Taiwan Trip Day 3 - Fuhang Soy Milk, NTU, Earthquake, and World Trade Center (Thursday, April 18th, 2019)

May 05, 2019

Taiwan Trip Day 3 - Fuhang Soy Milk, NTU, Earthquake, and World Trade Center (Thursday, April 18th, 2019)

Taiwan Trip Day 3 - Fuhang Soy Milk, NTU, Earthquake, and World Trade Center (Thursday, April 18th, 2019)

We woke up well before 7 am but got a good night sleep. We had decided to come to the famed Fuhang Soy Milk to pick up fresh breakfast for everyone. This is a place that we visit every time we come back to Taipei. Fuhang Soy Milk is located at the second floor of Huashan Market at the corner of the historical Taipei street of Shaoxing South Street and the main east west road of Zhongxiao East road. We got there just past 7 am and the line was not too bad. The line had only extended to the stairwell leading up to the food stalls on the second floor where Fuhang is located. We got in line and mentally prepared our order. We had to make sure that we were well prepared to order and in the the right ordering sequence, otherwise we would be considered a non-savvy patron by the store clerk.

Line at Fuhang Soy Milk

Kitchen of Fuhang Soy Milk

Bakery of Fuhang Soy Milk

Got our large order!

ShaoBing Yao Tiao

Ready to go

Getting the first bite

We beat the crowd a bit

We got a yam a couple cups of coffee from 7-Eleven near the apartment and enjoyed our breakfast with the little ones. We exchanged gifts with my sister's family. Our gifts for the little cousins - Lakers Jersey and a bottle of hot sauce from TJ's for my brother in law.

7-Eleven coffee and yam

Little cousin enjoying a yao-tiao

Laker's Jersey

After having breakfast and playing with the little cousins for a bit, we were heading to the Gongguan area on the green line by NTU's (National Taiwan University) main campus. Gongguan is a college town area with two major universities nearby including NTU and National Normal University. We were heading to the alleys at Roosevelt Road Section 3 to continue the search of the best Gua-Bao and Boba drink places in Taipei. In order to not switch train we walked across CKS Memorial from Ren-Ai Road to the CKS Memorial Hall Station on Roosevelt Road to get directly on the green line to Gongguan. The kids got to see the CKS Memorial Hall during this walk and we visited the Nan-Mien Market (South Gate Market) by the CKS Memorial Hall Metro Station.

At the South Gate by Aiguo East Road of CKS Memorial

At the corner of Linsen South Road and Roosevelt Road across from the South Gate Market

South Gate Market entrance

Food stalls at the South Gate Market

Women making fresh items

Freshly made Zhong-Zi

Jerky vendor, we got some to go

Traditional butchery, mostly selling pork

Fresh produce

Lunch crowd at the popular noodle stall

After touring through South Gate Market, we got onto the Metro Green line to Gongguan. After a short metro ride, we arrived at Gongguan. As soon as we got off the train we could not resist but to purchase some fresh donuts at mister donut, a popular chain in Japan and Taiwan.

Mister Donut at the Gongguan station

Regular sugar flavor

Chocolate flavor

After enjoying some donuts, we walked along Roosevelt Road along the tree-lined campus of the NTU main campus in search of our official lunch stop - a small Gua Bao shop in the alley of Roosevelt Road. We stopped by a clothing store for some street clothes shopping for the girls. While we were paying, we started to feel the ground move left and right. The movement of the ground started to increase in speed and distance. We realized it was an earthquake. This earthquake felt strong to us. There were some minor damages in the city and the metro system was subsequently shut down for hours after the quake. Plants toppled over and bottles fell off the closet at our apartment and my brother in law had to bear the brunt of the clean up. The earthquake was centered Huanlian in east Taiwan of a magnitude 7. Taipei reported magnitude 4 according to the news agency. There was a three second warning that sounded on our phones from the Taiwan agency. We were shaken but continued our quest for Gua-Bao and Boba drink.

Earthquake news report of magnitude 7 earthquake in Huanlian at 1:01 pm 7.2 second local time

Aftermath of the earthquake of the apartment

After experiencing the earthquake, we continued our walk and made it to the intersection of lane 286 and lane 316 at Roosevelt Road section 3 where our lunch spot is. We first got in line for the boba drink at Chen San Ting then we got a table at the Gua Bao joint named "Lan Jia".

At the intersection of Lane 286 and Lane 316 of Roosevelt Road Section 3

At "Chen San Ting" the drink place

"Lan Jia" Gua Bao street stall

Gua Bao and pork rib soup with corn

The all meat flavor for MM, no cilantro and peanut powder

After the earthquake and lunch, we stopped by the gate of NTU for couple of pictures then headed to the Xinyi district attempting to purchase bread at Wu Pao Chun bakery. At this time, the metro was temporarily shut down due to the earthquake. We had to take a taxi from NTU to Xinyi district along Xinyi Road. We drove through the neighborhood where I spent my childhood - Zhongxiao Fuxing in slow traffic. We finally got to Xinyi and walked to WuBoaChung bakery and found out that the bakery was closed on Thursday due to training. We will return again tomorrow. We got shaved ice at Ice Monster Xinyi before we took the RenAai mainline bus back to the apartment for a family gathering before dinner.

Taking a picture at the gate of NTU

An old bus converted into a mini museum at the street side of Xinyi district

Crossing Songren Road at Xinyi district among the high rise apartments

Ice Monster Xinyi-Almond Sesame

Strawberry flavor

Waiting for the bus home on Zhongxiao East Road Xinyi district

After a brief family gathering for photos, we headed back to the Xinyi district for the Taipei World Trade Center Club. We had a western dinner there. The western dishes were well prepared but seemed formulaic. The salad/appetizer and dessert buffet area had descent choices. The location was definitely a place to discuss business rather than a place to indulge in a serious culinary affair.

Taking a quick photo before heading out