The Unforgettable Travel Accounts: Taipei: Free and easy travel to Tamsui and a sumptuous spicy mala hotpot buffet dinner

Day 1

This was an exciting trip to Taiwan consisting of 19 family and relative members, first time for me travelling with such a large group. The entire trip was a hybrid of free and easy and customised land tour with Topology Travel (真程旅行社). Since we had a large group, we had rented 2 mobile oversea Wi-Fi routers from Changi Airport, so that we could still surf the Internet and access Facebook etc. when we are travelling on the coach. We gathered at Changi Airport Terminal 2 for an early flight to Taipei. I could see everyone was excited and many were busy taking photos with one another and with the Christmas decorations in the airport.

View of our aircraft from the Departure Gate

View from the aircraft

We had our lunch on the flight, since we would reach Taipei after 1pm. The immigration clearance at Taoyuan International Airport (台灣桃園國際機場) was relatively smooth and fast. After this, we were greeted by 2 tour guides from Topology Travel (真程旅行社), which a coach had been arranged to send us to our hotel, East Dragon Hotel (東龍大飯店) at Ximending (西門町). The tour guides knew that we might had an early lunch on the flight and could be feeling hungry again, it was very considerate of them to prepare some biscuits and local produce for us so that we could fill up our stomachs during the 1 hour coach ride.

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East Dragon Hotel (東龍大飯店)

We reached the hotel at around 3pm. We did not have any planned tour with Topology Travel (真程旅行社) on Day 1 other than the airport transfer. So the rest of the day would be free and easy by our own. As for the hotel, we were the ones who chose East Dragon Hotel (東龍大飯店), while Topology Travel booked for us. We had selected this hotel because of its good hotel room reviews from Agoda and Booking.com, affordable price, and most importantly its close proximity to the core area of Ximending (西門町) and the Ximen (西門站) MRT Station. The hotel itself is not very big, which the lobby and breakfast area is considered small. For the rooms, they are reasonably clean, modern and equipped with all the basic needs like the television, bar fridge and free Wi-Fi (although the signal strength may varies in different rooms). The service of their staff was great, friendly and prompt to help the customers on any questions like direction and recommendations on travel itinerary and restaurants.

Tamsui (淡水)

After we settled down our luggage and rested for a while, we departed the hotel at around 3.50pm to our first destination, Tamsui (淡水). The group of us walked towards the Ximen Station (西門站) and purchased the Easycard (悠遊卡) for every member over at the station. The Easycard (悠遊卡) is Taipei's contactless smart card (similar to London's Oyster Card and Hong Kong's Octopus Card), which can be used for the Taipei MRT, taxi, buses, convenience stores and supermarkets. We would be travelling around Taipei free and easy for a couple of days, thus it's more convenient for everyone to hold one of it. We took the MRT train to Tamsui Station (淡水站), which is the terminal station of the MRT Line 2.

View inside the busy Ximen Station

Exchange via the Taipei Main Station

Sunset view seen from the MRT

The day was getting dark already when we stepped out of the MRT station. Our target was to get to the ferry terminal (淡水客船碼頭), then take the ferry to the Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭), a very popular place for sunset viewing, seafood and shooting site for many Taiwanese serial dramas. Other than that, another popular attraction (but we won't visit) in Tamsui is the Fort San Domingo (紅毛城), built by the Dutch in 1644 during the colonial rule.

Scene outside Tamsui Station

We walked towards the prominent Starbucks building and cut through the night market at Tamsui Old Street (淡水老街). Everyone became excited with local food and snacks, and started buying snacks and drinks from the vendors, partly because we were also starting to feel hungry.

Tamsui Old Street Night Market

We had spent too much time at the night market, so when we finally found the way to the ferry terminal, it was passed 6pm and we had missed the last ferry to Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭). Well, it was really a disappointment, since visiting the Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf (淡水漁人碼頭) was the main reason why we had travelled here so far from the city centre. It was also too late for us to detour to the main road to take the alternative Bus Red 26. We simply stroll along the shops along the coast, had ice-cream, took photos and enjoy the night scenery.

Boats as seen from the Tamsui Ferry Terminal

We eventually made our way back to Tamsui Station (淡水站), which we had to return to Ximending (西門町) to have our pre-arranged dinner.

Royal Empire Spicy Hotpot (皇家帝國麻辣鴛鴦火鍋)

It was another long journey back to Ximen Station (西門站) and I could see everyone already hungry and tired after the walking at Tamsui (淡水). After we stepped out of the station, we walked further south of the station towards our dinner destination, Royal Empire Spicy Hotpot (皇家帝國麻辣鴛鴦火鍋).

Night view of Ximending

Royal Empire Spicy Hotpot

The venue was recommended and booking reserved by Topology Travel (真程旅行社). The restaurant was full house when we arrived, so we had to wait for a while for the staffs to clear the previous tables. The dinner is buffet style, with every 2 persons sharing one yuan yang (鴛鴦) hotpot, which is quite generous. In each hotpot, we get to choose 2 soup bases from a list of 10 different types of soup bases, such as Mongolia and Specialty spicy "ma la", Japanese miso, seafood, curry, tomato, Korean kimchi, and mushroom. The drinks are also free flow, serving many kinds of canned and bottled drinks. Over at the food section, we can find a wide offering of food, such as chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish, prawns, octopus, squid, crab, fresh vegetables, beancurd and many more. At the desert section, it is equally generous, with free flow fruits, cakes, puffs and Haagen Dazs/Movenpick ice cream! We were really satisfied with the quality of the soup, food and the service of the staff. For the amount we have paid, it was really value for money. This is a highly recommended place for hotpot buffet near Ximending (西門町) area.