Taiwan 2012 (Day 3, 18 Nov)

Here we are in a minsu in Hualien, where we spent the day exploring the Taroko Gorge area and other parts of this coastal city.

Took the train bright and early this morning, the ride was just under 3 hours and we were met on arrival by a driver arranged by Rena.

Had an early lunch of dumplings and noodles at a popular local eatery, and then it was off to the gorge, touted as one of the most scenic areas in all of Taiwan.

The weather was gloomy and rainy though, so the skies matched the greyness of all the marble we saw.

We stopped at the closed Shakadang Trail where our driver pointed out a bridge flanked by mini lions on either side, each sporting a different expression, no two are the same.

He next brought us to the Changchun Shrine and there was a stream of blue spring water in front of it.

Our next stop at the Swallow Grotto required us to don hard hats, as falling rocks are a common occurrence How do you like my construction worker look?

Here we could see the rock cliffs and gorge walls up close as well as an overview of the Liwu River. There is also a famous spot, ‘Chieftain’s profile rock’ that resembles an Indian chief…do you see it? I did!

We then drove further to the Cimu Bridge where our driver pointed out a rock resembling a frog. I could see why it’s nicknamed Frog Prince. The rock is kinda greenish and if you look hard, you can just about make out the shape of a frog from the side.

Our driver then dropped us off at Lushui Trail for a bit of trekking, we were not too keen but it was only less than 2km so we caved in. Thought we would see some spectacular scenery on the way, but it was nothing much…the gals likened it to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve!

We stopped for some freshly roasted sweet potato which hit the spot on a cold rainy day, then we made a last stop at a suspension bridge that can only take 8 at a time. We were so nervous when other tourists paid no heed to the warning at the bridge and at one point there were 12 people.

As we left the gorge, there was a long queue of coaches waiting to get in and caused a minor traffic jam. Apparently between 3-5pm daily, tour groups from the mainland come in by the bus loads, thank goodness we missed them!

Our driver next brought us to the beach, but we didn’t stay long because of the rain. Then he brought us to try a local snack at a stall that commands long queues. It’s like a deep fried roti with sunny side egg stuffed in it. Kinda tasted and looked like the Indian puri.

We then requested to visit a supermarket to stock up on local goodies, I bought lots of Mr Brown coffee, crackers, instant beef noodles and jelly.

Lest our homestay/minsu thought we weren’t coming, we then proceeded to check in and dump our bags before our driver let us off at the Hualien night market.

Tad disappointing, nothing much to buy or shop in terms of fashion, it was only food and game stalls.

We queued and ordered some grilled sticks, had to wait 20 mins before they were ready. In the meantime, we snacked on stuffed French toast, fresh juice and then the gals found a stall with mee sua and chou doufu.

Apparently the doufu was really stinky, as you can tell from their reactions!

I took away a pizza for snacking on, since I didn’t eat much and here we are in our digs, a family room comprising 3 queen beds….it’s a slumber party! I had a moment of panic when I couldn’t find my phones in my backpack front pocket, only to realise I was searching the wrong bag! Me and Jane are carrying identical Marc by Marc Jacobs backpacks!

 

 

Taiwan 2012 (Day 2, 17 Nov)

The weather today was a stark contrast to the sunshine of yesterday. It was drizzling as we left the hotel and continued to rain all day long.

Before we embarked on our city sightseeing with the same driver from yesterday, we made pit stops at the train station to collect our tickets for tomorrow’s trip to Hualien, and also we popped by Ambience Hotel to check if we could leave our luggage overnight…we are switching hotels upon our return from Hualien.

There was a wedding party at the hotel, we were greeted by firecrackers…cool!

First stop on our day of sightseeing was Longshan Temple, an old Chinese temple ranked one of the top sights to see. There were lots of incense burners and ornate enclosures housing various Taoist and Buddhist deities.

Next we headed to the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall. My shoes were soaked by this point…of all days I decided to wear satin ballet flats!

Chiang Kai Shek is much revered in Taiwan, as a former Chinese military and political leader. He established a government in exile there after fleeing China when the Communists took over.

The memorial hall was free to visit and contained various memorabilia and paraphernalia from his life, including state cars. Quite interesting…

We played a prank on Jane when she went to the loo, by hiding her umbrella. Quite juvenile I know, but still we had a good laugh over it.

The history tour continued with a visit to the Sun Yat Sen Memorial. Sun Yat Sen was the founding father of the Republic of China and he has a huge statue in the memorial hall to honour him.

We didn’t visit any other exhibits in the hall except for the statue, for which there was a sign instructing visitors to salute, so I did!

From the hall, we could see Taipei 101 nearby and took turns taking pictures with it.

It was soon lunchtime and I had requested we try Din Tai Fung at least once while in Taiwan. We went to a fairly large outlet nearby, I have no idea where it was located but it was peak period and we queued nearly an hour to get in. There were lots of other tourists queuing and large tour groups.

Thankfully the food was served fast once we were seated. Truth be told, it tasted just like in Singapore so kudos to the team here for maintaining the same standards.

