Taiwan 2012: 新北投 Xinbeitou & 淡水 Danshui

One thing on our list to do during our vacation in Taipei this year includes visiting a sauna. The cousin and I popped by Xinbeitou first for a visit to a hot spring on the way to Danshui (they are located on the same metro line). There are several hot spring hotels in the area, and apparently, the last of the sakura flowers were supposed to be in bloom (it was in April). Sad to say, it was raining the day, and all I saw of the sakura flowers were on the below pitiful tree branch.

 新北投 Xinbeitou

As it was drizzling while we were searching for a hot spring hotel, I didn't capture too many photos cos I did not want to make my camera wet. The area is really packed with quite a few hotels that offer different hot springs, so the cousin and I just chose one and popped in there to enjoy the steamed bath.

After a relaxing session at the hot spring, we made our way to our next destination - Danshui.

 淡水 Danshui

Yummy mochi

There were alot of food options along the Danshui Old Street. Snacks such as pickled fruits, mochi, iron eggs and were everywhere. They make good souvenirs too. The mochi were really chewy and yummy, but cos it was made on the spot (and likely without preservatives), they don't keep for too long. So if you are planning to buy these back home, it would be good to plan visiting Danshui on one of the last few days of your trip.

I love the Japanese styled dorayaki (pancake filled with different fillings such as red bean, chocolate, custard etc). And when we saw there was a stall there, we were drawn to it because there was a long queue for it. Being typical Singaporeans, our theory was that queues = good. So we joined the queue too.

There were two available flavours - custard and red bean. Just take a look at the amount of filling they stuff into each pancake! Oh. Em. Gee. I've never seen anyone pack so much filling into a pancake before. It was a no-brainer to which flavour I got if you could just look at the above shot there. We each got one and after biting into mine, I immediately regretted not buying more. It was so so good. Lightly crisp on the outside, the pancake was piping hot and had a oozy creamy sweet custard filling. Swoon.

Dusk was just setting then, so we sat by the water to eat our snacks and just chill. Lovely. Makes me wish I was back on vacation again...