Travel Log - Taiwan Day 9

Click here to read from the 1st post of this travel log! 😄

Day 9: Taipei -> Singapore

Goodbye Taiwan~~~ till next time

Having procrastinated for this long, I'm glad that I finally completed my very first set of Travel Log. I know it got a little rushed towards the end but there were so many occasions that I had forgetten about taking pictures that I can't provide a comprehensive outlook of the places and it really doesn't do them justice, haha. 

Overall, I've had my share of fun in this trip and I really enjoyed my time in Taiwan. I think it'll be fun to visit Kaohsiung again someday and travel to its surrounding islands, have heard so much about how its a great place for water activities. 😌

Till next time~!

Previous post: Day 8: Taipei R&R

Travel Log - Taiwan Day 8

Click here to read from the 1st post of this travel log! 😄

Day 8: Taipei R&R

Our final day in Taiwan before going back to reality... free & easy shopping time 💖. Don't mind me as I sprint through the places I visited in my R&R time with my sister. 

淡水老街 (Danshui old streets)

Breakfast @ Danshui - A-Gei 

Absolute must-try when you're in Taipei. So much love for this. 

Streets of Danshui - there are many stalls that you could get souvenirs from

Danshui Red Castle - 淡水紅樓

忠孝复兴 to 忠孝敦化 (Zhongxiao Fuxing – Zhongxiao Dunhua)

Shopping link between the two MRT stations. There are many fashion stores on this stretch - more towards shoes. I got a pair of shoes for 200 NTD = ~ SGD 10.

松山車站 (Songshan Station) - Raohe St. Night Market & Wufen Pu

Mochi!!!

SO CUTE...

Can you bear to eat them? 😝

Wufen Pu - if you're looking for apparels, this is the place to go to

& if you're like me & my sis, looking for that typical 豆浆烧饼 that is somehow so hard to find here... there's one near the station

Next post: Day 9: Taipei -> Singapore
Previous post: Day 7: Taipei Day Trip

Travel Log - Taiwan Day 7

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Day 7: Taipei Day Trip

Our final day trip out into the mountains in Taiwan. It was an interesting one because Mr Zhang brings around with him a DSLR and gets his passengers to take pictures at every *must-take-photo* scenic area along the route (unfortunately, I don't have his direct contact details as he was recommended by a friend of Mr Lin).

Brief stop to enjoy the sea breeze/view

First stop: 野柳地質公園 (Yehliu Geopark)

Yehliu Geopark is extremely popular with the tourists, many tour buses come here so needless to say, there were many many people at the attraction. 

I'll let the pictures do the talking from this point because there really isn't much to say about this place apart from the scenery and rocks 😅.

Lunch @ 美觀園海鮮餐廳

Second stop: 陰陽海 (Yinyang Sea)

Third stop: 黄金瀑布 (Huang Jin Pu Bu)

Fourth stop: 九份老街 (Jiu Fen Old Streets)

I had heard so much about this place - like how if you hadn't been to Jiu Fen = you hadn't been to Taiwan. It's gorgeous. This is one of those places I don't mind going despite the crazy number of tourists visiting the area. There were so many shops to go to and the landscape/residential is so pretty. 

Last stop: 十分老街 (Shi Fen Old Streets)

It started to pour just after we left Jiu Fen so I thought, 'ah... there goes the chance to 放天灯', but turns out, you could still release your sky lantern even if its raining (though it's still best if its not raining).

There are staff members to help you with the Sky Lantern experience - providing photo & video service to everyone. 

Post day trip: back in Taipei

Christmas decor @ Taipei HSR station

Popular cheesecake outlet with limited cakes to sell per batch

Next post: Day 8: Taipei R&R

Previous post: Day 6: Taichung -> Taipei

Travel Log - Taiwan Day 6

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Day 6: Taichung -> Taipei

After a fulfilling time in Taichung, it was finally time to head back to Taipei. 🙌

Breakfast at Day+ before setting off

By courtesy of Mr Lin - he helped us to arrange for a female colleague to pick us from Day+ Hotel to the HSR station so that we didn't have to go in 2 separate cabs (her details are at the end of this post). Of course, she preferred to send us directly to Taipei from our hotel, but as we had the flexible HSR pass which was non-refundable, it wasn't a viable option and she understood. 

Just like the previous HSR rides, we booked the timeslots for the HSR and headed for Taipei. 

We arrived at Taipei Main Station just slightly pass the lunch hour, and since our hotel rooms weren't ready, we decided to grab lunch! 

While the rest of the family stayed near the hotel for lunch, my 2nd sister and I decided to go explore the station since it was huge. We found this steamboat restaurant which said 'pay 188 NTD to satisfy your tummy'. 8.50 SGD for steamboat?! - we were in disbelief so we hesitated for quite a while (in SG, steamboat generally costs around 20 SGD or more person, though they tend to be all-you-can-eat kind-of buffet).

