Day 4 Beitou Hot Springs and Taipei 101 (4 nights in Taipei - March '17)

I forgot to mention that the day before, we visited the retail location of Chia Te, a bakery known for their pineapple pastries. We went there primarily to buy gifts to bring home since I actually am not a fan of the them in general. There was a line to enter the bakery and once inside it was still very hectic trying to select what you want. The place was crowded despite the line control with people purchasing boxes to ship home. We spent an hour selecting what we wanted and then waiting in another line to pay (separate lines for credit card and cash).

I ended up buying a large box of pineapple pastries for my coworkers, 3 small boxes with mixed flavors for myself, the significant other's parents, and my parents, and a random selection of pastries for me to try (I don't recommend the cakes with egg yolk - it's not a smooth interior but literally a hard salty egg yolk). I spent about $50 which included random pastries like their wife cakes and milk cakes just to snack on and try myself. I recommend making the visit to this location PRIOR to your last day so you can figure out how to pack the goods. I didn't realize until later that they are not sold at the airport (we found some randomly in some 7-11's in Ximending though).

Okay - last day in Taipei! My favorite part of the trip in Taipei was definitely the Beitou Hot Springs - the thermal valley was an amazing natural wonder and our hot springs spa and massage at Grand View Resort Beitou incredible.

The short "pink line" had really interesting TV's advertising Beitou on all of the trains

The gorgeous thermal valley - really a free natural facial, albeit a stinky one

There are many maps in the area that have clear directions to the thermal valley, but unlike what I've read previously, it is not easy to just wonder about and decide on which resort to visit. We wanted to visit a nice resort that offered either private or communal baths using the hot springs water and finally decided on the Grand View Resort based on the high reviews on TripAdvisor. 

Note: it was definitely not an easy or simple walk from the thermal valley, which is why they offer free shuttle services to and from the metro stop (not the new Beitou stop, but the actual Beitou stop so you don't have to connect on the pink line). 

Here are some bullet points to sum up our visit to the spa/resort:

• Because this is definitely one of the more pricey spas, we did not have or need advance reservations. However we also went on a Tuesday, when it was less crowded than the weekends. 
• Weekdays they offer a discount on access to the spa where they have 2 thermal hot springs pools since we booked a massage (couples massage since we decided to go together at the same time). 
• Unlike American spas, you cannot access the spa after your massage! This was a huge disappointment since one of the things I love most about a spa is relaxing after your massage. We decided on visiting the thermal springs pools for an hour and a half, and then start our 50 min massages
• There were fruits, snacks and drinks available in the spa. As usual you're required to shower prior to entering, however there was an attendant who went ballistic when I decided to enter without a shower cap despite the instructions everywhere saying you didn't need a shower cap if you had short hair. She also picked on us when we left our drinks on the table, saying we should consolidate them in our numbered cubicles instead. Anyway, she was definitely annoying!
• The massage was excellent - just the right amount of pressure and they had a shower for you to use after the services. They also served tea and macarons after the massage, which was incredibly nice. 
• We paid $330 USD for everything - I believe $120 or so for the massage, and then about $45 each for access to the spa. Yes definitely NOT cheap, however the facilities are gorgeous and very comparable to your high end spas in the US (although they require full nudity). It's interesting because it's quite large for the women's only section and it's half outdoors so it might be a little cold during the winter. Really overall happy with our selection and would highly recommend this resort to anyone coming to Beitou, willing to splurge a little for a massage and pool access. I'm sure the rooms are just as gorgeous.
• Make sure to tell the masseuse that you would like to use their car services to return to the metro station!

We left Beitou refreshed and at the same time very tired due to our massages. We decided we had to try the Earlobe Man boba before heading back to our hotel to rest. This was literally just milk with boba soaked in brown sugar. It was delicious and I couldn't help but go to the other frog boba place a block away to buy another. Both were just as good. 

 

There were a lot of food vendors by the boba place that were also delicious

Finally - to maximize our last day here, we walked around Ximending for the last time, picked up some Prince Cheese Potato (it was good, but strange), and finally got the beef noodle soup at Tao-Yuan-Street Beef Noodle Shop since we went prior on either a Sunday or Monday and it was closed! We had exactly the right amount of cash for our 2 bowls of noodle soup (which would haunt us later). We mustered up the last bit of energy to go to Taipei 101 and walked around the mall to do some last minute shopping. I purchased some tea for my parents and my friend bought some Din Tai Fung to go. To say the least, we were exhausted from the day and needed to pack for our 8:30am morning flight to Hanoi the next day! 

Prince Cheese Potato, Ximending

Tao-Yuan-Street Beef Noodle Shop

Overall our trip was packed to the brim with little rest in between and it was truly an awesome visit to one of the most interesting cities. There was a lot of history everywhere we went and there was never a point where I felt we were being taken advantage of because we were tourists. Knowing how to speak a little bit of Mandarin helped tremendously. Taipei was a very inexpensive city to visit based solely on the food - you could eat for less than $10 a meal. Based on all of this, I would definitely come back in the future! 

Next - Hanoi for 3 nights!