Acer Aspire 2930 - 7 years old, still up and running..

I would like to dedicated this post to the very first laptop I bought in 2009. I remembered I got this laptop for my master research. All I need was a machine that able to run Matlab (meaning at least a dual-processor, 2 GB RAM), 12" to 14" display, DVD-ROM, a basic integrated-graphic card because I'm not really a gaming person. In my searching I came across this specs built perfectly for my needs.

Acer Aspire 2930
You can check out the specs in detail and the good reviews too.

Anyway, I got a Macbook Pro as my main laptop, and use this Acer as my spare. You know the time when your laptop crash, and you were at the end of your study compiling thesis and oh gosshhh.. how much you wish you have a clone of your laptop?? And that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Get a spare system to access all my files, at anytime.

Although my old Acer doesn't stand up to Macbook that I'm using now, but I put all my files in the cloud and sync it in both laptops. So if anything bad ever happened to my Macbook, I would have the exact copy of all the files, in exact place on my Acer. It just like an insurance, peace of mind indeed.

Download disassemble Acer Aspire 2930 here (Machine disassembly and replacement pg. 41-123)

Taiwan Trip summary

As a little reward for myself, thanks to my scholarship for sponsoring my trip to Taipei, Taiwan (13 May - 18 May 2015). If you are into street food and night market, Taiwan is a must go place. I think 'eating' can be counted as their national past time =)

I'm not a good travelling blogger and I'm sure you can find other bloggers that can tell their stories much better about this wonderful country. As a technical researcher, let me just sum up what I LOVE about Taiwan in few points below:

• If kindness and friendly can be accounted as super power, then all Taiwanese are superhero 
• Street food just as good as any fancy Chinese restaurant
• CLEAN
• Their summer is great for me (less humid compare to Malaysia)
• Well preserved nature: national parks, beaches, mountains
• I can't stress enough the point about how great the Taiwanese are

I wrote few posts about my trip so that I can easily come back again. Check out the links below.

Accommodation: Minsu @ No.35 Jilin Road (Songjiang Nanjing station, exit 3)

Day 1 (13/5/15) - Arrival, Taipei 101 and Rao He night market
Day 2 (14/5/15) - Taipei Zoo, Ningxia night market
Day 3 (15/5/15) - Wufenpu and a Samaritan
Day 4 (16/5/15) - Yehliu and Jiufen
Day 5 (17/5/15) - Din Dai Fung, National Palace Museum, Ximending and Rao He night market again
Day 6 (18/5/15) - Going back. Check out here how to get to Taoyuan Airport

In Taiwan, I felt like a guest, not a tourist. I think you will have a good time, give it a try. So I'm just gonna end this post with a Chinese proverb about friendship, that I seen myself in Taiwan.

Make happy those who are near, and those who are far will come.

Affordable Minsu at Taipei - Chen Tai Minsu

We were looking for an affordable minsu for our trip to Taipei in May 2015. We came across few hotels within our budget but reading the mixed reviews in TripAdvisor making us skeptical to proceed with those hotels. I was trying to limit our budget to RM1500 for 6 days/5 nights, mainly because

1. I don't want to spend too much (guilty of overspending)
2. kinda poor postgraduate student 
3. I just overspent in an unexpected trip to South Korea last February

Our criteria in searching for minsu/hostel/hotel:

1. Safe (Got CCTV)
2. Clean
3. Near MRT
4. Have walls (not comfortable with dormitory)
5. Non-attached bathroom - OK
6. No amenities - OK
7. No room service - OK

Basically we are just like those backpackers travelers, just that we are not yet ready to settle for dormitory. We just need a room for shower and sleep at night. We wont spend the whole day enjoying the room tho (except sleep in), unless if I were on a honeymoon then that's another story.

Our search come to a conclusion (based on one review): Click here for Taipei Chen Tai Minsu, Jilin Road 35.

We were searching for some review on this minsu, saw some people post in TripAdvisor asking bout this minsu but to no avail, no body reply. So after our stay, I decided to write a post dedicated to this minsu, based on our experience. However, I can't guarantee you guys will have the same experience, because our experience can be biased-first our room was on ground floor. Read on for more info.

What you need to know about this minsu?

