Semi-luxurious trip to Taiwan
PreFace
This is another wonderful and remarkable travelling account written by me based on my real experiences and various joyful moments throughout this trip with my family. I am very delighted to share with you some unique food, beautiful yet scenic places to visit and a bit of useful tips that you may apply when travelling to Taiwan. I hope those who planned to go to Taiwan themselves without going with travelling agencies can find the light at this travelling account. Again, if there are any other comments and suggestions, please do post in your comments into the suggestion box and answer my survey that ends at January. PS: I want to thank you my parents for lending me this opportunity to go to this country. Without their proper planning, this post may not exist or be published at this site.
TRIP DURATION: 8 DAYS 7 NIGHTS
TOTAL COST: About NTD100, 000
MODE OF TRANSPORT: Rented Taxi, MRT and e-bus
ACCOMODATION: Baby Home, Suto Home and Guan Xing Yuan
INVENTORIES/PLACES OF INTERESTS
(Arranged by order)
Day 1(Malaysia-Taipei)
• Ximen’s Emei Street and Ximending
Day 2(Taipei-Nantou County)
• Sun Moon Lake
• Ascend Qing Jing Mountain
Day 3(Nantou County-Hualien)
• Qing Jing Farm
• Bilyu divine tree
• Taroko National Park
• Zi Qiang night market
Day 4(Hualien-Taipei)
• 7 stars lake
• Qing Shui Cliff
• scenic places at Su Hua Highway
• Xue Shan tunnel route
• Ximen Red House
• Ximen shopping
Day 5(Taipei)
• C.K.S. memorial hall
• National Palace Museum(Taiwan)
• Flora Expo(didn’t visit the exhibits inside)
• Tamsui-Fisherman’s Wharf
• Shilin Night market
Day 6(Taipei)
• Window of China Theme park
• shopping at Ximen and Taipei main station
Day 7(North of Taipei)
• Chong Lie Memorial Shrine
• Jiu Fen old street
• Yeliu Geo-park
• Taipei 101
• shopping at Cheng Ping Store and Taipei main station
Day 8(Taipei-Malaysia)
• Return back to Malaysia
TRAVELLING ACCOUNT
*DAY 1 (17/11/2010)
8:30am
Awake from my sleep, I quickly get up and made myself ready for this fun trip. Realising that I finally have the chance to fly aboard in an aeroplane to another foreign country, I was extremely excited. For the truth is, I finally had the chance to fly to other countries in an aeroplane and more shocking is: This is the second time I visit other foreign countries apart from Malaysia. Well, in this agitated state, I quickly prepared myself and after that all of us headed to Penang airport.
10:00am
Arrived at Penang airport
11:00am
We waited until this time to take a flight to Kuala Lumpur, the main state of Malaysia. We enlisted Malaysia Airlines for the aeroplane service. (For the truth is, this is not a good choice, because it is not cheap but comfortable. I recommend Air Asia if you want to cut down the cost.) The whole flight lasted for about 40 minutes.
11:40am
We arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). This was the first time I went to this place. The KLIA is Malaysia’s biggest and most expensive airport ever constructed. This airport is constructed between the 80’s and 90’s and when it had been finished constructed; it was used to replace the Subang International Airport in Selangor as the main airport of Malaysia. Inside the airport, you can see a special indoor rainforest jungle boardwalk at the centre of the airport. This jungle boardwalk holds about 20 types of rainforest trees that were purposely implanted and an artificial waterfall. The whole airport is so big that you can be lost in it! You even need the help of busses to transfer you from a section to another due to its vast and endless seemingly landscape. At 3pm, we are going to take another aeroplane from Kuala Lumpur to Taiwan.
Around 1:00pm
We dine in Burger King fast food restaurant before proceeding to our next flight.
Around 3:00pm
We finally depart from Malaysia to Taiwan through the Boeing-772 aircraft. Bye-bye Malaysia and hello Taiwan!
