop selling lollies, snacks and toys from my Taiwanese childhood

Another craft/ souvenir shop

View from the top of Jiufen Old Street, can see the mist/ fog coming in

Fog/ mist coming in fast, can barely see the bay

The girls with the view of the bay in the background. The bay is where Shen Ao, my mother's home, is.

Going back down Shuqi Road

Taking shelter as it started drizzling at The Amei Teahouse

There are plenty of food stalls among the craft/ souvenir shops along Jiufen Old Street (九份老街). We tried some ice cream from Misty (a stall selling ice cream and puffs) - the girls had lemon sorbet while I had Papaya Milk. I also bought Ah Lan's herbal glutinous rice cakes (NT$10 each) (草仔糕; a bit like ang ku kueh but green in colour because the skin is made from herbs) with red bean filling and chai poh mi (菜脯米) filling and Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan (阿柑姨芋圆) (taro balls with a mix of green, red and big beans, NT$40 each bowl) to bring back to the minsu as afternoon snacks lol. There are plenty of other yummy food/ snacks e.g. 黑糖糕 (heitang gao; molasses cake), 红糟肉圆 (hong zao rou yuan; minced pork that are cooked with Hong Zao - 红糟 and wrapped with a layer of rice flour skin), 福州鱼丸 (fishball with minced pork filling), braised snacks, and many others!! However, as I only have one stomach, I couldn't possible eat so many delicious things.  

One of the more famous stalls selling taro balls (芋圆) but I much prefer Ah Gan Yi Yu Yuan (阿柑姨芋圆) which is the other famous taro balls stall

Stall selling Hockchew Fishballs (福州鱼丸)

Ah Lan's herbal glutinous rice cakes (草仔糕) If you like ang ku kueh, you will like this :)

Different flavours of ikan billis

Us eating our ice cream from Misty - lemon sorbet and papaya milk

A kind of cake

Marieann's favourite snack - ice cream and crushed peanuts wrapped in popiah skin

Braised snacks, e.g. duck necks, duck tongues, etc, etc.

Other than many craft/ souvenirs shops, food stalls and many tourists/ visitors, we also saw many cats in Jiufen! Another highlight for the girls. :) It seems Taiwanese really love animals. :) Both the locals and tourists did not mind the cats wandering around, sometimes in the shops and sometimes walking along the same street. 

The resident cat in Yuan Herbal Soap shop (阿原肥皂)

Looking darn grumpy!

Cat is still not looking any happier. Girls, better be careful lol

Miss Grumpy

Cat walking on the roof of a temple

Snacking on grass

Caught me taking photo of it :P

Cat found a cosy spot when it started drizzling

Twin naps - Sleeping on top of the power box

Gungho cat walking on the ledge (of a cliff) and see the mist coming in

Caught napping

Sitting at entrance of teahouse

By 2pm, we were pretty tired from all the walking up and down Jiufen Old Street (九 份老街) so we decided to go back to the minsu to rest. As we were returning, it started to drizzle and the fog started to come in. The girls immediately mentioned the movie "The Fog" and I had to laugh at how fast they could apply their movie knowledge to the current situation. If only they can do so for their studies. :P We also stopped at the Hi-Life convenience shop, at the bottom of Shuqi Road, to buy drinks before we went back to our minsu.
We ate the snacks I bought from Jiufen Old Street as well as the cakes that my cousin bought for us last night. After stock-taking of the souvenirs we bought, the girls took a nap, as they were tired out by the exercise they had - walking up and down Shuqi Road (365 steps) and along Jiufen Old Street (九份老街), while my mother and I watched TV programmes. 

Our afternoon snacks :)

Ah Lan's herbal glutinous rice cakes (草仔糕) with chai poh mi (菜脯米) filling which is savory. Really delicious!

Souvenirs supposedly for friends and family but I won't be surprised if we decided to keep for ourselves! :)

We left for Jiufen Old Street (九份老街) again at 4.30pm. We wanted to have dinner and my mother wanted to show me this particular fashion shop which she thought I may like. Up we went on Shuqi Road again. I think by the end of my stay in Jiufen, I will have super toned legs! Haha :P Indeed she was right. I like the dresses and blouses in the shop. The designs are all hand-painted so each piece is unique. :) I bought a blouse for myself and three bookmarks. :) :)

The quaint little shop selling unique hand-painted clothes and other stuff

My blouse with cats hand-painted onto it and the hand-painted bookmarks

It was already 5.45pm by the time I was done with my purchases. We quickly went to look for dinner. Marieann wanted the same restaurant as yesterday but they were closed today. So we went into the next restaurant named after a famous Taiwanese movie, 悲情城市 (A City of Sadness) which was filmed in mainly in Jiufen. It was because of  this movie, 悲情城市 that Jiufen, and its surrounding areas like Jinguashi, Shuinadong became popular tourist attractions. :) 

Drizzling again as we made our way out of the shop towards Shuqi Road where most of the restaurants are

Down Shuqi Road for the 2nd time today, looking for dinner

A different view of The Amei Teahouse

The restuarant where we had our dinner, named after the Taiwanese movie, 悲情城市 (A City of Sadness)

My mother's Sesame oil chicken soup with mee sua

Xiao long bao and seafood fried rice

After dinner, as it was 6.25pm, my girls and I went back to shop at Jiufen Old Street while my mother went back to the minsu. She thought we were crazy to want to shop more. We had to seize whatever time left to shop before the shops close at 7pm! :P The girls managed to buy what they wanted but bad luck for me, the shop I wanted to go to was already closed. Guess I have to make another trip to Jiufen Old Street tomorrow morning. As we were going back to the minsu, it started pouring. It was kind of fun walking back to the minsu in the heavy rain lol.
Today was definitely leisurely-paced and enjoyable as we shopped to our hearts' content.