1. All communication need to be done in Mandarin (Chinese).
2. Safe
3. Clean
4. 2-5 minutes on foot to Sonjiang Nanjing MRT
5. You can choose double room (with queen bed or bunk bed) / family room
6. With attached bathroom
7. No amenities
8. No room service, but you can put the dustbin outside every morning and they will clear it.
9. Got washing machine on 4th floor
10. Got water dispenser for hot and cold water
11. Got refrigerator
12. WiFi was super fast
13. No lift
14. Owners very friendly 

This minsu was totally what we were looking for. We paid NT$3750 for 5 nights. If you just need a place to rest and shower, this place is for you. I just asked a friend to write the Chinese email for me. The response was fast, NO DEPOSIT needed. You just have to attached your flight itinerary to confirm your stay. Sometimes I just used google translate to double check stuff with them.

We asked for a bunk bed and got a room located on the ground floor. It was very easy for us after a long day outside and can just walk straight to our room, enjoying night market snacks. I can't imagine if I have to drag my feet go up and down to 4th floor everyday and night. Maybe you would like to check which floor is your room if yo have an elderly with you.

The condition of the room was good, kinda like Tune Hotel. Actually this minsu was more spacious than our stay at Dragon Hostel in Mongkok, Hong Kong. 

On the arrival day, we followed the directions given by the owner. However, with my limited Mandarin and google translate, our journey wasn't that smooth. 

Summary of the directions, as attached in the email:

1. At Taoyuan Airport, take Evergreen bus (5201 bus route). 
2. Get off at 6th station, Changan East road ‘長安東路二段’(5th station is Taipei University of Technology). Bus fare NT$150. 
3. Get off from bus, walk toward white-square-building. 
4. Walk toward 3rd exit of MRT Songjiang Nanjing station. 
5. Nxt to 3rd exit, there is an alley Songjiang Road 100 lane fu hua (松江路100巷”馥華商旅”). 
6. Walk toward the end, there is a sign 機車維修'. Got a sign nearby 大家恭喜 
7. Total 2-3 minutes on foot.

We showed the address (Changan East Road) to the bus driver so that he knows where we want to get off the bus. I don't think step 2 is reliable because the number of stations where the bus stop can be varied. I counted the number of stop was exceeded sixth time even before we reached Jilin Road. Anyway the bus will stop at Changan East Road, where the bus stand was just in front of Chunghwa Telco shop. I remembered walking in thinking to get a prepaid number but they seem like only selling phones. 

In step 3, after get off from the bus look,  walk toward 'white-square-building'. It was kinda hard to find, coz most building also look white. But look for the definite 'SQUARE'. Square, and not rectangle, and you will find it. You will know you are on the right path when you see Sonjiang Nanjing MRT exit 3.

Step 6 was the hardest step for us because we can't read Chinese. We don't know which is the end of Songjiang Road 100 lane fu hua (松江路100巷”馥華商旅”). But after getting help from few helpful Taiwanese we found our way. 

Right next to Sonjiang Nanjing exit 3, walk down that alley, cross the road, and walk till the end. The end of this second alley is a gas station. The minsu is just before the gas station. 

Walk down the alley next to this exit 3. Lot of scooters on the left, and bicycles on the right.

I started RunKeeper when I was on the escalator inside Sonjiang Nanjing MRT. Coming out from exit 3, turn right, and walk about 3 minutes to Chen Tai minsu.

GPS tracked using RunKeeper.
We stopped by 7 eleven to get sandwiches for tomorrow.

Using IOS map to check current location, a little bit off.
The current location is No.35, Jilin road

My bed

Chen Tai minsu front door.
You can detect buffalo WiFi here.

Some note in the room

Small but clean and cozy

Panorama view taken from gas station. Gas station is in bewtween Mos burger and a Siam restaurant

Overall we are very satisfied with this minsu. The owners are friendly and no fuss in checking in and out. They even provide supports before you arrive in Taipei, such as what to fill in the immigration arrival form, or in case if you run out of money in Taipei you can inform your parents how to transfer money to you, via their account (just in case of emergency). I will come back to this minsu if I visit Taipei again.

How to get from Taipei to Taoyuan International Airport

We read few blogs before we tried it out. Some blogs were very helpful, step-by-step instructions on how to get through the maze in Taipei main station.. but it comes with a very little mistake. We know this little mistake can be a matter of dead or alive... ok it's not, but still imagine if you in a rush to catch your early flight, a full backpack on your back, suitcase to lug up and down the staircase, and handfull of shopping bag because you were thinking to carry as much of hand carry to board on plane and oh nooo the crowd in that rush our. So, while the directions still fresh in my head, I'll try my best to put it down as clear as possible, for the future me, and the rest of you who not intend to pay the not-cheap taxi fare.