Around 7:00pm
The plane descends at Taoyuan International Airport at Taipei. This airport is the only airport in Taipei and it was far smaller than KLIA, but much more crowded than KLIA. The local time was the same as the time at Malaysia and the temperature is just 19 degree Celsius. At this time, it was late autumn in Taiwan. The skies were dark and stars had already started cascading the cloak of night. Apart from Taiwan, the skies of Malaysia will only start to fall dark at 7pm. (Tips: I applied an exclusive Youth Card before going out. The Youth Card is a special card offered by the Taiwan’s Ministry of Tour to encourage people to visit Taiwan. All youths aged 15-30 years old can apply this card and it is free! This Youth Card can be used at many stores and places of interests to get discounts and promotions.) After coming out from the airport, we were greeted by our rented taxi driver.
Around 8pm/9pm
The taxi driver sent us to our motel at Ximen’s Emei Street-Baby Home. We unloaded our things and luggage there. After that, we managed to thrive within the night world of Emei Street and return back at 10:30pm.
Food: Ah Chung Noodles, Fried pumpkin balls, super spicy fish balls
*DAY 2 (18/11/2010)
(From this time onwards, I had lost my track of time and barely remember it. Anyway, I will write my travelling account by using main time intervals.)
Early in the morning
After indulging ourselves in the pretty sceneries of the lake and strolling for a while in the enchanting temple, we rested a while by having lunch at a nearby roadside restaurant named “A Sa Mu”. This restaurant’s main dishes are all noodles!
Food: A Sa Mu La red tea noodle (main attraction), ban tian hua/ flower of betel plant, Mushroom noodle
At noon till evening
We bought tickets through our taxi driver for the shuttle boat service around Sun Moon Lake. For your information, there are many boat companies that run their boat services in Sun Moon Lake. All of them owned their own parking space at the three piers that served as places of attractions in Sun Moon Lake. We took the boat on Shueishe Pier, the nearest pier from the main route to Sun Moon Lake to the following 3 piers below:
1. Cable Car Pier
2. Itashao Pier
3. Syuanguang Pier
Cable Car Pier
The first stop from Shueishe Pier, this pier is named so because visitors can buy tickets and takes a cable car ride from this pier to Itashao Pier. The serenity and virginity of this mystical lake can be viewed from above the sky.
Itashao Pier
This pier is named after the majority aboriginal tribes that stayed on this island hundreds of years ago, the Shao tribe. The Itashao Pier is now a commercialised souvenir-selling area with roads full of shops and stalls. Traditional aboriginal decorative souvenirs and local products such as the well known “President fish”, lake shrimps, plum vine, and the Sun Moon Lake Black Tea are sold here.
Food: glutinous rice ball or “Mua Chi”
Syuanguang Pier
The full name of this pier is Syuanguang Temple Pier. A temple loomed above this particular island and ascending the temple requires a lot of patience and wits to success. The trail that leads you up towards the temple is the steps of stone accompanied by the lush greenery that fills the two sides of it. In front of the temple lies a stone carved in red words inscribing the words: “Sun Moon Lake” in Chinese. The lake scene from above is enthralling and amazing.
Food: Granny’s shitake mushroom black tea egg
After returning back to the Shueishe Pier by taking the shuttle boat from Syuanguang Pier, we went straight forward to Qing Jing Moutain.
At night
We enjoy the night scene at our Guan Xing Yuan “Ming Shu” or house-like motel. (Ming Shu stands for a house or chalet ran by its owner that lets visitors to stay and relax which usually gives you a feeling of returning back home with a hotel style service.)
Food: scrumptious and savoury vegetable steamboat
*DAY 3 (19/11/2010)
Early in the morning (6 o’clock)
My mother was the first one to wake up. She quickly opened the door that led to our balcony and took some shots of sunrise in the mountains. After that, she woke me up and called me to help her took some photographs of sunrise. As I was ready, the sun was already at mid-air. I barely had the chance to take the photos because the damned yet grotesque and fluffy clouds blocked my sight! Huh, well I managed to catch these:
After we readied ourselves for the next trip, we went down the guest room to have our breakfast. We were excited too to see another of our rental taxi driver who was already waiting for us at there. He was Mr Chen, the most famous taxi driver who was well known by internet fans and bloggers who wished to travel themselves without travelling with the aid of travelling agencies for his kindness and endless friendliness.
Qing Jing Farm also grows a variety of seasonal foods and vegetables. The seasonal fruit that ripens at the time when we were at Taiwan was honey apples. Many dairy products are also sold here.
