Wandering Fel

Initially I thought the name of the fried chicken kiosk is 1973 but turns out it is called Ji Guang Xiang Xiang Ji and it's originated from Taichung since the year 1973 and hence, the sign of the year. You can really smell the luring nice smell of the fried chicken while queuing. Makes me really really hungry. 

I got so bored while waiting I started to stare at the cute chicken mascot. I wonder if the Taiwanese love everything's cute due to their close tie to Japan. Or they just naturally like cute stuff since...well, since long time ago. 

Anyway, random thought aside, we were getting pretty near to the counter. We could at least start checking out the menu now. If you don't eat chicken, you can order crispy fried squid instead. You can also order both if you want to. 

Production line at its utmost productivity. To be honest with you, every time I visit Ximending, the queue forming at this stall is always super long. I wonder how the people in charge of frying can withstand the required demand of their job everyday. Really. 

I can see the yummy fried chickens....getting nearer and nearer. Yum!

Travel buddy and I tried to save some space in the stomach for beef noodle so we ordered the combo of smaller bag of fried chicken and fried squid. Hereby the first official street food that we tried in Taipei for the first trip in 2017, Taiwanese fried chicken and fried squid. Yummy yummy. :)

Ji Guang Xiang Xiang Ji Fried Chicken can be spotted immediately once you exit through Exit 6 of Ximending MRT. When in doubt, follow the queue line, please. XD

Like a lot of hotels in Ximending, Diary of Taipei shares lift with other tenants in the same building and hence the first thing that you have to find in order to reach the hotel lobby is the right elevator. My travelling companion was stunned for a moment because this is her first time experience of staying in Ximending's hotels and despite the dodgy entrance, the lobby at 5th floor is pretty decent and our twin bedroom at level 10 is pretty neat. While the bed size is not big but the room, the sheet, the toilet and everything else is clean and that what matters the most to me when I travel. 

Small coffee table which we use to put all our stuff and shopping bag. Amenities are pretty basic but at least Diary of Taipei still gives us free toothbrush. Nowadays many hotels don't give toothbrushes anymore. There's kettle jug to boil your water too if you need some hot water to make coffee/ tea. 

Hairdryer is available too so we girls can wash our hair everyday during our stay at Diary of Taipei. 

Basic shower room. As long as it's clean and there's hot water available, I'm a happy guest. 

Map of Ximending is available at the lobby and I suggest you take one because it helps greatly when you want to explore this area. Free Wifi is also available in every level however, it was kinda patchy when we just went into our room. It works normally once we have made our complaint to the front desk though. One of the common complaints received when people staying in a hotel at Ximending is the tendency of the hotel surrounding to be noisy because after all there are many clubs/ karaoke places in Ximending. But as Diary of Taipei does not share premise with those noisy kind of tenants (they share with internet cafe and hair salon), we did not encounter any noise problem during our stay at all. Phew.