Fengjia Night Market, Taichung!

 Hi guys & girls! Promised to update more about my taiwan trip and here I am! This post will be all about food at Fengjia Night Market and be prepared with the all the food spam!! *salivates~*

Will also include some of my personal favorites and recommendation in the post!

 The entrance to the food heaven! Fengjia Night Market is the biggest night market in Taiwan and it is always packed with people starting from the evening time. If you do not know your way there, fret not! Just grab anyone on the street and they are able to tell you where is it, that's how popular it is! And if you're in Taiwan, this is the night market you should NEVER miss out! I promise you'll never regret your choice coming here!

 All packed with people ranging of all ages and nationality. Food brings people together~

 Fried squid. It is very common to find squid in Taiwan! They are all so big, juicy and chewy!

 Look at how big and fat the tentacles are! 

 Can you guess what food is this??!!

It is the popular pig blood!! A lot people come Taiwan to eat the pig blood as it is not commonly found in Singapore. But I am definitely not a fan of it. If you have never tried it out, do give a try!

 Tau Huay aka Beancurd. They have a variety of toppings with the beancurd and that makes beancurd a whole lot more interesting and nicer! I personally prefers the peanut topping!

 Tau Kwa aka firm tofu. They have different flavours of tau kwa and I would always go for the recommended mushroom topping as mushroom are my favorites! hehe!

 Pork knuckles! Look how big it is! In Taiwan, they like to use different kind of powder seasoning on top of their food. You can try out the different seasoning and best decide which one is your favorite. We tried the original black pepper and lemon one and it both taste nice!

 And one of the most popular and recommended food in taiwan!!! Scallion Pancakes aka cong you bing! It is pan fried dough mixed with green onions. It is like our local roti prata, crispy with a tinge of green onion taste in it.

 When you walk to the end of the alley, you'll see this shop selling different flavors of clams. You can also see many people crowding around this area and eating their hot pipping clams by the roadside.

 The different flavors available and each is only NT60!! And their portion is not too small. We tried the garlic flavor and oh man, they are not stingy with their garlic AT ALL!! Lucky we are a great fan of garlic so we pretty enjoyed it. However if you are not a fan of garlic, I would recommend you try the sea flavour.

 Sorry for the poor quality as it was pretty packed there and I didn't managed to get a proper shot of it. Look how big the garlic are and how generous they are with it. It's super sweet and juicy~ definitely worth the price and if you are a clam lover, do try out the different flavours!

 Tako Balls we call it!

 But the local version one is way much bigger than what we see in Singapore. Way bigger and way more ingredients! 2 is definitely enough or you'll not be able to try out the many more food yet to be discovered!

 Mini soft shell crabs! and as usual, you get to choose your seasoning. 

 Although they wrote "MUST EAT", I think it's just so-so only. nothing fantastic. just small and you can eat it together with the shell. 

 Papaya milk shake! Famous drink in taiwan and do go try it out! it's smooth and the portion of milk and papaya is just nice!

Rib eye roll beef?! at the night market?!

 Yes, they do have rib eye beef here! and they grill it right infront of you!

 Not very big portion but juicy. Not too bad for the price but definitely don't expect to compare it with what you eat in restaurants. 

 And while waiting for our beef to be done, we spotted this cute tarts located just beside. They are small and resembles the Portuguese tarts.We wanted to try but we had other desserts on hand already so we gave it a miss! If you guys happen to pass by this store and try it, do let me know if it taste good!

 And they are called cat tart! wonders why~ haha

 Oh!! this is a MUST HAVE! HIGHLY RECOMMEND!! This is the deboned chicken leg and wrapped in its skin. When grilled, all the juice from the skin and meat will be wrapped within and when you bite it, the meat is soo tender and filled with the juice! *salivates~* We would normally buy 3 per person and yes, you just can't get enough of it. haha! I personally like the original black pepper and the chilli flavor.

 Look how tempting they are~ it's all calling out to me!

 Definitely give it a try! You will not regret it (only feeling guilty after which, haha!). 

Only remember to take a photo of it after gobbling down the other 2. It is best to be eaten while it is hot if not it'll not taste as nice.

 And as I mentioned earlier, I am a big fan of mushroom and how could I ever miss out this stall selling all kinds of fried mushrooms! My favorite is the oyster mushroom. After fried and topped with the seasoning, it is just heaven~ the juice of the mushroom, together with crunchy texture topped with the salt!! mmmm~~

 We ordered the big portion of mixed mushroom and this is how generous they are with the portion! It became my daily to go snack here in Taiwan!

 Cuttlefish with mini soft shell crab.

 Yes, you are seeing it correctly, they do also sell abalone and conch in the night market!