We nearly lost our way home at here. Situation: There are 2 exits at this farm-one at the centre of the farm and the other one at the very end of the farm. The driver didn’t mention which exit to pick us up, so we just go until the end. We then waited for him and realised that he might be waiting for us at the exit at the centre of the farm! We were desperate at that time and tired to return back, for it takes 30 minutes walk to return to the centre. Luckily, at that time when we were about to return to the centre exit, he phoned us and picked us up after a couple of minutes.What a relief!
When travelling to Taroko National Park, we got pass He Huan Mountain but we didn’t ascended it. On our way, I shot some beautiful scenes all around the road.
Before entering the Taroko Gorge, we have our lunch at a restaurant in Wushe.
The Cihmu Bridge or Bridge of Motherly Devotion is built and reinforced in the 80’s as a tribute of respect for remembering the death of one of the highway constructer worker’s mother who tried to send food for him. The marble mountains that loomed above us seem to be carved by god himself. We spotted interesting shapes of creatures and other beings. They looked like being sealed by some kind of spell in the Rocky Mountains forever.
The next scenic place after you proceeded is the Jiucuydong or the Tunnel of Nine Turns. This is one of the narrowest parts of the gorge and only light vehicles and medium sized buses are allowed to pass here. Visitors that wish to witness its beauty, have to obey rules of safety and wear helmets to render you safe from the minor stones and rocks that fall from above. There has been a terrifying incident that occurred here: A Japanese visitor was killed here a few years ago due to the falling rocks that damaged its head. Unfortunately, at the day of our visit, the internal section of this tunnel is closed due to some accidents caused by falling rocks that occurred a few weeks ago. We were only allowed to dawdle until the third turn of the tunnel.
After biding farewell to the Tunnel of Nine Turns, we stopped at a rest stop at halfway and were astonished by the beautiful scenery of the gorge. Many rocks sculptured by nature seemed to vividly come to life under your own imagination.
Another of the narrowest parts of the gorge after a few kilometres drive is the Swallow’s Grottos. This unique part of Taroko Gorge is composed of marble cliff faces covered with small holes caused by long termed erosions by river and ground water. These holes are the nests of House swifts and Pacific swallows that migrated to here during winter.
The Eternal Spring Shrine is the final scenic spot in this gorge. The Eternal Spring Shrine or ChangChun Shrine in Chinese is a Chinese-style structure linked to a bridge, and beside it is a stream that plummets into the river valley below. This picturesque little temple memorializes all those who lost their lives in the construction of the Central Cross-Island Highway. Arriving at the temple at above may take a lot of time, so we just take some photos at the rest stop below it.
We then went to Zi Qiang Night Market after checking in our Ming Shu. The taxi driver dropped us there and we went for our excursion in search of Taiwan’s delicacies.
Food: Guan Cai Ban (Bread with delicious filling), Crepe, Stinky Tofu
Roasted potato encoated with cheese
We then phoned the Suto Home to send us back. Madam Liu’s husband sent us back home himself for free. They offered services to send visitors staying at their Ming Shu back and forth. At night, we played fireworks and at 8:30pm we went inside its guest room to have a Stone Designing DIY activity. My brother and I painted our stones ourselves and Madam Liu sprayed lacquer to give it a finishing gloss and to retain its colours. While making our own souvenirs to be brought back home, we chatted with Madam Liu until it was eleven o’clock. We then rested our tired bodies at her new extension cabin rooms: the Red, the Green and the Yellow.
*DAY 4 (20/11/2010)
Our rental taxi driver brought our breakfast for us: Yau Char Kuey or fried, oily crispy sticks plus Fried lemongrass hand-rolled pancakes (tastes like Indian Roti Canai sold in Malaysia). We then ordered soya bean milk because it blends perfectly tasty when combined with the oily taste of the Yau Char Kuey. My little brother who dislikes the hand-rolled pancakes ordered a homemade pizza prepared by the maid that works in the Suto Home. After that, Madam Liu takes us to a field trip in her own garden before biding farewell to her wonderful place.
The Seven Stars Lake or Qi Xing Tan is the first destination of today. The seven stars lake is named so because the skies of this place are normally clear at night and under this situation, one could see the Big Dipper and the Ursa Major. This scenic area is situated not far from the military base, where one could see aircrafts flying out due north a few times every hour a day for military training.
