We live in a flat

We were crossing the junction when I spied this serious little dog sitting right in front of the clothes shop outside Wufenpu. He never moved the whole time I was there taking photos.

I assumed he belonged to the shop, and perhaps his job there was to inspect the goods being delivered to the shop.

Seemed to be doing a good job :P and all without moving an inch from his sit position!

He’s a very solemn little boy dog, this one is.

Wufenpu & Sassy Dog

Wufenpu is another rabbit warren of alleys lined with tiny shops selling clothes and accessories. The area is a  garment wholesale paradise, stocking clothes and fashion stores in the city. So it is the place for bargain hunting tourists and locals.

The prices are low and correspondingly the quality can be rather cheap. You have to have the time and a good eye to pick up items that won’t fall apart too soon, among the chaos and poorer quality clothes within.

Me, it just gives me a headache really. So I just skim discount racks to buy wear and throw T-shirts like this one:

I also wanted to check out the store for dogs there called – Sassy Dog. It’s real small outlet and I was disappointed that they didn’t have anything in Donna’s size. This store is good for small dogs, and I guess it made sense since the Taiwanese has sometimes been described as treating their dogs as fashion accessories.

Wufenpu 五分埔

How to get there
The best way to get there is by MRT.
Take the Bannan (Banqiao-Nangang) Line to the Houshanpi Station, Exit 1.
10 minutes walk to Wufenpu: Walk straight along Zhongpo N. Rd. to the intersection of Zhongpo N. Rd. and Yongji Rd. Wufenpu starts on the left.

Operation hours
Monday-Sunday 02:00pm – 23:00pm
週一~週日 14:00-23:00

Sassy Dog

Website
sassydog.com.tw – Facebook – Yahoo auction site

Address
台北市永吉路443巷1弄26號
No. 26, Lane 443, Yongji Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City, Taiwan 110 [map]

Telephone
02-27637805

Operation hours
Monday-Sunday 02:00pm – 23:00pm
週一~週日 14:00-23:00

In the entertainment and shopping district of Ximending, this little dog is waiting for his human to have the giant helmet put on her so they can be photographed together.

It’s some marketing gimmic, but I imagine the resulting photo can be pretty cute ;)

Dogspotting in Taiwan (series)

• This Goldie mans a restaurant in Ximending, Taipei
• This dog patrols Yeliou Geo-Park
• These dogs own the streets at Pingxi
• Documentary about Taiwan stray dogs: Twelve nights – in a high-kill shelter
• This dog models at Shilin Night Market
• This dog in Jiufen is the King of Purses

This dog looks like a toy on a throne of purses. But he’s real alright!

He guards the purses in this leather goods shop with two other layabouts… so you can definitely tell who’s the hardworking one here! :P

So where are these purse-guarding dogs exactly??

Welcome to Jiufen, the fabled town that gave Hayao Miyazaki the inspiration for the mysterious lantern-lit town in the movie Spirited Away.

Enter the rabbit warren of narrow streets and alleys lined with red lanterns…

… that is not scary at all in bright daylight. :P Even though we are not right into the tourist season yet, this tourist spot is already packed with them… despite the seasonal rain!

We were there around lunchtime, but our driver advised that there are no good places to eat here.

“Just try some of the street food for fun,” he said. “Look at the knick knacks they sell.” He explained that this is really more of a tourist town with shops geared toward tourists.

“Locals don’t come here.”

Where do the locals go then?

“If you live in the north, you holiday in the south. If you live in the south, you holiday in the north. But mostly we fly out to other countries. ”

Right.

So we meandered about and tried the food… including this – World’s #1 Mushroom Under the Sky / 天下第一菇。

Look at the whole stack of them… sure is a lot of #1 mushrooms in Taiwan. Hah! Cut into bite size for convenient munching while walking. ;P

I didn’t take a lot of pictures due to the rain. Boo. But this photo shows you the sort of elevation we were at… and also the rolling mist.

Nothing much to see here but mist, so back we head into the alleyways.

Thought we’ll rest our feet at a ramshackle teahouse. (not pictured)

And this was the view to the right…

… and to the left. Feels like a whole different world?

After the break, we headed on for Pingxi from Jiufen.

How to get to Jiufen

If you can, take a taxi to hit more places in a day! If not, Jiufen is still very accessible by public transport.

By Train: From Taipei, take the train north to Ruifang Station. After exiting the station, cross the street to the bus stop next to the Wellcome Supermarket and board the Keelung Transit bus towards Jiufen. The bus trip takes roughly 15 minutes, and the fare is NT$21 during the week,NT$15 during weekends/holiday.

By Bus (via MRT): From Zhongxiao Fuxing (忠孝復興), Brown and Blue lines, leave from Exit 1 and take bus route 1062 (Keelung Bus) to Jiufen. The ride is about 1 hour and the fare is NT$90. Be sure to sit on the left side of the bus to enjoy scenic views of Northern Taiwan.

Source: http://guidetotaipei.com/visit/jiufen-%E4%B9%9D%E4%BB%BD

From other blogs
– Taiwan’s Jiufen – the real world inspiration for Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away
– I went to the real life Spirited Away
– A trip to Jiufen, New North City
– Spirited away in Jiufen
– Taiwan travels : Jiufen and Spirited Away