Taiwan 2013 Prelude

Finally a long trip out to Taiwan, my first trip to the Heart of Asia. Been wanting to visit the place since years back but always not able to make it come true. Finally, this year, having many days of leave to clear, decided to go for a long trip there to eat and play. 11 Nov to 22 Nov, 12 full days in Taiwan (we reached at 6am and departed only on 23 Nov midnight), we had our fun. Itinerary was planned well ahead but we shifted it to suit the weather. Had been raining since we reached and Sis decided to push the shopping days ahead as she said that we should not be going up mountains during rainy days. So here's the actual itinerary we took for the 12 days - a prelude to the trip. I really have a lot of photos to sort them out. 

We took mostly public transport to reach our destination, except for Kenting which we had a driver to drive us to Kenting from Zuoying and also co-hired a driver with a couple to visit the tourist attractions. Likewise for the Hehuanshan (合歡山) which we had to wake up as early as 3.30am. The transport network in Taiwan is well-connected and the High Speed Rail is very convenient to bring us from Taipei to Tainan area. 

Day 1 & 2:

We visited the Mengjia Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺), Bopiliao Old Street (剝皮寮老街) in the morning after leaving our luggage at the hotel. Intial plan was to visit Yang Ming Shan (阳明山) and to visit a hot spring for a wash up. But it was drizzling and we decided to push forward some indoor activities. Thus, we went on to the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) and National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine (忠烈祠). Dinner was back at Ximending (西門町). 

Day 2 was a shopping day for Sis. Happened that Sogo is having their anniversary sales. I wandered off to visit the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (國立中正紀念堂管理處) and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (國立國父紀念館). We met up for lunch at Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐) first branch. Afterwhich, I proceeded to Taipei 101 while Sister continued her shopping. We arranged to meet up at Shida Night Market (師大路夜市) for dinner and to shop. 

Stayed: CityInn Plus Hotel (Ximending)

Taipei (day 1-2)

Day 3 & 4:

These 2 days were devoted to Kenting (墾丁) located at the southern of Taiwan. We took the High Speed Rail (高鐵) to reach Zuoying station (高鐵左營站) where we waited for the driver to pick us up to our Minsu (民宿) at Love Sea 126 ( 戀海126). We eventually reached our 民宿 at 4pm though we left Taipei at around 10am. Long journey but totally worth it. We just laze around and went to the beach for a stroll, hoping for a sunset view. Then off to the night market for dinner. Splendid food there, really enjoyed eating along the street. Or rather, there wasn't much to do at night and thus, food was the only entertainment. 

Day 4 was the co-trip with a couple from the USA. And we went for a trip round Kenting, covering some of the tourist attractions like beaches, lighthouse, which I will go into details later on. 

Stayed: Love Sea 126 - 戀海126

Kenting (day 3-4)

Day 5 & 6:

Said Goodbye to the beach and off to Kaoshioung (高雄). Luckily for us, the weather had been great since we left Taipei. We reached Kaoshioung before noon and we went to the Lotus Pond ( 蓮池潭) which is a a man-made lake and popular tourist destination. There are Pavilions, temples along the trail. Made one round and we ended up back at Zuoying Station where we had our lunch and off to our accommodation - Jia's Inn.

Then we went to the Singuang Ferry Wharf (新光碼頭) and Dream Mall (統一夢時代購物中心) before heading to Ruifeng Night Market ((瑞豐夜市). According to the hotel service crew, tt is a very localised night market. There, we played games, ate and shopped.

Day 6 was a cycling day for us. We planned to head to Cijin Island (旗津島). At the train station, we rented the bicycle for the whole day at NTD 90. Cheap deal but the catch would be we will be cycling along the cars and trucks to the ferry terminal. Really an experience which we would never do in Singapore. Almost spent the whole day at Cijin Island where we had seafood. Back to the main island, we visited the Takao Railway Museum, Love Pier/Pier 2 Art Centre (驳二艺术区) and any places that we happened to pass by which attracted our attention. Back to Liuhe Night Market (六合夜市) for dinner. 

Like I said, the weather was great for us that my tan-line was formed. No rain but the scorching sun was there. 

Stayed: Jia's Inn (高雄佳適旅舍六合館 )

Kaoshiong (Day 5-6)

Day 7:

From Zuoying Station, we travelled to Taichung Station (高鐵台中站) to take a Nantou bus to Cingjing Farm - where the sheep are. We also went to the Little Swiss Garden, ate at the Carton King Cafe. Highlight was the sunrise trip to Hehuanshan (合歡山). 

Stayed: Misty Villa (雲濛仙境)

Cingjing Farm (Day 7)

Day 8, 9 & 10:

Half of day 8 was spent loitering around Cingjing and travelling back to Taipei. After check in at 3pm, we made our way to Shilin Night Market (士林夜市). Once again, we ate and shopped. Sinful!

Day 9 was spent going to Jiufen (九份) and Shifen (十份). Scenic views with history of the mining industry. Further to that, these areas are fairly influenced by the Japanese Culture. Interesting. Visiting the Jiufen Old street would mean eating and shopping again. Here, we managed to get some food souvenir back home. Shifen is the place where we can release Sky Lantern - Pen down your wishes and may your wishes come true as it flew up the sky. Initially we wanted to visit the Shifen Waterfall, but we missed the train from Ruifang (瑞芳). So be mindful of the timing of the train to Shifen. It seems to come in an hour's interval.  From Shifen, we decided to head back to Taipei Main station for dinner as well as to shop around. Finaly stop for the day was still Ximending since it was so near to our hotel - a plus point to stay near XMD. 

First half of Day 10 was to  Xin Beitou (北投) for a walkabout as well as hot spring. We managed to follow a walking trail which I found online. The route went like this: Ketagalan Culture Center > Beitou Hot Spring Museum > Millennium Hot Springs (which we went for Hot Spring) >  Plum Garden > Beitou Thermal Valley > Puji Temple > Lunch. 

Second half was to Tamsui (淡水). We walked through the The Old Street (淡水老街) to the Fort San Domingo (紅毛城), then to the Little White House (小白宮). Finally, we took a bus to the Fisherman's Wharf & Lover Bridge (情人橋) as it was quite a long distance to walk. Dinner was of course spent at the Old street after taking a ferry ride back from the Fisherman's Wharf. 

Stayed: CityInn Plus Hotel (Ximending)

Taipei (Day 8-10)

Day 11 & 12:

On Day 11, we decided to take this Taiwan Tour Bus which caters this Crown North Coast Route.The route went MRT Tamsui Station⇔Qian Shui Bay⇔Sanzhi Visitor Center and Gallery⇔ Baisha Bay Visitor Center⇔Shimen Wedding Plaza⇔Teresa Teng Memorial Park(Yun Garden)⇔Juming Museum⇔Shitou Mountain Park⇔Yehliu Geological Park⇔Feicui Bay⇔Dawulun Industrial Parks⇔Keelung Railway Station. For the one day ticket that cost NTD 100, you are allowed to alight at any stop and board the next bus again. However, do note that the bus comes in an interval of one hour and it could be late. They will not wait at the bus stop for anyone. So be on time. One advice is that you could not possibly visit all the places of interests in one day. Thus, make some research on the places that you are really interested in. This really helps. We did not do much research and we dropped off at the beaches where there were no activities going on - we just had to wait for the next bus and did rush through those places that we could have spent more time at if we did not drop off at the beaches. Dinner was at Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市). Our last dinner at night market and we just whack whatever was recommended. 

Last day in Taipei and Yang Ming Shan was the only places of interest that was left on the list. Sister requested to start the day slightly later so as to catch up with some sleep - she had the impression that YMS can be conquered in half-a-day. By the time we started our YMS journey, it was around 11am. Trust me, to fully appreciate YMS, cater one day to it. There are many walking trails in each different stop which could lead you to nice scenery. Like above, the bus does have its timing and thus, do not alight at the wrong stop. If not, you've got to wait again. One of the must visit place in YMS is Qing Tian Gang (擎天冈). We almost wanted to skip it as it was getting a bit late. But luckily we did not. As for why, I will leave it to my YMS detailed post. 

Last dinner or rather supper was at  马辣顶级麻辣鸳鸯火锅 before we headed to the airport. Goodbye Taiwan and may we meet again. 

Stayed: CityInn Plus Hotel (Ximending)

Taipei (Day 11-12)

More information on how we travelled, more pictures of what we did there will be posted up soon. Till then...