Food: Roasted sweet potatoes
After that, we took the Suao-Hualien Highway, the most dangerous highway road in Taiwan. Only 2 words can describe this road: “deadly” and “beautiful”. We stopped halfway at Qing Shui Cliff. Qing Shui Cliff is the place that stretches between Heping and Chongde railway stations. One of Taiwan’s 8 unique and enchanting sceneries, it is part of the spectacular sights located on Taiwan’s Pacific coast. The cliff is more than 1, 000 metres high and drops almost vertically into the sea. This cliff is tremendously beautiful and good for visitors who wish to take photographs here. The highway snakes along its curving face for more than 20 kilometres, with the sheer cliff rising on one side and a sheer drop to the ocean on the other.
Departing Suao Highway is another highway which can also be described with the previous 2 words mentioned above, that is Su Hua Highway. A month ago before our arrival, a bus heading to Taipei had fallen into the depths from the sea bound cliff and could not be found until now due to the landslide caused by heavy downpour. We were lucky because the road had been repaired and there was no rain. However, the scenes all along the road are beautiful and picturesque.
We have our lunch at a restaurant halfway. We even bought some fish products and preserved food at some nearby shops before continuing our journey to Taipei.
Our plans to Jiu Fen Old Street and Yeliu Geo-park at this day were completely ruined. We then straight forward returned to Baby Home Motel at about 3 o’clock and rested in there.
At evening, we started to go out for shopping and visited the hundred-year old Ximen Red House located at the centre of the streets. The Red House, a Western-style red-brick octagonal structure in Taipei’s Ximen space built in 1908, is Taiwan’s first public market and the most well preserved class 3 historical site. At 2007, the Taipei Culture Foundation has been entrusted and commissioned to manage the Red House. Today the Red House plays an important role in culture creativity industry of the West Taipei. The Red House now nests the Culture Creative Development platform, Riverside Life House, Market for Artists and Designers, Creative Boutique and unique designed coffee shops.
*DAY 5 (21/11/2010)
This was the first day we had to rely on our own to discover the amazing Taipei ourselves. Luckily, our staying place was not far from one of the gateways of Ximen station. Hence, we took the MRT from Ximen station straight forward to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial station. From there, we disembarked from that station and exited at one of its exits. With just a 5 minutes walk, we had reached one of the biggest memorials in Taiwan. (Tips: MRT’s are extremely useful for those who wished to travel without relying on travelling agencies. Many of the districts and counties can be easily accessible by MRT. For just not more than NTD500, one could explore the whole Taipei with a MRT card and you will still have remainders to be spent at 7-11 stores and family marts.)
After a while, from the MRT station in Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, we took the MRT north towards Shilin station. We exited from the first exit and took the shutter bus to the National Palace Museum. This trip costs only NTD30 a person! About half an hour, we finally arrived at the National Palace Museum. The National Palace Museum was originally founded in 1925 in the Forbidden City in Beijing. In 1949, with the civil war raging between the Nationalist (Kuomintang) and Communist (Kongchantang) forces, the government shipped about 600,000 treasured masterpieces of art and culture to Taiwan and scattered them all over Taiwan. It was then at 1965, the artworks had been transferred to its home in Shilin.
The National Palace Museum contains the world’s largest and most valuable collection of Chinese arts and artefacts covering 5 thousand years of history, from Neolithic ages to the final dynasty of China-the Ching Dynasty. The treasures stored in here include porcelains, bronzes, jades, sculptures, paintings, and calligraphy. It is reckoned as one of the world’s top four museums. The security inside here is tight. Bags are not allowed to be brought inside and cameras are not allowed too. You can only take away the information brochures at each sub-gallery.
Food: soya bean milk, Shanghai tiny paos, raddish cakes, rice rolls,
After that, we took the MRT to Yuenshan station to visit the International Flora Expo 2010. Upon reaching our destination, we were shocked to see the crowd that was queuing to buy the tickets and enter the exhibition galleries. Afraid of losing our time, we took the MRT back to C. K. S. Memorial Hall station and changed trains back to Ximen. We rested 2 hours there and proceeded on our next destination.