Okay, basically you just have to get to Taipei Main Station. And look for Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A.

You can get the bus to Yehliu and Taoyuan International Airport at Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A. So we tried out the directions on our way to catch the bus to Yehliu (two days before our departure).

Directions to get to Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A:

1. Once arrive at Taipei Main Station, follow the blue signs for Bannen Line.
2. Go up the escalators (2 escalators)
3. Walk through the corridors, as you follow the Bannen Line sign, you will come to a T intersection.

Step 3: Panorama view at the T-intersection

4. Make a right at the T-intersection.

Step 4: Zooming in the panorama view, you can see the sign 'Zhongxiao W. Road / ShinKong Mitsukoshi'. Turn right.

5. Follow the sign 'Zhongxiao W. Road / ShinKong Mitsukoshi'

6. Exit the station

Step 6: Exit the station

7. Follow the sign 'ShinKong Mitsukoshi / Station Front Metro Mall'

Step 7: After exit the station, follow the sign 'ShinKong Mitsukoshi / Station Front Metro Mall'

8. Go up the escalators.

Step 8

9. Go down the stairs towards the sign 'Taipei West Bus Station'

Step 9: Go down the stairs and keep on the right side

10. Stay on the right side as you head down, coz you wanna look for exit Z3 (exit Z3 is on the right side)
11. Look for exit Z3 (you will walk pass Z1, it's quite further down the hall)

Step 10 and 11: Looking for exit Z3

12. Go out from exit Z3, climb the staircase and you will see Taipei West Bust Station on the right. Go in the station, and you will see ticket counters on the left.

Step 12: Walk up the stairs

Step 12: Taipei West Bus Station on the right

To Taoyuan International Airport: Take the Airport express. NT$125

Airport Express to Taoyuan Airport. One way, non-stop for NT$125

To Yehliu: Take the bus 1815 to Yehliu. (I forgot how much, can pay using EasyCard)

Take bus 1815 to Yehliu

Some remarks:
On our day to Yehliu, the directions that I googled has a little mistake at step 4 and 5. It stated turn right and look for Zhongxiao N. Rd. I guess 'N. Road' stands for North road, we round and round looking for the N. Rd. It was during the rush hour, the crowd made the T-intersection kinda less obvious. I went down the escalators following the Bannen Line, hoping there will be a Zhongxiao N. Rd., but no I end up at the platform for Bannen Line. So I figured I could be wrong and check back again the blog, and it clearly stated 'Zhongxiao N. Rd'. We can't find the Zhongxiao N. Rd and just continued with the Zhongxiao W. Rd. And the directions after that matched our walk all the way to exit Z3. We relieved that this not happen on the day to Airport.

On our day to the Airport, the flight was at 9:55 am. We already checked in but still we have to get there at least 90 minutes before departure time, meaning by 8:20 am. And we still have to drop our baggage, the expected queue, and some room for mistake on the way there. So we head out from minsu at 6:15 am, walked to Sonjiang Nanjing MRT, got to Taipei Main Station, got through the maze, and got on the bus before 6:45 am. The traffic was clear that morning, it was a one-way express bus to the airport. I felt relief when the announcement kept on repeated all the way to the airport. I read some horrible experience where the bus will stop to take passengers on the way to the airport. We made it to the airport by 7:45 am, went through the immigration and still got 45 minutes for a proper breakfast. It felt like a huge victory that day.

If you guys didn't plan to visit Yehliu and Jiufen, I strongly suggest to try out the directions to get to Taipei West Bus station before your departure day. It's cheap to get to the Airport by bus, and Taipei Main station is not really a menacing maze of corridors like others describe.

I hope this little guide was helpful to you. If you've got any suggestion or if I left anything out please feel free to drop me a line below.

Taiwan Trip - Wufenpu and a Samaritan

We planned 5 days of travelling around Taipei, and we would like a break in this trip. We chose the third day as our relaxing day. Maybe we can just sleep in and shopping at Wufenpu in the afternoon, chill out having some shaved ice, and maybe a short trip to night market for dinner. But my friend's swollen feet getting serious. In fact she shouldn't walk at all, but she didn't want to stay all day long in the minsu. Sure, who wants that? We just head out anyway, and see how things go.

We got off at Houshanpi station, walked to exit 1, my friend got to take a break so we sat outside the mrt station and had some delicious chicken floss bun that we bought yesterday. Just some heads up, I can't stress enough the kindness of Taiwanese people in this post. You may just skip this post if you are already tired of my rave on the Taiwanese people (the good side btw).