We had ourselves some xiao long bao, hot and sour soup, preserved vegetable noodles, fried pork rib, fried rice and red bean dumplings. I was a happy camper after the meal!

Taiwan being on the Pacific rim-of-fire is subject to tectonic movements and with all the volcanic activity, it has a number of hot springs.

We swung by the Beitou hot springs on the outskirts of the city to have a peak at one thermal pool but the cool weather made it extremely steamy so all we saw was smoke!

Danshui/Tamshui was next, a coastal city also known as Fisherman’s Wharf. It was freezing by this time, especially being next to the sea. The gals stayed indoors while I ventured to the harbour to take a look at the ‘rainbow’ bridge from far.

I couldn’t stand my soggy feet by this point and went into the first shoe store we came across as part of a hotel complex. There were some Adidas’ on sale and I picked out a purple pair. Ah dry feet…

We plied the streets of Tamshui next, popping in and out of stores. Bought some fish crackers recommended by Jane, shared bubble tea, sampled pineapple tarts and saw an electronic signboard for a temple!

Jane and Rena did some serious damage at a store called Porter International while Germaine and I explored some vintage sweet/toy shops.

We went back to the hotel to do a bag drop then headed to Ximending, the shopping area where the young and trendy hang out. I ate some pasta while window-shopping and then we stopped for some more mee sua, orhluak and braised pork rice. There was a Singaporean family in the same eatery, you can spot them a mile away!

I bought a pair of leopard print shoes for $9 and before we left Ximending, we stumbled upon a craft fair and stretch of shops specialising in some vintage and one-of-a-kind wares.

Taiwan 2012 (Day 1, 16 Nov)

Greetings from Taipei! A trip that has been 17 years in the making finally materialised as me, Jane, Rena and Germaine find ourselves in Taiwan now after talking about going on a group trip for ages.

We bought tickets on budget airline Scoot when they first launched Taipei a few months ago, for a bargain $216 return. Not bad eh?

Landed about 6am this morning, and we took a taxi to our hotel, called Mai Hotel in the Zhongshan district. As the rooms were not ready, we dumped the bags and explored the neighbourhood in search of breakfast.

Found a shop selling ‘you tiao’ and soya bean, buns and dumplings so we ordered an assortment. Jane ticked practically everything off the order sheet!

We found a minimart and stocked up on some tidbits and water and then it was time to meet our driver for a day of sightseeing.

We had planned a city tour, but as the weather was good, our driver suggested swopping with our second day’s itinerary of Jiufen, Shifen and Yehliu so we took his advice and headed out of the city.

First stop was Shifen, a small town where people come to release sky lanterns. Different colour lanterns had different meanings and we bought 2 multi-coloured ones. We took turns writing our wishes, guess what I asked for?

The releasing part happens so fast, not enough time to take proper pictures before the lantern is way up in the sky but it was fun. Some people got theirs stuck in tree though, that can’t be good!

We spent a few minutes checking out their souvenir shops and suspension bridge before we took a short ride to the Shifen Waterfalls…which was nothing spectacular and not worth the entry fee we paid, although I think there was another path one could walk down to catch it for free.

Next stop was Jiufen, an old mining town which everyone always says is a must see. I was queasy in the car ride over…an empty stomach and lurching / zig-zagging down a mountain did not help and my poor friends had to put up with my retching.

Made it to Jiufen in one piece but the smells were overwhelming because the narrow streets are enclosed and it was just one smelly snack stall after another. After a while I got used to it and managed to eat a little along the way.

We had fishball tanghoon and braised pork rice for lunch, and some glutinous balls with yam for dessert.

Stopped by some ‘golden waterfalls’ on the way down, discoloured by iron minerals, and we also paused to see the Bay of 2 Colours or yin yang sea, where brown and blue water meet, also caused by rainwater mixing with the iron contained in the rocks in the surrounding area.

Our final stop for the excursion was Yehliu Geopark, known for its princess head rock…which turned out to be a bit of an anti-climax because it’s quite small! There were other rock formations though but the place was too crowded to enjoy the scenery.

Since we were at the coast, we thought of trying their fresh seafood but that turned out to be an expensive meal. For some prawns, large clams and veggies, we paid over SGD$160, which would have yielded us more seafood at a tze char restaurant! 

 Our driver dropped us off at the famous Shihlin nightmarket upon our return to the city and the whole place spans a few streets and is quite large. Spotted some pink guavas, we bought some to try and munched on fruits while Jane checked out a sports shop.

The gals shared some chou doufu and oyster mee sua which I steered clear of. Instead I had me some crispy chicken, so cheap at 50 NT for a large chunk. Must be a popular stall because it had a long queue.

It had been a long day and the sun sets at 5.30 pm, making 8pm feel like 11pm so we called it a night and headed back to the hotel. Our rooms are quite big with modern interiors and a large bathroom. Hotels in Taipei are relatively cheap, this one cost us about $140 nett per night with breakfast.