Our next stop is the Fisherman’s Wharf of Tamsui. Again, we took the MRT to C.K.S. station and took another train straight towards Danshui station. From there, we followed the crowd and found ourselves lost at the Tamsui ‘New Street’ not the ‘Old Street’. We then asked for help and took the taxi to the Fisherman’s Wharf. The Fisherman’s Wharf in Tamsui, originally named the Tamsui Second Port, was built in 1987 and covers an area of 26 hectares with 11 hectares of sea area. The Fisherman’s Wharf in Tamsui is currently the most popular island-wide multi-functional fishing port in Taiwan. It is famous for its breath-taking sceneries that will surely fascinate those who visit it.
One of the most exciting attractions is the Lover’s Bridge, in which its streamline structure shape represents the sailing boat that is sailing on sea, delivering infinite wishes and countless romantic feelings to its love ones. Other structures are the Taipei County Fish Market that sells a variety of fish products and seafood, the floating docks that will move accordingly to the ebb and flow of tides, the wooden path found along the other side of the wharf and the sea viewing square which hosts many different performances.
Food: Hot Star’s Big sized fried chicken (NTD60), fried fish balls
On our way home, we stopped at Jiantan station and hunted for supper at the biggest night market at Taipei-Shilin Night Market. Shilin Night Market is the oldest night market at Taipei. It is the central of attraction of Taipei. At here, one could buy accessories, snacks and clothing with a cheap price. (Tips: Refrain from visiting this place during weekends or you will find yourselves inside crowds of people.)
Food: Crabmeat soup and oil rice, dumplings
*DAY 6 (22/11/2010)
Early in the morning
We got up early at 8 and prepared to go to Window of China Theme park located at Longtan County. We took the MRT from Ximen station towards the Zhong Xiao Dun Hua Station at east. We went out from the 8th exit towards a bus stop to wait for the bus that is heading towards the Tailian station. This bus will take us to the Window of China Theme park which is the final third stop. Those who do not buy tickets to this theme park must purchase for it at the Longtan shi bus stop. You will also get a great package that comprises of the bus fees and the entrance ticket which enables you to save more money. Your Youth Card is useful here.
We arrived at the theme park at noon. (Going by buses are extremely slow because it stops at many stations before proceeding on its journey.) The Window of China Theme park is actually a recreation area built with wonderful imagination. The theme park is divided into 3 major areas of interests: Small-small World, European indoor theme park and American Discovery World. Its main attraction is its various small-sized miniatures of famous buildings from all over the world. The park also features the well-known comic hero, Doraemon and his friends as another attraction and a storyboard gallery or the cartoon is set at the theme park. Be sure to watch the whacky clown show, Doraemon musical show and the face changing art show at regular times. Last but not least, do not forget to meet the mascots and take photographs with them which only take place 3 times a day.
Noon
We have our lunch at the theme park. The food was expensive and not so delicious. After that, we bought some souvenirs and took the bus to Zhong Xiao Dun Hua Station. From there, we change trains to Taipei Main Station and have our dinner at the Fu Qi Lai Japanese restaurant. (Tip: Japanese foods are extremely cheap at Taiwan!)
Food: Salmon fillet set lunch (only NTD119), Noodles (NTD90)
Curry fish rice (only NTD99)!
*DAY 7 (23/11/2010)
Morning
We applied a trip to Yeliu and Jiu Fen by bus at City Inn, a hotel located at the urban streets of Taipei. This hotel is easily accessible by taking the MRT to Taipei Main Station and walking out from the 8th exit. We waited at there until our tour guide had reached the hotel. She took us and 2 other passengers who had applied for this trip to a van and our one day trip had finally started.
We went to Chong Lie Memorial Shrine first. Chong Lie Memorial Shrine is actually a temple shrine made to honour the soldiers and military forces that once served Taiwan and pay respect to those who sacrifices their lives in the cause of restoring independence and order to their beloved homeland. Everyday, soldiers that are carrying out their duty at there will perform rituals as a tribute of respect to the death soldiers. The performance can be viewed by visitors once every hour. Once the ritual had ended, the soldiers will not move and remain standing at their positions for at least an hour. Visitors can take photographs with them and touch or startle them whatever they like (I hope you treat this as a joke!)