The view at Houshanpi, exit 1

So we sat outside Houshanpi station, take a break before continue to Wufenpu. As we were sitting eating our bun, few Taiwanese walked passed us and one aunty, I guess she was in her 60s, sitting next to us, doing some kinda stretching and knee exercise, not in any weird way tho. She tried to have some small talk and asked about my friend's feet. I tried to reply with my limited Mandarin. My friend's Mandarin even worse than me, so I have to do all the talking. This friendly aunty suggested my friend to take some painkiller to reduce the swelling. She said something in Mandarin, of coz I didn't get it and I asked her to type the medicine in Chinese characters in my phone. But instead, she offered to get it for us, however she not familiar with Wufenpu area. She assured me that she can get it at some pharmacy at the other area. We didn't want that aunty to go through the trouble and paid for us, but she insisted.

I went with her, went back in Houshanpi mrt and got out from another exit. We had some small chat and I figured that aunty was in her 80s, and she is in perfect health for her age. As we crossed the road, some funny negative thought crossed my mind. How if this is a scam??? I know I know it's very bad of me to think of some samaritan/stranger's kindness in a negative way. Coming from Malaysia, stranger's kindness is kinda an oxymoron here. Since we were kid our parents were like a tapped cassette recorder with the reminder 'don't talk to strangers, don't take things from stranger, don't listen to strangers, don't verb to/with strangers. You can just fill in the blank. It is quite hard to relate strangers with kindness, especially in a foreign country.

As we walked down the road, I opened my running apps and use the GPS to track my path. In case if I were mugged or stranded somewhere. I don't want the newspaper title come out the next day 'Young tourist tricked by 80 years old granny'. But I was also thinking it might be a good idea so I don't have to trouble the kind aunty to walk me back all the way to exit 1 of Houshanpi.

Now with my GPS switched on, I followed her. Down the quiet alley, she really brought me to a real pharmacy and INSIST to pay for the medicine, NT$150. My level of guilt were already pretty high, and again we were bombarded by the aunty kindness. She knew we planned to go Taipei 101 by MRT, so she offered to walk us to Taipei City Hall all and then to Taipei 101. We kindly reject the offer because we didn't want to trouble her the whole day.

I already knew Taiwanese are friendly and kind, but today I seen a whole new level of kindness, how far they would reach out to help a mere stranger. My hat's off to you.

Me and my stupid GPS, and I burned 116 calories. What is not shown here is my level of debt-of-gratitude to aunty

Ok, my rave on Taiwanese ends here.

Now, we were hungry and looking for place for lunch. Just crossed the road and we saw a fish fillet shop full of people. We walked in and ordered some simple meal, sticky white rice with minced pork on top and a bowl of fish soup. It was quite nice. A lot of people ordered fish rice soup, 1-bowl-meal.

After lunch, we saw a Cosmed and decided to stop by, if there's any good deal or maybe some stuff that I never seen in Guardian or Watson back in Malaysia. Before our Taipei Trip I googled some of the top Taiwan made skincare and the result turns out to be Dr. Wu. Some blogs suggested to pick up some Shiseido drugstore products. I have to be careful after my last Korean skincare haul, I will never have to buy face sheet mask  for the next 3 years. No more face mask from Taiwan.

Let's see my Cosmed haul. I love Nexcare patch and I seriously think it is one of the main products that help with my hormonal acne prone skin. Although my skin is pretty clear now, but I still very traumatised with my last 3 years hormonal acne experience. I picked up the moisturiser made for acne prone skin (NT$800) and a DD cream also made for acne prone skin (NT$850), both by Dr. Wu. It was a pretty good deal, buy one and get one for free. I used to use Holika Holika CC cream, but I suspect that was the culprit in causing my skin congestion, ever since, I've stopped using any makeup product.

Cosmed haul

I knew I don't have that much cash and checked with the salesperson beforehand if I can use credit card. I just wished it was a weekend, then I can get 5% cash back from Maybank Amex.

My receipt came out to NT$5758, ~ RM694.17

After our trip to Cosmed, again I was beaten with spending guilt, in a DRUGSTORE? To make myself feel better, I kept convincing myself that at least it's not all skincare this time. I really restricted myself from spending in the next trip to Wufenpu, but still can't help myself when I saw a set of bra and panty for NT$100.

