Roaming Potato: Lin Family Mansion, Longshan Temple, SYS, Liao Ning Night Market

Woke up afresh, ready to stamp our marks all around Taipei. Wohoo!!

Checked out the hotel first thing in the morning and headed off to Taoyuan Train Station. Had a little trouble finding the place initially, but managed to arrive there by asking around. Boarded a local train to Taipei Main Train Station. If not mistaken the tickets of the 36 minutes ride cost around NTD48 per person.

Oh..before continuing, I apologise for the lack of photos on this day. Lost a lot of the precious shots that I've took that day, especially those taken in Longshan Temple and the Lin Family Mansion. So sad :( Hope I am able to find some way to retrieve them back. Sobx...

Taipei Main Station and Taipei Metro Station are literally located next to each other. Topping my to-do list once we arrived at Taipei Metro Station was to buy the Easy Card for NTD20. You can purchase them at any costumer service counter in all Metro Stations.

Remember, there's a deposit fee of NTD100, you can top up the value as many times as you like. The balance minus NTD200 processing fee will be returned to you once you return the card. Users will automatically get a 20% discount each time you swipe the card.

Next, we alighted at Nanjing E, Rd, dropped our bags at Westin Hotel and headed to the Lin Family Mansion and Garden. This Lin Family Three-Courtyard House is one of the finest examples of the Qing period houses to be found in Taiwan. The delicate craftsmanship are just magnificent and well preserved. Free admission. We spent hours taking shots from different angles but unfortunately..argh..I had to say it again, we lost all the photos :( .....To get there, alight at Fuzhing Station (Banqiao Line), exit by Exit 3, follow Fuzhong Road to Wenchang Street, turn right and continue approximately 30 meters to the mansion at Ximen Street. On the way, you'll pass by the Taipei Police Headquarters.

Stopped by one of the food stalls near the market place for lunch. Oh..this is a Taiwanese MUST TRY. Sorry no photo. It's called Bah Wan (meat dumpling dressed with gravy) and Hu Wan (fish ball with soup). Not bad, something different.

After a full stomach, we proceeded to our next destination, Longshan Temple. One of the oldest and most popular centre of worship in the Wanhua District. Also one of the nicest temple I'd ever seen. But a temple is a temple and it will only look as great as a temple can be. Again, no picture. The temple is a 5 minutes walk from Longshan Temple Station. Take Exit 1 and you'll see a sign right in front of you.

Next stop, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall. To get there take Exit 4 from SYS Memorial Hall Station (Nangang Line). Service hours are from 9am - 9pm everyday. Free admission. There are a number of art galleries and exhibition halls inside the building.

Framed historical documents

The Army, Navy and Air Force take turns to serve as the Honor guards with hourly shifts

The 5.8m tall Bronze Statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen

Another Bronze statue outside

The exterior of the Memorial Hall (side view)

You get to see Taipei 101 from here

From afar. Lovely place for an evening stroll.

It was getting late, Taipei 101 is just a walking distant away, yet we decided to explore the mall some other day. Time to head back to the hotel and grab some dinner!!

So lucky for us, Liao Ning Night Market was situated directly opposite our hotel.