Dirty tricks
After that, the tour guide deliberately tricked us to learn the arts of tea drinking at a tea house. We were pretty surprised because this is not in our predictions. Honestly, we were quite clever to sense this as a trap and do not fall into its lure. At first, the shopkeeper introduced some basic arts of tea drinking and made some competitions for us to participate and win bags of cheap tea. After that, she introduced the effects of drinking this and the benefits of drinking that… blah, blah, blah… Finally, she gave the price. One bag of so called “Grade 1” tea costs about NTD2, 000! (Just imagine: NTD2, 000=RM200! I wish to tell her to suck our blood! That will be better.)
We were completely angry about this trip and the tour guide and argued with her when she wanted to take us to the side buildings of the National Palace Museum. We already knew what that was: the shops and exhibition of Pi Chiu handicrafts. (Pi Chiu is a Chinese myth creature believed to bring good luck and wealth to its owner.) We altogether and the other two tour members agreed to cancel the visit to this place because it wasn’t written on the trip schedule that we got. She phoned to the Tour Agency and they agreed to let us cancel the visit to this location but they will not refill the schedule of this trip or give extensions for the other places. (Tip: Don’t go with travelling agencies whenever you wish to travel to other countries. Arrange taxis to take you to whatever place beyond your reach.)
The next stop is Vigor Kobo cake house. This shop sells an array of cakes and breads ranging from tarts to puffs. The tasty pineapple tart is the main attraction of this cake house. The honey cheesecake is also another delicacy that will sweeten your heart.
Food to bring away: Pineapple tart NTD250 per box
After that, we went to Jiu Fen Old Street to have our lunch.
Jiu Fen Old Street is an old gold mining town built on a steep mountain slope. It got its name at old times when traders went down the mountain to buy basic needs for families who lived at the village in the mountain; each trader who went down to make their business usually buys 9 sets of basic needs for 9 families. It still retains its quaint traditional flavour and is able to stand the merciless tests of time. It was once the scene where the film “A city of sadness” was shot. It is now a street full of shops and stalls selling unique food, souvenirs and handicrafts.
Food: Granny’s Fish balls, Beef noodles, yam balls, ice-cream dorayaki,
Ice-cream popia.
We spent some time at there and proceeded to Yeliu Geo-park not far away at Kee Lung Street. The famous Yeliu Geo-park is a park that functions as the sanctuary for Taiwan’s best-known attraction, fantastically shaped rocks that have been beautifully fashioned by wind and sea. The Queen’s head rock is this parks most interesting and well known attraction. Apart from this, other rocks such as the Cinderella’s slipper, candlestick rock, mushroom rocks, ice-cream rock, marine bird rock and much more can be found here. Besides observing its enthralling scenery, one could also engage in other marine activities such as wind surfing and diving. There is also an Ocean Park beside the entrance of the Geo-park.
The bus dropped us at Shilin station. From there, we took the MRT to Taipei Main Station and changed trains there. We went to Taipei City Hall station and rented a taxi to Taipei 101. We finally realised that our decision was wrong-The journey from Taipei City Hall to Taipei 101 was just a 10 minutes walk. Taipei 101 is Taipei’s most famous landmark and Taiwan’s tallest building. It is the world’s second tallest building. Below the sky soaring building is a shopping complex. There is also an observatory at the top of this shopping complex.
Vegetable soup) Fried oysters are not delicious! NTD130 only
Exiting Taipei 101’s shopping mall, we went to Cheng Ping Store and I bought 3 novels with NTD860 only! After that, we went out and take the MRT back home. My mother and I went for shopping at the Taipei Main Station for the last time. Unfortunately, no shoes and shirts suit us the most. (Tip: If you are from a country that is warm without the four seasons throughout the year, don’t visit this country and expect to get your clothes at autumn, because the autumn fashion is more on wool clothing and long sleeves) Hence, we went back to our Baby Home motel in Ximen.
*DAY 8 (24/11/2010)
From dawn till noon
We woke up and get ourselves ready. After that, our driver sent us to the airport at 5 o’clock. We took the 7:45am flight back to KLIA and from there; we changed flight and went to Penang. After that, my uncle sent us home back to Kedah. We finally returned home at 3’o clock in the afternoon.