Good price. I will never get this in KK. Love that leather bracelet, NT$50

These Taiwanese sausages were awesome, NT$30. We came back twice.

We had good time today. Met good people. Wufenpu is very big, most of the sellers were friendly and kind, but if you are not lucky you might meet one or two non-Taiwanese sellers. And I tell you it was not a good experience. We went home early and had good rest.

Taiwan Trip - Yehliu and Jiufen

We planned to do Yehliu, Jiufen and Keelung on weekdays but something came up and we had to change the plan. My friend injured her feet so we had to drop out  Keelung Miaokou night market.

We took MRT from Sonjiang Nanjing to Taipei Main Station. Today we gonna try out the directions to get to Taipei West Bus Station, where we can board the busses to Yehliu or Taoyuan Airport. It's important for us to get it right today, we don't want to run around crazy on our actual day to the airport.

Read here for a complete directions to Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A.

On our way to the Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A, we went to a wrong side of the mall and ended up at Sushi Express. Then we decided why not have a small bite first. Honestly, it was pretty good. In fact, much better and cheaper than Sushi King.

The salmon was fresh and THICK. Just NT$80

After our small breakfast, asked the staff at Sushi Express where the heck is this West Bus station. We were told we were at the wrong side of the mall. We have to go to the right side, then only we can see the exit Z3, that will lead us to the west bus station.

We tapped our EasyCard and got on the bus 1815 right away. I forgot how much was the fare. The travel time to Yehliu was about 1 hour and 30 min. The bus driver informed us when we arrived at Yehliu stop. Yehliu Geopark is out of view from the bus stop. It's easy to get there, just follow the crowd, walk along the seafront.

Cute big light bulb

If you go on the weekend, expect the long wait for every picture you wanna take by the scenic rocks formation and crazy crowds from the tour groups. That's what happened to us. It was a sunny day, and we stopped by for some mango shaved ice.

Mango shaved ice @85 cafe, NT$98

We paid the entrance fee NT$80 and squeezed among the crowd. The first rock formation that we seen was a replica of the Cute Princess. 

Cute Princess - On January 20, 2010, a part of this rock split off from its head and formed a shape like a princess. The newly made landscape is known as Cute Princess. After an internet poll, 'Cute Princess' officially become the successor of the 'Queen's head' 

Replica of the Cute Princess.

The 'Queen's head'

Another cool rock

We didn't get to visit the other section where the Cute Princess is formed and the mushrooms lookalike rocks. The crowds getting crazier and we decided to leave for Jiufen. Before we leave, we bought some pineapple/mango/taro cookies as souvenirs. It might not a good idea coz we still have to get to Keelung, then transfer to another bus to Jiufen, but it was a good deal. At least that was what we thought. It was NT100 per box, and with every 5 boxes we get 1 box for free.

We went back to Yehliu stop, cross the road, and there is the bus stop to Keelung near the convenient store. Actually there were two bus stands when we crossed the road, and we not sure which one going to Keelung. There were taxi drivers there offering us to go there by taxi. We don't want to spend such money and insisted to get the bus. I was totally impressed by their response, they not even bitter at us for not accepting their offer, but they were so kind to alert us when the bus #790 that goes to Keelung came. This is not something you can see everyday from where I come from. We were impressed by Taiwanese kindness, politeness and friendliness everyday.

There are no direct bus from Yehliu to Jiufen, so we have to take a bus to keelung. We took bus #790, and I forgot the fare, again, every time when I paid using EasyCard. The travel time about 40 minutes and the bus will stop at some overhead pedestrian bridge. It was quite confusing to find the bus stop to Jiufen at such multiple intersections. We asked some guys at the coffee shop and he suggested to get train to Ruifang and then a bus to Jiufen, because there is less bus from Keelung to Jiufen. We followed the suggestion and go up the overhead bridge and head to the railway station. We saw a tourist information place just next to the railway station and decided to stop by, to double check the suggestion. The staff there suggested to proceed with the bus from Keelung to Jiufen and pointed us to the map of the bus stop.

Forgot the name of the coffee shop. Family Mart is just behind the bus stop.

This pic took from the overhead pedestrian bridge. Can see the bus stop just in front of the Family Mart

From this point, Tourist Information counter is at 10 o'clock position and Coffee shop at 2 o'clock.
Take bus #788 to Jiufen

The bus arrived in Jiufen after 40 minutes. Again we paid using EasyCard and I don't know the fare.

Heading to Jiufen Old Street

We got to Jiufen at about 4 pm. We didn't have much time to squeeze in the sea of people. We basically can't move, left alone to enjoy the old feeling and scenic view everyone raves about. It was like we were in a sauna room, but not with the relaxing sound of nature, but sound of the crazy wet market in Kota Kinabalu. It was a very bad idea to visit Jiufen on the weekend. To make it worst, some of the alleys are covered with roof and I felt suffocated and can't claustrophobic. I just want to get out from there. But still we have to try at least some of the famous snacks.

Ah Zhu peanut ice cream roll was quite nice. My friend loves it. Before we left, we bought some more but didn't eat it right away. It didn't taste as nice as the first bite. If you bought this, eat it right away while it still hot and cold.

Ah Zhu peanut ice cream roll, I think it was NT$40

Ah Zhu peanut ice cream roll, hot and cold in one bite

There were some mushroom stalls, you can have it grilled or deep fried. At first we tried the grilled one because there were some people queuing for that. It was NT$100, taste so so to me. So we bought the deep fried mushroom which was just next to it, and it was pretty good and it just NT$50.

Grilled mushroom, NT$100

Deep fried mushroom, NT$50

We have listed some of the must try food but we were push around in the crowd, my friend was annoyed so we left early after had some snacks and took same pictures.

This ocarina is cool. I was tempted to buy, but I know I won't have the time and it will just end up collecting dust at the corner.

Finally, some less crowded street to take a non-shake pic

I think this is the famous old street

Look at the island, kinda look like a man lying on his back

After we left Jiufen Old Street, now we have to figure out how to get back to Taipei. There are few options, we can take a bus to Keelung and then another bus to Taipei, or take a bus to Ruifang and then take a train to Taipei, or get a direct bus to Taipei (bus no. 1602).

Always remember to keep your options open, things don't go how we planned them.

All the busses will stop at the upper side of the hill. Follow the crowd and walk pass the 7 eleven.

We decided not to go to Keelung Miaokou night market, so there is no point for us to get to Keelung just to transfer back to Taipei. If we want to transfer to a bus or train, Ruifang is a better option because it is nearer to Jiufen.

But we were too tired for transfer and bring up and down the boxes of pineapple/mango/taro cake and other souvenirs we got from Yehliu. Thus, we queue for the bus no. 1602 to Taipei. I was a bit regret queuing for bus to Taipei. I afraid we have to wait for the second trip 1602 bus if the first bus can't have us all. At the mean time few busses to Ruifang came and left already. The queue were getting longger and we waited for almost 45 minutes before the bus no. 1602 arrived. Just when we about to get on the bus, I was the second person behind the line, my fear came true. The driver yelled 'Enough! No more passengers!' Damn we almost make it! But few seconds later he said if we wanna go Ruifang it's ok. Just that he can't drive a bus full of passengers standing and cramped like tin of sardine all the way to Taipei. We were glad as he changed his mind, we just want to get on the bus and left Jiufen. So we got off the bus at Ruifang railway station. I still don't really know how to get to Taipei, by bus or train. We walked to the railway station, there were not many people in the station, head to the ticket counter, and easily got us train tickets to Taipei, NT$49.

As we were waiting for train to Taipei at platform 1, we saw drinking water dispenser at platform 3. I was damn thirsty and really need, just water, not juice, not ice cream, JUST WATER. That drinking water dispenser was like heaven sent at that moment.

That was me at platform 3, posing with my water bottle.

Sometimes when we keep our options open, there would be a blessing in disguise. We had a comfortable journey in the train, all the way to Taipei. No more cramped like a sardine, plenty of seats. And we thought the train will stop at Taipei Main Station, but no, actually it stopped at Songshan station (green line). That's even better, we can just hop on the green line and get off at Songjiang Nanjing (green line also). No need to transfer line.

Summary of our journey:
1) Taipei to Yehliu :
Take MRT to Taipei Main Station --> Walk to Taipei West Bus Station Terminal A --> take Bus #1815 to Yehliu

2) Yehliu to Jiufen :
Take bus #790 to Keelung --> Take bus #788 to Jiufen

3) Jiufen to Taipei :
Take bus #1602 to Ruifang --> Take train to Taipei (got off at Songshan station)

A lot of things didn't go as we planned. Yehliu was great, although we got back to minsu with bad sunburnt. Jiufen was kinda disappointment in our trip, I'm sorry to say this. I know a lot of people love it, but don't let my experience ruin your upcoming trip. Like some sayings say it's not destination, but the journey that matters =)