Taipei, Day 2 - Longshan Temple, Ximending

So WHY weren't there any pictures of shaved ice in yesterday's post?? That's because I couldn't find a shaved ice place yesterday!!!

*sob*

Will my Taipei visit be devoid of shaved ice goodness? 

Anyway, I decided that I would split my day up into two segments. In the morning, I headed west to Longshan Temple (龍山寺). Wikipedia tells me that the original temple was built in 1738, and is still used heavily today by residents.

Pretty temple

Fountain inside temple grounds

I saw people taking slips of paper from this cabinet.
Is it their fortune?

After walking around for a while, I headed back to the subway. On the way there, I saw.... a dessert shop that sells shaved ice!! Shaved ice at 10:30 in the morning? Why not... I wasn't the only one buying some!

Oh YES.

Making a dent in the ice mountain. Oh believe me, I
ate it ALL.

The shop was small and homey, obviously catering to tourists. The proprietress was quite a marvel, speaking to two Japanese tourists fluently. The shop also sold sweet dessert soups and Taiwanese versions of mochi (they call it 'muachee', or 麻薯). My delicious ice came at a cost of only 55 NTD, or $1.83 USD.

Not even 11am, and I was already feeling very accomplished! My next destination was only one subway stop away, at Ximen. Ximending (西門町) is a trendy young neighborhood with lots of shops. It was actually quite quiet when I got there; many of the shops weren't open that early. But I found it nice to walk around without the crowds.

Entering the Ximending neighborhood

The famous Red House

Aw, this place is called "Ah Mo's Risotto". Ah Mo is the dog!

The neighborhood featured some street art. I think
this one says, "everyone is hungry!"

Walking around, I saw a pretty famous noodle shop. Naturally, it already had a crowd in front of it... so of course I had to stop and get myself some food!

Ah Chong Mee Sua. There were dozens of people milling around out front,
all eating a bowl of noodles.

My very own bowl! The noodles were quite soft, and suspended in a
thick fish broth. While some mee sua shops put oysters in the soup,
this place has intestines. I thought it was very yummy! This was a small
bowl, and cost 50 NTD ($1.67 USD)

I found the bowl of noodles pretty filling, and wasn't planning on eating any more. But as I continued to walk, I saw this place:

More shaved ice!

Hm. Two shaved ices before noon? I couldn't resist! This place featured a special snowy ice (雪花冰), which I had not tried before. So to make up for yesterday's deficit, I sat down for another icy bowl.

I got the mango/strawberry combo

The texture of the ice was VERY different

So how was it? Eh.... I have to say that I prefer the old fashioned type of ice more. This snowy ice is shaved in layers, from a block that looks like frozen milk. The result is definitely very smooth, and instantly melts on your tongue. It reminded me a lot of ice cream, which... is not what I'm looking for when I want shaved ice. So I'm glad to have tried it, but at 120 NTD ($4 USD, which makes it the most expensive thing I've eaten in Taiwan so far!), I would rather get two ices from the first place.

At this point, I'm VERY full, and the storm clouds were rolling in. I waddled my way back to the train station and made it back to my room before the rain started. My plan was to hit up the Shilin Night Market, which didn't open until 4pm. Which meant that I could safely fall into a food-coma nap. Yay vacation!

Next post... Shilin Night Market!