There's a conveyor belt of additional ingredients that you could add to your steamboat at varying prices

We weren't big eaters, so it worked out really well for us (only added a pack of maggi mee for 19 NTD).

By end of meal, the rooms were ready, so we headed back to the hotel (Cosmos Hotel Taipei).

This hotel is definitely the oldest hotel among the three hotels we had selected, so there wasn't much to expect. The location, however, is perfect - just opposite Taipei Main Station and a transfer station. 

Anpanman store at 信義a8 (inside the departmental store) near Taipei City Hall Station

Christmas decor just outside Taipei City Hall Station

Dinner @ Pasta Bar in Ximending

Third time being here, & never sick of this place, ever. 

Massive CD shopping spree

Contact details: 張翠屏 +886 982 339 399
(Pronounced: Zhang1 Cui4 Ping2)

Next post: Day 7: Taipei Day Trip

Previous post: Day 5: Taichung Day Trip 2

Travel Log - Taiwan Day 5

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Day 5: Taichung Day Trip 2

Prior to our car trips out of Taichung, my sister had done some research into the places that she wants to visit - Cingjing Farm & Lavender Cottage (we were researching for the trip on-the-go 一天算一天 because ain't nobody got time to plan 😅). However, after checking with Mr Lin, we realised that it wasn't viable to be done in a day as they were on different routes hence we only did Cingjing the previous day. 

I was initially against booking the day trips back-to-back as I am prone to motion sickness and I don't enjoy being in the car for most of the day, but we concluded that there isn't much to do in Taichung city itself anyway so might as well make full use of it. 

First stop: Grape picking @ 新峰農場 (Xinfeng Farm)

The previous day we briefly mentioned that it would be great if we could do some fruit-picking along the way, but we were told that it wasn't the season for it so we kinda gave up that thought. The morning of the trip, Mr Lin was discussing the brief itinerary for the day with my sister and he told us that he found a place that we could pick grapes - it was very nice of him *小感动*. 

The farm owners were really nice people (and great at making business, like any other Taiwanese really 😆). After snipping a few bunches of grapes we left the place with 11 packs (buy 10 get 1 free) of varying fruit confectionery - dried mushrooms, mixed fruits and dried prunes.

Second stop: 薰衣草森林 (Lavender Cottage)

We then moved on with our trip to the Lavender Cottage. Let me just say this, I love this place. Not so much for the scenery since Taiwan has an abundance of places with beautiful scenery, but more for the experience and the place. 

I'm not sure about you, but I have seen dramas where people get to write a letter to their future selves or to other people in a specific time period. I have tried to replicate it by simply writing a letter and placing it in a drawer and only opening it the following year but it probably would be better if you could receive it in a post y'know. And so... you could actually do just that at this place! 🙌

Postcards to the me in Nov 2017 and 2019

I probably spent at least half an hour just writing postcards to my future self, writing down the feelings of hope and dreams that hopefully wouldn't vanish with time, haha. 

There is a forest trail right at the end of the Cottage and also a 许愿树.

The foresty-feel makes it very peaceful and serene, that's why I love this place so much.💖

Third stop: Lunch @ 菇神觀景複合式餐飲 (Master of Mushroom Restaurant)

After a good morning enjoying nature, it was time for a healthy lunch. 

If I were to translate directly - they are the MUSHROOM GOD Restaurant specialising in Mushroom Hotpot. 😘 Of course, hotpot meant that there was a variety of vegetables and meat that you could add-on and have your fill. 

-I didn't take pictures here cause, um... had a tiff with the mom.- but you could check them out here. 

Fourth stop: 新社花海 (Sea of Flowers)

Took a while to get this shot as the bee was busy flying from flower to flower... 😸

 

 

It was a really warm day so we really didn't want to walk through the flowers in the heat, but if the weather was a little more merciful, it would have been a nice stroll through the sea of flowers... 😉 

Last stop: Sunset by the beach

Mr Lin recommended ending the day trip by enjoying the sunset, so he brought us to the 'beach'. 

As it was a good hour that we had to be there if we wanted to see the sunset, we decided to give it a miss and head back to town. 

Bonus stop: 逢甲夜市 (Fengjia Night Market)

It was our last night in Taichung so we decided to end our trip at Fengjia Night Market. Since we had to get back to the hotel ourselves after that, we asked Mr Lin if we were able to find a cab to fit all of us, the distance and a rough estimate of the cab fare back to our hotel. 

Noting that we had the seniors and a child (& that we probably wouldn't last long at the market), Mr Lin offered to drop us at Fengjia Night Market for an hour and send us back to the hotel after. 

Next post: Day 6: Taichung -> Taipei
Previous post: Day 4: Taichung Day Trip 1