Day 8 in Taipei 2013 - Ximending (西門町)

My mother decides to visit my uncle-in-law again in hospital so the girls and I are free to do what we want! :) We decided that we want to go shopping, most likely back to Ximending again lol.
After breakfast at 9am, we came back to the room to rest and to plan what we wanted to do for the rest of the day since shops at Ximending opens only after 11am. Just then, we noticed a lot of people on the roof top of the Military Police HQ. Our window (on the 6th floor) looked directly across to the rooftop of MP HQ. It seemed the military police were having a practicing session on how to deal with rioters/ protestors on the rooftop lol. Not sure if the whole bunch of military police saw us but it would have been funny with the four of us squeezing round the window to get a closer look. My mother and I also started to pack our luggage so that we don't have to rush tonight. At the same time, we were watching the Korean drama, Smile Again, Donghai! on TV from 10-12noon haha.

A hearty breakfast (Chinese style)

While packing, found these souvenirs bought during our Tamshui and earlier Ximneding trips

More souvenirs that they girls bought for themselves

Presents for the girls from my mother's friend

Stamps which Marieann bought during our earlier Ximending trip

The military police getting ready for their practice

At 12noon, we went separate ways. My mother took a different MRT line to the hosiptal while the girls and I took the Nangang line to Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station. The girls wanted to see the Hello Kitty Cafe and to have lunch there. Unfortunately, when we got to the cafe, it was closed from late May 2013 to late June 2013 for renovation! :( There was a staff on site and she apologised to us and suggested we try the Barbie Cafe which is a few minutes' walk away. The girls were not interested in the Barbie Cafe so we left but vowed to return to the Hello Kitty Cafe on our next trip. :)

Hello Kitty Cafe closed for renovation!! We will be back! :)

A long stretch of mural at Zhingxiao Fuxing station depicting major attractions in Taipei. Can you recognise the attractions? There is Yuanshan Hotel in this section.

This section of the mural shows Taipei Fine Arts Museum

This sections shows Museum of Contemporary Art and Longshan Temple

This section shows Ximending's The Red House, Ximending, Taipei Main Station and Presidential Office

Taipei 101

Taipei MRT train

Songshan airport

Taipei Zoo and Maokong Gondola

We took the MRT back to Ximen station. We went to Daiso (all items NT$39 except for food stuff which is NT$49) and we spent an hour just browsing and deciding what to buy! It seems the some of the items being sold here are different from those in Singapore, and also with the price tag of NT$39 (it is about SGD$1.70 only), it is cheaper than in Singapore. I had to limit the number of things we could buy because of the weight limit for our luggage (20kg for 1 check-in luggage and 10kg for cabin luggage). I am worried about our luggage being over-weight! :P

A quick pop into The Red House for the girls to collect the stamps

Guide map of Ximending (it was useless to us as we had no sense of direction lol)

The goodies bought from Daiso :)

By the time we were done at Daiso, it was already 2:30pm. We were famished and headed straight into the first restaurant we saw. It's an Italian pasta restaurant called the Pasta Bar. We ordered set meals which ranged between NT$200 - NT210 which came with your choice of main pasta dish (add NT$40 for premium dishes), soup/ bread + drink. We sat at the full-length window on the second level. It was fun to have your meal while people watching from above. :)

The milk tea and corn+prawn soup from the set meal

Juliane with her set meal of garlic bread and chicken pasta in cream sauce

My pesto smoked duck pasta

Marieann's seafood pasta

After lunch, we shopped from 3:30pm to 5pm in Ximending. It was also drizzling lightly on and off. We bought some clothes, Marieann bought some earrings for herself and Juliane bought another hand-sewn owl souvenir for herself. We started to head back to our accommodation as we were pretty tired. But we were pretty happy that we got some shopping done. :)

Stopped at an arcade full of Claw cranes or grab machines. The girls wanted to try their luck. 

The girls didn't manage to grab anything lol. Only NT$20 spent/ wasted lol.

The girls thought they are "too cool for school" :P

One of the streets in Ximending

One of the popular meeting places in Ximending

Stopped by 7-11 store again to get snacks :)

On the left is the Military Police HQ, in the middle is the Presidential Office, on the right is Taipei Hero House

Front entrance of Taipei Armed Forces Hero House

Military Police HQ (can you see two guards posted at the entrance?)

Collected room key 640 and the breakfast vouchers for tomorrow

We were watching "Smile Again, Donghai" when my mother returned at 6:30pm. We ended up glued to the TV until the Korean drama ended at 8pm lol. :P Only then did we go look for dinner. As we were still not that hungry after our heavy pasta lunch (and the afternoon snacks), we bought food and drinks from the 7-11 store. :)

Sandwiches and pork rib bento

The pork rib bento came with pork rib, vegetable, sour vegetable, ham, and rice

After dinner, I packed our luggage because tomorrow morning, we have to check out at 11am and it would be too rushed to leave the packing till tomorrow. In terms of weight, I think our luggage just about made it within the weight limits. :)