 Was first intrigued by the menu as they say it's fried red milk tea. I was thinking how is a fried item a drink also. Hence I went to try it out and I got addicted to it! It is actually mixture of their famous local red tea with milk, topped with cream. The mixture and portion of red tea and milk is just nice. Together with the cream, the whole drink is just so smooth and refreshing.

 

 If you are sick of all the bubble tea around, give this a try! it's a bit like ice cream milk tea but much richer. They also have rose milk tea, matcha milk tea, and strawberry milk tea.

 the dice beef cube. They prepare it the same way as the rib eye beef. They grill it on the spot, just that this is in smaller pieces. However the taste is not as good as the rib eye beef. The beef is so chewy it tastes just like marinated rubber. Would definitely skip this!

This sums up my whole food journey at Fengjia Night market! Doing this post makes me miss all the food and snacks in taiwan! No more street foods on the go and no supper to grab home! :(

Would definitely plan another taiwan trip again and will definitely come back to Fengjia night market for all the delicious food here!!

If you guys have any recommendations, do feel free to leave a comment below and I will definitely try it out the next time I'm in Taiwan! 

Till the next post~ stay tune!

Do follow me on instagram (@jaceelynl) and twitter (@jaceelynl) where i'll update and post more of my food and travel journey on the go! Alternatively you may also drop me an email at jacelyn.beauty@gmail.com if you have any questions! :D xoxo!

Guide: How to get to Taichung from Taoyuan airport

 Hi guys! I just got back from holiday and this time we travelled to Taiwan and we explored Taichung also! We booked our air tickets to Taoyuan airport and then change high speed railway train (HSR) to Taichung. Our plane landed at Taoyuan airport terminal 1.

Once you exit from the custom, you'll see this sign board. Most of the sign boards have both english and chinese, so you don't have to worry not understanding what they are saying. To save some money for more shopping and eating, we have decided to take the bus to the high speed rail station.

 Turn to your left and you should a money changer, toilet and store selling local treats! You may also refill your water at the water dispenser outside the toilet. They offer hot, warm and cold water!!

 This screen will show different timings and bus routes to the different locations you are going. If you're unsure, you can also go down to the counters to ask.

 Take this escalator down to the counters to buy your bus tickets.

 The different buses to the different cities around Taiwan.

 There's also buses to Taipei.

 We've decided to take the Ubus to High Speed Rail Taoyuan Station to take our High Speed Rail train. The ticket cost NT30 per person. You can also take the bus straight to Taichung if you're saving more money as it'll be cheaper than taking the HSR. (But definitely much longer travelling time than taking the HSR. Approximately 45mins vs 2hrs.)

 The ticket price to the different places, all the way to Pingtung.

 There are also other companies and you can compare the prices around (though they are about the same as prices are competitive there). The different companies also cater services to different places (i.e. Taipei Main Station).

 Waiting for the bus which comes every 15-20mins interval and the bus is just located right outside the counter.

And here we are, at HSR Taoyuan Station. The journey took around 30mins.

They have a big Mac right outside the station. Can grab some food before your train! If not there's 7-11 inside where you can buy some snacks and drinks.

When you walk in from the entrance, you should see the ticketing counter at your right hand side. You can pre-purchase your tickets online and if you book early, you can get discount up to 25%. But of course you can also buy your tickets here at the counters.

As we booked our tickets online, we can collect it via the machines here.

After you pass through the gantry, go towards Number 1 elevator for Taichung.

Incase you're worried you're at the wrong platform, you can check the board to see if it stops at the station you're heading to. You can go to Tainan also.

And here comes our train! It arrives into the station on time and leaves on time. So do take note of the time of your train so you don't miss the timing!!

They will announce your train number and the destination before the train arrives into the station. Do take note so that you don't board the wrong train!

And after 45mins, we are here at Taichung!! The ride was smooth and seats were pretty spacious too. We slept throughout the ride and glad that the whole cabin was quiet.

Taichung station is bigger and has much more stores downstairs. (i.e. Starbucks, Mos Burger, Mac etc)

After which, we decided to take the free shuttle bus to our hotel which is available right at the bus station below.

 There are few shuttle bus to the different locations. You may look at the big board for all the bus routes here. They'll also state which platform to wait for the bus next to the bus numbers.

 
As our hotel is located at near Fengjia University (which is where Fengjia night market is located at as well), we took bus 160 at platform 12! The buses will come every 20-30mins interval. Do remember to keep your train ticket as it'll serve as your bus ticket too! Show it to the bus driver and you can get the free-ride there.

The bus journey took around 45mins. If it's your first time at Taichung and you're scared you're unfamiliar with the place and might miss your bus, don't worry as they will announce the stops along the way!

Hope it'll be useful for anyone who is travelling to Taichung! Do leave a comment below if you guys have any questions! :D

Will blog more about my trip soon! Do also leave a comment below if there is anything special you all want to know about Taichung/Taipei.