the heart as it is | courage • grief • beauty

Today was an earlier start ! We headed out of the Airbnb around 8:00 to get an Uber to 松山 train station, which would allow us to get onto an express train to 瑞芳, the closest train station to 九份. There is another 10-15 minute bus raid from the 瑞芳 train station to 九份. At that point, I had not eaten any breakfast yet, so I stopped by one of the many breakfast shops in the 瑞芳 area to grab this yummy bread with green onion in it. This was the cool-looking shop:

We finally reached 九份 around 10:00 am. Every single time I’ve been to 九份, it’s always been raining. However, the rain and cloudiness do help a lot with lighting ! Anyways, I have a ton of photos that I am lazy to organize again 😬:

I was quite tired this morning as I didn’t get much sleep the night before due to drinking too much coffee the previous afternoon. So we stopped by a coffee shop that was also a bed and breakfast where I got some really good 奶茶. I don’t understand why the 奶茶 in the states can’t also be made at this quality !! I usually don’t care for 奶茶 in the states, but I really go out of the way to get some while in Taiwan. Anyways, while in that coffee shop, I would drink some 奶茶 and lean on Jacob’s shoulder while I recharged a bit:

That particular coffee shop had some outdoor seating which had amazing views over the valley/mountains/oceans:

Finally, after spending perhaps an hour or so at this coffee shop, I went to look for a place that had 湯圓 – it is a must-do every time I come to 九份, as it tastes really good, and there are many shops. The last time I came, my mother and I ate at the 湯圓 shop at the very top of the village, but seating seemed crowded for today. So I opted for one closer to the entrance of the village – and it was just as yummy in my opinion :

This was also the first time I noticed that we could have 湯圓 cold ! But I got a warm bowl since I don’t think I’d be used to eating them cold yet.

Some other random shots I took around 九份:

A mountain view:

Getting back to 台北 from 九份 was tricky. I had mistakenly thought I could use the Taipei Easy Pass to board any train back to Taipei, but when the train worker came to stop us, he told us we can’t use the easy pass – and actually had the google translation ready letting me know that this is a common mistake. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to let us pay on board, and we were reimbursed the fare on our Easy passes once we got back to a 台北 MRT/train station.

From there, we decided to head straight to the Dongmen area that is known for some good food and really cute store fronts. Jacob tried 炸醬麵 for the first time, as well as the stewed beef from a beef noodle soup dish. I ordered the beef noodle soup but gave my meat to Jacob as I am pescatarian :

The broth for the soup was SOOO flavorful. It was very yummy. This place is also a Michelin guide, but for some reason has 3.8 out of 5 stars only. I actually heard of this place first when my mother took my sister and I to this neighborhood a long time ago. This time, Jacob and I had to line up only a few minutes for some seats, but in previous years, I remember the line being very long.

After our late lunch, we walked around the Dongmen area a bit more:

Our final stop was mango shaved ice !! I was hoping it would be warm enough today to eat these, but it got down to the low 70’s, high 60’s, plus it was a bit breezy. So Jacob and I ate part of this yummy dessert with our jackets on for the last part of our travels today: