Will be breaking down my trip into different parts as the following:
Part I will consist of cafes and eateries I went i.e this post
Part II will consist of my review on the night markets I visited
Part III will be a short review on COSMETIC SHOPPING (!!), misc reviews like transport & accommodation and my itinerary which I have received some emails about them! (:

I'm quite an avid fan of watching Taiwanese idol dramas (would give up sleep for it) and thus, I kinda made it a point to be visiting the locations of some of the more known drama scenes! Also, these cafes/eateries tend to be less crowded and in a less populated area so, NO/LESS CROWD YAY.

1. Cafe, Waiting, Love 《等一个人， 咖啡》
Anyone who has watched the movie will know this cafe, because the cafe name IS the movie name itself! Even though Cafe, Waiting, Love isn't as nice a movie nor as big a hit as 那些年， 我们一起追的女孩 (both are by the same author), the quaint and humble set up of the cafe in the movie was definitely what I remembered most clearly from the movie itself!




The set up, furnishing and interior design is entirely the same as the movie itself, and even the barista spots the same hairstyle as Abusi, the barista (acted by Megan Lai) in the movie.





Interestingly too, there is only one cup of 老板娘特调 per day!!! I tried to order it but was told I can only order the Iced version of it LOL but I went ahead with it and was so pleasantly surprised with its taste!



Anyway, I brought this chio serviette back to SG with me as a memorabilia LOL don't judge thanks

For a table of 4, this was what we had:



Swan and her friend Michelle had Apple & Cinnamon waffles while Lunz and I had the standard waffle (topped w nuts, honey and whipped cream) I forgot the price but it should hover around NT200-NT250!

Lunz and I had a meal at another cafe prior to meeting Swan and her friend hence we only ordered desserts on top of our drinks.

The names of the dishes were a replica of everything "ordered" in the movie! Found it really amusing when the waiter served this dish called 告白需要勇气 (he said it out) to a couple dining there LOLLL.




Nobody leaves the cafe without taking tonnes of photos anyway. There were so many people lining up outside the cafe to take a photo with the signboard in the middle of the road that I wouldn't find it surprising why in the movie an accident really did happen on the road there LOL!!! Like, nobody actually cared about the traffic! Then again, the location was really quite ulu and about 1 hour journey away from Taipei City.







But I'd still say, it's quite worth a visit but make sure you make reservations beforehand! They're always fully reserved. It might be quite expensive to call from Singapore to the cafe so maybe you can reserve after you've bought a SIM card when you've reached Taipei. For us, Swan's cousin made the reservations for us prior, yayyyy!!! hehehe

2. Longtimeago Cafe 文创互动咖啡馆
Filming location for an upcoming movie 极光之爱, acted by Rainie Yang. (Can't wait to watch!) Trailer here:

I first found out about this cafe while I was doing my research for nice cafes to visit in Taipei when I chanced upon a review HERE and that must have been the biggest gem of a find!!!







This cafe is well known for its latte art and what really drew me towards this cafe was I saw a photo of a Winnie the Pooh latte art on their facebook....!!! Some research into their location showed that it wasn't inaccessible, in fact the area it is located in is filled with several other cafes!


I went there on the very following day that we were in Taipei and we were the first customers for the day! Super Singaporean you may think HAHAHA like go so early for what.... because I didn't want to go when the cafe is crowded because you can only request for your customizations during off-peak periods!!! (The cafe was almost full when we left)




Excitedly told the barista I wanted a pooh coffee art heheheheeeee (still beaming with excitement even though this is more than a week ago)

AND THIS WAS PRESENTED TO ME

Unlike most coffee arts, some of their drawings (like pooh) can only be done on Iced Lattes! and it was my first time seeing coffee art being done on Iced Lattes too. (Oh, I ordered Vanilla Latte and it costs NT$150)

Admiring my cup of pooh. It was a tough moment having to destroy his cute fat silly face... :'(



There were Honey French Toasts, Smoked Salmon, Greens, Tofu (loved it!!), homemade seaweed jelly. It would fill a tummy of one if you haven't had anything prior to visiting the cafe hahaha. Oh, it came along with Salad and Yogurt too! So worth the money!

Even more pros about this cafe? Beautiful design (see below photos), free wifi, NO service charge, NO minimum spending!


Our total bill came out to be NT$570 (SGD$25) for 1 main and 2 coffee. Worth it.


3. La Vie Revee Des Anges 天使热爱的生活咖啡馆 (name is so long I had to google LOL)
Located in Danshui, this was a surprise find for me to discover there are actually sooooo many cafes at the end of Danshui Old Street! Met up with Zuyou in Danshui and he brought us there because he frequents this cafe (:
 The words to describe this cafe would be: vintage, nautical, PETITE
HAHAHA I put petite because the stairway up to the dining area was so small and the ceiling was very low.. I wondered how Lunz managed to climb up without hitting his head LOL. Furnished with lotsa vintage articles neatly littered around the 2-storey cafe (with bench seats overlooking the river and a perfect sunset view!) and painted in nautical colours, I can totally picture myself spending hours there with a cup of coffee reading a storybook (which was what many were seen doing)






4. 竹村居酒屋
Filming location for 《我可能不会爱你》
This Japanese restaurant is definitely not unknown, because one look from far I spotted tonnes of photos with actors/singers who've dined there plastered on the walls! I remember I first "saw" this Jap eatery while watching the drama and thought to myself "why I go Taipei so many times but I've never seen such places?!" so I decided to hunt it down!

This place feels extremely Japanese!!! (looks really eerie in the photo too LOL) But before you excitedly include this eatery into your to-go list, you might want to familiarise yourself with their menu first:









We saw the table next to us eating thick, fat slabs of sashimi but we didn't give in to temptation to order because Standing Sushi Bar back here has it cheaper.


5. Mala Yuan Yang Hotpot (BUFFET)
This is my MUST visit every single time I'm in Taipei!!! Like, every visit, I make sure I have a meal here because it's just soooo worth it. At NT$399 for a weekday lunch (NT500 after service charges etc), you get free flow of meat (think Angus Beef, Short Ribs, Mutton), seafood, drinks (including Taiwan beer), desserts, Haagen Dazs and Movenpick Ice Cream!!!













I believe I have briefly mentioned about this place before in my previous blog post a few years back when I went Taipei too. Hehe but this is just too good not to share again! They have more outlets now, but I always go back to the one in Ximending because I guess I kinda feel attached to that place HAHA Be sure to make reservations too! It's always fully packed. (Of course it wasn't when I first found this place in 2009 lol)



6. Honey Creme

Beat all the long queues in Singapore and went to its Taipei outlet to try on a cold, rainy weather. Tbh  there's nothing special much... I tried it only 'cause I didn't want to queue in Singapore. LOL there are definitely wayyyy more yummy soft serve in Taipei!


That was about all the cafes and eateries we visited, there were so many more cafes I've jotted down in my notebook but we only have 1 stomach man.... can't eat that much in a day and also, it can cost quite a bit to be cafe-hopping too much! Would have loved to visit Dazzling Cafe (coming to Singapore soon, known for their Shibuya Toasts), Mr J Italian Restaurant (Jay Chou's cafe), Drama Cafe (many dramas were filmed here!) and Touched cafe (for the mille crepes). So if you guys have more time, stomach space and money to spend in Taipei and wanna cafe-hop, you may consider these options as well and let me know how it was!!!

But of course, eating at night market is wayyyy cheaper, yummier, filling though unhealthy. I visited 4 night markets this time round and it will be up in the next post!! (: